Care for A baby dragon

[boomer2726]

Hello! My name is Kelly and I have recently bought a baby bearded dragon for my son and for the whole family! As I am a reptile lover mostly lizards and geckos. I have a leopard gecko and have had her for almost 7yrs. I just love the new addition to our family as do my sons and my husband. I just have a couple of questions?? One I have had Boomer for almost 4day's now I was wondering how long does it take them to adjust to the new surroundings? He seems to be doing well although I don't see him eat much. Is this because of his small size and he doesn't need to eat as much. He does love crickets but as far as veggies and fruits he will eat grapes but seems not so interested in the Kale I have provided him. I have heard they can be picky eaters. Also I do have a light source for him and plenty of trees and stumps to bask on. The girl at the pet store told me they left the light on all night?? I find that a little odd but I have been doing it. Would it be okay to get him a light that simulates night time as well?? He does tend to sleep a lot but it very alert when we come into the room and almost welcomes us to pick him up and he loves to just lay in our hands and chill for awhile. I just want to make sure I am doing all the right things because by far he is one of the coolest reptiles I have owned.

Thank you
Kelly aka Boomers mom!

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hi Kelly and Boomer.... Welcome,

Bearded dragons are wonderful pets, you and your family will enjoy having little Boomer !!!
I will try to help you with your questions about your new little guy.

First of all it could take your little guy several weeks to adjust to his new surroundings, but he will in time. He may not be eating much due to the new adjustment, so no need to worry.
As far as veggies go, the babies don't always take to those right away...just keep offering him fresh veggies daily and with time he will eat them.
I wouldn't reccomend feeding the kale as a main veggie. Here is a link to a list of foods that are good for your beardie
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Sorry to tell you this, but the girl at the pet store was wrong about leaving a light on all night. Bd's prefer complete darkness at night, therefore, no you do not need to buy a night time bulb.Having a light on at night disrupts a bd's sleep, that could be why your little one is sleeping alot during the day. General rule of thumb is 12-14 hrs of daylight(lights on) 10-12 hrs of night (lights Off). Alot of bd owners actually put there lights on timers, nothing special just a regular timer you can pick up at Walmart or a hardware store.

If you wouldn't mind going over your set up, we can see if everything is up to par in your beardies enclosure.

-What type(tube,coil,compact) & brand of basking and uvb lights are you using?
-How close can your beardie get to his basking and uvb?
-How are you measuring the temps on the basking and cool side? What are the temps?
-What type of substrate are you using?

If you could answer those questions it would be great...

Dawn

 

[boomer2726]

Thank you for replying to me! I will most certainly turn the light off at night now that I know that bit of info, and to be honest my 7yr old wasn't getting much sleep at night due to the light either!! Ha Ha the heat bulb I am using is a 60watt exoterra I believe and he can get up to 2 inches away from it which is where I have noticed he likes to be most of the time but I did have sand in the tank which I did not know was bad for them so after I read that last night I immediately took it out!! He now has that felt like stuff that's green. We did find out last night that he loves to be hand fed crickets. The tank that he is in is a reptile tank short and long a pretty big as at one point and time I had a ball python but we have cleaned it out and put it to use again.
I do have the calcium powder and vitamin powder as I use it with the leopard gecko.

Thanks again
Kelly

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Okay, great you're removing the night light. You said your little guy can get as close as 2" to his basking bulb. That is way too close. You don't want him that close it's hazardous. He really should be no closer than 10-12 inches. I noticed you did not mention a uvb light, do you have one? If so, what kind? Are you measuring your temps ?

Dawn

 

[boomer2726]

Well I am not really sure what a UVB light is? I thought that I had one but maybe I was wrong? The bulb when it is off is a purpleish color and it only lights one portion of the tank. Should I get a light similar to an aquarium type that runs the whole length of the tank? I will pull the light back if that is too close for him. I do need to get a type of thermometer I know they sell them and they stick on the tank. Is it a good idea to get something like an under tank heater to keep him warm at night? I did notice when I did have the sand in there he would kind of dig himself a little hole and snuggle down inside of it? I thought maybe he just did that when he got a little warm and wanted to cool off. He also seems to be a really calm sleeper!!! I'm talking sometimes I don't think he is breathing but as soon as I do something with the tank he eyes me! Always follows me with his head so I know he is really alert.
Totally different care than with my leopard gecko so I am really glad that I have found someone whom I can talk with as I would hate for anything to happen to him. Also how fast do they grow? I know a lot of it depends on how big their environment is or at least that's what I thought. and how often and what they eat right? I also have heard and seen many different sizes of Dragons so what it the typical size one will get?

 

[zebraflavencs]

ReptiSun 10.0 Tube or an Arcadia 12 is what you need. It is a T8 bulb so you will need to pop over to Lowes', Home Depot to get a fixture for it, don't bother with petstore fixtures, you get the same thing at the above mentioned places. The beardie needs to get within 4-8" of the UVB in order to make use of calcium supplements.
Hope this helps.
Janie.

 

[boomer2726]

Okay thanks! I will definetly do that as I did not know that their was a difference. Im sure it will work.

 

[zebraflavencs]

T12s are being phased out for the "more efficient" T8s. T12s are wider, allowing shop light kinds of tubes, whereas the T8s are thinner (at the prong) for the newer tubes.
Janie.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hi Kelly,

Did you manage to get a uvb light yet? The reptisun 10.0 that zebraflavencs mentioned is a very reputable bulb. That's what alot of people here including myself use. Yes, you can get one that stretches the length of your tank, the longer the better. Try to position it as close to your basking light as possible since this is where your bd will spend most of it's time. Your beardie should be able to get within 6-8 inches of it for it to be beneficial. Bd within 10-12 inches of basking bulb. Sometimes you have to raise or lower basking spot to get the right temps. For a baby you want your basking temps to be around 105-110, with a cool side of 80-85.

As for a thermometer...the Acurite digital therm. w/wire probe is the most accurate. the stick on ones can be off as much as 20 deg. You can get the Acurite at Walmart for $12, it is in the area where you get the home thermometers.

The undertank heaters are really not reccomended, due to bd's not sensing heat through their bellies. There is a risk of your bd getting burned. If you do need extra heat in the enclosure, a CHE(ceramic heat emitter) would work.

As far as the growth of a bd, they generally do most of their growing in the first year. Sizes vary...as an adult they can range from 16" up to 24"(extreme). It really depends on genetics and husbandry can definitely play a role in that too.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask..there are many knowledgable bd owners on this site!!

Good Luck,

Dawn