Just Got my Beardie - Need Advise

[BKRsBeardie]

I know this information has been ask before and I have been reading up for the past couple days and still a bit confused. When I bought my Bearded dragon at Petco I ask for everything I would need. I already had a 35 gallon aquarium. I was told to buy a ZooMed 50 watt light for basking, Desert blend ground english walnut shells for the bottom, a rounded piece of wood (can go under ot lay on top) and food dishes. Now here is where I am finding the problem...
1. Is the basking light ok?
2. Bedding? I read it is best not to use any?
3. Night light...I was only sold the day one and no headt emitter? My house stays about 75 -80 F a bit cooler at night, is this ok?
4. i feed (I haven't seen her eat, but have seen a few small poops) crickets (dusted), meal worms, kale, yellow squash, zucinni. This is what I was told to fed, but I see you all mention prickley pear, not sure what that is. Is there something she needs in particular?
5. Age, the store said they didn't know, that she was probably a couple months old when they got her and they har her about 2 months. She is apx 4 inches long in the body, 8 inches total.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Seiryu]

Basking lights depend on the enclosure. You just want the basking temp to be 100-110 F with a cool side of 80ish. So you will need either a digital thermometer with a probe or better yet, a temp gun. And you will need to adjust it until you get it right. Never want the lights too close to where the beardy can jump and touch them though, so be careful with how close they are hanging. Temp guns are by far more accurate than any digital thermomter you can get. Night time temps can go as low as like 65, so you're good there.

Food sounds good to me. You can also feed greens like Endive and Escarole (some of the best greens in terms of nutrition).

You still need a UVB source. A mercury vapor bulb or the reptisun 10.0 are best. I have heard mixed things about the PowerSun and Solar Glo Mercury vapor bulbs and wouldn't go with those. And the two best MVB right now (t-rex active uv heat and megaray) seem to currently be having issues.

So your best bet is a ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent tube light (18", 24", 36" or 48"). Don't buy the compact fluorescents.

 

[BKRsBeardie]

Thank you so much for your advice. I have been reading til my eyes blurred. I have a list of thing to get from town tomorrow now, so this was a huge help. This groups seems to be the best source of information on hte web, I was thrilled to find it.
Again thank you for you input!

 

[Reeferman20]

as far as bedding use something that is not loose and that he/she cant swallow. eg paper towel, tiles, repticarpet or shelf liner. crushed wallnut shell is the WORST AND MOST DANGEROUS substrate you can get. he swallows it, its completely undigestable and will probably cause impaction, which can be fatal. get rid of the wallnut shells and replace with paper towels IMMEDIATELY!!!

 

[DeweysMom]

1. The temps already suggested should be fine. If you'd like a cheaper alternative, standard house bulbs can also be used. Just make sure you don't get the ones with colored tints to them. What light do you have for a UVB source?

2. I'm not sure if the desert blend walnut shell is the same as the crushed walnut shell that's very strongly advised against so you may want to do some searches on that. Most people use paper towels or tile (this is what I use) as the flooring. Sand can cause impaction especially in young beardies so it's definitely not worth the risk. At night I wrap Dewey up in a fleece blanket, but aside from that he's on tile which he doesn't seem to mind.

3. With the temps you mentioned you shouldn't need a heat source at night. Just spot check every now and then to make sure it doesn't get to low and you should be fine.

4. You may want to take a look at this: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
It's not a complete list, but it's a good starting point for what's good and what's not so good for beardies. I personally haven't tried prickly pear with Dewey so I have no experience with that. Just make sure that you're dusting the crix w/calcium and multi-vitamin (not together on the same day). I already asked, but what UVB source are you using? That has an effect on which calcium powder you should be using.

5. When I got Dewey I believe he was roughly 2-3 months old and about that same size. Just keep in mind that they do grow at different rates and their genetic lines also play a roll in size. Without the actual hatch date, there's really no definite way to know how old it is.

I hope this helps!

 

[BKRsBeardie]

1. The temps already suggested should be fine. If you'd like a cheaper alternative, standard house bulbs can also be used. Just make sure you don't get the ones with colored tints to them. What light do you have for a UVB source? Getting a Repti-sun 10.0 light tomorrow, the sales girl gave us a basking light and said that is what we needed. I feel bad I didn't research more before bringing her home.

2. I'm not sure if the desert blend walnut shell is the same as the crushed walnut shell that's very strongly advised against so you may want to do some searches on that. Most people use paper towels or tile (this is what I use) as the flooring. Sand can cause impaction especially in young beardies so it's definitely not worth the risk. At night I wrap Dewey up in a fleece blanket, but aside from that he's on tile which he doesn't seem to mind. I am removing it and going to get the liner without sticky, just hope I can find it. Also, been looking for the thread for a blanket that the person makes from here.

3. With the temps you mentioned you shouldn't need a heat source at night. Just spot check every now and then to make sure it doesn't get to low and you should be fine.

4. You may want to take a look at this: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
It's not a complete list, but it's a good starting point for what's good and what's not so good for beardies. I personally haven't tried prickly pear with Dewey so I have no experience with that. Just make sure that you're dusting the crix w/calcium and multi-vitamin (not together on the same day). I already asked, but what UVB source are you using? That has an effect on which calcium powder you should be using. Thank you for the list

5. When I got Dewey I believe he was roughly 2-3 months old and about that same size. Just keep in mind that they do grow at different rates and their genetic lines also play a roll in size. Without the actual hatch date, there's really no definite way to know how old it is.

I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for your advice. Also to the reply above, Thank you!