Help: First bearded dragon is a rescue

[osephj]

It all started when my girlfriend bought me a bearded dragon from cragslist ....

Before we picked him up we were told that he was two and a half years old and that he was a girl and his name was "Dina" kinda like tina? (last picture shows his condition before we got him) He lived in a 45 gallon tank and his environment was filled with meal worms, sand, poop, and some beetles, it wasn't very clean. He was very underweight and is 17 inches long. At the time he only had a red night light and a day time bulb.

We eventually got him a compact uvb light and later exchanged it for a hood light with an exo terra bulb. His basking spot can reach about 100 degrees and the cool spots stay around the high eighties due to the weather. I feed him collard greens, strawberrys, and bok choy with suppliments. I used to assist feed him crickets but I am now moving on to dubias. He will sometimes watch food and try to eat it when I throw plenty of crickets or dubias in the same bin. The big problem is that he is only 199 grams and he has a lot of trouble trying to get an insect in his mouth. I'm not sure if he is shy or if he is not a good hunter, but i'm looking for a way around this. On the bright side, he's not as shy as he was when he first moved in and he really likes bigger pieces of greens because they're easier for him to eat. He really likes exploring around my room and is can be very shy and docile.

Please give me any advice possible! He still needs a name!

On a side note, if anyone can tell what kind of colors and morph he is that would be amazing.

and on another side note, can he still get down with the ladies even though he is small for his age?

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad to hear you're able to give him a better home. His habitat looks much better now. Are you still using the red light? If so, I'd discontinue with that and use a bright white halogen flood light or reptile basking light for heat in order to try and imitate sunlight as much as possible. From the picture he looks like he's in decent shape given the condition he was in but he could use some more weight which should come in time. He may always be on the smaller side though which is OK. At his age, the bugs are more of a supplement so don't worry about them too much. Offer them maybe a couple few times a week up to around 20% of his diet. His main meals should be nice big salads. Using fresh veges, especially things like squash, will give him lots of hydration and nutrition. I like to use a staple green of either collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, or dandelion greens along with another veg or two. I use fruits as occasional treats and minor garnish on salads. You'll have to play around with it a bit to find what he likes and then just rotate it depending on what you can get fresh at the store. I reference this list for ideas and offer 2-3 items in each salad. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[osephj]

I'm glad to hear you're able to give him a better home. His habitat looks much better now. Are you still using the red light? If so, I'd discontinue with that and use a bright white halogen flood light or reptile basking light for heat in order to try and imitate sunlight as much as possible. From the picture he looks like he's in decent shape given the condition he was in but he could use some more weight which should come in time. He may always be on the smaller side though which is OK. At his age, the bugs are more of a supplement so don't worry about them too much. Offer them maybe a couple few times a week up to around 20% of his diet. His main meals should be nice big salads. Using fresh veges, especially things like squash, will give him lots of hydration and nutrition. I like to use a staple green of either collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, or dandelion greens along with another veg or two. I use fruits as occasional treats and minor garnish on salads. You'll have to play around with it a bit to find what he likes and then just rotate it depending on what you can get fresh at the store. I reference this list for ideas and offer 2-3 items in each salad. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Yeah, i switched his red bulb out for a zoo med repti basking spot lamp. It's very hothere so no lights at night. It's 90 degrees to sleep