Hi- New member, new beardie, with photos.

[Aerthorn]

Hi all,

My names nathan, 21 from Melb Australia. I just got my first bearded dragon, his name is nero.

He loves crickets, but like some other members i cant get him to each his greens, so far i have only tried brocolli and a bit of peach. It all seems to dry out to quick in his tank if i leave it there.

Ive had him two days, and all he wants to do is each crickets, he ate about 10 smalls the first day, wouldnt eat the second day, i think because he jumped out of my hand on the way to the feeding tank and got a bit of a fright, and ate about 7 medium crickets today.

He spends a lot of time hiding behind his rock , and also a lot of time climbing his fake plant and just sitting at the top between the leaves. I have also put an upside down tupperware contained with a doorway cut out for him but he doesnt seem to want to go in there, is all of this normal?

He's pooping once a day. I think he has a broken finger though, it is bent up at the first knuckle, i've washed it for him and he doesnt seem to be in any pain, he didnt try to get away when i washed him, just looked around, i cant take him to a vet at the moment, but he is doing everything else fine and has no problems running around and climbing is there anything else i can do?

Have a look:

 

[Aerthorn]

also, is it alright to let him sleep up in his fake plant (not tree!) its a silk plant with thin plastic vines/branches, he loves it up there. whenever i walk into the room after being gone for a bit he is up the top with his eyes closed.

He also sometimes closes one eye, sometimes his left sometimes his right, is this normal?

 

[phil676]

hey dude, he looks fine to me, av had mine for 5 days now, looks basically the same as yours. hes doin similar things to what your saying, opening an closin eyes, its all natural, mine hasnt had anythin to eat 2day yet but i guess he is full from yesterday lol

i think a lot of people just worry a lot when they first get their dragon, am the same,
i have heard as many people on here will tell you, calsi sand is not good 2 have in his cage. i am planin on changin mine 2day. i dont feed mine the crickets though :-S i cant stand em! iv bin givin him hoppers, meal worms and wax worms an offering veg but doesnt show much interest in it at all!

how old is your dragon?

 

[FabGyrl]

awwwww! I remember when Vespa was that tiny!! Congrats on the baby!

 

[Aerthorn]

im not really sure how old he is, prob 4 weeks im guessin, maybe more.

He sleeps a hell of a lot though, even during the day i find him in his tree with his eyes closed.

This mornin, about an hour after turning his lights on he was still asleep in his tree, i picked him out of it and placed him on his rock and he was freezing (cold enough to notice, about the same temp as the glass in his tank) cold, is this normal?

 

[Catalyst]

He loves crickets, but like some other members i cant get him to each his greens, so far i have only tried brocolli and a bit of peach. It all seems to dry out to quick in his tank if i leave it there.

It helps the salad last longer if you spray it down with water before you put it in and then leave it on the cooler side of the tank. Check out the chart at http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html for which veggies and greens are good for dragons and how often. My guy loves squash and prickly pear, and if I mix these in with the greens he ends up with greens sometimes by accident when he's picking through for his favourite.

Ive had him two days, and all he wants to do is each crickets

This is normal. Baby dragons eat a lot of bugs. You should be offering him crickets 2 or 3 times a day, as many as he'll eat in 10-15 minutes. Make sure that the crickets are no longer than the space between your dragon's eyes.

He spends a lot of time hiding behind his rock , and also a lot of time climbing his fake plant and just sitting at the top between the leaves. I have also put an upside down tupperware contained with a doorway cut out for him but he doesnt seem to want to go in there, is all of this normal?

It's normal for a dragon not to use a hide, you can probably take that right out of his tank, he doesn't need it. If he's hiding a lot, he's probably still getting used to his new home, the transition can sometimes take a week for a dragon to settle in.

That young he shouldn't be sleeping a whole lot during the day. If you could answer some questions about his keeping we may be able to figure out why he's doing that.
How old is your dragon?
How big is he?
Did you get him from a breeder or petstore?
How big is his tank?
What substrate (ground covering) are you using?
What are the temperatures in the tank?
What do you use to measure them?
What UV light are you using? How close can he get to it?
What supplements are you using? How often?
What are you feeding him and how often? (be specific)
Do you bath him? How often?

Hope this helps,
-- Catalyst

 

[Aerthorn]

Thanks for the tips.

1-I dont know how old he is

2- He is 4 to 5 inches long

3- I got him from a pet store, he was the biggest, healthiest looking from a cage of about 6 other baby dragons on sand

4- His tank is aproximatly 3 foot by 1.2 foot by 1.2 foot

5- I had him on desert sand and recently put in a work mat (a sort of plasticy/rubbery matting), it doesnt smell like chemicals so i assume this is safe. I have put this over the sand as i couldnt figure out how to get it out. (he cant get to it as it is an exact fit, you cant even see the sand under it)

6-Around his rock is 35C, about 40C directly under his IR light and in the 20's down his cool end, i havent got a thermostat yet, but have ordered and payed for a Microclimate B1 dimming thermostat

7-I measure the temp with an analogue reptile thermometer, i only have one at the moment, but often move it around to see how the temps are going throughout the cage

8- The UV light i have is a Reptipets ReptiSun 10.0 UVA/UVB light (it is also available in a 5.0 and an 8.0, i have the 10.0)

9- I have been mixing some reptical with his greens, and dusted his crickets (he hasnt eaten any of the dusted crickets though?, only the first ones that i fed him which werent dusted)

10- I have been offering him crickets in the afternoon, and leaving a small plate of grated carrot and brocolli in his cage which he doesnt eat, ive also left a diced apricot which he also didnt eat. I will start offering him crickets morning and afternoon from now on.

11- I have bathed him twice this week in a small plastic container with about a half inch of warm to touch water, he really doesnt like it, and doesnt drink or poop when in there, he just closes his eyes and slows his breathing.



I am getting concerned as he didnt eat yesterday or today, i have offered him crickets 4 times between then and now, in a seperate feeding tub (an eskie which i put the crickets into just before i put him in there)

He also hasnt eaten any greens, so as far as i can tell hasnt eaten anything in two days, the day before this he ate about 7 small/medium crickets and the day before that he ate about 10 small crickets and some brocolli.

i found a poop in his cage today though so i dont think there are any blockages in his system. If this keeps goin on i might move this topic to the ER page.
When i got home from work today, the patterns on his back had changed from brown to a grey/black colour and he was asleep, i woke him and offered him crickets which he didnt so much as look at. I chopped the crickets in half and placed them on his bowl to see if he would eat them in his cage while i wasnt in the room, and he still isnt interested.

Sorry about the long post but im getting worried. Cheers Thanks in advance for any advice.

Here are some pics on his enclosure. I am building a basking spot for the UV light at the cool end as currently he can only get close to the UV near the heat as well.

 

[Iwuvmybeardi]

Hey, Your beardi is fine. It took my baby three weeks to settle in. It is normal for them to change colors. Usually dark means stressed(new home) or angry. Don't worry. Try and get him to the vet for a fecal soon though. need to check for parasites. I also got two adults i adopted because i fell in love with my baby. They also took a couple of weeks for them to settle. Silk plants are the best for beardies. they cant eat them or ruin them. easy to clean. they love them. Sounds like your doing everything right so far. I mist my dragons about three times a day. especially if they are dark. they turn light almost instantly. they get dehydrated easily. especially if u dont have a temp. Those temps u have in the tank are not very acurate. temp guns or digital probes are best.
He or she is beautiful....
Hope this helps....
lots of good advise on this forum.
Pm me if u have any other questions.....
Nikki