Calling out all experienced beardie owners!

[Porschy]

I don't regard myself as an experienced beardie keeper (only had Puff and Rex for 3 years , got them at 6wks old and only about 8g each), and only been keeping lizards for about 5 years.

Your little pal looks very happy and healthy and his enclosure will be big enough for him for quite a while , he'll eventually need a 4' x 2' footprint tank.

Be sure to gutload the crickets for at least 24hr prior to using - I give my crickets fresh carrot, adult beardie lizard pellets (dry) and puk or bok choi greens , this way the beardie gets extra nutritious crickets that have been Calcium enhanced.

Calci-worms (we call them calci-gents here , a form of maggot) are recommended for little beardies , some say they about as good a feeder (Ca levels) as you can get , silkworms are pretty darned good too , and if you using mulberry leafs as the worm food - your beardie can eat the mulberry greens and mulberries too.
There are enzymes in silkworms that help metabolise Ca too.

Worms - superworms are a bit big for your guy I think, and mealworms . fine as treats .

Handfeeding insects in easy, just beware of the accidential fingertip nips are a risk and they can draw blood. They soon figure out the handfeeding lurk with a little practice. Is a good way of getting lizard to eat greens like puk or buk choi (an excellent green , high in Ca).
Refer to http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html as The Bible for stuff to give and not to give to your little pal.

The recipy I was given by the breeder when bought Puff and Rex is as follows :
1 whole puk or buk choi
1 c raw green peas
1 c raw green beans
1/2 raw sweet potato (skinned)
3 - 4 raw carrots (skinned)
grate the carrots and sweet potato
chop the choi and peas and beans in a food processor mixed with grated carrots and sweet potato

freeze in ice-cube maker trays , thaw a cube as required mixed with 1 tsp of juvenile beardie pellets and 1 tsp of vetafarm lizard pellets softened with water.

I'd offer about 10 - 15g of the above mix first thing each morning along with some washed coarsely shredded greens.

At his age , 2 feeds of live insects per day. about a dozen small - medium crickets per feed per day.

Thank you so much for your reply! I will also add some calci-worms to his diet as well then! sounds like a plan. I've also gut loaded the crickets like you mentioned the night before so they should be good to feed him tomorrow!

Also thanks for that link again, I was on that page once and I lost it

That looks like a delicious recipe for my little beardy. I will definitely give that a try in the next day or so and I'll let you know how he likes it!

I will also try to feed him that much like you recommened but right now his appetite isn't the biggest but I won't stop trying! Appreciate all the help and for the recipe

 

[Porschy]

Hey man, sounds like you're well onto the right track here (always love to see people doing their research!)
Straight into the eating habits, I think you've actually got a pretty chill dragon there. Normally the stress of the move is too much for the dragons to eat for the first day or two at least. My little fella has taken 2 weeks to get used to his enclosure! (that's right, he didn't eat a thing for 2 weeks)
So don't stress about eating habits too much. You'll get a feel for what's normal with him and only then can you know if he's been slowing down on eating and whether it might be something of a concern.

I think a few days of not handling would be a good idea early on (I doubt he's dehydrated so I'd skip the baths too). But after that I say handle him as much as he will allow. If you put your hand in and he wants to come up that's great, but otherwise just try again later in the day.

I don't think mini mealworms would really cause that much of an issue unless you let him overindulge and they're the primary feeder. Lucky for you I think dragons love silkworms a lot more than crickets in my experience.

Other than that I think your enclosure looks really cool and provided the temp and humidity levels are good, I imagine a few days will be all he needs to settle right in and get into regular feeding habits. (but again, don't stress if he doesn't unless it's paired with something like runny/smelly feces or lethargy)

Good luck and post some updates for us!

Wow TWO weeks? man I would of had a heart attack. I don't know if it's just me but when he doesn't eat I get stressed out haha. I'm sure you were! and I appreciate that. I'm trying to get the temp perfect because the bulbs were getting hotter after all the hours on... 125 F in the basking area, and that's way too hot. I'm doing trial and error and getting it perfect though!

He's been pooping everyday and today he did on my finger in the water :silent:
But as long as he went I'm happy. Also had a few silkworms before bed cause I got home late.
Here are pictures of him sleeping tonight. I put him up on the hammock and he knocked out against the glass :lol: also I took a picture of his underbelly and I don't know if it's cause hes sleeping but the darker stress marks he had under his beard and belly seem to have toned down. Maybe hes acclimating to the environment or maybe that just happens when he's asleep...

 

[Kashki]

Hey man, sounds like you're well onto the right track here (always love to see people doing their research!)
Straight into the eating habits, I think you've actually got a pretty chill dragon there. Normally the stress of the move is too much for the dragons to eat for the first day or two at least. My little fella has taken 2 weeks to get used to his enclosure! (that's right, he didn't eat a thing for 2 weeks)
So don't stress about eating habits too much. You'll get a feel for what's normal with him and only then can you know if he's been slowing down on eating and whether it might be something of a concern.

I think a few days of not handling would be a good idea early on (I doubt he's dehydrated so I'd skip the baths too). But after that I say handle him as much as he will allow. If you put your hand in and he wants to come up that's great, but otherwise just try again later in the day.

I don't think mini mealworms would really cause that much of an issue unless you let him overindulge and they're the primary feeder. Lucky for you I think dragons love silkworms a lot more than crickets in my experience.

Other than that I think your enclosure looks really cool and provided the temp and humidity levels are good, I imagine a few days will be all he needs to settle right in and get into regular feeding habits. (but again, don't stress if he doesn't unless it's paired with something like runny/smelly feces or lethargy)

Good luck and post some updates for us!

Wow TWO weeks? man I would of had a heart attack. I don't know if it's just me but when he doesn't eat I get stressed out haha. I'm sure you were! and I appreciate that. I'm trying to get the temp perfect because the bulbs were getting hotter after all the hours on... 125 F in the basking area, and that's way too hot. I'm doing trial and error and getting it perfect though!

He's been pooping everyday and today he did on my finger in the water :silent:
But as long as he went I'm happy. Also had a few silkworms before bed cause I got home late.
Here are pictures of him sleeping tonight. I put him up on the hammock and he knocked out against the glass :lol: also I took a picture of his underbelly and I don't know if it's cause hes sleeping but the darker stress marks he had under his beard and belly seem to have toned down. Maybe hes acclimating to the environment or maybe that just happens when he's asleep...

I am still stressing out haha. He's not back to 100% normal yet and is being treated for an infection he developed as a result of the stress. Some dragons just handle change better than others it seems and I think you've got a good one.
Mine also likes to sleep in the weirdest spots! But I think it's a good sign to see him sleeping in the open. Generally when they feel unsafe they'll be hiding all the time.

I had to lower my basking spot due to the heat as well. But my main basking spot is a brick fortress and it's very easy to move up and down with the seasons. It doesn't look fancy, but it also keeps his nails down and he seems to like it.

I think you'll see him relax completely into the next week and you should have nothing left to stress about

I still recommend a vet visit in the first month if you've got the money. It'll put your mind to rest and give him the best possible start to his new life.

 

[AHBD]

With all the writing here I've forgotten if your little one has a name. At any rate, it's good that you stopped after 4-5 silkworms since it was late in the day, you're actually better off just waiting until the next day rather than trying to feed them late. Food can sit undigested in the stomach and resulting in a cycle of not eating much the next day yet again because of an upset tummy. The 2 feedings per day is not a law set in stone, so if it's once only sometimes because of a crazy schedule , that's O.K. If he were in a much stripped down tank, with only 1-2 logs/perches he would find the food very easily....I should say he would recognize the food bowl more easily without all the distractions of different basking levels, platforms + cage furniture/decor. I raised loads of babies and a simple set up at first is best , especially if you're not around all day to see that he recognizes the food bowl with his lunch or dinner.

But he will probably do fine, so don't worry or feel that you have to change things. And as for a vet visit, as long as a baby is not very ill, it's best to skip that until he's a bit bigger and used to everything going on. Then, be sure to find ONLY a vet that is experienced with reptiles....this can't be stressed enough....because one that is not can do more harm than good to a small beardie and cost you alot of money for nothing. There was just such a sad incident posted on another forum....the beardie was very tiny, hadn't poo'd in a few days, owner took it to a vet that " expressed " it [ slight squeeze to push out the poo] and went totally lethargic after and died the next day. So be careful of the reputation of your vet and find one before you need one and only use them if you have a real health problem or to check stool sample for parasites after he's 4-5 months old.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Our two came home with us in clear plastic takeaway food style cricket tubs with lots of pencils sized holes in the lid , 90 min drive home , the entire time on my wife's lap and studying her and me (I was driving) and were ready to eat as soon as we got them home.
Settled in immediately and never had an issue with them going off the grub while adjusting to us. (I put them both initially into a modified 100L tub (was fine for a 2 - 3 months then Rex started dominating Puff so I then set up a second 100L tub and separated them) , after about 8 months in 100L tubs I built a 2 storey beardie enclosure 4'x2'x1.5' per enclosure and this is were they are now.

I was feeding at 9am , and again at 6pm , biggest meal in the am , veg-pellets-greens in at 7am and left overnight (they were very shy about eating there vegs if being watched but I know some disappeared most days (sometimes it would all disappear)).

When I got into the silkworms , I was giving 2 -3 per meal each for the morning meal ONLY, (medium size about 1.5-2" long and I'd substitute one medium silkworm for 2 - 3 small - medium crickets , I was feeding the silkworms with fresh mulberry leafs, didn't know then that these leafs were a good green to feed to lizards.

Lights on 6am ,off 9:30pm , on timers , I never change the timer settings. Seems to work nicely with mine.

This way mine get 2 hours under the lights (or on their heat pad if they chose to go under their fake log to retire for the night) after eating before lights out.

BTW I have 7W heatpad sandwiched between 2 layers of ceramic tiles controlled by simple switching thermostats (set to 36-37oC) that run 24/7 , so they always have a nice cozy place to nap or sleep overnight should they chose to.

Never gets colder than 20oC in my home.

 

[Porschy]

I am still stressing out haha. He's not back to 100% normal yet and is being treated for an infection he developed as a result of the stress. Some dragons just handle change better than others it seems and I think you've got a good one.
Mine also likes to sleep in the weirdest spots! But I think it's a good sign to see him sleeping in the open. Generally when they feel unsafe they'll be hiding all the time.

I had to lower my basking spot due to the heat as well. But my main basking spot is a brick fortress and it's very easy to move up and down with the seasons. It doesn't look fancy, but it also keeps his nails down and he seems to like it.

I think you'll see him relax completely into the next week and you should have nothing left to stress about

I still recommend a vet visit in the first month if you've got the money. It'll put your mind to rest and give him the best possible start to his new life.

Wow infection? is there a specific name to it? that's a real bummer but how is he acting now compared to how he used to act? And yeah you're right, sleeping out in the open is definitely good sign!

Hey doesn't always have to be fancy! as long as it gets the job done But Yes hopefully he will settle in more and his appetite go up! Today was better he had about 4 medium size silk worms in the morning, and another 4 two hours before bedtime. They are big enough to hang out of his mouth for a bit while he chomps them down. so I'm happy he ate more than yesterday! and plus they are more nutritious than most things!

 

[Porschy]

With all the writing here I've forgotten if your little one has a name. At any rate, it's good that you stopped after 4-5 silkworms since it was late in the day, you're actually better off just waiting until the next day rather than trying to feed them late. Food can sit undigested in the stomach and resulting in a cycle of not eating much the next day yet again because of an upset tummy. The 2 feedings per day is not a law set in stone, so if it's once only sometimes because of a crazy schedule , that's O.K. If he were in a much stripped down tank, with only 1-2 logs/perches he would find the food very easily....I should say he would recognize the food bowl more easily without all the distractions of different basking levels, platforms + cage furniture/decor. I raised loads of babies and a simple set up at first is best , especially if you're not around all day to see that he recognizes the food bowl with his lunch or dinner.

But he will probably do fine, so don't worry or feel that you have to change things. And as for a vet visit, as long as a baby is not very ill, it's best to skip that until he's a bit bigger and used to everything going on. Then, be sure to find ONLY a vet that is experienced with reptiles....this can't be stressed enough....because one that is not can do more harm than good to a small beardie and cost you alot of money for nothing. There was just such a sad incident posted on another forum....the beardie was very tiny, hadn't poo'd in a few days, owner took it to a vet that " expressed " it [ slight squeeze to push out the poo] and went totally lethargic after and died the next day. So be careful of the reputation of your vet and find one before you need one and only use them if you have a real health problem or to check stool sample for parasites after he's 4-5 months old.

Haha of course. his name is ZEUS 8) And you're right .. tonight I ran home earlier to be able to feed him a few hours before bedtime. I need to get a timer for the lights so I don't have to stress getting home on time and what not. And you're right, it would be so much easier to feed him with a basic setup but I went all out. I spoiled the little guy .. I also got my powdered multivitamin in the mail today, how many times a week do you recommend me dusting it on food?

And yeah unless he acts up and his appetite dies completely and he's being funny then I'll resort to taking him. and wow, that's such a sad story :? poor little thing.

Bright side today he had a 4 or 5 medium worms today and he found one all the way across his terrarium where I would never of spotted it. Then he had about 4 or so again 2 hours before bed. much better then yesterday! I have to place the silky in front of him on his basking spot so he eats them, or I'll move him down to eat.. but he hasn't had any out of the bowl I leave him throughout the day. He did that once, and that was with meal worms.

 

[Porschy]

Our two came home with us in clear plastic takeaway food style cricket tubs with lots of pencils sized holes in the lid , 90 min drive home , the entire time on my wife's lap and studying her and me (I was driving) and were ready to eat as soon as we got them home.
Settled in immediately and never had an issue with them going off the grub while adjusting to us. (I put them both initially into a modified 100L tub (was fine for a 2 - 3 months then Rex started dominating Puff so I then set up a second 100L tub and separated them) , after about 8 months in 100L tubs I built a 2 storey beardie enclosure 4'x2'x1.5' per enclosure and this is were they are now.

I was feeding at 9am , and again at 6pm , biggest meal in the am , veg-pellets-greens in at 7am and left overnight (they were very shy about eating there vegs if being watched but I know some disappeared most days (sometimes it would all disappear)).

When I got into the silkworms , I was giving 2 -3 per meal each for the morning meal ONLY, (medium size about 1.5-2" long and I'd substitute one medium silkworm for 2 - 3 small - medium crickets , I was feeding the silkworms with fresh mulberry leafs, didn't know then that these leafs were a good green to feed to lizards.

Lights on 6am ,off 9:30pm , on timers , I never change the timer settings. Seems to work nicely with mine.

This way mine get 2 hours under the lights (or on their heat pad if they chose to go under their fake log to retire for the night) after eating before lights out.

BTW I have 7W heatpad sandwiched between 2 layers of ceramic tiles controlled by simple switching thermostats (set to 36-37oC) that run 24/7 , so they always have a nice cozy place to nap or sleep overnight should they chose to.

Never gets colder than 20oC in my home.

seems like you guys have everything timed perfectly! How old are they now? any pictures?
I also need to purchase a timer for my lights. Wheres a good place to get a good one?

I'm really happy to hear they settled in perfectly though! you drove a while to pick them up! Was it from a breeder?

 

[kingofnobbys]

Our two came home with us in clear plastic takeaway food style cricket tubs with lots of pencils sized holes in the lid , 90 min drive home , the entire time on my wife's lap and studying her and me (I was driving) and were ready to eat as soon as we got them home.
Settled in immediately and never had an issue with them going off the grub while adjusting to us. (I put them both initially into a modified 100L tub (was fine for a 2 - 3 months then Rex started dominating Puff so I then set up a second 100L tub and separated them) , after about 8 months in 100L tubs I built a 2 storey beardie enclosure 4'x2'x1.5' per enclosure and this is were they are now.

I was feeding at 9am , and again at 6pm , biggest meal in the am , veg-pellets-greens in at 7am and left overnight (they were very shy about eating there vegs if being watched but I know some disappeared most days (sometimes it would all disappear)).

When I got into the silkworms , I was giving 2 -3 per meal each for the morning meal ONLY, (medium size about 1.5-2" long and I'd substitute one medium silkworm for 2 - 3 small - medium crickets , I was feeding the silkworms with fresh mulberry leafs, didn't know then that these leafs were a good green to feed to lizards.

Lights on 6am ,off 9:30pm , on timers , I never change the timer settings. Seems to work nicely with mine.

This way mine get 2 hours under the lights (or on their heat pad if they chose to go under their fake log to retire for the night) after eating before lights out.

BTW I have 7W heatpad sandwiched between 2 layers of ceramic tiles controlled by simple switching thermostats (set to 36-37oC) that run 24/7 , so they always have a nice cozy place to nap or sleep overnight should they chose to.

Never gets colder than 20oC in my home.

seems like you guys have everything timed perfectly! How old are they now? any pictures?
I also need to purchase a timer for my lights. Wheres a good place to get a good one?

I'm really happy to hear they settled in perfectly though! you drove a while to pick them up! Was it from a breeder?

Yes we bought from a "local" breeder (she breeds beardies and I think small monitors and pygmie beardies too).
Regarded her as probably one of the best local breeders being that she works in a vet surgery and also was experienced with raising beardies so bought from her rather risking a closer to hand beardie breeder who was also advertising hatchies at the same time.

I bought 24/7 timer that's electronic and fully programmable from a place called OfficeWorks, just the same kind you install In your home when you are going to be away on holidays for a long time.

My 2 are now a few weeks off being 3 years old and so far so good - no injuries , no illnesses BUT a few months ago Puff by big boy developed a strange lump on the back of the right side of his head , worries the heck out of me and my wife but he seems completely oblivious to it and it doesn't seem to effect him in any noticeable way despite it being quite large. ( I suspect it's some kind of pseudo aneurism (bleed under the skin) as I think if it was an abscess or a cancer he'd be symptomatic and likely showing that he's feeling off (not being interested in food and lethargic) and in pain (not tolerating the lump being touched and showing a permanent blackbeard) , he's not showing any of these symptoms or behaviour chances - so we have opted to take the wait and see approach and keep an eye for any indications, from what I've read these are very difficult and dangerous to the beardie to treat (involves surgery) and often intervention results in a dead beardie.
We'll just have a beardie with a lump on his head and are reluctant to intervene in any way that's invasive/painful (recovery) and dangerous unless we think that it's starting to effect his quality of life and comfort , only effect it seems to have is it gets in the way and he often bumps it or rubs some skin off it ( time for more maluka honey when he breaks the skin by accident). He tends to do the most damage getting under his 1/2 log hide , so I've taken it away (not enough clearance - and I've ordered an jumbo sized Hubba Hut for him (will give him a bit more "head clearance" 12cm cf 6cm at the entrances - I did consider getting out the angle grinder and grinding off the entrance (moulding) lips but will only give another cm of headroom and might compromise the structural strength of the existing cast acrylic fake log hide).

He's hardly ever blackbeard (such a laid back and lazy boy at the best of times , and has always adored snuggles , cuddles , human contact and being petted - can't get enough of quality dad or mom time. Never dashes about much except when he is horny ..... had a torrid time with him last spring and summer when his hormones really kicked in big time , and he was doing very inappropriate things to the edge of the carpet when obsessing over his sister Rex (who was teasing the heck out of him and giving him the come-on from inside her enclose).
Rex on the other hand is and always has been "nuts" , loves dashing about exploring and getting into everything and just has to know what we are doing , she has her moments when she's done with her dashing about when she'll seek my or me out and request being picked up for a nice cuddle. (All done with "the stare".

I'll dig out some recent photos of Puff and Rex , who are now nudging 700g , that's near 100x growth from when we first brought them home as 6 week olds at 7 and 8g.

My wife , who was very reluctant to have lizards as pets , now adores all 5 of our very pampered and spoilt rotten ubertame and affectionate reptilian children and loves having snuggles with them. All 5 have unique personalities and quirks.

 

[kingofnobbys]

My boy (Puff) is behind my girl (Rex).

 

[AHBD]

Porschy, the powdered vitamin should be used only twice a week, and just a tiny bit. If it sticks to the food very well then just put a light coating on ONE insect. Keeping in mind how tiny the baby is , only a very slight amount is needed.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Porschy, the powdered vitamin should be used only twice a week, and just a tiny bit. If it sticks to the food very well then just put a light coating on ONE insect. Keeping in mind how tiny the baby is , only a very slight amount is needed.

Also it's not uncommon for lizards to not really like the taste of the powdered vitamins on their food , I discovered this when my bluetongues were babies, I'd put some Reptivite on their salad and vegs and they'd turn their noses up at their salad and veg on those days. I've read of other keepers finding their pet lizards also don't really like the taste (smell ?) of the vitamin powder alone on their food as well.
So I started mixing reptical + reptivite powder together on the days I give vitamins, they like the calcium powder.

PS I have been screening my reptical powder through a flour sieve and keeping / setting the course / sharp shards of shell I've been finding (about 20-30% of the mass in the bottle) for grinding up later and the fine powder that passes through ( sub-250micrometer particle size ) goes back in the bottle and is used for dusting insects and the greens and salad/veg/softened pellets mix.

 

[Porschy]

Porschy, the powdered vitamin should be used only twice a week, and just a tiny bit. If it sticks to the food very well then just put a light coating on ONE insect. Keeping in mind how tiny the baby is , only a very slight amount is needed.

Okay great! thank you so much. I did that this past weekend!

UPDATE ON ZEUS:

:mrgreen: His appetite seems to be increasing the past couple days! Today he had a whopping 15+ crickets in one session! I've never seen him eat that much! I also left about 8 silk worms for him in the afternoon and I came back to only 3! His tummy was super full after those crickets :lol:

 

[Porschy]

My boy (Puff) is behind my girl (Rex).

Poor little guy!
How big is the bump on his head? and yeah his new hut should be a bit better for him. Hopefully it goes away with time. Have you had any vet every take a look at it? I'm sure you've done your fair amount of research already :lol:

Your stories about your beardies cracked me up and put a smile on my face! I can't wait till my little guy gets bigger and I can have the same stories and experiences! Nothing would be cooler than chilling on the couch, watching tv & a movie with a beardie by your side or on your lap! That's great your wife loves and treats them like children

 

[kingofnobbys]

My boy (Puff) is behind my girl (Rex).

Poor little guy!
How big is the bump on his head? and yeah his new hut should be a bit better for him. Hopefully it goes away with time. Have you had any vet every take a look at it? I'm sure you've done your fair amount of research already :lol:

Your stories about your beardies cracked me up and put a smile on my face! I can't wait till my little guy gets bigger and I can have the same stories and experiences! Nothing would be cooler than chilling on the couch, watching tv & a movie with a beardie by your side or on your lap! That's great your wife loves and treats them like children

apart from being odd looking and big and obvious and sometimes getting in his way when trying to crawl into his log house , it doesn't seem to be worrying him, and he's happy and healthy and doesn't show any signs of feeling of or uncomfortable or in pain . Been no changes in his behaviour or demeener , so not taken him to be seen by a vet regarding the lump.

I doubt they can do much without risking his life anyway, and I've not got a great deal of confidence in any of the local reptile vets in my area anyway. So we're taking a wait and see approach and keeping a close eye on him in-case he becomes symptomatic.

Chances are he's going to the lump for rest of his life and will not have any health issue because of it if it's a pseudo annurism and not a cyst or abscess or cancerous growth (all of which would likely be symptomatic by now).