Introducing Beardie and myself

[TheGreganater]

I have owned a leopard gecko for a little over two years now and have been wanting a bearded dragon for about as long as owning my gecko and finally got the space and time to care for both.
Just got this little guy a couple of days ago and showing quite the bright colors.
(Although this is outplace kinda) I am just wondering if he looks in good health as the closet reptile vet(small animal vet) would cost me 2-3 times the original price of the lizard to even tell me if it is in good health

 

[ohmybandit]

Hey there! Congrats on your new beardie, he's very cute. He is very dark so that does mean he is very stressed about something. If you don't mind answering some questions so we can all go over your set up.
How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

 

[TheGreganater]

Hey there! Congrats on your new beardie, he's very cute. He is very dark so that does mean he is very stressed about something.

First time and only time since he has displayed that behavior. For me but will be watching for that now on!
Hey there! Congrats on your new beardie, he's very cute. He is very dark so that does mean he is very stressed about something.If you don't mind answering some questions so we can all go over your set up.
How old is your dragon? Maybe a month to two months
How long have you had your dragon? 5 days
How long is your dragon?5.5"
What is the sex of your dragon? Unknown
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?20 gal 30"x12"x12", building a larger enclosure to get 4'x2'x2' when gets bigger as (s)he is such a small thing
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Reptile carpet
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Compact, but changing to a reptisun 18" 10.0 UVB
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Exo-terra UVB 150
How old is your UVB bulb? 5 days
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 12-6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Tight beam 75w exo-terra brand
What are the basking temps?110-115, has room to go up and down for less or more heat
What is the cool side temp?70-75
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?wire and probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Right on surface that Beardie normal sits
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. 1/8-1/4 size crickets
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Morning, afternoon, and night, ate the first time I feed him and hasn't eaten since
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Gutload crickets with flukers water and high calcium food
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? I dust the crickets every second day
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Only had the one since getting him/her
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Already bathed him once
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Has water bowl that Beardie bathes in himself and mist him twice a day
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Closet vet(within 7 hours) that services reptile isn't a reptile specialist rather has a "qualification" as reptile vet, well running me around $200 for check up
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No, is right next to a leopard gecko, but has black paper between the two and haven't seen each-other

Related to set up

 

[Blinksmama]

Congratulations! He's adorable
His dark colouring and lack of appetite are most likely caused by relocation stress. It may take him a week or two to adjust to his new home
It's better to not have water in his enclosure, unless he drinks it and the humidity doesn't go above 30%. You can bathe him in a small basin, probably 5 or 6 days a week while he's little, since they dehydrate quickly. Be sure to mount the new UVB light, linear not compact/coil, inside his terrarium, and no covers or screens between the bulb and your beardie. He needs to be able to get 6-8inches from the light while he's basking, a bit farther if you get a high output bulb.

 

[TheGreganater]

It's better to not have water in his enclosure, unless he drinks it and the humidity doesn't go above 30%. You can bathe him in a small basin, probably 5 or 6 days a week while he's little, since they dehydrate quickly.

Ya that's the reason i have the water in the enclosure is because the humidity stays low around 10-20 without it and hangs around 30 with the water I add and the misting I do.

Be sure to mount the new UVB light, linear not compact/coil, inside his terrarium, and no covers or screens between the bulb and your beardie. He needs to be able to get 6-8inches from the light while he's basking, a bit farther if you get a high output bulb.

I realized that after I got him that I was using the wrong type of bulbs for what he needs, and he can get up to 4 inches when he reaches his preferred basking spot

 

[Blinksmama]

I have the same problem with the humidity in Blinks terrarium, I'm lucky if it gets above 10%. So I put a dish of water in somedays, and take it out at night. He'll go and soak in it most times. Plus he's bathed often too
I think 4 inches may be too close, you don't want to irritate or damage his eyes.

Amy

 

[TheGreganater]

I have the same problem with the humidity in Blinks terrarium, I'm lucky if it gets above 10%. So I put a dish of water in somedays, and take it out at night. He'll go and soak in it most times. Plus he's bathed often too
I think 4 inches may be too close, you don't want to irritate or damage his eyes.

Amy

Ya that's what I realized and since I have cats that form quite the attachment to my crickets and other lizards I cannot have open enclosure, so I was thinking having the UVB on top of screen will not be that bad unless my thought process is wrong

 

[Blinksmama]

a screen will block up to 50% of the UVB. You can mount your UVB fixture inside the tank though, using self adhesive hooks or velcro. There are also hangers available at http://www.beardeddragon.co/ in the lighting section. They're in Florida though so I don't know what the shipping would be. They are small and light weight, so maybe not too much. You could look at them and maybe make yourself something similar, if shippin gis too much.