Huffy updated pics

[fiver643]

Hello everyone. I just bought my daughter a bearded dragon. Not to sure how old its is. It's about 6" long right now. Huffy is eating as many crickets or small meal worms as it(not sure of the sex)can it twice a day. It's not eating to many veggies right now. I smashed up some Apple for it today. Is it ok for huff to eat apples? He/she really loved the apple. We have a small set up for huff right now(will be building a custom one soon).10 gal tank, 75w basking lamp that gets about 100 degrees. I only bought one thermometer, so I don't know the cool side temp. I have a coil uvb light. I know I need the tube light. Will Huffy be ok until June 17? No more money until then lol. I'll post pics of Huffy tomorrow when I get home from work.

 

[duke11]

Hello and welcome!

Mealworms are not safe to feed, especially for babies. They have a hard chitin shell that can cause impaction. I would recommend taking Huffy off the mealworms right away and just feed crickets or soft bodied worms such as hornworms, silkworms, or butterworms.

What kind of thermometer are you using? It must be digital, stick on and analog types are not accurate. They have the digital ones with a probe at the pet store.

For your tube light, you will need a Reptisun 10.0, if you didn't know. It has to be Reptisun and NOT Reptiglo.

I would be careful and watch the temps in the 10 gallon tank, they're pretty small enclosures and just make sure it's not overheating and that Huffy has somewhere cooler to go if needed.

It is ok for it not eating too many veggies right now, as it's only a baby, but definitely start getting it used to them. Here's a great chart on veggies: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html. Apples are in black on the chart, which means that they are good to feed occasionally, but not on a regular basis.

Huffy should be ok till the 17th, but make sure you have all the correct things as soon as possible, and a bigger enclosure soon as well. Hope this helps!

Erin

 

[fiver643]

well it sounds like i got some good old fashion petco info. they had me buy more mealworms then crickets. i'm currently out of crickets but i'll go get some more. they told me to buy the stick on thermometer. i'll post some pics in a few min.

 

[beardie parents]

If it grows as fast as our Redrock grew, you will need a larger tank within 2 months, maybe sooner. The best place to get a uvb tube is petmountain.com, as suggested, get the reptisun 10 tube it's the best fluorescent. The best thermometer to get is a temp gun. I don't have one but I have a couple of accurite digital thermometers with probe, I've seen them at Walmart for about $12, it could be more by now, tho. I've also seen them at Lowe's for about $16.

Here's a picture of the $12.00 one we have, it gives off 2 temps and a humidity reading.

 

[fiver643]

heres some pics.

heres the tank

huffy on his rock. i remove the rock during feeding.

he passed out in his food dish

well i dont know what i did wrong with the pics i'll fix in a little while

 

[fiver643]

Is there a special way to post pics here? I upload to Photobucket> copied html> and pasted here.

Edit* let's try a link to the album
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j84/fiver643/1307519041-picsay.jpg

 

[duke11]

I looked at the picture of your tank, it's a little small (you'll need an upgrade) and I don't see any UVB. Also, your thermometers are inaccurate, I would get a temperature gun or the type of thermometer beardie parents recommended. Other than that, there isn't much else wrong with your setup. You will have to change Huffy's diet because of the mealworms. I would recommend reading this just to get a better knowledge of how to care for beardies: http://www.beardeddragoncaresheet.org/. I know what it's like to get info from a pet store, it happened to me but BD.org really helped me out.

 

[fiver643]

Well in 2 weeks I plan on building a set up like the cross fire cage. The uvb light is the light on the left. It's one of those coil lights. I'll pick up a tube light and a better thermometer next weekend. Will the 4 x2x2 cage be to big for Huffy? Should I section it off until he/she gets a little bigger?

 

[duke11]

No, Huffy should be fine in a large enclosure. He/she will grow into it. For your tube light, the best deal on the Reptisun 10.0 is here: http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/11442-504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10-0-uvb-bulb.html. They're very hard to find in stores because most pet shops carry Reptiglo and not Reptisun. Even if you did find it in a store, they charge around $50, and petmountain gives a really good deal.

 

[Cnochur]

NEVER go by anything PetCo tells you. This is where you should get your info.

Like it's been said, just make sure you have a cool side of around 80 degrees, preferably with a hidey-hole of some sort, and use ACCURATE thermometers. Lowe's sells the good probe thermometers for like 6 or 7 bucks. I use one of those on the hot side, and another with a humidity reading on the cool side (it's important not to let the humidity get over 40%, they're desert-dwellers and babies can develop lung problems).

Stick to the food chart that the other person posted for you, it's the best to go by.

Also, once you make sure to get a good UV bulb (EXTREMELY necessary), make sure that if you have a mesh or screen top that you cut a hole to allow the UV light directly in. If not, the beardie could develop metabolic bone disease from lack of UVB.

It's alot of work at first, but it will be worth it once you have her settled and growing happily.

 

[fiver643]

ok i got a thermometer today. hot side is 110 degrees with 20% humidity. cool side is 86% with 43% humidity. do i need to worry about the 43% humidity? how do i lower the humidity?

 

[Cnochur]

Those temps are good- make sure there's something to hide in on that cool side for even more coolness since 86 is at the high end of what's "cool" for them.

43% humidity is acceptable if not ideal. That's about what it is in my enclosure. To keep it as low as possible, you can use air conditioning or a dehumidifier in the room. If that's not possible, make sure there's no standing water in the enclosure (beardies don't need to drink water; you can bathe and/or mist them and they'll get the rest of their hydration from their food).

Also, Wal-Mart online sells a very small dehumidifier for storage purposes that I keep inside my enclosure to bring it down more.

 

[fiver643]

1 more question about Huffy. I think its a she. She's only eats about 20-25 crickets a day with very little greens. Is that enough? I read on here the some baby bd's eat almost twice that a day. When I feed her she will eat 4-7 right a way and then maybe pick at about 3-5 over the next 10-15 min or so. She's very active. Poops once a day.

 

[duke11]

That is definitely fine, not all beardies eat that much and it's great that she's pooping regularly. It's good to start introducing her to greens early, because she will eat a lot of them later on. If she doesn't eat a lot of greens right now, it's ok, just keep trying.

 

[fiver643]

The only way she will eat her greens is if I hand feed them to her. I do fill her bowl with fresh greens everyday. I just don't think she eats them.