First time owner :D(with pictures)

[Chezlee]

Hello My name is Chelsea and I have just gotten a new bearded dragon named Clyde. He's about 6 inches long. I've had him for about a week now and I'm trying my best to be a good owner. I decided to join this site after finding it Clyde seems content in his tank I set up for him. I bought the tank and the lights and set everything up two days before I got him to make sure everything worked and the temperature/humidity was good and the tank was okay to keep in my room. I've noticed he tends to stay on his basking spot all day and night even when I turn the light off. Is that normal? I never really see him go on the cool side of his tank.

I have the dial thermometers and I have recently read that they tend to be inaccurate? I plan on buying a digital thermometer soon because I heard those tend to be more accurate.

I have been feeding him crickets and he seems to be eating from three throughout the day to only one a day now. I offer him more but he eats one and then he just ignores the rest of them.

He also has just started shedding I noticed today. How should I go deal with this? I do not know how long bearded dragons shed for, and since he's only a little thing I don't know how much he's going to shed.

I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to make sure my beardie lives a good healthy life so tips and advice are appreciated :3

And here is some pictures
Clyde on the first day I got him

He liked what was playing

Here's a picture I took of Clyde today

 

[ShannyBeard]

OMG cuteness overload. :shock: :mrgreen: He's adorable and I love the name Clyde. Welcome to bd.org.

You're awesome and on the right track about the thermometers. The dial ones are useless, so just get rid of them. I'm guessing you have read this thread that Brandon made about thermometers: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=167279#p1348031 It's a great thread that will help you to understand what we are looking for in a thermometer for the bearded dragon.

He should definitely be eating more crickets than he is. How big are the crickets? Are they smaller than or about the same size as the distance between Clyde's eyes?

How about supplements? Did you get calcium powder with D3 and a vitamin powder to dust his crickets?

And cage lighting....Do you have a UVB for him? And a bright basking bulb? And you don't have any blue or red night lights, do you?

 

[Chezlee]

The crickets he are eating are actually a bit bigger than the distance between his eyes or about the same, at the pet store I was told by them that the crickets they gave me to feed him were good and he seems to eat them fine. That's what they fed him at the pet store. I do not have the powder to dust the crickets yet but I do plan on buying them. Also I heard that bearded dragons tend to eat less when shedding, and Clyde is starting to shed a bit so could that be why he's not eating as much as he used to? How many crickets should I be feeding him anyways?

With the lights I have the lights that came with this, http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4070846
The lights

Here's how the whole tank looks like. When he gets bigger I will be getting a bigger tank

 

[ShannyBeard]

The crickets he are eating are actually a bit bigger than the distance between his eyes or about the same, at the pet store I was told by them that the crickets they gave me to feed him were good and he seems to eat them fine. That's what they fed him at the pet store. I do not have the powder to dust the crickets yet but I do plan on buying them. Also I heard that bearded dragons tend to eat less when shedding, and Clyde is starting to shed a bit so could that be why he's not eating as much as he used to? How many crickets should I be feeding him anyways?

With the lights I have the lights that came with this, http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4070846
The lights

Here's how the whole tank looks like. When he gets bigger I will be getting a bigger tank

Be very careful feeding crickets that are larger than the space between his eyes. Babies can get impacted and/or constipated if given feeders that are too big! :shock:

You should feed him as many as he will eat in a 10-15 minute period of time, three times a day.

The supplements are extremely important, so be sure to get that calcium powder and dust his feeders with it 5 days a week, and dust with the vitamin powder 2 days a week. Babies grow fast and really need their supplements, so be sure to get those immediately.

The day white bulbs is perfect. Throw out or return the night blacklight. If your temps at night get below 65*F then you will need to get a ceramic heat emitter to keep him warm. They do need their nighttime temps to drop, so let them drop without heat if they are staying in the mid-60's to 70's. Bearded dragons need total darkness to sleep and the black light puts of light in the ultraviolet range. We can't see the light but your beardie does see UV light, so it will disturb his beauty sleep.

Are you able to get smaller crickets for him? The older and bigger crickets get, the harder their exoskeleton will be, so if you are feeding crickets that are too large, they probably are a bit hard for him and will not be as easy to digest.

 

[PudgysMom]

Hi there,

Yes, you are right. They do eat less (or sometimes not at all) when they're in shed.

You should really read this thread - at least the very first post, because you don't have the right lighting. Get the Reptisun 10.0 bulb because your baby needs UVB/UVA so he doesn't get MBD (metabolic bone disease). Please don't buy another brand! The 50W bulb should be okay for basking, just make sure you have your temps right. And as long as your house doesn't go below 65 degrees (Farenheit) at night, you do not need a night light. In fact, just get rid of it. If it goes below 65, get a CHE (ceramic heat emitter). I know it seems like a lot, but honestly once you have it all down it's easy!
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=148006

And please don't listen to petstores. More than half the time they have no idea what they are talking about. The food should definitely be no larger than the space between his eyes. It is dangerous to feed food that is too large for them. It can impact their tummies and cause them to get extremely sick and even die. I don't tell you this to scare you, but to educate you, because unfortunately - it is the reality.

Lastly, please take a look at this nutrition chart. It is extremely helpful in knowing what to feed and what not to:

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

It is great you are here to learn.

He is adorable and I love the name Clyde, too!

 

[ShannyBeard]

You should really read this thread - at least the very first post, because you don't have the right lighting. Get the Reptisun 10.0 bulb because your baby needs UVB/UVA so he doesn't get MBD (metabolic bone disease).

I was just back up to the tank picture looking for the UVB as well, don't see one. :?

Hopefully you can invest in the ReptiSUN 10.0 linear tube. You will need a linear lighting fixture for it also. If they do not have the ReptiSUN at the pet store, then order it online. Don't make the mistake of getting a substandard brand. :shock:

 

[Chezlee]

I will be sure to buy the proper lighting as soon as possible. Once I started reading about the distance between the eyes rule about crickets I immediately started to worry, I will be sure to get the smaller crickets for him. Don't want him to get impacted :shock:
Thank you all so much for the advice, helps a lot