Are my babies reflections too stressful?

[chelle4450]

Hi,
About 10 days ago, I adopted two baby beardies. I think Thorn is about 3 months old (she is my son's), and Baby girl (my daughter's who is not yet named) is about 8 weeks. I'm not sure they are girls (too young to tell), and I'm guessing their ages by their size. These facts have little to do with my question, just a little background info.

My question has to do with their reactions to their reflections. I had to use floodlights for their basking spots. They were the only lights I found that got the temps high enough. These are very bright, and cause a vivid reflection.

My babies have very different personalities. Thorn is very aggressive. She leaps at her reflection, and sometimes hits the side of the glass with a thump. She also chases it (running around the perimeter of the tank). She bites at her stone water dish and her resin structures ( nothing to do with her reflection, just an example of her aggression).

Baby girl is much more submissive, she runs from side to side arm waiving at her reflection. She waives all day, whether running around or basking. She looks like she is directing traffic, I can't believe her little arms are worn out! Lol

While these behaviors are very cute, and highly entertaining, I wonder if it is too stressful. Baby girl is eating tons of crickets ( 30+ a day) Thorn on the other hand, is only eating around 10 a day.

I am very new to this, and very nervous. I want to give my girls the best care possible, and would very much appreciate any advice. I really can't believe they were advertised as beginner pets at petsmart. Their care and maintenance is much more complicated than I had anticipated. It is well worth it though. These girls are now a part of our family, and bring so much joy to myself and my children .

Thanks in advance for all the help this community offers. It has been a lifesaver, as the information I was given at petsmart was very limited and sometimes inaccurate. I am truly grateful. -Chelle

 

[Gormagon]

Petsmart (for the most part) is basicly just a starting point to a grand adventure. The employees are not trained on how to care for them properly and sure don't have enough knowledge to advise anyone on how to care for them either.
As for the reflections, you can tape some construction paper or cardboard to the three sides so they can't see them.
May I ask what the temps are?
Basking?
Warm end?
Cool end?
And what do you get the readings with?

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Are they housed together? What size is the enclosure? Definitely let us know what kind of lights you are using and the temps are and how you take them?

 

[Varalidaine]

I have the same questions as the others, as the method of temperature monitoring will drastically affect read-outs, but as for your question about the reflection, I say yes, it probably is stressing them out. My dragon hates glass, and for the first few months I had him he was so grumpy and dark. I ended up taping white paper to the INSIDE of the tank, because if you put it outside, the glass will still be shiny and it will probably make the reflections worse since it will be a solid background. To them, it isn't a reflection, it's another dragon. I find, like with most reptiles, they are best kept in enclosures with three wooden/melamine/plastic sides. I am moving my dragon into a melamine enclosure. This will help him feel much more cozy as he won't be surrounded by glass.

 

[chelle4450]

Thank you to all who responded.

I originally had the two housed together in a 20 gallon glass terrarium. (because everything I had read up until that point said you could house babies together). I know this will soon be too small, but was told it would be fine for a month or two (while they are still little). Thorn started displaying some aggressive behaviors like laying on top of, head bobbing, and once she bit. Apparently not very hard, it didn't leave a mark (but definitely scared us ). I immediatly put a divider in the tank, and soon bought a whole new setup (10 gal. Was all I could afford) for baby girl (the smaller of the two).

I use a probe thermometer to check the temps. It was trial and error with the basking lights (none sold in pet store would get the spots warm enough). Finally we purchased some 65W flood lights and got the basking temps correct. Thorn likes hers around 105F, and Baby girl around 100F (anything hotter, and she starts gaping her mouth). The cool side of both enclosures are around 74F (the temp of my home). I have National Geographic CFL'S for their UV. I intend on replacing them with reptisun 10.0 by next month. Money is kind of tight right now. This has become much more expensive than I had anticipated. Well worth it, we love these girls like crazy. Soon I'll be back to work, and money won't be such an issue. But until then, we have to get by with what we have.

I'll definitely try the construction paper, that is a great idea. Thank you all so much. I think I answered all of your questions.
-Chelle

 

[destiny1998]

Thanks for answering. Make sure you get a reptisun 10.0 Tube. Those coil/compact cause lethargy and eye issues. If you get the t5 you can put that on top of the screen. T8 needs to be mounted in the tank.

 

[chelle4450]

Thanks, I will.

 

[Varalidaine]

Good luck with your dragons! I work in a pet store (I was tired of employees giving out bad information so at least I can fix some problems by working on the inside!) and I ALWAYS tell people that I highly discourage dragons as first reptiles. They are much too expensive and easy to mess up, considering the UVB, calcium needs, heat needs, how much food they eat, needing fresh salad everyday, and they typically have a poor immune system and need to be kept spotless. And they can wreak havock on your energy bill trying to keep them warm!

Anyway, you place the probe on the basking spot, correct, and not taped against the wall or something? You actually put it on their log or cave or whatnot? I'm surprised you needed such an intense light for a short little 20 gal. I use the Zilla Halogen bulbs and use a 50watt in my 40 gal and that gets the floor of his tank 100+. When he has his cave in there, I only use a 25watt. And 40's are considerably taller than a 20. I would look into a Zilla Halogen bask bulb, they sell them at Petco. This is what they look like: https://www.amazon.com/Zilla-Reptile-Terrarium-Lamps-Halogen/dp/B009CVYEY6

Of course I don't reccomend the night red bulbs, but just to show you what the lamp and bulbs look like. I've had my bulb for almost a year and it STILL hasn't burnt out. Plus using lower wattage bulbs is better on your electric bill (especially if you need 2!) and it better for the environment. I also like how small they are so you don't have this big hulky clamp lamp that could get knocked off. The Zilla one comes with clips to secure it down. I don't like much by Zilla, by I swear by these little lamps! Total powerhouses.

And know that as long as you have the receipt, you can return ANYTHING you've already used to PetSmart or Petco. Petco will even take stuff without a receipt as long as you are exchanging it. Most people don't know that you can return broken, used, and open items as long as it is within the return period. And as for money, I don't know if all PetSmarts have them, but my PetSmart just got Aqueon fish tanks and the 40gal is on sale for $40! You can also wait until Petco does it's $1 per gallon sale with the Aqueon tanks but your PetSmart might have them right now! And if they do, you can return the 20 and 10 gal tanks and then just divide the 40 in half until you get another 40.