Dragonista, Beast, Lemon, and Sophera

[MsWanda10166]

I am new to this, and also a soft hearted sucker. (lol) My husband wanted a bearded dragon for Christmas, so I agreed. With the understanding that HE would be the one taking care of the lizard. (We are in our mid 40's just in case that's needed) We were in and out of every pet store within an hour drive, and the little baby went with us up to OK for Christmas. We were keeping her temp right in check, and watching the thermometer constantly, and four hours into the trip we stopped to get gas, and looked in on her and she looked dead. We were heart broken and not sure what to do with a dead baby in the middle of nowhere the Sunday before Christmas. My husband pulled her out, she wasn't moving and got out in the freezing cold, she woke right up and was not happy about being in the cold at all, and he jumped right back in the car, heater full blast. Dragonista rode the rest of the trip under his shirt to Tulsa Ok, we live on the coast in Ms, so a LONG drive. We spend a week in Ok, then start the drive back home, I got tired of driving but the only option was she go on ME if he drove, so I sucked it up, and was dog tired and he drove and I held her. We get back home, and shopping for feeders, and walk into a pet store, and there is a bigger bearded dragon that they need to re-home, He wont have a thing to do with my husband but I pet him and he crawls up my hand and then to my chest, the up to my neck and starts nuzzling at my ear. I fell in love, so Beast came home with us. So three days home and he is having loose bowel movements and not eating, I called the pet store, multiple times to ask them questions, and then Sunday night I broke out my microscope from years ago, just to make sure, and there were moving things in his feces. So off to the Vet an hour away to get him checked. Sure enough he had pin worms, so we got meds. while at the vet their was a lady there that had two beardies, that she said she did not have time to care for, and did we want them enclosure and all, so being naive we said sure, and brought two more adult girls home. They had been in the same cage, but one is missing several parts. Lemon is the one with handicaps and is missing several fingers, and one back leg to he knee, and the other back leg is missing most of her foot. We took them apart to clean their enclosure, and Sophera threw a hissy fit, so we put Lemon back in briefly, but Sophera started attacking her so separated again, and off to petsmart for another enclosure. So we get all the enclosures set up, and waited two weeks and still loose stools, so off to the vet again. These two both have parasites and a whole round of dewormer stuff for ALL. So now we should be worm and parasite free, the girls (Lemon, and Sophera are in smaller enclosures than they should be but are eating well, and get out daily for exsersize. So now almost everyone is happy, but Beast. I told the Vet that Beast had just finished a dewormer a week ago, but he said to give him this dewormer stuff anyway, because we did not want the parasites and stuff that the two older girls had to spread, and it was better to be safe than sorry. Beast got his second dewormer on Friday, and he has been off on his appetite since, not that he has had a very good appitite since we got him. He will not eat anything other than meal worms and super worms, and not many of either of those. He eats no vegies, and no fruit. I have tried to feed him everything I can think of or have read that is avalible. He is skinny, maybe 1 year to 18 months, but no one knows exactly, and you cant tell by his size because he is thin. I can coax him to eat either one super worm or five meal worms a two times a day, but thats it. I try to feed him several times a day, and this morning, made a slush of greens and force fed him trhew a dropper, but he only ate a table spoon, before he was fighting so hard that we had to put him back in his enclosure, and he has been mad (had a black beard) all day. I am at a loss on what to do with him, and afraid he is going to starve himself to death. Any Ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, Wanda

 

[sweetiepie9]

Welcome to our site and, boy, you sure took on aload when you got all your beardies, but they are wonderful animals. I have 5 adult males, so I know what it's like to have mutiples. I've had dragons for 6 years and have learned ALOT from the people on this site, so will try to help as much as I can.

So to start I need to know a bit more of their set ups, what type of UVB lights your using, what basking temps they have, what you're using to measure the basking temps, a temp gun or a digital therm with a probe. The right basking temps are really important for digestion and the right UVB is important, as dragons need very strong sunlight to be healthy.

Are you giving them calcium 3x/wk by dusting their food (the baby should have 1 feeding 5x/wk) and vit/min 1x/wk (the baby 2 feedings per week). The calcium is to ensure strong bones & to help with digesting their food & the vit/min is necessary as they don't get everything from their food. There are alot of things that need to be done right with dragons for them to be in good health.

Because you've had the adults de-wormed, you should also be giving them a probiotic, as this will help get good bacteria into their digestive systems. Soy yoghurt is fine, any fruit flavour, there are powders and also liquids, here is a site that sells quite a few. www.bug-de-lite.com I used Benebac for a rescue I brought home last April, Gabriel, he was very skinny and the Benebac gel helped his digestion enormously, he was on parasite meds for 3 months. I also just ordered Acidopholus for my largest beardie, who just woke up from brumation (it's the beardie hibernation) not feeling all that well. Beast might do well with some Electrolytes, Tracie, who owns this site, is out of electrolytes, but you can get pedialyte (what you get for children) and feed him that from a dropper.

They also need to have baths on a regular basis as Beast, especially, could be very dehydrated. So a 20 minute soak daily for him would be helpful, in warm water, up to his armpit. You could also see if he'd drink from an oral syringe, by dripping the water onto his mouth. For the baby & the two girls, 2-3 times a week would be good. It's necessary that they get water, but they rarely will drink on their own.

The other thing is mealworms, please don't feed them to your dragons, crickets or dubia roaches would be much better, more nutritious. Supers are fine, as they have lots of meat in their shells, but mealworms have more shell than meat and are hard to digest.

So let me know what their set ups are about. If their basking temps are off, or you have the wrong type of UVB, then that would explain the lack of eating. I'm glad you got them to a vet re: parasites as that also will cause a problem with eating/digesting.

So again, welcome to the world of dragons. Also, thanks for separating your two girls, they will fight for dominance, it's their nature and they are solitary animals, best to be in their own kingdom.

Take care
Deb

 

[MsWanda10166]

Hi Deb, its nice to meet you.
I will go to the health food store today, and see what they have, and then order off the net, so I can start them ASAP. I am assuming that it is the same as for humans? If so I have probiotics here at the house, if so what do I do just break the capsule open, and sprinkle it like I do the calcium dust? How do you know how much to give each one? Are you familiar with Melaleuca products? They have a wide range of cleaning products and vitamins, all non toxic and non-carcinogenic to humans, cats and dogs, is it safe for dragons too? I bought bleach, vinegar, and baking soda to clean for the dragons, but I would much rather use Melaluca products, if they are safe for them. The products are made with tea tree oil from Australia.

Beast
How old is your dragon? Unknown and 271 grams last week, and 281 grams today
How long have you had your dragon? 3 weeks
How long is your dragon? 14" last week, and 16" today, I think I may have had Beast and Lemon confused last week on length
What is the sex of your dragon? Male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 36" long x18" wide x 18" tall
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? slate tiles (scrubbed free of glue, and bleached and rinsed)
Do you use UVB lights? Yes, a Reptisun 10 UVB
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? fluorescent tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptisun
How old is your UVB bulb? 3 weeks
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? within 6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? yes, ZooMed 100 watt for each, both white and red, (red is for night, white for day)
Are you using any kind of night time heat source (colored bulb, ceramic heat emitter, etc)?Red 100 watt ZooMed bulb
What are the basking temps?105 to 110
What is the cool side temp? 80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? We have taken temps with multiple thermometers, from Mercury to probes, and temp gun, All seem to read the same, so for quick temp checks, I use the gun, it is faster.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? I have taken temps all over, including on the dragons skin.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. He will only eat a few mealworms a day and a super worm on occasion.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I try all three, he seems to eat mid morning 3 meal worms, and evening he will eat either one surperworm or five meal worms if I am lucky
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? I gut load the mealworms, he will not touch crickets, phoenix worms, or wax worms
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Flukers Liquid Vitamin, 2 xs a week, Flukers calsiumD3 dust on his worms
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? They are a little watery.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? 3 times a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes he always has fresh water daily treated with ZooMed reptisafe
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Yes, First check showed pin worms second was clean
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? NO


Dragonista (The Baby)
How old is your dragon? Hatch date is Oct 1, 2012 and 35 grams last week and 48 grams today
How long have you had your dragon? 6 weeks
How long is your dragon? 10" last week, and 11.5 today
What is the sex of your dragon? Female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 48" long x12" wide x 21" tall
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? slate tiles (scrubbed free of glue, and bleached and rinsed)
Do you use UVB lights? Yes, a Reptisun 10 UVB
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? fluorescent tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptisun 17 watts
How old is your UVB bulb? 3 weeks
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? within 8 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? yes, ZooMed 100 watt for each, both white and red, (red is for night, white for day)
Are you using any kind of night time heat source (colored bulb, ceramic heat emitter, etc)?Red 100 watt ZooMed bulb
What are the basking temps?105 to 110
What is the cool side temp? 80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? We have taken temps with multiple thermometers, from Mercury to probes, and temp gun, All seem to read the same, so for quick temp checks, I use the gun, it is faster.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? I have taken temps all over, including on the dragons skin.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. She is offered fresh salad daily, She gets crickets on the weekends and Pheniox worms daily, at least 4 times a day, and as much as she will eat, she is the first one I feed and also the last one I feed at each feeding.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I feed them all salad first, then about mid morning around 10am I start feeding her protien, then she gets fed again around 2 and then at 6 and then at 10and then lights out.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? I gut load the crickets, phoenix worms, or wax worms
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Flukers Liquid Vitamin, 2 xs a week, Flukers calsiumD3 dust on his worms
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes they are perfect.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Every other day
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes she always has fresh water daily treated with ZooMed reptisafe
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Yes, she is healthy and growing fast in the past week she has put on 13 grams, and grew 1.5 inches
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? NO

Lemon, is the special needs dragon.
How old is your dragon? Unknown and 313 grams and 308 grams this week
How long have you had your dragon? 2 weeks
How long is your dragon? 16" last week, and 14.5 inches this week I do not think dragons shrink without loosing a part, and I know she has not lost any parts since I got her, so I am fairly sure I made a mistake.
What is the sex of your dragon? Female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 30" long x12" wide x 12" tall. I know this is to small for an adult girl. I just bought 3 cribs lastnight at the thrift store and am going to convert them. I have been looking at different ideas on this site, the new enclosure will be about 72 gallons, it is 37 long x 24 wide x 24 tall
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? slate tiles (scrubbed free of glue, and bleached and rinsed)
Do you use UVB lights? Yes, a Reptisun 5.0UVB
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? compact fluorescent
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptisun
How old is your UVB bulb? 2weeks
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? within 6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? yes, ZooMed 75watt for each, both white and red, (red is for night, white for day) Sometimes the day bulb will get to hot so I turn the red bulb on mid day, and the white back on in the evening, till bed time and then the red back on.
Are you using any kind of night time heat source (colored bulb, ceramic heat emitter, etc)?Red 75 watt ZooMed bulb
What are the basking temps?105 to 110
What is the cool side temp? 80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? We have taken temps with multiple thermometers, from Mercury to probes, and temp gun, All seem to read the same, so for quick temp checks, I use the gun, it is faster.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? I have taken temps all over, including on the dragons skin.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. She will eat anything I offer her. When we got her she was eating that processed bearded dragon food from petsmart, but I gave her fresh greens and fruit, and she loves it, and will not eat the processed food now, and I am happy with that. Daily in the morning she gets a fresh salad comprised of mustard, and collard greens, and spring mix with the spinach picked out, a few carrot shreds, some squash, and a touch of fruit. They seem to eat their salad better if I put a small amount of kewi or strawberries on top. I think the juices run down threw the greens and give a touch of sweet.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I feed the salad in the morning, and pheniox worms at night, crickets on the weekends. I hate the way crickets smell, and researched, found pheniox worms so that is her daily protien.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? I gut load the and dust crickets, or wax worms
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Flukers Liquid Vitamin, 2 xs a week, Flukers calsiumD3 dust on worms and crickets
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes and they look good now.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? 3 times a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes she always has fresh water daily treated with ZooMed reptisafe
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Yes, First check showed pin worms and parisites, meds are on Feb 8th, next vet visit in on Feb 12th
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? NO

Sophiera
How old is your dragon? Unknown and 365 grams last week, and 348 grams today
How long have you had your dragon? 2weeks
How long is your dragon? 17" last week, and 15" inches today Not sure what is up with the shrinking lengths, I will keep an eye on it. Could possibly the smaller enclosures have anything to do with it? The weight loss, I think is due to the change in their diet, they get as much salad as they want, but I do limit the crickets or worms to one time a day. The house they came from was very dirty, had wild roaches all over, including their cage, which is why we got new enclosures for them, I just could not put that much filth in my house.
What is the sex of your dragon? Female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 30" long x12" wide x 12" tall. I know this is to small for an adult girl. I just bought 3 cribs lastnight at the thrift store and am going to convert them. I have been looking at different ideas on this site, the new enclosure will be about 72 gallons, it is 37 long x 24 wide x 24 tall
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? slate tiles (scrubbed free of glue, and bleached and rinsed)
Do you use UVB lights? Yes, a Reptisun 5.0 UVB
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? compact fluorescent
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Zoo Med Reptisun
How old is your UVB bulb? 3 weeks
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? within 6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? yes, ZooMed 75 watt for each, both white and red, (red is for night, white for day) Sometimes the white will get a little to hot during the day, so I will turn on the red in mid afternoon, and then the white back on in the evening.
Are you using any kind of night time heat source (colored bulb, ceramic heat emitter, etc)?Red 100 watt ZooMed bulb
What are the basking temps?105 to 110
What is the cool side temp? 80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? We have taken temps with multiple thermometers, from Mercury to probes, and temp gun, All seem to read the same, so for quick temp checks, I use the gun, it is faster.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? I have taken temps all over, including on the dragons skin.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. He will only eat a few mealworms a day and a super worm on occasion.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I feed salad in the morning and Phineox worms in the evening, Crickets on the weekend.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? I gut load the crickets, she also eats calsi worms, and salad.
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Flukers Liquid Vitamin, 2 xs a week, Flukers calsiumD3 dust on her worms
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? They are loose, and she smears them all over, I have to clean and sanitize her cage daily.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? 3 times a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes he always has fresh water daily treated with ZooMed reptisafe
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Yes, possible parisites and worms, next dewormer is Feb 8th, next vet visit is on Feb 12th
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? NO

I appreciate any suggestions or advice, I am willing to learn. I have bought several books, and researched tons of websites. I have not figured out how to post pics with my post, I do have a couple of pics of Beast in the photo gallery, but there is no number or anything to identify him. He is the one on the 2"x4" slate tiles. We live in Southern Mississippi, on the coast, so when a reptile show comes to Baton Rouge La, or Pensacola Fl, we will go to it. I also found out there is a breeder locally, but have not contacted him yet. My husband has some interest in breeding, but for me right now just getting them good and healthy is my focus. Four dragons and 3 dogs is enough work without throwing something else in the mix.
I also have some questions about the feeder roaches. I have to get over the icky factor, do they look like roaches? Are they roach larvae? Do they carry the diseases like common roaches?

Thank you so much,
Wanda

 

[daner923]

Just a couple small things (you're doing a great job!!) Kill the red night lights. Contrary to what a lot of people think, they can see it, and it will interfere with their sleep schedules, either now or in the future. As long as it stays above 65F in their tanks at night, you're fine. If it drops below 65F, you should get ceramic heat emitters, as they generate heat without light. The tank you have the baby in is fine for now, but it is really too narrow in the long run - it is hard for them to turn around in a tank only 12 inches wide. I know you can't get beast to eat anything but mealworms, but they really aren't giving him much nutrition. It may be better to refuse them to him, so that he will eventually get the idea and start eating a better food. How many hours a day do you have the basking/UVB lights on? You also need to be careful with your feeding schedule - the baby is probably eating too close to bed time, and the others may be too. They shouldn't eat anything within 2 hours of the lights going off, for digestion. If you are already doing that, I think you have the lights on too long, as that would be at LEAST 16 hours of light based on your feeding schedule. The lights should be on 12-14 hours a day.

 

[sweetiepie9]

To add to Daner923, Lemon and Sophera don't have the right UVB light, they need to be switched to the Reptisun 10.0. The UVB in coil lights isn't as strong and they're getting 1/2 the UVB that Beast and your baby are getting, so please switch.

One thing to try with Beast would be Reptaid, it's an herbal mix that helps get their appetite back and please get rid of those mealworms, give him the supers, as he's old enough for them.

One thing you might consider for feeders are dubia roaches. They don't smell, easy to take care of, eat anything, just need water crystals on top of food (I feed mine a chow a friend makes and dog food, plus crystals, oranges and collard greens). They breed frequently, I was told the females lay live babies every 40 days. They can't climb glass or plastic, so you can put them in a dish in your beardies tank after dusting. And they are VERY nutritonal & hardly need to be cared for, unlike crickets.

Also you adults don't need their basking to be quite that high, 100-102F is best for them and you take the temp right on the basking spot to make sure it's accurate. Your baby is fine 105-110 basking spot, as they need the extra heat to digest.

When Dragonista is a juvie, about 6 mo old, that would be the time to get another tank the same size as Beast's, it's called a 40 gallon breeder or critter cage. I have 4 adult males in that sized tank and my biggest dragon Rubio is in a 75 gallon.

So if you can switch the girls lights to the same as the other two, it will be better for them. Do you have your UVB inside the tank? See if you can find an under the tank fixture and then you can mount it in the tank. Getting 6" to the UVB is great, but they lost 50% of the UVB if it's on top of a tank.

Just don't use the red light anymore, as was previously stated, if your dragon's room stays over 65F, they don't need heat at night.

So you are doing a great job with your dargons, considering you've only owned them for a few weeks. You sure did your homework. I love my dragons, have had them since 2006 and find them to be excellent pets. Are they snuggling with you yet? That will come. I take naps with mine when I'm home, they love to sleep on me!

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask, there is no such thing as a stupid question about a dragon, as we all love our dragons to be healthy and happy all the time. And congrats on getting rid of the parasites and that your boy & girls are clean.

Thanks for joining our site, it's a wonderful place, full of great people. I"ve made alot of friends here and have had the best information and as a result have 5 healthy boys. I like to give of my knowledge to others to thank the ones who helped me along the years.
Take care
Deb

 

[MsWanda10166]

Thank you, I will get Lemon, and Sophera new lights, it will be a week or so, but I will tend to that ASAP. The red lights are off, I do not think the temp falls to low in the house, but will keep an eye on it tonight to make sure, we live so far south, that I do not have my heater on in the house, the a/c still comes on in the day. I got super worms in yesterday, so beast will get them now, he ate them like crazy yesterday, but then nothing today, and no poo, but on my ER post, someone told me that pooing daily was not a need, so I will keep an eye on him. I have started bathing him daily as you said, and I read to rub his tummy, so if he continues, then I will do that. I hope that nothing can go to wrong before Tue, because my vet is off on Mondays. I do find it frustrating that ZooMed markets the enclosures I got for the girls to be for Bearded Dragons, and then find out that they are all wrong. (grrrr) In any case, I will get them the right stuff soon, and do lots more reading, to make sure nothing else I am doing is bad for the poor guys.
Thank you so much again, for reading these long post, and answering my questions.
Wanda

 

[sweetiepie9]

It's ok Wanda, I got so much help when I started on this site that I like to help other people, especially getting started.

For Beast, the daily baths will help him alot and if you find, after a few days, that he's still not pooping, try canned pumpkin without the spices. Because it's a squash it's a recommended daily veggie, I feed it to Rubio, my largest dragon, when he doesn't poop and it work sin a couple of days. Adults don't poop every day, sometimes it's 3 days before they do, but I don't let them go past 3 days without the stroking of the underside (from top to bottom) and the pumpkin after that. Here's a really great nutrition list that I've been looking at for the last 6 years, it's highly recommended and has EVERYTHING you could possibly think of and if it's good or bad for dragons, even flowers! www.beautifuldragons.com, click Nutrition. It's a very long list.

So if you need any further help, please don't hesitate to ask & don't be surprised that you're not given the right info from a petstore, it's very rare that they know how to care for reptiles.

Take care
Deb

 

[MsWanda10166]

Thank you for the nutrition guide. I am amazed at how many different guides, there are, and how to figure what one is actually OK. The vet told me no kale and no spinach, he said any other leafy green was good. Now I find out the only thing that I have been giving them that is good, is the collard greens, and the mustard greens. I have been doing a whole lot of work at the detriment of my poor dragons. The only squash they have been getting is the one squash that is not so good for them. Poor babies! Maybe if I offer them the right salad tomorrow, they will actually eat it. (lol) Thank you so much!

 

[MsWanda10166]

Dragonista

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Lemon

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Sophera

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Beast

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[MsWanda10166]

Deb, I have been reading on this site. I have read some things that make me think I should toss they 5.0 I have for the girls right away.When I said I was going to wait on the Reptisun 10 for a week or so, I thought the only thing I was doing was cutting down their UVB/UVA light by 50% for an extra week or so, but with what I have learned this compact florescent can actually burn their eyes? So is it better to get rid of the light, and let them go without for a week?
Thanks,
Wanda

 

[sweetiepie9]

Yes, it would be a good idea. Coils can do severe damage to their eyes, but it takes awhile. still it's not giving out much UVB at this point, which is anothe reason to turn them off. As long as the basking spots are the right them, it won't do them any harm to not have UVB for a week. Just get those lights asap, k?

Plus turn off the red lights, they also have a detrimental affect on beardies, no coloured lights are good for them. Do they have a basking spot, something they can put themselves on like Dragonista? You can use their hides for that if you want. You need something, even if it's sometime low, so you can use your temp gun (you did tell me you had one, right) to measure the basking, to make sure it's at least 102F for Beast Lemon and Sophera. Dragonista's can stay at 105-110F as she's still a baby.

What greens were you giving them that were so bad? Kale and Spinach have something in them that attach to calcium, so they don't absorb it. I know you weren't feeding those, but what were you feeding?

 

[MsWanda10166]

I was feeding them Mustard, and collard greens, and then a spring mix and a cabbage mix, and zuchini, and carots, strawberies, or kewi. So what I would do is take 1 collard green leaf, and 1 mustard green leaf lay them on top of eachouther, and then put a hand full oc the cabbage mix and a hand full of the mixed green, and roll it up like a barrito and slice, and then chop, add carrots, and zuchini and then strawberies on top, and give it to each one. Lemon, and Sophera, eat theirs, but Beast and Dragonista, do not touch theirs, and then I leave it for 24 hours, and change it out. One person told me to leave their greens in longer, but I am concerned about bacteria.
Yes I have a temp gun, and yes they all use their rocks/hides for basking. Lemon prefers to perch on her cactus, but that is the one directly under the compact floresent, so that is why I was asking about removing it. I am working on getting Lemon and Sophera's basking spot right, the lamps were to close, so I had to pull something in their to suspend their lights, and it does not look pretty, but it will work for now. Thank you so much for making sure my dragons get what they need.

Wanda

 

[daner923]

Well, mustard and collard greens are great! Spring mix and cabbage are okay as a little bit of filler, but not for every day. Zucchini, carrots, and fruit are okay occasionally, but not every day. I would make a fresh salad for them once a day, otherwise it gets all dried out. You can spritz it with a little water during the day to keep it moist if you are around.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So continue with the collards and mustard greens for sure, maybe Dragonista and Beast will eat them better on their own, you can only but try. There's nothing wrong with Spring Mix either and there are other greens you can use. The cabbage isn't such a great thing, only once in awhile. The kiwi, strawberries, zuccini and carrots are fine, too but little bits to add to the greens. Some babies don't eat greens every day & Beast might not have found something he likes to chew on yet. Some dragons just don't like any greens. Some you have to hand feed like my dragons! And butternut, acorn squash are good daily veggies, so try them. I cut them up into think squares, some make thin strips and some grate the squash, but definitely add that as it's a good daily veggie.