Hello, first time beardie owners, 11 days in

[wigglesworth]

Me and my boyfriend got wigglesworth our baby bearded dragon 11 days ago.


We had talked about it alot. We had not long moved to a new flat and discovered a petshop selling bearded dragons nearby, I wanted one since I met a friends early last year. I ended up making my boyfriend, who had also been really taken with the bearded dragon we had met, take me to the pet shop multiple times a week. We asked lots of questions before managing to get the ok from our landlord (well one of his staff and close friends). We bought a set up kit from the pet shop and managed to negoiate extras which we set up a day before we collected wiggles.


On advice from the shop we did not handle him for the fisrt 7 days, however we spent lots of time in front of the viv talking to him.


It took him a while to settle in, we had to remove his fake plant because he was hiding in it too much to begin with, he didn't seem too impressed with this (this had been where he was sleeping) he stood and looked at the corner where it had been for a good while. But all is well now its back in.


Wiggles is lovely he will happily let you stroke under his chin or on top of his head. and will volunarily climb onto our hands.


He can be very adventurous and silly. He worried us slightly the other night when he started to launch himself at the protective cage around the heat lamp. He has also tired scaling the back of his viv at one point managing to cling onto the liqiud crystal thermo which is stuck on (he used to pace the back wall, i think he could see a bit of a reflection).


Yesterday we got him a Grapevine climbing and basking thing, he loves it
he started climbing all over it however not entirely sure if he's figured how to get down once he's on the top. We,ve not seen him get down on his own yet, but has climbed onto our hands, he does keep going up there tho.

Wiggles has started to show varying behavioural parterns (we only in the second now) he'll be really active one day want lots of crickets (he will properly hunt and chase) and eat lots one day, then the next be very slow and hardly eat(at these times crickets can walk over him or even sit on his head and he will take not notice). Eventually he goes the toilet and then he more active again.

We have started given bathing him the last 3 nights.

we think wiggles is approx 5wk old

he in a 4ft tank

he is nearly 5inch

Day temp 85F one end 95F basking end
(cork underneath basking lamp so can get closer if needs to)
(liquid crystal thermos at each end)
Night temp 77F one end, other 85F

Have UV light Reptiglow10 (is10inch from substrate)
(he can get closer, has a hide, cork, grapevine, and a fake plant to climb on)

Not sure if wiggles has pooped in 2 days
(have decided to limit his crickets in future on his active days so he doesn't get so bloated)

he has broccoli savoy and kale for veg at the mo
(going to try him with butternut squash)

crickets are given bits of his veg and Trex calcium plus cricket feed
we also dust them with nutrobal (contains calcium, D3 and all kinds of vitamins and minerals)

sorry for the essay he is a wonderful little lizard who has brought both joy and worry to our lives, that we feel compelled to share.[/img]

 

[Catalyst]

We have started given bathing him the last 3 nights.

Awesome This is the best way to keep your little guy well hydrated.

Day temp 85F one end 95F basking end
(cork underneath basking lamp so can get closer if needs to)
(liquid crystal thermos at each end)
Night temp 77F one end, other 85F

You'll want to pick up a digital thermometer with a probe so that you can get an exact temp on his basking spot. You want it to be in the 100-110*F range for a young dragon in order for them to digest their food properly. At night it's fine for the temps to drop into the low sixties before you need to run any type of heat source.

Have UV light Reptiglow10 (is10inch from substrate)
(he can get closer, has a hide, cork, grapevine, and a fake plant to climb on)

That's a very new bulb and there hasn't been any testing done on it yet, but the reptglo 8.0 bulb is decent so I'm assuming the 10.0 is better than that and thus fine to use. You're using the full flourescent bulb right? Some of the UV lights come in a compact form (looks like energy saver bulbs) but those have a high decay rate and quickly become useless.

Not sure if wiggles has pooped in 2 days
(have decided to limit his crickets in future on his active days so he doesn't get so bloated)

What are you using for a substrate? It's safest to keep babies on something solid like paper towels, reptile carpet, and textured ceramic or slate tiles. These are all easy to keep clean and don't fit in the dragon's mouth so they pose no risk of impaction. I personally use tiles and love them.

Young dragons should be given as many crickets as tehy can eat twice a day, 10-15 minutes a feeding. Eating a lot of crickets won't hurt him, in fact it's necessary for his health. You do need to make sure, however, tha the crickets are no longer than the space between his eyes because too large of a cricket can cause impaction.

Congrats on your new dragon friend They're a blast!

 

[komode]

Hey Wiggleworth!

I am new to owning Beardie's as well (see my post in "Introductions") - how addictive are they? Ours is only about 10 days old and looks so tiny in such a big lonely tank, I wantedto get another to share with him, but everyone has advised against it. They fight when they're older so would have to separated anyway. So we are giving him lots of attention and hold him each day which he seems happy to do. I actually bought him for my 6 year old son, but have claimed him for myself also!

Finally he has settled in and eating gents (the nice word for maggots!) and we were all jumping up and down when we finally saw him devour one! Today was the first time that he hissed at me, and I think that it was because I changed his substrate to the reptile carpet and he's just grumpy with me!!

P.S. He or she is called Komode (Ca-mow-dee).

Good Luck!!

 

[komode]

Sorry, missed the 'S' in above so - Hey WiggleSworth!!

 

[wigglesworth]

yep we have a full fluorescence bulb

we using the same substrate as the pet shop used, i can't remember what it is called, its pellets of organic material, it digestable, swells and falls apart if made wet.

I know some people don't recommend trusting pets shops but ours (weel the people we spoken to) generally seem to care, the people we've spoke to own reptiles themselves one a lepard gecko the second beardies, and the third water dragons. The shop also has 2 6month and 1 7 month beardies in residence which are in good health and seem happy (they've had them since babies, ones which weren't sold)

 

[wigglesworth]

hey Komode

hope he/she doesn't stay annoyed at you for too long

we considered geting 2 as well but with the problems sexing them when they little decided against it.

Our pet shop have just had to seperate its 6 month old brother and sister couple, because the male was harassing the female, she seems please but the male not impressed and was hissing and flaring his beard at the staff.

Good luck to you too

 

[wigglesworth]

thank you for the advice Catalyst

just wondering we've got some sweet potato and butternut squash, do we cook it till it soft then give it to wiggles :?:

 

[Catalyst]

Nope, all veggies are served raw, either grated or chopped up into cubes small enough for them to eat

 

[wigglesworth]

Nope, all veggies are served raw, either grated or chopped up into cubes small enough for them to eat

I was watching a tv program where it showed electron microscope images of veg before and after cooking. They claimed after cooking, it is easier for your body to absorb the vitamins and mineals. Would the same apply to beardies?

Dont worry, we havent cooked any of his food! Everything is as it is in nature (well, chopped up veg or dusted crickets)

 

[Catalyst]

I was watching a tv program where it showed electron microscope images of veg before and after cooking. They claimed after cooking, it is easier for your body to absorb the vitamins and mineals. Would the same apply to beardies?

Dont worry, we havent cooked any of his food! Everything is as it is in nature (well, chopped up veg or dusted crickets)

Honestly I'm not sure when it comes to the science behind it, but everything I've heard so far says that dragons should be served their veggies raw