I thought I was doing everything right but I guess not...

[punkrockprincess]

Hi,

Four days ago my boyfriend and I purchased a Beardie together. I had been researching Beardies for over two months beforehand so I thought I had everything down. I even did 72 hour temp test before bringing her home to make sure everything was at the right level. I am not using sand for her tank because I don't want to risk an impact. Gaz is currently housed in a 40 gal reptile tank with
a 100 w bulb for heat and a 10.0 uv bulb and is on repti-carpet. I also got her a heat stone (the good kind that shuts down by itself down when it reaches a certain temp) just in case she wasn't getting enough warmth. We have not been handling her in attempt to make her transition into her new environment less stressful (except for 10 mins last night and 5 mins today for her bath).

Gaz is 4 1/2 months old and her appetite is what I assume is normal for a Beardie (6-8 two-three week old crickets per a day). The three things that concern me are:
1) Gaz is not drinking any of her water (at least while we're watching)
2) She has only pooped once in the four days (technically 3 1/2 days at pres time) we've had her
3) She is not even touching her veggies

I am more than positive that she is getting the right sized crickets, in fact, I actually always feed her crickets that are a tad smaller to prevent any possible problems. I am alternating between calcium dusted crickets and vitamin dusted crickets every day.

Since it has been snowing a lot and the humidity in the air is low I have been making sure to give her tank a mist so levels remain 20-30%.

I gave Gaz her first bath today in hopes she might have a BM but no such luck (and she seemed to freaking hate it anyways).

The Beardies where I work love shredded carrots and the man I bought her from said that she wasn't fussy with her veggies...Gaz won't touch them. I was also wondering what the verdict is on Kale, I have read books that praise and others that have said that it binds vit c(..or was that vit A).

Even though I'm a poor student I would spend all of my student loan if it meant Gaz would be healthy. Money is and isn't a issue if she needs to see a vet I will make the time or if she needs something more for her diet or tank.

I work in a pet store as a pet care specialist (I take care of all the animals and offer advice to others) and am going into my first year of Veterinary medicine next year...so this is a pretty big blow to my confidence.

 

[Gail]

Your care is quite good but there is a couple things that need fixing. First is the amount of crickets she is eating. At 4 1/2 months she should get all she can eat in 15 minutes twice a day, this can be a very large amount, with 100 crickets a day not being uncommon. This is one reason so many owners buy crickets in bulk or raise their own roaches. Right now she is experiencing relocation stress which affects appetite but once she settles in she will eat you out of house and home. Give calcium 5 times a week and vitamins 2 times a week.

Heat rocks are very looked down on, even the ones that shut off can malfunction and since dragons can't feel excessive heat from their bellies, they will continue to lay there and burn. What are your temps under the basking light and how are you measuring them?

A lot of younger dragons don't eat veggies well, they prefer insects but it is important you keep offering greens. If she was eating them before then she should for you as well just give her time to get used to things. I personally don't like kale, it can bind calcium but if you only fed it twice a week or so it should be ok. The same with carrots, they are for occasional feeding since they are high in Vit A, shredded squash is much better.

It normal to never see them drink and very few will actually drink from a dish, many will drink from the bath though. If you think she needs extra water, try offering some with a eye dropper or needless syringe.

 

[punkrockprincess]

I have a digital thermometer sitting at the highest point of her ramp to measure the max temp for her.
Basking: 90-110 but she has a little bridge/ramp that I set up so she can climb up and down to thermoregulate herself. She learned how to use it on her second day (I was so proud).

She ate so much better this morning--it was amazing...she actually polished off all the crickets in the cricket keeper. Do Beardies have a sense of "hey I'm full so I won't eat" or will they just nom to their little hearts content? I have never heard of a Beardie being overweight but I don't want Gaz to be the first one lol.

I feel like everything I researched was wrong as soon as I looked at the careguides on this site *sigh*

Should I be moving everything out of her tank when I feed her? The crickets are very good at hiding...but I guess its good for her to hunt like she would in the wild. I just worry because Gaz is a little special..she is losing part of her tail to improper shedding (we knew this when we got her). Gaz is also missing part of her finger/claw so she probably put with too many hatchlings ( I discovered this after I got her home). We kind of got her because of these things though my exact words to guy I bought her from were "well she's kind of a misfit and we're misfits too--she'd be a good match for us". None of her siblings were missing any fingers/claws so we were thinking poor Gaz got picked on as a baby.

By the way how often should I see a BM from Gaz? I heard it is supposed to be daily but she has one every 48 hours..or could this be because she wasn't eating too much previously?

btw you are awesome! I was freaking out about Gaz till I read your reply to my post now I can actually get back to studying again.

 

[Gail]

They can over eat but its not real common, they will usually stop when full. You don't have to remove the stuff from her tank but you do need to make sure there are no crickets left in the tank over night, they will bite a sleeping dragon. Some owners will feed in a separate container, its a lot easier if your dragon will eat like that.

At 4 1/2 months she probably will go poo once, maybe twice a day. Once her appetite improves, she will will start going more often.

There is a ton of different advice on the net regarding dragon care, what you will find on here is considered the most up to date. Try not to worry to much about your baby, they are tough

Keep a eye on her tail and toes, if any signs of a infection sets in then please get her to a vet.

 

[Lovethelife07]

hey and welcome
i was browsing and i saw this...thought id add my 2 cents
take out the heat rock like gail said...and i would also take out the water dish because standing water can harbor bacteria...i wouldnt mist the cage either, just give regular baths-i do mine 20 min every other day...other than that lol it sounds like youve got a happy bd
another thing on eating and crickets-my bd is almost 8 months old and normally she can down about 30ish crickets in one sitting lol she is well fed and she still isnt fat and i feed her daily. i have a 40 gal tank that she is in and a 10 gal that i feed her in, all i have in the feed tank is repticarpet. i covered all but one side of the glass with aquarium background so she is more comfy and not stressed. ummm oh watch for toes and tails when your bd is shedding...like some geckos ive found that my girl will sometimes leave shed on a few toes or a little on her tail...all i do is bath her till the skin is super soft and pull it off...if you leave it on there it can actually act like a rubber band and constrict so much that it will aputate the toe or tail my first gecko lost a toe that way
good thinkin on research and everything but i just wanted to ask...what uvb bulb are you using...i have a reptiSUN 10...the reptiGLO has bad repor and a few people on here dont like them either...it could cause some pretty yucky eye infections
good luck
oh and id stay away from roaches lol i tried them once...one got loose...annnd long story short-i had to have my house sprayed for roaches lol

 

[punkrockprincess]

About the repti-glo...I think I very well may be using it (I will double check when I get into work since I work in a pet store nearly everything she has is from it). I read a post about someone talking about how their Beardie is squinting a lot...gaz started doing it too except its her left eye and its always when she basks...this is a bad sign isn't it?

 

[Gail]

Yes, excess squinting can be a sign of eye damage, watch out for any swelling too. If his eyes swell or he stops opening them, turn the UVB off until you get the proper bulb.