Beardie wont eat calcium powder.

[Vegasdaze]

Hi all, my rescue Beardie wont eat his greens dusted with calcium. He loves his salad otherwise. Here is a picture. Am I using too much?

Also, are there any alternative products besides powdered calcium that are adequate and I could offer alongside of his salad?

Thanks in advance!

 

[KarrieRee]

Oh thats great. Im going to order that now. Petco has the Reptisun 10 so I should be able to turn this around quickly. What a great community here and please dont get annoyed at all my future questions I will get this right.

That's probably a T 8 you need a 24" fixture for that zen tank and a T 5 -+ difference is strength in bulbs-

 

[Vegasdaze]

so this:

https://www.amazon.com/Reptisun-T5-Ho-Terrarium-Hood/dp/B00CX5HXI2/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=reptisun+t5&qid=1635817572&sr=8-5

and this:

Amazon.com

And then I can move around the MVB and ceramic emitter in the dual housing I have to get the temp zones right and I should be all good?

 

[KarrieRee]

so this:

https://www.amazon.com/Reptisun-T5-Ho-Terrarium-Hood/dp/B00CX5HXI2/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=reptisun+t5&qid=1635817572&sr=8-5

and this:

Amazon.com

And then I can move around the MVB and ceramic emitter in the dual housing I have to get the temp zones right and I should be all good?

Pangaea is cheaper than Amazon shipping is $7 -- you should only use your basking lamp to get basking temps-- your mvb has good basking heat but you must get a digital probe thermometer- they are a must you need 2 of them look on Pangaea look for Zoo Med

 

[Vegasdaze]

Ok I will do all of that. So appreciative. So much false info out there. This store sold me a red heat light for night and calcium sand and I quickly realized that was wrong. Replaced with reptile carpet and the ceramic emiter for night. I have that fixture on a time so MVB goes off at 9pm and ceramic emitter comes on. I think that 4 ft long tank will be nice and cool during the winter at the one end and the ceramic emitter at the other during the night. Ill get the probes and tune it in.

 

[Vegasdaze]

Now, once I get that all correct, back to the calcium powder. How were you saying that related to my UVB setup?

 

[KarrieRee]

Now, once I get that all correct, back to the calcium powder. How were you saying that related to my UVB setup?

Please do not run that heat emitter unless your tank is falling below 65 at nite -- dragons like it cool and dark -- you can use your stick on thermometer for the ambient heat but you MUST use a digital probe thermometer for your basking temps-- the UVB is a good source for the calcium D3 absorption - so if you get the T 5 your going to not need to give as much - you will still need to give calcium just not the D3 as often -- please get some calcium w/ out D3 and w/ out phosphorus-- he will need those on his insects about 2-3 times per week and once w/ the D3 - does he eat his salads? For reference here is a pic of one of my tanks --- I have 2 of them this is Blazes tank the other Hiccup

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok I will do all of that. So appreciative. So much false info out there. This store sold me a red heat light for night and calcium sand and I quickly realized that was wrong. Replaced with reptile carpet and the ceramic emiter for night. I have that fixture on a time so MVB goes off at 9pm and ceramic emitter comes on. I think that 4 ft long tank will be nice and cool during the winter at the one end and the ceramic emitter at the other during the night. Ill get the probes and tune it in.

You can place the heat emitter in the center of the tank on top of screen -- mine keep my tanks around 70 on winter nights of below zero weather - and its a 100 watt bulb

 

[Vegasdaze]

Got it. Ill get a better thermometer but one thing I noticed is that the MVB (100w) 12" above the hammock is only producing temps of 90-95 degrees on both stick on thermometers. Is that hot enough for the basking spot during the day?

Nice habitat by the way! Mine gets here Friday.

 

[Vegasdaze]

does he eat his salads?

He loves his salads, gobbles them down. just not dusted with calcium. He wont touch it. Staple insect is BSFL right now. I alternate Salad/BSFL every other day. Even though the BSFL has calcium, I had been dusting those since he wont eat the dusted salad. Was just nervous he wasn't getting enough..

Salad currently consists of collards, dandelion, little bit of broccoli and zucchini. Some days a very small amount of apple.

 

[KarrieRee]

Got it. Ill get a better thermometer but one thing I noticed is that the MVB (100w) 12" above the hammock is only producing temps of 90-95 degrees on both stick on thermometers. Is that hot enough for the basking spot during the day?

Nice habitat by the way! Mine gets here Friday.

Thank you- temps should be 95-100

 

[KarrieRee]

He loves his salads, gobbles them down. just not dusted with calcium. He wont touch it. Staple insect is BSFL right now. I alternate Salad/BSFL every other day. Even though the BSFL has calcium, I had been dusting those since he wont eat the dusted salad. Was just nervous he wasn't getting enough..

Salad currently consists of collards, dandelion, little bit of broccoli and zucchini. Some days a very small amount of apple.

Ok don't dust the salads the bsfl have calcium do not dust them

 

[Vegasdaze]

Thank you- temps should be 95-100

 

[Vegasdaze]

Well, thanks for the master class. I will check back in after a week or so in the new setup and see if these stress marks have disappeared. He was pretty impacted when we received him. Only holding one eye open all the time and clearly sick. We started bathing/soaking every other day and lord, the things that came out. We are past that now and he is 100 times better. Hopefully the new enclosure and proper temps/UVB will lighten him up a bit. I'll be back

 

[Vegasdaze]

Well, thanks for the master class. I will check back in after a week or so in the new setup and see if these stress marks have disappeared. He was pretty impacted when we received him. Only holding one eye open all the time and clearly sick. We started bathing/soaking every other day and lord, the things that came out. We are past that now and he is 100 times better. Hopefully the new enclosure and proper temps/UVB will lighten him up a bit. I'll be back

Okay I'm here to report back. Thank you so much for the help here's what we've come up with for this guy. The difference is is amazing for him. Just put it together today so watching temperatures closely. I'm not sure that one Mercury vapor at that height is going to get past 90° so going to have to play with that.