Introducing me and my beardie!

[hoopyscoop]

Hello! I'm new to this forum, but I have been lurking for quite a while, doing research so I can make sure my beardie has the time of it's life! :study:
I'm hoopyscoop, I have a baby bearded dragon named Fred. I am still learning about them, and everything I have learned so far is amazing! I know I will be taking care of bearded dragons for a long time!

I hope these aren’t too big, but here’s my little baby.

 

[brittani299]

Hello . If you have any questions just ask. Also post a pic.

 

[hoopyscoop]

Hello . If you have any questions just ask. Also post a pic.

Alright! I edited the first post with pictures! I hope you enjoy!

 

[brittani299]

Very cute

 

[Blinksmama]

Welcome! What a cutie. How old is he/she?

 

[hoopyscoop]

Welcome! What a cutie. How old is he/she?

Thank you! The petstore guy said that it was atleast 2 weeks old... I don’t really believe him. Fred(Or Freddie if girl) looks a lot younger than 2 weeks, I may be wrong though. He also said 3-5 crickets a day, and only once a day, I’m not sure if this is the correct cricket amount to feed though.

 

[daner923]

Not even close to enough! He does look skinny. He needs to be fed as many crickets as he will eat in 10-15 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day. This can amount to 50-100 or more crickets a day. Pet stores are so bad about this (and pretty much everything else).

He is probably about a month old at that size give or take, if I am gauging it correctly. Is he about 6 inches long or so?

Since you already got some bad pet store advice, would you mind answering these questions so we can help you get everything else set up right?

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?
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)?
How long are lights on each day?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
What is the night time 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 bathe 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?

 

[jezwolf175]

Cute beardie and Welcome to the Forums.

 

[hoopyscoop]

How old is your dragon? The petstore guy said that it was atleast 2 weeks old.
How long have you had your dragon? Since January 16th.
How long is your dragon? Slightly less than 5 inches.
What is the sex of your dragon? Not sure.
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 20L x 10W x 12H
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.
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Repti Glo 10.0
How old is your UVB bulb? A few weeks.
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? Within two inches.
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Yes. It is a white bulb, it’s a Zilla 60 Watt
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)? Yes, it is a black bulb, 60 Watt.
How long are lights on each day? Daylights are on at least 12 hours, for night 9 to 12 hours.
What are the basking temps? 95-100
What is the cool side temp? 85
What is the night time temp? 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? There is a stick-on that came with the tank, but we’ve also used our own thermometer to check, we are going to buy a digital or a temp gun. We have been researching them and we’re going to get one this week.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? At the level where he sits under the basking lamp.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No.
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Crickets dusted with calcium powder, acorn squash, butternut squash, and kale occasionally and green beans occasionally. He doesn’t eat a lot of veggies though.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Morning and night.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes.
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Does dusting the crickets count?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes.
Do you bathe your dragon? How often? Once a week.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No.

 

[brittani299]

A couple things need changed ASAP. First the UVB bulb is wrong. Compact UVB bulbs can cause eye problems. Toss that one and get reptisun 10.0 tube bulb. You can buy a fixture at Walmart for $10 and then buy command hooks to put it into the cage. Also get rid of the black night bulb. Beardies sleep best with no light on them. Light can mess with their sleep. If your house gets too cold but a ceramic heat bulb they only put out heat. Also you should be bathing him 2-3 times a week 10-15 min baths.

 

[hoopyscoop]

A couple things need changed ASAP. First the UVB bulb is wrong. Compact UVB bulbs can cause eye problems. Toss that one and get reptisun 10.0 tube bulb. You can buy a fixture at Walmart for $10 and then buy command hooks to put it into the cage. Also get rid of the black night bulb. Beardies sleep best with no light on them. Light can mess with their sleep. If your house gets too cold but a ceramic heat bulb they only put out heat. Also you should be bathing him 2-3 times a week 10-15 min baths.

Thank you for quick reply! We are going to get ready and head out, and make the changes as fast as we can.
We already fed him more crickets today, and do you guys have any tips on getting the crickets he doesn’t eat back out of his cage?

 

[daner923]

Hey - there's a few more things, and a bit more detail. Honestly, your tank is much too small. You can't really get a proper heat gradient in there. You might as well get the adult size tank now, and partition it while he's small. A 40 gallon breeder is the minimum size. Make sure the space of any tank you get is at least 36" long by 18" wide by 16" tall - any narrower than 18" makes it hard to turn around for your dragon when he is grown up. The basking spot should be 105-115F, aiming for about 110F. As mentioned, ditch the black light. The threshold temperature is 65F - if it is higher than that, you don't need any heat. Below that, you need the ceramic heat emitter. He really needs greens alongside the squash. Kale binds calcium, so use it rarely. The best greens are dandelion, collard, mustard, or turnip greens. How many crickets are you feeding a day? You should be offering as many as he wants in 10-15 minutes at each feeding, twice a day. This could be 50 or more appropriately sized crickets. As for dusting, yes that counts as supplement. You should dust one feeding each day with calcium, 5 days a week, and one feeding each day with a multivitamin like Herptivite on the other 2 days. At his age, you actually should bathe every day to every other day, not just 2-3 times a week, let alone once a week. He will likely dehydrate quickly. As for the UVB, yes, you need the ReptiSun 10.0 tube ASAP. It should be mounted in the tank 6-8 inches from his basking spot. Any closer can cause eye damage.

 

[Blinksmama]

Our beardie, Blink, was my 10 yr old sons Christmas gift. You must be very excited, like my son is, to own such a cool pet! This site is a great resource for you and your parents (I checked your profile to make sure you were not an adult before I posted this). There's a lot of good information available online, not just on this site. However, there are many inconsistencies in some of the info. If you learn as much as you can from experienced, reputable and up to date sources then you can make educated decisions about Fred's care. There are pro's and con's to most everything in life, and the various things available for our beardies are not exceptions. Some things work well for others but maybe not for you. Some things are perfectly fine and safe for other types of reptiles, but not for beardies. We've had Blink for 6 weeks and I'm still tweaking things.

 

[hoopyscoop]

Thank you for the quick reply... funny we did lots of research before actually purchasing Fred. When we went to the store to get him, the pet store guy talked us into these other things(tank size, lights, food, etc.) since he was so small and young. We are going to make these changes ASAP, going out to the store this afternoon. I am so glad to find this forum and get all the things Fred needs to grow healthy and happy! I will post an update soon!

 

[brittani299]

I feed 10 at a time. It makes it easier to catch the ones they don't eat