Info and answers, please

[livelovebeardie]

Hello there, I'm new to this website and posting on forums so please forgive me if I'm not providing enough info. Also, apologies for this question being so long I just wanted to provide as much information as possible since we are new here!
I own a 2 year, 8 months old bearded dragon named Charlie.

Here's some basic information about Charlie, his setup and diet, I'm basing this information on the email I have received from this website which included the most commonly needed info.

Diet:
Charlie had recently switched from crickets to dubia roaches. He loves them! Which makes me happy. He is currently eating around 4-5 medium ones every second day. (I'm worried the fully grown adult dubia's would be too big.)
He is also eating vegetables every day which includes dandelion greens, collars greens and very occasionally bell pepper.

Home:
Charlie's tank is a 120cm vivexotic with the shelves removed (he never bothered with them, so I removed them and bought some 'accessories' such as a ramp, and a few extra ornaments to fill the space alongside the logs etc he has had since he first arrived.)
His setup is- 15watt Arcadia UV lighting and fixture, an 100 watt heat bulb, he is currently living on (as substrate) reptile carpet but also use newspaper as a backup, if the carpet needs cleaning after him doing the toilet, generally getting messy etc.

Charlie's weight and length:
Charlie is 550 grams in weight and he measures just over 21 inches long (measuring from tip of his nose, to very end of his tail.)

Extra info:
Charlie has always been very healthy. Never had any health issues and at vet visits (nail clipping, his nails can get very 'scratchy' and since he is handled daily we decided to clip his nails every once in a while.) the vet has always complimented him.

I have been 'lurking' in the background of this site for a while. I really do love reading the forums, questions and general discussions.
I have finally decided to join and post this based upon a few questions I have, so I can be the best owner i possibly can be, for Charlie.

1. Is Charlie a healthy weight for his size? Re-cap: Charlie weights 550g and is just over 21 inches long.
2. Is Charlie's diet suitable? I'm feeding him on based what I have read online but would just like to 'double-check' from you all here that this is 100% suitable for him.
3. This isn't really a question as such, more a statement. I took Charlie to the vet around 6 months ago. I have always called him 'he' but have never known what sex Charlie really is. I went to the vet with him and the vet (who is specialised in reptiles) said that he could not tell, that Charlie was borderline female, borderline male. Is this the case sometimes? That even vet's can't tell the sex of the beardie or did I just get a vet who wasn't totally clued up?
4. Should I try and find a larger vivarium for Charlie? I have debated this for a while and upon searching Amazon the largest tank I could find was only 2 or 3 centimetres larger than the one he currently has. If anyone could recommend any larger than his current one, tanks I would extremely appreciate it.
5. Charlie is out of his tank for around 40 minutes in total everyday. I don't like to take him out 'too much' at a time as, although the heating gets turned up for him, I'm afraid he will get cold and it will upset him.


Just to quickly sum this up, I'd be very appreciative and thankful if any of you could provide me with the answers to my questions. I'd also extremely appreciate any extra information or changes I could make that would be more suitable for Charlie.

I really just want the best for my beardie and I honestly would just appreciate anybody helping me out here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this (very, very long question, apologies for that!) and I'm so glad I have finally decided to join this forum rather than reading other people's questions and not asking my own, lol!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, it sounds like Charlie is a healthy boy + your set up is good. Some dragons weigh a bit more at 21" but his weight is perfectly fine. Is your Arcadia bulb the long tube, 12 or 14 % D3 type bulb ? Post some pics ASAP of both Charlie and his set up. If you post a few pics of his rear end [ vent ] area with his tail arched high up I can probably tell you his gender. Just set him flat on a table, all 4 feet down, arch his tail up high, almost curling over his back and snap a few. Here's how to post pics :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

 

[livelovebeardie]

Hi there, it sounds like Charlie is a healthy boy + your set up is good. Some dragons weigh a bit more at 21" but his weight is perfectly fine. Is your Arcadia bulb the long tube, 12 or 14 % D3 type bulb ? Post some pics ASAP of both Charlie and his set up. If you post a few pics of his rear end [ vent ] area with his tail arched high up I can probably tell you his gender. Just set him flat on a table, all 4 feet down, arch his tail up high, almost curling over his back and snap a few. Here's how to post pics :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

I have attached the images of Charlie below.
The lighting is not too good at the moment to get a good picture of the viv, although, I have attached one anyway.
In case the picture of the viv is not clear enough:
his setup currently consists of a cave (which he has had since he arrived) logs, which have been treated, I was very sceptical about putting natural logs into his tank. Reading online I found quite a bit of information. To treat the logs I baked them for about 30-40 minutes. If this is not suitable please let me know and I will remove them immediately.
The pictures of Charlie have been taken on my phone so are not the best in quality or in colour but I hope you get a clear enough picture of how he looks.

Another thing I forgot to add in the original post was that his chin hangs down. As you said, his weight is fine but he does have quite significant 'hanging' of his chin. I have seen other beardies with quite a large chin/beard but the majority seem to have a small, natural, resting chin/beard.

After removing the shelves which were originally fitted in his viv, I feel that he is not getting close enough to the light. He has his ramp-style ornament underneath his heat and the temperatures seem to be okay. It's just the UV. I have heard about a lot of unfortunate, saddening events where the dragon does not get enough UV. Will this be an issue?

I'm really sorry for rambling off questions but I really am just looking for advice.

Can I add the photos of Charlie's vent area tomorrow? I will snap a couple on my phone in better lighting tomorrow when he is out of the viv. I hope that will be okay? Please let me know.
Thank you for being so helpful! I really do appreciate it.

I have cropped the picture of the viv in a little to provide a clearer overall picture. His substrate is currently reptile-carpet, which I couldn't fit into the picture along with the lights.

 

[AHBD]

His saggy beard looks fine, a lot of beardies necks look like that. And logs from outside are good, I do that myself and pop them in a preheated oven for 45-60+ minutes at 250 depending on the thickness of the log.

When you post pics of his vent tomorrow, get 1-2 full body shots from above as well.

BTW, you should get one that goes across the middle part of the tank and gets him just a bit closer to the uvb. And is that uvb an Arcadia D312 or 14 % ?

 

[livelovebeardie]

His saggy beard looks fine, a lot of beardies necks look like that. And logs from outside are good, I do that myself and pop them in a preheated oven for 45-60+ minutes at 250 depending on the thickness of the log.

When you post pics of his vent tomorrow, get 1-2 full body shots from above as well.

BTW, you should get one that goes across the middle part of the tank and gets him just a bit closer to the uvb. And is that uvb an Arcadia D312 or 14 % ?

Thanks for that reassurance of his beard.
Will definitely get some full body shots of him tomorrow and will attach them here, along with a couple pictures of his vent and hopefully you'll be able to tell from one of them.

Thank you very much for the information regarding the UVB. I will sort that out, I think I will purchase a new one within a week and I will resolve that.
The UV I believe is an Arcadia D3 12%, i am sure it is 15 watt he currently has but it could be 18 watt.

One more quick question, is his tank a suitable size for him regarding his length? Should I upgrade his tank to a larger one (seem to be quite difficult to find tanks larger than the current one I have and I don't know about DIY).

Thanks again for your responses and helpful information.