Hello!!

[JamesandLiz50]

Hi there, my partner and i are newcomers to this forum and also to the world of beardies!! We have a 9 week old beardie named Montey and we love him to bits but there is still lots we need to know!! Montey is about 7 inches long, his enclosure is 30cmx60cmx40cm, at the moment the hot side is 105 and the cool side is 85. We are using newspaper at the moment on the bottom. He has 3-4 crickets 3 times a day, and has a wide variety of fresh fruit and veg everyday. We have just this evening given him his first bath in the sink but he didn't seem to like it so much? We have been been looking around for a bigger tank for when he is fully grown, can anyone recomend a good size please?

Would be grateful for any advice!!

 

[Amy8387]

Welcome!

 

[SckEmotion]

Uh... no. Calcium sand is no good. Don't do that. It basically turns to cement in a dragon's stomach and leads to impaction problems. Stick to the newspaper.

Your basking spot sounds about right and the cool side too.

I'd feed him more crickets though. They can eat between 50 and 150 crickets a day, depending on the dragon.

A 40 gallon breeder is the smallest recommended size but you'd be better of building your own if you want cost efficient. 6 square feet is the smallest, 8 square feet is better but as always with reptiles... the bigger, the better.

It sounds like you got things under control so far. My only question, what are you using for UV? Most people don't know about this and it's the biggest mistake people make.

 

[noel4142000]

i would reply publicly but people always complain about what i say

 

[diamc]

JamesandLiz50 welcome to the forum and congrats on your new beardie.

When people ask questions, we always try to help and are glad that you came here.

Like SckEmotion said, calci sand can cause impaction and shouldn't be used. Newspaper is fine or you could use non-adhesive shelf liner, repti-carpet, slate, tile or paper towels.

Your temps 105 for basking and 85 for cool side are good, although the cool temp could be closer to 80. They need this gradiance to thermoregulate. Are you using a thermometer with probe to measure the temp? If using any type of stick on thermometer, they can be very inaccurate.

The rule for feeding crickets, is no larger than the space between their eyes and all they can eat 2 to 3 times a day in a 10 to 15 min timeframe.

When you give a bath, you can test the water temp by the inside of your wrist and use the same temp you would give a baby a bath in. Make sure to put a washcloth in the bottom of sink or container so he has something to hang on too. It makes them feel more secure.

Do you have a UVB light? If so what brand and UVB output does it have? It is printed right on the side of the bulb. This is a necessity for a healthy beardie.

Here's a site of beneficial and not so beneficial greens that most of us use. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html Fresh greens should be offered every day.

Good luck with your new beardie. We love to help and are very pleased when beardies thrive from our suggestions. :wink:

 

[JamesandLiz50]

Phew, glad to hear we aren't going completely wrong! Thanks for all of your advice, the idea about the cloth on the bottom of the sink is an excellant one and we are going to try that out next bath time!

We have been trying to feed Montey more crickets but he wont have any of it, he seems to prefer his veg, how can we encourage him to have more crickets? We are using a 14w repteglow 8, is this ok? This is a silly question but how often can we take him out of his tank through the day and how long for as we don't want to stress him out?

 

[Bianca]

Once he gets more used to you, you can take him out of the tank often. I take mine out in the morning before work and play with them, and then again in the evening, when I get home. You can start by taking him out for a few minutes and see how he does and then gradually increase the frequency/amount of time. I also let mine run around the room, beardies are very curious and like to explore. (and also hide under the furniture )
They do need to bask though, especially after they eat for a couple of hours, so that they can digest their food. I don't think I have mine out for more than 2 hours/day, but other people do.

I do have one question for you: do you use any supplements--dust his crickets with calcium and vitamins?

As already mentioned, the UV light is very important for his appetite and health, how close can the beardie get to it? ReptiGlo 8.0 is a good light, but he needs to get within 6 inches of it. Also, there should not be anything between the beardie and the light (ie. wire mesh, metal top, etc.)

Welcome to the forum!