hello! new member with new beardie :)

[gemmabear]

Hi everyone,

just wanted to introduce myself... I just got my first beardie a few days ago. His name is Drake (I think he's a boy, taking him to the vet for a check-up on wednesday so i'll know for sure then). He's apparently around 10 months old but quite small for his age, about 10 inches, although he is missing a few centimetres from the end of his tail... the girl I got him from was only feeding him every couple of days and then only veggies, she wasn't feeding him any insects at all and was giving him a pinkie mouse once a week. She also wasn't giving him baths at all.

Despite this he seems fairly healthy, and over the last few days has become more and more active and interested in his surroundings. I've given him a bath the last two days, which he loved and drank lots of water while in there. Tonight I got him to eat for me for the first time - five crickets and two mealworms.

His enclosure is 3 feet long, 2 feet high and 2 feet wide. It has a combined heat and UV bulb which I'm thinking about replacing with a normal heat bulb and putting a UVB tube light in, I just have to buy the fixtures for the tube light. Temps are 35C in the hot end, 23C in the cool end and 42C on the basking spot.

Here's a couple of pics of him:

 

[Raine407]

Congrats on your new beardie, and welcome to the boards! I'm really glad he found a good person who will take care of him properly. He's a cutie.

 

[gemmabear]

thanks Raine!

oh, i forgot to mention... the girl i bought him from had him on crushed walnut shell He's pooed every day since i got him and seems fine, should i be worried?

 

[gemmabear]

Drake ate over 30 crickets tonight! Aww I'm so proud of him.

 

[gemmabear]

saw these questions in another intro thread, thought i'd post them here with my answers. So if anyone has any advice, feel free to give it!

How old is your dragon? i was told 10 months
How long have you had your dragon? 6 days
How long is your dragon? 9 inches, but missing about 2 inches of tail (bitten off when he was a baby)
What is the sex of your dragon? i was told male, but i'm taking him to the vet tomorrow and i'll find out for certain then
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 3 feet long, 2 feet wide, 2 feet high
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? washed play sand, he loves digging in it. i feed him in a separate enclosure
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? mercury vapor bulb
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Sun Seeker UV 160W
How old is your UVB bulb? couple of months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? about 4 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? no, the UVB light is heat and UV in one
What are the basking temps? 42C on basking spot, 35C hot side of tank, 23C cool side
What is the cool side temp? 23C
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? digital probe thermometer
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? basking temp is measured at the highest point of his basking log
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. crickets every day, and salad every day made up of bok choy, rocket, baby spinach, corn, grated apple, a little bit of grated carrot, and a few beardie pellets, all sprinkled with calcium powder
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? feeding crickets once a day at around 7pm, salad is put in fresh each morning and left all day
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Repti-Cal calcium and vitamin D3 supplement every day
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? yes, once a day
Do you bath your dragon? How often? once a day
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? no
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? he's going to the vet for this tomorrow

 

[cjdickey]

I see you have already recieved the proper welcome via questionaire!!! LOL! Just wanted to say hi :wave: and ur baby is truely a cutie!!

Christy

 

[beardie_bub]

Hi Gemmabear and welcome to bd.org. It looks like you have everything under control and you are a very good beardie slave lol.

 

[expert5070]

hi dont take him to the vet cancel that as soon as possible. if his back legs have humps it a male

 

[gemmabear]

expert5070: i'm not just taking him to the vet to confirm his gender, i'm taking him in for a check-up because the girl who had him before me wasn't looking after him correctly and he is quite small for his age. i just want to make sure he's healthy.

 

[fresnowitte]

:wave: Welcome gemmabear!
Thanks for sharing the pic's.
I noticed that you mentioned spinach.
Here's a chart with some nutritional values;
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Also are you useing the rep-cal multi-vitamin too?
Should give calcium 5 days multi 2 days.
(Calcium w/D3 unless you use a MVB them without D3.)

Barbara

 

[gemmabear]

Barbara: thanks for the welcome and the link, i was unaware that spinach could be bad for him. He didn't eat any of it anyway but I won't give him any more. The local pet shop is out of the multi-vitamin at the moment, they said they will be getting more in later this week.

Well the vet visit went really well, Drake was very well behaved The vet said that he is healthy, just a little small for his age. He gave him some worming stuff just in case, which Drake didn't particularly love but he swallowed it like a good boy. Didn't hiss at the vet or anything. Such a sweetie :mrgreen: He also loved going for a ride in the car... sat on my shoulder looking out the (closed) window the whole time.

My boyfriend bought some woodies for him today so i'll give him some of those tonight as well as his crickets and see how he likes them.