Friend got her first beardie

[EllenD]

Sounds like things are heading in the right direction, but I agree with AHBD, you need to get a 75 watt basking bulb ASAP, he needs to be able to get very close to the UVB light when he wants to, so the top of his basking branch needs to hit 110 degrees maximum. 123 degrees is lethal. You can seriously just use a regular, bright white 75 watt lightbulb or halogen indoor flood bulb, no need for an expensive, reptile specialty basking bulb at all.

I've been feeding BSFL/Phoenix Worms/Calciworms/Retiworms/Nutrigrubs (all the same thing) as my staple for years with excellent results, they contain the highest amount of natural calcium of any live feeder insect, and even a baby can eat size larges because they are soft (FYI, no wax worms either, except for an occasional treat, maybe a couple a week, they are nothing but fat and cause fatty liver disease). You will save a large fortune if you order your feeders online, no matter what you decide to feed, because from hatching to a year old they should get 2 feeding sessions every day, each lasting 10-15 minutes where you allow them to eat as many live bugs as they want. This is extremely important during their first year of life, especially up to 8 months old, they are doing most all of their growing and developing during this time period, and in the wild they eat until they are full. That's the other nice thing about feeding BSFL, they are much more filling than crickets. Dubia roaches are filling too, but you can't leave them in their tank either, so the BSFL are your best bet.

I order mine in bulk from http://www.symtonbsf.com or from http://www.dubiaroaches.com The second place is slightly cheaper I believe, but you can order 500 size large BSF (don't bother with small or medium, even a very small baby can eat large BSFL, the sizes aren't that different from each other, but the larges are a bit more filling) for around $12 I believe...to put this into perspective, Petco sells Calciworms (same thing, different brand name), 25 in a container and they are all different sizes from tiny to medium, very rarely do you get any large ones, and this crappy little container of 25 costs $4.25!!! Or you can order 500 at a time for $12...

BSFL keep for about a month before they turn, and you always feed the darkest colored ones first because they are the closest to turning, and they contain the most calcium. Figure your baby, once the temps and lights get worked out, will probably eat between 10-15 large BSFL each 10-15 minute feeding session, twice a day, so between 20 and 30 large a day. So 1,000 a month will feed him completely for between $17-$23 per $1,000 depending on what site you buy them from. But if you're going to supplement with crickets or dubias when you're home, 500 a month will do. I recommend buying all your feeders online, again, you'll save a metric ton of money, whether you're talking about crickets, dubias, BSFL, doesn't matter. I think if you check out www.dubiaroaches.com they have the best prices on all feeders, definitely on the BSFL and dubias.

 

[NinaAmbroshia]

She exchanged the bulb last night for a 75

What do you mean, you can't leave dubias' in the tank? I do, haven't had a problem at all.

And she said this morning her boy ate 3 roaches using AHBDs' tricks.

 

[ShadowMimzy]

So I've fed him the crickets, I couldn't find the worms at our store because we were out of them for now. He has been pooping more now (one last night, one this morning) so now I think the lass thing I need to fix is humidity. I don't have a digital humidity measure, jus the stick on for it. It's dropped since I put the bulb, but only slightly. It went from 70% to 65%. What are some ways I can get it lower without having to buy a dehumidifying machine?

 

[AHBD]

I'm glad to hear that he's eating, that's definitely progress. The humidity at 65 is O.K, it gets to that range in their native Australia. It will always fluctuate though so don't worry about it.

 

[ShadowMimzy]

I'm glad to hear that he's eating, that's definitely progress. The humidity at 65 is O.K, it gets to that range in their native Australia. It will always fluctuate though so don't worry about it.

Really? Okay that's good, I thought it had to be in the 30-50 range. What's too much humidity for a beardie then?

 

[EllenD]

Yeah, don't worry at all about the humidity, it's not a big deal with bearded dragons at all. I think a lot of people are used to tropical reptiles that have strict humidity requirements so they assume that their beardie does too, but most people have a humidity level between 40% and 70% and no issues. The stick-on hygrometer is fine, no need to a more expensive digital one for a bearded dragon...

It sounds like things are good now, he should progress a little each day. As far as leaving roaches inside the enclosure it's a controversial issue that I've heard both sides of, and I don't feed roaches myself, only BSFL, Superworms, and Silkworms, so I don't have to worry about it. Basically there are two schools of thought on leaving roaches inside the enclosure until they are eaten, one that says it's fine, no issues because they don't bite (this is dependent on what species of roaches you feed, some do bite), and the other that says all roaches do bite, and also that roaches are just as dirty as crickets and carry parasites, so leaving them inside the enclosure long-term will not only result in your beardie being bitten, but it will also infect the enclosure with parasites...

I was involved about a year or so ago in a discussion on another beardie forum about this topic (started because a member left dozens of crickets inside their enclosure and their beardie lost all 4 feet due to rot), and I'm not so sure myself about the parasite issue, if your beardie is eating them then they must be okay, although I can certainly see how having your enclosure contaminated with parasites over and over could cause an issue. It is the biting issue I worry about, as there are some species of cockroaches that bite badly and often, so it's definitely a possibility. People who live in apartment buildings or houses that have domestic roaches are bitten often, and they make a very unique bite mark that you can identify right away, people often wake up in the morning with these bite marks...Do dubias bite? Probably. So why risk it is my opinion...The other issue is that many crickets or roaches running around their enclosure can actually cause a beardie a lot of stress, especially smaller babies and juveniles, and they are known to actually stop eating due to this stress. So if it's only 1 or 2 roaches crawling around that's fine, but any more than that at one time and they can become overwhelmed and stop eating. This I've seen personally at a very large, reputable, online breeder's facility where they keep their babies and juveniles in plastic tubs stacked on racks. They just go down the line and throw in the appropriately sized dubias into these tubs, which have anywhere between 3-4 and up to probably 12-15 beardies in them. The bigger babies sometimes will eat them, but you can tell the smaller beardies are horribly stressed out by too many bugs running around, they acted the same way with crickets too. So I would feed them 3-4 at a time until they stopped eating and were full, and any extras I pulled out. Problem solved....I don't know what's "right or wrong", but it's easy enough to remove any roaches or crickets they don't eat so that you're not risking bites that can easily become infected. Or, feed BSFL or Silkworms that can be left in a deep dish.

 

[AHBD]

I don't use dubias either but the owners who do just put them in a bowl that they can't climb out of and that works for some people. Still, if it has to be done [ leaving them in the bowl for many hours ] it's best to just put 4-5 at a time in and every few nights check to see that there are no escapees lurking in the tank.

 

[ShadowMimzy]

I guess one last weird question is, how could I tell if my beardie is for some reason brumunating since he always seems to be "asleep"? He will have bursts of energy during my feeding or bathing of him, and usually shortly after putting him back in his tank. I just can't tell why he's been so lethargic, since he was this way even before I got him.

 

[NinaAmbroshia]

I stand by my guess that the red light is making it harder for him to sleep at night, cause I think he is much too young for brumation. Could be something else and if is ^^; then sorry for saying it.

 

[ShadowMimzy]

Well even at the store with the dark light, he was always asleep.

 

[EllenD]

Beardies typically don't brumate until they are over a year old, usually much older, and some never do. If they are trying to brumate they stay out of light and try to burrow underneath things or stay hidden. Your beardie isn't brumating, she's far too young. Most likely she's either not sleeping well due to the red light (please don't use any lights at night, it needs to be just like the desert at night: pitch black and considerably cooler than the daytime). They want it to be very cool and pitch black. You don't need any nighttime heat source at all if the tank stays at 60-65 degrees or above, and that's about the temp that they are most comfortable at. Most homes don't drop below 60 degrees at night, which it would have to.for her tank to drop below 65 degrees. And since beardies see in full color like we do, a red light can actually mess up their times and their schedules. No colored bulbs should ever be used with a reptile that sees in color. Your entire goal is replicating natural sunlight during the day (bright white lights) and pitch black at night. So please, ditch the red light and just let her sleep at night in the dark and the Cool. She'll be happier and sleep much better.

 

[NinaAmbroshia]

Mimd if I ask what other reptiles see in color that you know of?

 

[AHBD]

I agree, definitely not brumation. Here's the main thing to remember.....his time before you owned him he was probably not cared for in the way he needed to be. The breeder maybe did O.K, but then at to the pet store he probably had inadequate food, hydration, lighting + supplementation. So his lethargy is due to him being kept in less than optimal condition and may take a while before he seems like a healthy dragon. You're on the right track now so give it some time, hopefully he'll improve little by little.

 

[EllenD]

Mimd if I ask what other reptiles see in color that you know of?

Actually most do really, they see better than we do, and beardies in particular. They see color in the dark, unlike us, so this is the problem with a colored night bulb, they can actually see dim color in the dark...

 

[ShadowMimzy]

The other dragons at the store seemed to be doing fine. In fact the whole reason he was moved was because they thought he had a lame foot and wanted him to be alone so he didn't have to compete for food. The other dragons are always alert and stuff, and he had moments where he perked up. I just can't think of anything besides maybe a parasite he had coming into the store since he's so scrawny. But maybe with food and stuff he will bounce back. I may take him to the vet next week for an exam if my wallet will allow it.