Bobo the bearded dragon

[Jackmac4]

My 12 year old, Jenna, just brought home her/our 1st bearded dragon and reptile on Wednesday November 13 . She's been wanting one for about a year and finally had enough money after her birthday to go get one. We know he's a male, not sure how old the pet store just said he's a juvie. Bobo seems to be doing well, he's very alert and active, his eyes are clear, and he is currently shedding. He loves his crickets. Jenna gave him his first bath today. We have a couple of questions though. He hasn't pooed at all yet, and he's not eating his salad. Should we be concerned and how often are they supposed to be fed? She's feeding him 10-12 crickets a day plus the salad that he's not eating. I see that the suggested temp. in the cage about 100 degrees. Our 100 watt heating lamp is only getting the temp. to about 80 degrees. Should we do something different? Also, how do you attach the uvb light to the inside of the cage? We have one that just sits on top of it right now, should we switch to something else?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Bobo's Family

 

[Mirandor]

First of all, congrats! Secondly, your questions. 80 is definitely too low for a basking spot. Most people use regular household lightbulbs to get the heat up, you can also use a ceramic heat emitter. I personally use both, and keep the heat emitter on over night and it keeps Mohinder's basking spot just right. The temp being so low is likely the reason for his lack of pooping because it needs to be at the right temperature in order for him to digest properly. It also could be relocation stress, which might be why he hasn't been eating his salads as well. Some beardies are just weird about eating their salad, and there are a lot of tricks on here to get them to eat their greens.

As far as the UVB mounting goes, I'm not sure how others do it, but I just poked holes in the mesh and ran zip ties through them and around my light to get it mounted below so the UVB doesn't get filtered. Also make sure that your UVB light is a tube and not compact fluorescent because those can cause some eye problems and don't provide as much UVB.

For feeding, the popular consensus seems to be protein 2-3 times a day, with a salad in there for the entirety of the day for munching and it's generally as many crickets/worms/roaches he can eat within a 10-15 minute time period.

Hopefully I got all of your questions answered, and anyone can feel free to correct me. Good luck with your new beardie! :mrgreen:

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. How are you taking the temps? What kind of uvb? Is it a tube, coil or compact? What is the name ? Also he may be having relocation stress and that can last a couple of weeks. Also how big is the enclosure? He's a cutie.

 

[Jackmac4]

Hi. How are you taking the temps? What kind of uvb? Is it a tube, coil or compact? What is the name ? Also he may be having relocation stress and that can last a couple of weeks. Also how big is the enclosure? He's a cutie.

We have 2 Zoo Med high range thermometers in the tank. One for each end. The uvb light is a coil 10.0 repti glo. He is currently in a 20 gal. tank. which the pet store said would be good until he's about a year then we will need to switch to at least a 40 gal tank.

 

[destiny1998]

Get rid of the coil bulb it is bad for their eyes. He needs a reptisun 10.0 tube mounted in the tank. Also you should really put hin in the 40 gallon as beardies grow very fast. Are the thermometers digital with a probe, round gauges?

 

[Jackmac4]

Get rid of the coil bulb it is bad for their eyes. He needs a reptisun 10.0 tube mounted in the tank. Also you should really put hin in the 40 gallon as beardies grow very fast. Are the thermometers digital with a probe, round gauges?

We just got back from the pet store and changed the thermometer and the light bulb.