Baby dragon behaviour

[TreeBeardy]

Hi Guys and Gals,

Been reading a lot on babies and behavior so just some advice if you care to offer in regards to my newbie

This is my first baby beardy who is I believe roughly 3 months old and I got him about 4 days ago. He is tiny!
Most of what he does is normal having read up on most things related to babies. I apologise if some of it is repetitive to other posts.

Couple things that I would like some advice on:

Hiding - he has currently found a favorite spot, right at the top of the tank on top of the artificial plant that hangs at the back, or underneath it and just stays there most of the time. However he doesn't appear to be hiding from heat or light I'm hoping it's just anxiety and the settling in. when I handle him he's not skittish or appearing scared and trying to run away etc. Question is, do I remove it at this point and flush him out a little more or do I wait a bit longer and see if he starts venturing naturally?

Food - I have been feeding him on greens and insects as per usual routines. He doesn't eat much greens and started off eating a lot of bugs. He has now slowed up a lot on insects. I have noticed that he likes to prey on larger insects, instead of the really tiny ones. Due to his size I thought small crickets (3-5mm) would be fine but he appears to like bigger which doesn't necessarily conform to the eye gap sizing of prey. Is it natural to want to go for larger things? and if hes happy should I continue it so long as its not excessively large for him? I suspect again ecause of his size eating the bigger ones fills him quicker than him eating loads of really small ones. Again advise welcome on this

Water in tank - This I cant decide on. Do many of you peeps have a waterdish in the viv for babies? Drowning scared me straight away so I bath him instead a couple times a week. would you advise water for him to do as he wishes in the viv or to keep the bathing up for hydration.

Heat - I will just post what im currently running and temps to see if there is anything wrong with these?

Currently the viv is a custom double tier on on top of the other which was made for two large adults at the time. Its 90cm long, height of 58cm in each viv and 58cm depth so a fair amount of room in all directions. Lighting wise I have a 100watt heat bulb in each viv at the basking spot and an Arcadia 12% UVA/UVB strip light in each towards the hotter end.

Temps in top viv are 32c cool end and 42 hot end - Adult Female 7 years old
Temps in lower viv are 29 cool end and 39 hot end - Baby Male

Are the above within suitable ranges for the baby?

Appreciate any tips or advice in light of the above and I will post some pictures soon. Everyone loves pics!

Thanks, Lewis

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hi Guys and Gals,

Been reading a lot on babies and behavior so just some advice if you care to offer in regards to my newbie

This is my first baby beardy who is I believe roughly 3 months old and I got him about 4 days ago. He is tiny!
Most of what he does is normal having read up on most things related to babies. I apologise if some of it is repetitive to other posts.

Couple things that I would like some advice on:

Hiding - he has currently found a favorite spot, right at the top of the tank on top of the artificial plant that hangs at the back, or underneath it and just stays there most of the time. However he doesn't appear to be hiding from heat or light I'm hoping it's just anxiety and the settling in. when I handle him he's not skittish or appearing scared and trying to run away etc. Question is, do I remove it at this point and flush him out a little more or do I wait a bit longer and see if he starts venturing naturally? <<<< ..... you only just brought him home, let him keep his plant if he feels secure under it. I can guarantee he'll soon be out and about, basking, and exploring, chasing bugs, and studying his new human slave/s.
Do you have a hide in the tank ?, a nice dark and private hide will be appreciated by him.

Food - I have been feeding him on greens and insects as per usual routines. He doesn't eat much greens and started off eating a lot of bugs. He has now slowed up a lot on insects. I have noticed that he likes to prey on larger insects, instead of the really tiny ones. Due to his size I thought small crickets (3-5mm) <<< that's pretty small crickets ... at 3 months old if he's like my Peppa (61g at 3 months) and Toothless (51g at 3 months) he''ll be onto 1/3 size (12-15mm) crickets
would be fine but he appears to like bigger which doesn't necessarily conform to the eye gap sizing of prey. Is it natural to want to go for larger things? and if hes happy should I continue it so long as its not excessively large for him? I suspect again ecause of his size eating the bigger ones fills him quicker than him eating loads of really small ones. Again advise welcome on this <<<< bugs : best to stick to bugs smaller than the gap between his eyes (UNLESS they are silkworms , he can handle a 2" long silkworm as they are soft and squishy)
I hold off on giving the greens and veg (grated) until the hatchlings have eaten their live bugs and them give the greens and grated veg to them to nibble on.

Water in tank - This I cant decide on. Do many of you peeps have a waterdish in the viv for babies? Drowning scared me straight away so I bath him instead a couple times a week. would you advise water for him to do as he wishes in the viv or to keep the bathing up for hydration. <<< no water dish .

Heat - I will just post what im currently running and temps to see if there is anything wrong with these?

Currently the viv is a custom double tier on on top of the other which was made for two large adults at the time. Its 90cm long, height of 58cm in each viv and 58cm depth so a fair amount of room in all directions. Lighting wise I have a 100watt heat bulb in each viv at the basking spot and an Arcadia 12% UVA/UVB strip light in each towards the hotter end. <<< is the 100W a clear colourless incandescent spotty (ie a par38) ?

Temps in top viv are 32c cool end and 42 hot end - Adult Female 7 years old
Temps in lower viv are 29 cool end and 39 hot end - Baby Male <<< basking spot about 40degC .

Are the above within suitable ranges for the baby?

Appreciate any tips or advice in light of the above and I will post some pictures soon. Everyone loves pics!

Thanks, Lewis

 

[TreeBeardy]

hi Kingofnobbys ...

He has a right angled basking platform with steps either side which fits into the corner of the viv and is also a hide underneath so it is dark but still warm.

The crickets I thought perhaps were a little small, so thanks for that go slightly bigger

The 100w is a pro rep bulb.