Am I caring for my dragon properly?

[beckydewar]

Just a random thread! I just want to make sure I'm caring for my beardie the right way. Ok, so my mum usually gives him about 8-10 crickets in the morning, and I give him about 5-6 each night. He seems to not go for the crickets very much and I find it hard to get his attention on them. He's very fussy and doesn't eat meal worms very much at all. I give him fresh veggies at least three times a day; in the morning, after school, and before bed. I give him bok choy, carrots and about 4 times a week I also add some pellet things I got from the pet shop. My mum turns his UVB bulb on and his heatlamp at about 8am. He has a UVB bulb and a red heat lamp. They are above him, inside the cage because that is how the cage is designed to have the lights. I have his heat lamp on 40 degrees Celsius at day and 20-25 at night. I turn them off at about 9:30pm. Please note that usually the room temperature usually is the same as I have the light on at night so for the majority of the night, the light would be off. But if the room temperature gets below 25, the light will turn on to heat up the tank a bit. I get him out about 3-4 times a day, for about 15 minutes each time. He is very energetic and wants to explore and runs around very fast. Sometimes he falls asleep with me so I put a blanket over him. He is about 3 months old, and he is approximately 26cm long. I have had him for a month and a half and he was about 8 weeks old when I got him. I think he has a nipped tail from his clutch mates because the tip is bent and crooked. He loves to eat his veggies. In his tank, I have a fake plastic plant that sits on the ground (he always used to sit in it but he's a bit too big now), a plant that is suction cupped to the front glass (the remainder of the tank is melamine, which can't hold suction cups) he has a large rock under the basking light that I got from the yard, and yes I did boil it before it went in the tank, he has a single stick dividing into two branches, a water and food dish, I change the water every day. A medium sized hide, a fake cactus, and a fake vine that goes around the tank, he climbs up it and sleeps on it he also has a hammock. He is never aggressive.

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=ofwrvr&s=8
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2h67f69&s=8#.U6Pr94kazCQ
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[Brandonforty2]

Hello. Glad you asked for help.
Ok, so my mum usually gives him about 8-10 crickets in the morning, and I give him about 5-6 each night. Your beardie should be eating way more. When they are young, give then as many crickets as they can eat in 15 minutes, 2 - 3 times a day. I would recomend buying the crickets online. I bought mine at http://www.armstrongcrickets.com/. You should not give your beardie meal worms, as they can cause impaction. If he doesn't like the crickets, you can try to give him dubias or pheonix worms. When your beardie gets to be about 45 centimeters long, you can start giving him superworms. When your beardie gets to be about a year old, you can start giving him more salad and less protein. Mine are almost two years old and I give them Dubai Roaches and Collard Greens. I give him bok choy, carrots and about 4 times a week I also add some pellet things I got from the pet shop. You don't need to be giving him salad too much becasue they need more protein. Here is a list of good food your your beardie. You can also put beardie bites on the salad and see if he likes them. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html. Also, what are the pellets that you give? What is the brand/what are they called? My mum turns his UVB bulb on and his heatlamp at about 8am. He has a UVB bulb and a red heat lamp. What type of UVB bulb are you using. Coil or tube? Also, you shouldn't use a colored heat lamp, such as red or blue, as a bearded dragon can see the light. I would recomend getting one of these bulbs at the same wattage as the one you currently use. http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=67&product_id=150.

You have a nice looking dragon. Good luck in your future beardie adventures. (I noticed how you you had a picture of your beardie outside. A good precaution when letting a beardie outside is to get a harness. You can make one or buy one. )

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[seth]

Ok, I would take the rock at least away from the heat lamp if not outside the cage, and give the bearded Dragon more variety of fruits and veggies. A great place to get ideas is to just look up www.BeautifulDragons.com and go to nutrition content.


Hope I helped.