dragon newbie

[herpseeker]

I plan on getting a bearded dragon in a couple of months but i have a couple of questions.

1. I know they need uvb bulbs but do they need 5% or 10%?

2. What wattage should i use for a basking bulb?

3.i know they eat quite a bit of feeders, but what's the best kind and where can i order them from since only one pet store in my area sells crickets but i doubt they could keep up with the beardie's needs.

 

[blue11]

hi

good questions!

~your dragon will need a 10.0 reptiSUN or a 12% Arcadia ... best UVB TUBE bulbs on the market ... you want the tubes, the linear ones.
the ReptiSUN 10.0 can be found right here -
http://www.petmountain.com/product/...42-504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html
that is the link that will take you right to the page of all different lengths they offer.
buying a ReptiSUN here is like 30 dollars cheaper than from a pet store. some are starting to sell them, and ive seen them marked up to 55 dollars. HELLO! get one from PetMountain online

the Arcadia 12% is now available in the USA! you can find it here -
http://lightyourreptiles.com/
you want the reptile Arcadia D3 linear bulb.

i use an Arcadia in BlueBelles tank and a ReptiSUN on Lexi's tank. Excellent bulbs!!!
you want to place the tube bulb about 6 - 8 inches from your beardie, mounted on in the inside of tank with no barrier/no cover over it to block out any UVB rays.
if you are putting in a hood and laying it on top of the screen, make sure any plastic covering over the bulb is removed (just bust it out or pop it out) to leave the bare UVB tube exposed. they dont create barely any heat, so no worries about that.
if you are putting in a hood, i would just cut a strip out of the screen where you are going to be sitting the hood. that way you can totally ensure that there is nothing between your beardie and the UVB bulb
mounting inside the tank is alot easier, and you dont have to keep lifting the hood on/off the screen to get inside the tank.

if you are getting a custom viv, the mounts usually come inside wired and all for you.

~as far as basking wattage, it depends on what kind of tank you have, how big it is, and where it will be located in your house (near a window. near an A/C vent, all that)
you can use regular white household bulbs for basking bulbs. you dont need an actualy "heat lamp" or "basking bulb" that are pricey.
alot of people use just good ol' household bulbs.
i do with both my beardies. that way, its ALOT easier and a TON cheaper to play around with the bulbs/the wattages to see which one works best for the temp you are aiming for
if its a baby beardie, you want the SURFACE basking temp to be about 110f
if its an adult, i would aim for around 100f

you can measure these temps with a digital thermometer that has a wire with a probe on the end.
stick or place the probe directly on the spot he/she will be sitting to bask. steer clear of the stick on thermometers. they are crazy off on their reading, and they dont give surface temps anyhow. you will not get an accurate reading with them.
temperature guns are EXCELLENT too. i love my temp gun. just point it, and it gives you any surface temp reading you want.

~yup, you are right, they do plow through feeders when they are young! ha. like nom nom nom. two REALLY great feeders for babies and juvies are phoenix worms and blapitca dubia (a type of roach, but they are not scary i promise!!)

phoenix worms cannot climb a slick surface food bowl, and so they are great feeder to leave out if you need to. not to mention they are PACKED with calcium. you dont need to calcium dust a phoenix worm! and they love them too
you can get them at
http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/StoreFront

dubia are a wonderful source of protein for your beardie and a great alternative to icky crickets. sorry, i just hate crickets! can ya tell? they smell and jump ick ick ick. lol, ok so back to dubia ...
the ones i use are Blaptica Dubia. they basically look like pill bugs/roly polys in a way. i was terrified of them at first, and now im like how could i have ever been freaked out by these? ha true story.
i get mine from
http://www.buydubiaroaches.com/

i really like that company, my shipments are always fast and alive, healthy and in a container, not just roaming the box like some other roach companies i have stumbled upon. ahhhh it was traumatic! but i reccomend the site above, they are really nice and efficient people.

there are also other feeders out there like hornworms, silkworms, and butterworms. these are all soft bodied worms, which is a good thing. there are also superworms, but you wanna wait on those if you are getting a baby. i know MulberryFarms (another GREAT online feeder site to go to) does sell very small supers, so that is up to the individual. for a baby i would probably stick to phoenix worms and the extra small female dubia nymphs. neither of these feeders can jump, climb smooth surfaces, or bite. always a plus!!!

buying in bulk is very cheap compared to making the trip for crickets to the pet shop like every other day. smart of you to be looking into feeders
butterworms are extremely easy to keep, as are supers, dubia, and phoenix worms.
hornworms and silkworms can be a little tedious. horns just growwwww HUGE so quick, and silkworms make webs. both make alot of poop that is kinda hard to clean out.
silkworms are such nutrtious worms though. probably not a great bulk feeder price wise.
dubia are great in bulk considering how much a baby/juvie goes through. massive eaters!!!!

so there are alot of great options out there.
maybe you can do the phoenix and dubia as the main staple, and try the others out as you go along to see if your beardie likes them.
variety is the spice of life!!!!

if you have any more questions, like what temps should be, substrate, hydration/water, baths, tank sizes, ANY of that ... ask away!!!
this is a really great forum, and you will mostly get excellent advice from the people on here
so i look foward to hearing your thoughts on all that, and i cant wait to see your set-up and your beardie!!!!!!
do you know if it is going to be a baby or and adult?
pictures pictures, we LOVE PICTURES!!!!!
hope to hear from you!!!
~Em

 

[thelink12]

Hello, I am another newbie with a newbie question. I recently adopted a beardie (Mike) when a friend was going back to school. Turns out he had the setup all wrong, crushed walnut substrate and the compact fluorescent bulb (which has not been replaced for 7 months). I hated having to slide the screen off the top of his vivarium so I bought an Exo Terra 36 inch one. I want to upgrade to a 36 inch fluorescent bulb in a hood but my wife "suggested" that it look nice. So I ordered the Exo Terra dual bulb hood from amazon to be delivered tomorrow. I had to get the reptiglo 10 bulbs because the reptisun 10 could not be delivered overnight. I am very worried that the current UVB light is not working anymore and my local petsmart or petco did not have any 36 inch reptisuns in stock. I will get the reptiglos and use them until I can get some reptisuns delivered. Anyways, sorry about the rant. My question is this. If I use two reptiglo 10 bulbs or even 2 reptisun bulbs will that be too much light/UVB for Mike? He is about 7 months old. I am trying to learn as much as I can. I had no idea I was going to adopt Mike until my son asked if we could keep him. For that reason I am playing catch up to get Mike's new home as nice as possible.

 

[blue11]

hi

its better for Mile to go without any UVB for a bit than to have bad UVB.
if you have ordered the ReptiSUN 10.0 then just go ahead and shut the Reptiglo off. He will be JUST fine

all you need is one UVB tube and you need a bulb that produces heat for basking. I just use a household bulb, i think i have a 75w for Lexi and im using a 60w for Blue.
They are in totally different kinds of vivs, Lexi is in a glass tank with a screen and Blue is a custom viv that regulates heat much better. Just play around with bright white hosuehold bulbs until you get that desired temp.
Mike is about 7 months old so he would probably be comfortable and do well with about 100f basking spot.

i think i wrote up there what kind of thermometers/temp gun to use to measure the temps. basically you just do not want any kind of dial or stick on strip or stick on dial thermometer.
a digital thermometer with a wire coming out of it that has a little probe on the end. thats what you want to get the basking spot temps. they sell them at Wal-Mart, pet stores, Lowe's ... all shops like that.
it will also give you ambient temps, like the temp of the "air and space" in the tank

so just go ahead and leave the reptiglo off ... wait on your reptisun ... in a 36 inch fixture you just want to use one single reptisun 10.0 tube bulb.
how big is the tank by the way?
dont sweat Mile not having any UVB for a for days or a week ... its better for him to have it like that than use a sketchy bulb. oh! if you can hold him and get him like 30 minutes or an hour of nautral sun until your bulb and fixture get here, that would be awesome! its good for him
just make sure he is secure with you ... they are fast, and juvies can JUMP! boing! so you DEF want to make sure that you are holding him well, or in a super secure area, they can get spooked by things that we dont even notice. and when they get spooked, they can run and go under things ... dont wanna lose your beardie! it happens alot more than you think.
but the sun would be sooooooo great for him
your reptisun will come soon, and all will be well, no worries!!!
dont buy the reptiglos, or take them back so you can get your money.
just make sure there is nothing (screen or glass or plastic) between the UVB bulb and your dragon
are you mounting it on the inside?
let me know your thoughts ... and congratualtions on your beardie!!!!
~Em

 

[ClydesGirl]

Two UVB bulbs is probably too much. What you could do is put a normal fluorescent, aquarium bulb in the other socket. You'll want a "daylight" bulb that has a color temp of 6500 degrees or so to simulate real daylight.

 

[herpseeker]

I hope for a baby, but i plan on ordering one i don't trust the pet shops around here. I do have a question about substrate and i know there is debate on which is best, also how often should he or she bathed. I read some posts on here that say every day and others that say every other.

 

[thelink12]

I have an exo terra 36 inch terrarium, and they actually make a hood that has two fluorescent fixtures and two halogen fixtures. I plan on cutting out the screens in the current cover so that they do not deflect any UVB light.

I would have probably just bought a cheap walmart fixture but it has to look nice or my wife will get upset. She is adjusting fairly well for having a beardie in the house. She actually had fed Mike the other day, although I got a call today and she was in tears. Mike pooped and she didnt know what to do. She didnt want him to have to be in there all day with poop but was totally grossed out. In the end she picked it up like a trooper, gagging the whole time. My goal for the spring is to build a bigger 48 inch (minimum) enclosure and do something custom with the lights.

I have a digital thermometer in there now and can get the basking spot between 95 and 103 by moving the current dome. If need be, I will suplemnet with a CHE. I am kind of freaking out because the previous owner looks to have done everything wrong, and I am worried about Mike not getting enough UVB. I take him out when I can but I am very careful with him because I have 3 dogs. They wouldnt bite him, more likely so step on him if he gets spooked and takes off. I will try to get him outside this weekend in his old aquarium with some crickets and superworms.

His original enclosure was crushed walnut, I promptly got rid of that for some reptile carpet. He likes to dig a burrow at night so i tried a box with alfalfa pellets but that did not go over well so I am still using the walnut in a small box for burrowing only. If I feed him crickets, I put him in his old aquarium with cardboard on the bottom so he wont eat any walnut. Superworms I will usually hand feed him and his salad bowl is nowhere near the walnut. I know I should stay away from walnuts but he really likes to burrow. i guess its a calculated risk for now until I fan find a better substrate.

 

[ClydesGirl]

Wow, if your wife is afraid of a little lizard poop, I'm surprised she lets you have three dogs! What's going to happen if she ever has to change a diaper? As for the hood you got, that is quite pretty. Like I said before, you could always put an aquarium daylight bulb in the other socket. I have something like that in my viv, though it's two separate fixtures. Also I wanted to say that if/when you build your own viv, you could probably still use that hood. You could drill holes in it and mount it to the ceiling, sort of the way that my husband and I modified our Zoomed hood to serve as a hanging fixture:

 

[thelink12]

She loves the dogs, but leaves poop duty to me. As for the dirty diapers? She changed them, but usually only when I wasnt around. My son is out of diapers, but with the 3 dogs pooping an my son running around the back yard, it seems I am always scooping the poop! I like your setup, when i do build my own I plan on using the dual hood. It was 140 bucks! I will be using that thing until it dies!

 

[ClydesGirl]

Yeah, when we re-purposed the ZooMed hood, we just took it all apart (it had small philips head screws), drilled holes in the plastic hood itself, attached eye bolts with some small nuts that weren't big enough to interfere with any of the internal workings, then put the whole thing back together again. We were then able to hand it from the ceiling with chains and s-hooks.

 

[blue11]

I hope for a baby, but i plan on ordering one i don't trust the pet shops around here. I do have a question about substrate and i know there is debate on which is best, also how often should he or she bathed. I read some posts on here that say every day and others that say every other.

for the original poster ....

awwwww a baby
i raised BlueBelle from a baby, and looking back i dont think i would have done it any other way. its hard work to raise a baby ... well, its alot of upkeep, but its the COOLEST thing to watch them go from a tiny tiny lizard to a big ol' beautiful dragon! and lots of memories to be made too.
i think both babies, juvies, and adults all make good pets to start with. babies DO require more food and attention, but hey, they grow up eventually

as far as bathing, i bathe very often. Blue is slowing down for brumation, so i have backed off on the baths to about 3 a week.
Lexi gets one every other day.
For a baby, you want to ease them into it, everything is a scary what the HECK adventure for a little baby beardie.
try the first one and see how he/she reacts to it. its best to start when they are young, to get them used to it, but you dont want to over-do it an stress them out.
try a few super warm but short baths the first 2 weeks, then ease into longer soaks.
some love baths, some hate them, and some just tolerate them. you will know, trust me!!! once she/he settles into theeir new home, everything (including baths) will be an adventure for both of you, lol.

but it truly is an excellent source of hydration (in conjuction with the moisture they get from their feeders/greens) ... they do absorb the water from their vent, and its a wonderful way to bond with your beardie too

as far as substrate, i use tile. i LOVE tile. it is cheap, you only have to really purchase it once (unless something really disastrous happens) and it is the easiest thing to clean ... ever!!! it just wipes down, and it looks beautiful. just stunning to look at!
i got my tile from Lowes, they cut it for me, and then i just placed them on the bottom of Blue's viv to fit. they are easily taken out to clean if you need to do that too. i got large squares cut b/c its a large viv floor space, and i think they are easier to fit together when the pieces are a little larger.
tile is an excellent option.

other options are:
non adhesive shelf liner (i used this once before o got tile, very easy to clean)
rept-carpet (i dont like it b/c it's hard to keep clean, but at least it's still a solid substrate, im just not a fan of it, some ppl love it)
paper towels (cant go wrong there)
newspaper (recycle! )

you just dont want any LOOSE substrate like calci-sand, or walnut shells, or wood chips, or tiny pebbles that they sell.
all of these things can (and often will) cause impaction in a dragon. dragons lick everything, and inevitably ingest the particles and its very dangerous. its also pretttty icky un-sanitary as well. sand will absorb the poop/water/urate, and it can stir up in the air and cause respiratory problems. the negatives of these substrates is endless.

go with something solid, any of the above i suggested are a safe way to go.
i am using fabric towels covered with paper towels for Lexi, she is a rescue and needs a very soft substrate right now.
i can put up a picture of Blue's tiled viv if you would like?
you can get an idea of the set up and everything ... ot you can go the Enclosures section and see so realllllllllllly great pics of peoples viv set-ups ... you can look at the pictures and kind of make your own special tank for the new baby!
i am so glad you are asking these questions. you are gonna be a great beardie parent!!!
~Em

 

[herpseeker]

I saw some of the pictures of vivs, some are amazing, i hope i set up something like that. My girlfriend and i have been talking about feeders she wants to try phoenix worms but i say variaty is key but she said no to the dubias ( they creep her out). Ok so to my questions:

1. Calcium and vitamin dusting: i've heard different opinions on how often and what brand is best

2. I read about burmation, how do you know it's burmation the first time it happens?