critique me please!

[azcarey]

i really want to become the best mommy to my dragons that i can !!! :]






How old is your dragon?
bowser is 2 i believe, i think peach is also 2, (i bought them together from my boyfriends friend) and my new girl is about a year and a half.

How long is he?
bowser is 17+ inches, peach is 14 inches, new girl is 17 as well

How long have you had him?
i've had bowser and peach for about 7 months, and the new girl for like aweek

What size tank is he in?
the new girl right now is in a 2'h, 1'w, 3'L.. & bowser is in a 3'L,1' 1/2W, 1' 1/2H

What substrate (ground covering) is he on?
astroturf, is this okay????

What do you use to heat the tank?
basking spot lamps by zoo med

What are the temperatures (basking spot and cool side) in the tank? 102 hot side and 84 coolside

What do you use to measure the temperatures?
ZooMed Digital Terrarium Thermometer with probe

Are you using a UV light?
yes

If so, which one and how old is it?
i'm not sure which one it is, but about a year old?

How close can he get to the UV bulb?
no less than 4 inches

What are you feeding him (be specific)?
dusted crickets, normal crickets, c. greens, m. greens, romaine

How often?
greens everyday and crickets atleast once sometimes twice a day

Are you using supplementation (i.e. calcium)?
yes

If so which ones (incl. brand) and how often?
rep-cal? once a week, maybe twice

Do you gutload your feeders?
well i give them oranges, i'm not sure what else i should be giving them..

Do you mist or bath your dragon?
i do mist them every once in awhile, couple times a week, they get a bath every couple days

If so, how often?
every couple days

Is your dragon housed alone?
right now bowser and peach are housed together until i am done with the enclosure my boyfriend and i decide to build them all, which we have not decided on what to choose

 

[Catalyst]

What size tank is he in?
the new girl right now is in a 2'h, 1'w, 3'L.. & bowser is in a 3'L,1' 1/2W, 1' 1/2H

As you probably know, those tanks are too small for adult dragons - your new girls only has 3 square feet of floor space, and bowser's only has 4 1/2 square feet. Each adult dragon needs 6-8 square feet of floor space in their enclosure with a minimum depth of 18 inches. This works out to a 75g tank each, or you can build a basic 4'Lx2'Wx2'H enclosure like these
http://www.freewebs.com/crossfireenclosures/
http://www.timelessspirit.com/enclosure.html

What substrate (ground covering) is he on?
astroturf, is this okay????

As long as he can't eat it and it's easy for you to keep clean, then it's okay. I use tiles myself and love them.

What do you use to heat the tank?
basking spot lamps by zoo med

Good stuff. Just so you know, when those need to be replaced you can use regular lightbulbs or halogen flood lights (my preference because they put out more heat per watt) instead - they cost less than the petstore bulbs and do the same job. Just a tip to save a bit of cash

If so, which one and how old is it?
i'm not sure which one it is, but about a year old?

Flourescent UV tubes need to be replaced every six months because while they will still put off light, the coating on the bulb that produces the UV rays wears off. Your bulb is definately due for replacing - I'd suggest going with the Reptisun 10.0 since it's currently teh best flourescent tube UV light available, you can find it online for $17-22.

at are you feeding him (be specific)? [/b]
dusted crickets, normal crickets, c. greens, m. greens, romaine

How often?
greens everyday and crickets atleast once sometimes twice a day

Romaine lettuce isn't good for dragons - its mostly water with no nutrition. You've probably already seen it, but here are a couple of sites with other foods you could add to their salads for variety
http://www.reptilerooms.com/Sections+index-req-viewarticle-artid-98-page-1.html
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
I try to include three staple foods in every salad and put in an additional fruit or veggie every couple of days for variety, although this time of year it's harder because there's not as much of a selection in the grocery store.

As far as crickets go, since all of your dragons are adults, they only need the equivalent of 50 crickets a week. This is because since they are no longer growing their protein needs have changed, and you need to limit their protein and fat intake since too much of these things leads to fatty liver disease.

Do you gutload your feeders?
well i give them oranges, i'm not sure what else i should be giving them..

You can feed them the same greens and veggies that you give to your dragons.

Are your dragon housed alone?
right now bowser and peach are housed together until i am done with the enclosure my boyfriend and i decide to build them all, which we have not decided on what to choose

I'm assuming bowser and peach are male and female? If so you'll want to be very careful because at only 14 inches Peach is too small to be bred (far as I know) so if Bowser decided to go for it, there could be complications for her.

 

[lovemybd]

i really want to become the best mommy to my dragons that i can !!! :]






How old is your dragon?
bowser is 2 i believe, i think peach is also 2, (i bought them together from my boyfriends friend) and my new girl is about a year and a half.

How long is he?
bowser is 17+ inches, peach is 14 inches, new girl is 17 as well

How long have you had him?
i've had bowser and peach for about 7 months, and the new girl for like aweek

What size tank is he in?
the new girl right now is in a 2'h, 1'w, 3'L.. & bowser is in a 3'L,1' 1/2W, 1' 1/2H

What substrate (ground covering) is he on?
astroturf, is this okay????
This is fine just make sure that you take it out and completely wash it at least once a week. Also inspect it for loose strings that the dragons could ingest.

What do you use to heat the tank?
basking spot lamps by zoo med
These are good but you could also go to the hardware store and buy a regular house hold bulb or spot light and it will do the same thing, and are much cheaper.

What are the temperatures (basking spot and cool side) in the tank? 102 hot side and 84 coolside
This is great!

What do you use to measure the temperatures?
ZooMed Digital Terrarium Thermometer with probe
This is good

Are you using a UV light?
yes

If so, which one and how old is it?
i'm not sure which one it is, but about a year old?
This is very important UVB is esential in a healthy dragon. The tube lights need to be changed every 6mo after that they do not put out hardly any UVB. the best ones are the Reptisun 10.0 and the reptiglo 8.0 they are both by zoomed.

How close can he get to the UV bulb?
no less than 4 inches
Wonderful.

What are you feeding him (be specific)?
dusted crickets, normal crickets, c. greens, m. greens, romaine
The romaine has to go, it is mostly just water and has very little nutrients I would replace it with Endive and Escarol, and some Butternut squash.

How often?
greens everyday and crickets atleast once sometimes twice a day
They are adult dragons and they only need to be fed about 20-30 crix per week each, at this age thier protien level should be at 20% and Greens should be at 80% and always dust the crix with calcium and once a week with multi vit.

Are you using supplementation (i.e. calcium)?
yes

If so which ones (incl. brand) and how often?
rep-cal? once a week, maybe twice
Always dust the crix with the calcium and you should get the herptivit made by repcal and give to them 1X per week.

Do you gutload your feeders?
well i give them oranges, i'm not sure what else i should be giving them..
Oranges should not be used to gut load your crix, citrius fruits are not good for beardies, and what your crix eat your dragon eats, I use the left over greens and the stems from my dragons veggies as well as apple and potato.

Do you mist or bath your dragon?
i do mist them every once in awhile, couple times a week, they get a bath every couple days

If so, how often?
every couple days
Excelent! 2-3 times a week is great.

Is your dragon housed alone?
right now bowser and peach are housed together until i am done with the enclosure my boyfriend and i decide to build them all, which we have not decided on what to choose

It is great that you are going to separate them, dominace will eventually become an issue if they are not separated as well as your female will be breed and will become gravid. best to separate them soon, good luck with your building.

You are doing wonderful keep up the good work.

 

[lovemybd]

Cat you must be a faster typer than me :lol:

 

[azcarey]

thank you thank you much both of you guys, i will be making needed changes and starting on their new enclosure very soon, i kind of wanted to do a stacked enclosure for them, so they all have a seperate enclosure, but big enough for each.. if anyone knows what i'm talking about, a petstore type of enclosure i geuss but with more room for the dragon to roam around, would you guys happen to at all have any idea where i would get a better idea for this type of this? links or anything? Thanks again!

 

[Catalyst]

I know several people here have built their own stacked enclosures so I'd suggest posting a question about it over in the enclosure forum and maybe also ask for pictures of teh ones they've done or bought.