Help! New to beardies

[Jfaust]

Hi! I'm new to beardies & just wanna know if I'm doing it right.
I got her off about a week ago & she hasn't pooped and isn't very active inside her enclosure, however if I let her run around on the floor, she is pretty active.

She is currently in a 35g homemade enclosure w/ a Reptisun 10.0 UVB light & a 60w halogen household bulb.
The temperatures are about 98F on the "hot" side, and about 81F on the cooler side.
I've been feeding her Dandelion greens and sometimes celery.

Since I just got her, her enclosure is a little bare.
Could this be the reason she's not as active? Or could it possibly be because she's getting used to the new surroundings? Help!
Also, she hasn't pooped since I got her so I feel a little worried.

 

[BBergstrom3]

Hey! Congrats on your beardie! First off how old is she? If your worried about her stools try putting her in a warm bath with just enough water to cover her shoulders then let her chill out for about 10 minutes this will help stimulate her bowels. If she is full grown she may be doing her hybernation thing, however she may also be getting used to her surroundings...My beardies are pretty chilled and layed back most days they dig some and move some but for the most part they just chill. Always be very cautious when letting your beardie run around on the ground, they can eat random stuff and die not to mention getting a random bug that has insecticide on it. Try to be even more cautious if you have other pets because your beardie could catch mites that may come off your other animals. I don't let my beardie run around my floor but I do handle them everyday and let them on my bed with supervision only...Have you only been feeding her dandelion greens and celery? Dandelion greens are great celery ehhh...I use collard greens and mustard greens, and switch out every other day with superworms. So like today is greens and tomorrow is superworms...I do this because although as adults your beardie is supposed to have 80% greens and 20% live feed, my beardie are spoiled and don't care much for the greens. If you want to see her active you might want to purchase some superworms...crickets are also good but if theyear are bigger then they poop all over stuff make noise at night and can get out of enclosures and that is no bueno. I heard that if you feed a beardie 1 or 2 horn worms it may stimulate appetite, I'm not 100% on the truth in that be cause I've never tried it but I got that info from my friend and breeder. Also put a basking rock and a hide in her enclosure give her somewhere to go... how do you heat her enclosure at night? Household bulbs are ok for day but what about the night? Try getting a regular ole blacklight from walmart 60 watt. Or you can get a reptile night heat bulb from a pet store which is pretty much just a regular black light. (Dont get the coil ones just a regular blacklight bulb) You should maintain your heat at night and put her uvb on a timer (again walmart sells timers for like $4) If you have her lights on day and night shes probably tired! I set my uvb to go on at 7am and go out at 7:30pm Good luck if you find that none of this helps and she looks bad don't hesitate to take her to a exotic animal vet.

 

[Jfaust]

Thank you for replying!
So in addition to feeding her dandelion greens and sometimes celery, I feed her small superworms which she loves. But I'm not quite sure how often to feed her superworms?

As for temperature at night, my room does not go below 73 degrees. I live in SoCal so it stays pretty warm. Is 73 ok?

 

[BBergstrom3]

73 degrees is fine...if you find it dropping lower I would think about the blacklight. How big is she? I feed my adults 8-10 large superworms every other day they love it. I switch up the greens between collard greens,mustard greens and sometimes Kale depending on the season. All beardies are unique and have their own personalities like 1 of my beardies hate greens I usually either have to add freeze dried meal worms to the top to make her think they are alive or I hide 1 superworms at the bottom if a pile of greens...sometimes Jasmine doesn't eat the dang greens unless I hand feed her lol My almost adult male beardie, Ponchito, eats most his greens with no problems but he is a snacker in the evenings and at night and Likes freeze dried meal worms and freeze dried crickets to munch on. Try the bath to make her go poop...that is worry some...what kind of bedding are you using?? Do you have any photos of her terrarium?

 

[SeventyGTX]

Mine is now 11 and has never been very active, in fact I would classify her as LAZY! :lol:
Like yours, even when she was young she didn't do much in her enclosure. But if I put her on the floor, she would wander around for a while exploring everything. As far as feeding her, when she was young she ate hundreds of crickets. As an adult, she has been living nicely on Superworms, all kinds of greens and Calci-Blast. She LOVES green beans.

 

[Jfaust]

here are some photos of her

^ her taking a bath :lol:

She is roughly about 8 months old & about 14 inches long from tip of the nose to tip of the tail.
her substrate is reptile carpet.

 

[SeventyGTX]

Wow, good looking BD you've got there. Hopefully, you will get many years of enjoyment out of her. Like I said above, my little girl is nearly 12 now and she has been a great pet.

 

[Jfaust]

Also I know that I'm only supposed to fed her food no larger than the space between her eyes, but to what amount do I feed her??

 

[CooperDragon]

I really like the way you set that stick up. It connects the different levels perfectly. At 8 months give her a nice salad every day with 2-3 items from this list http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Offer bugs once a day for 10-15 minutes all she wants to eat. Offer a variety there. Have a staple like crickets or dubia roaches but mix in some silk worms and some Phoenix worms etc. A well balanced diet is key to good health - mix it up a bit =)

 

[BBergstrom3]

Good set up! She may just need to get used to her new digs...Usually the warm bath does the trick for constipation...if the water gets cold drain it out add fresh warm water and let her soak another 10 minutes you may want to gently massage her belly while shes in the water. My beardies eat every other day large superworms perfectly fine I feed them every other day 8-10 but sometimes both my male and female can eat up to 15 large superworms in a day...I dust them with a calcium suppliment then the next day I use greens...with superworms I would get a feel of how many she will eat within a 20- 30 minute time range if she leaves some then you know she's full if she only eats a little bit of them take them out and try later in the day...each beardie is different but she will let you know when she's full