Just got a baby beardie, can you double check please?

[naomithealien]

I just got my beardie and it's set up for Christmas.
My boyfriend had it all ordered from the store, and they put this together.
I just want to make sure everything is alright!
I have the temperature gauges imbedded standing up, it's close to 100 in the basking spot and 70 on the cool side. The humidity is 55.
A couple questions I have are, should I leave out veggies throughout the day? Or offer them once a day or every other day? I know its a baby so it's supposed to eat mostly crickets, which I feed to it twice a day.
Should I stop feeding it when it goes and climbs on the basking rock? Or just when he loses interest in the crickets?

Should I leave the basking light on at night? I live in SoCal, so it doesn't get too cold, but I'm just wondering.

My beardie is very familiar with me, but my 15 year old brother and Mom want to play with him, too...will that stress it out too much? It already has pretty prominent stress marks on it's belly, should I be worried?

How old is your dragon? About 2 weeks.
How long have you had your dragon? 2 days.
How long is your dragon? 6.7 inches nose to tail tip.
What is the sex of your dragon? Don’t know
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 60 gal
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Alphameal
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Fluorescent tubing.
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? It's a Repti-Sun 10 and goes across the whole tank.
How old is your UVB bulb? A week old.
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Yes, 75w infrared bulb
What are the basking temps?100
What is the cool side temp? 72
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Stick on gage thermometers, but on the floor, not on the glass
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Next to the basking rock
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No.
What do you feed your dragon? Baby crickets, romaine lettuce and broccoli tops
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I feed it crickets morning and afternoon, and leave the veggies in the evening
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes, I feed crickets
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Sticky tongue farms Miner-all, ad ever meal
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? No
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes, I mist it every morning and will drop water droplets down its head until it stops licking.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No

 

[irwin'smom]

Congrats on your dragon!!!
The temp gauges you are using will not read a correct temperature. The best thing to buy is a temp gun or a temp probe. You can pick up a temp probe at Walmart for fish for like 6 bucks or order online.
http://www.petco.com/product/100375/ESU-Reptile-Digital-Thermometer.aspx

Always leave out fresh greens for your dragon. Even if they do not eat them refill the bowl with fresh greens daily. beautifuldragons.com has a great list of proper greens to feed.
Feed the baby crickets as much as he wants 2-3 times a day. Do not leave any leftover crix in the cage because they will chew on your baby at night. Dragons are defenseless when sleeping and he will never know if he is getting eaten by crickets.
Do not leave any lights on at night. As long as the ambient temperature in your house does not go below 65 degrees the baby will be fine. If you need to supplement and give some heat at night then a ceramic heat emitter is the best choice.
http://www.petco.com/product/5003/Zoo-Med-Repticare-Ceramic-Infrared-Heat-Emitters.aspx

Try not to handle your baby to much till he gets use to his environment. I do not handle them except for cleaning and baths till they have adjusted at least 3-4 weeks. He will learn to love all his handling by everyone and his baths.
I would bet your baby is about 8-9 weeks old.
What dimensions are your tank?
If you can I would replace the loose substrate and just use paper towel or tile for flooring. They can eat there substrate and get impacted. It can also harbor unwanted bacteria from water, dead crickets, poop and anything with a slight bit of moisture.
Another thing that needs to be changed is box up the infrared bulb and exchange it for a bright white basking bulb. Dragons like a lot of light and they are use to basking under the bright sun.
Get a digital probe to take your temps and try and get his basking spot at 110 degrees, the hot side at 90 degrees and the cool side anything below 80-85 degrees.
Throw out the broccoli and romaine and try using dandelion greens, escarole and endive for a healthier choice of staple greens. Broccoli can be fed as a treat on occasion. There is a very long list on the website provided above.
Soak your baby in about an inch or two of warm water in your bathroom sink every day till he gets bigger. They will learn to love it and drink when placed in. As he grows to adult hood you can cut back to soaking 1 time a week. Misting will make a mess of a cage especially using a bedding like yours. It will mold and grow bacteria.
I would definitely try and get your baby a fecal done as soon as you can.
Looks like you have a beautiful new baby and congrats and with some changes he will be one big healthy dragon before you know it. What a great gift!

 

[amylee159]

Im sure others will be able to help you more, but these are a few things I see...
-Substrate! You don't want a loose substrate, especially for a baby, so I would replace it with paper towels so they don't get impacted.
-Thermometers. You will want to switch the gage thermometer with digital ones with a probe on the end. These are much more accurate.
-The red light. I would remove this as well. Beardies like bright light. So I would replace this with a regular house hold bulb.
- I would reccomend getting some more things for him to climb on and so that the beardie can get closer to the UV light.

 

[amylee159]

irwin'smom beat me to it! lol

 

[irwin'smom]

irwin'smom beat me to it! lol

LOL- I think we posted at the same time. :lol:

 

[naomithealien]

Thank you so much!
I can't really go out and buy a digital thermometer for a couple weeks or so,
how off are these temperature gauges? I live in Socal, so it generally stays warm,
I just wanted to roughly gauge the temperature at night, is it THAT imperative that I get a digital thermometer?

 

[irwin'smom]

Thank you so much!
I can't really go out and buy a digital thermometer for a couple weeks or so,
how off are these temperature gauges? I live in Socal, so it generally stays warm,
I just wanted to roughly gauge the temperature at night, is it THAT imperative that I get a digital thermometer?

Getting the temps correct are very important. Those gauges can be off by as much as 30 degrees.
Temps, UVB and proper diet are all very critical to a dragons health.

 

[nikkicostello89]

The thermometers are about 30F off, it is VITAL that you get one, as without the proper basking temperatures your baby will now be able to digest their food, which can cause impaction, which can lead to death.

It is really important that you get at least one of these so you can measure the temperatures accurately - they're only $6 in walmart.

And as the others have already said, it is imperative that you change that substrate, as this too can cause impaction. Also the bright white light will help your baby to dilate his pupils properly, the infared bulb that you have could damage his eyes.

I would offer crickets 3x a day whilst he is so small - until he is about 4/5 months old - also you should be letting him eat as many as he wants in 15 minutes. Babies usually eat around 50 per day, some though eat as many as 50 in each sitting!

Nikki

 

[naomithealien]

I have a 65 w house light bulb or a 100 w...which one should I use?


Is there any reason to hold on to the UV basking light?

 

[wizbee]

Hello! The uvb reptisun is a great uvb. You need to change it every 6 months. It won't be burnt out but it won't be giving off good uvb. Get rid of the red light and replace with a regular household lightbulb. Right now I am using a 75 watt. Whatever gets the temps up close to 100 will be great. Lose the substrate and use paper towels. As for soaking in water, only fill the water up to his shoulders. 1 or 2 inches may be to deep for a baby. and baby temp water. Stay with him while he is soaking, this is how they stay hydrated by soaking water through the vent area ( where they poo). Congratulations!

 

[naomithealien]

Thank you VERY VERY VERY VERY much everybody =)
I'm going to make these changes, immediately.

I appreciate it so much! You guys are so helpful and nice!

<3Naomi and Grits

 

[amylee159]

Thank you VERY VERY VERY VERY much everybody =)
I'm going to make these changes, immediately.

I appreciate it so much! You guys are so helpful and nice!

<3Naomi and Grits

No problem! Welcome to the forum and to Beardie life!!