Just need some clarification on a few things..

[crazyjoezx]

I am happy to say yesterday I finally got my daughter her bearded dragon, Kittykitty...
And though I have been reading for hours on end before buying her, now that I actually have her I just need some of the details sorted out..

Just to give some insight about her, I got her from a local pet store that had her since a baby back in Oct (from what the owner remembers) She is 14 inches log, very alert of whats going on around her. The Owner said shes been feeding her super mealworms/ Cal dusted crickets with romaine lettuce with carrots.
Heres a pic of Kittykitty:

She is currently in the 40Gal breeder from Petco

.So here we go with the questions.

Eating- So far I been giving her wet collard greens with carrots with some rep-cal calcium and Rep-cal Juvenile dragon food on top once a day... She will nibble on the greens and maybe are 1 slice of carrot when I hand feed her, she ate a few bites of dragon food as well...but I would hardly say she finished her meal...
Am I right for thinking shes just getting used to us and in a few days or so she will be eating normally?
Also does what I gave her count as a good meal?, reading the jar of dragon food, it looks like its implying I can give her that alone and it has everything she needs?

Multi_vitamins- Absolutely need it? or just bonus health points like humans?

Feeders- So since shes pretty much been raised on super meal worms, is it safe to give her them even though shes only 14in and not 16in?...I am hoping to get some Phoenix worms on the 21st at repticon..
I did buy her some small crickets today and dusted them, she quickly ate up 6 of them...If I can I would like to stick with worms over crickets though, judging by her size how many should I give her and how often?

Lighting/heat- I got 1- 75watt flood light pointed at her basking spot, at its center it gets about 115ish..but around the center (where she stays) its about 100-110, also have the 10.0 UVB 24in blub from reptisun...
Question- How long do I keep these lights on for? Reading around i see 6-8, 10-12 and some places say as high as 14 hours ..I live in South fl so the coldest my house gets is 76...and once I turn them off, is it ok to turn on the 65w soft white house light I have in there as well just for lighting?

I think thats just about it, Im sure as the days go buy I will have more lol, sorry!
Thanks for everyone's help so far!!

 

[kcarello]

Hello, congratulations on your new dragon. It sound like your dragon is about 6 months old...and if that is the case,,,your dragon is very underfed. She or he should be eating as many feeders and she wants is a 10 - 15 minute period. There are lots of feeder insects you should be feeding her. Dubia roaches, crickets, small superworms, silkworms, hornworms, butterworms or phoenix worms. NO MEALWORMS!!
Also, here a list of greens and veggies for her: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html...most of us go by this list..it is color coded and very easy to understand what you should be feeding as staples. The pellet food is not the best thing to feed. Fresh veggies and greens and live feeders are best. You also need to dust the insects 1 feeding a day 5 days a week with calcium powder and 1 feeding a day 2 days a week with multivitamins.
http://www.everythingreptile.org/bearded-dragon.html This is an excellent care sheet for bearded dragons and you will find alot of other information on there as well.
Good luck and do not hesitate to ask for help anytime.

 

[w0554096]

Hello,
Congradulations on getting your new beardie.
Regarding the lighting, 12-14 hours is usual. That generally mimicks the sun cycle for them, and you can decide the hours that work best for you and your beardie.

Beardies can see all sorts of colors, and leaving a bright white bulb, or any colored bulbs on at night will intererupt their sleep. If your temperatures do not fall below 65 than you don't need any nightime heat source, the drop in temperature is actually good for them. If your temperature does drop below 65, a ceramic heat emitter is reccomended. They produce heat and no light.

What type of thermometer are you currently using?

I am unclear if the pet store was feeding Mealworms or Superworms. They are two very different worms in regards to nutrition and chitin content. At her current size, superworms should not yet be fed. Mealworms, as the previous posted mentionned, and not reccomended for dragons of any age due to their low nutritional value as well as their impaction risk.

Dubia, phoenix worms and silkworms are all great daily staples, and good alternitives to crickets. At her age she should be eating much more, so you'll want to keep that in mind when placing an order.

Multivitamin is a must, unlike with human. Though some humans would argue that it is a must with us as well.
You want to make sure that you are not over supplementing her with the multi, the 1 feeding 2 days per week is a good amount. Once she reaches adulthood, you can drop that down to once a week, as you won't be feeding her as much.

Have you given her a bath yet?
It's generally reccomended to bathe them 2-3 times per week for hydration. Lukewarm water up to their shoulders for 15-20 minutes, or until the water cools off.
If you bath her regularly, she will not need to have a water bowl, or be misted. Both misting inside of her tank as well as a freestanding water dish can raise the humidity in her tank, which can possibily lead to upper repiratory infections.

Hope this helps. Feel free to clarify anything.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Joe....congrats ! She looks really cute and in pretty good health ! While it's true that she could be a bit larger for her age, they all grow at different paces and her frame shows that she's not in bad shape at all, some do grow a bit more slowly, and that's not a bad thing, especially for a pet store dragon. Crickets and medium superworms are fine for her, and as was mentioned you can add other feeders to her diet , more variety is always a good thing. Pellets are O.K. as part of her diet, most beardies won't eat too many of them [ some beardies like " Nature zone " prepared food ] The best greens you can get for her are turnip, mustard, collard, and dandelion. Never get in to the habit of offering lettuce, [ sometimes we can get a bit lazy and just give it because we have it for our own salads ] there's not very much nutrition content. Squash is also a good food item, and if you offer carrots [ not an important veggie at all ] be sure to shred them. Since you live in Florida, if you can get a screened enclosure you can get her out in the sun , it's the best UVB in the world. If you do, just use common sense and be sure it's not too too hot, and there should be a shady spot. Her name is pretty unique, if she ever gets lost you can just call out " here Kitty Kitty ! and she should come running ! So, I hope your family enjoys her, and I hope she does well for you !

 

[crazyjoezx]

Thanks so much for all the help!! Ill take some better pics next to objects to get a good scale of how big she really is..


@kcarello
I didn't realize how young she could be, I was thinking 8-9 months.. I will be picking up some more feeders for her today after work, like I said shes not eating to much of her greens right now...I'll also get some of the Multivitamin as well.
Could you repost the link to the nutrition chart?, I am getting 404 when I open it :-/


@ w0554096
I am currently using Zoo Med Repti Temp Digital Infrared Thermometer..
The 65w house light is just between like 8pm-11pm just so I can see her, when I go to sleep all the lights are off.
I meant to say "super worms" is what the pet store was feeding her...I got my verbiage mixed up!
I plan on giving her a bath tonight, should be fun

@ AHBD
Ill be sure to stay away from lettuce! The carrots are shredded, but seeing they are not as not one of the better veggies, Ill be sure to add something else to the mix.
I am thinking to bring her outside once she gets a lil bigger and when I get a harness.




Seeing as the general feeling is she might be a bit small/under weight for her age, how many times a day should I be feeding her veggies and feeders?..I dont have anyone home during the day so the most I could do would be once in the morning(about 7am), then evening(about 7pm) then again at night (10pm)....Would that be a good feeding schedule? Should it be veggies and feeders at the same time?
Should I take out the veggies if she doesn't eat it right away? I gave her some this morning and left it in there just in case she gets hungry, I poured water all over it before I left to keep it moist as long as possible...Is this a good practice?...I been watching her in the Kittycam I set up in her viv and it looks like the water didnt keep it from wilting
But shes there soaking up her UVBs , and moving her head looking around, some times she turns around, then turns back...I guess that what they do , I dont know what I was expecting. lol

 

[kcarello]

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
See if that one works.

 

[w0554096]

Hi there,
I wouldn't do a 10pm feeding, as they need to bask for a couple of hours in order to disgest their food. Depending on the type of feeder you get, you can always leave a bowl in there with her. If I'm short on time I'll throw some supers in a glass bowl for my dragons. Anything with decently high sides that's either glass or plastic the worms shouldn't be able to escape from. I got mine at the dollar store.

 

[kcarello]

Alot of people feed them their salad first..when they are the most hungry and they are more likely to eat it. Then the bugs after. Since you work all day and dont have a choice, I would make her salad and put it in her viv. Or you could try to hand feed her a few pieces and see if she will eat some this way. Then I would feed her some bugs before you leave. I don't think its a good ideal for her to not have any bugs till 7 at night. And as posted before,,,10 is way too late to feed her. If you have a glass or smooth plastic bowl, you can leave some small supers or even small to medium dubias,,,wait,,,you live in Florida right?? No dubias for you then...well, you could leave some bugs in there with her during the day...just make sure you get them out at night.

 

[crazyjoezx]

She just ran over and took a few bites!!

Setting up the KittyCam paid off!

OK, salad about 7, then bugs at 730 before I leave...should I feed again when I get home?...And is the salad ok to leave out all day?..I know it prob looks gross now, but I dont want to get her sick...but I know between 7-730 she will NOT eat her salad

 

[kcarello]

Yes, you should leave the salad in till you get home from work, and yes you should offer her feeders again when you get home...but do so as soon as you can when you get home and make sure she bask's for at least 2 hours before turning lights off. You really should have her lights on 12 -14 hours a day and then let her sleep. Didnt you say you had a light bulb on her just so you could see her?? If so,,,you are gonna have to stop it..no matter how bad you want to see her...believe me ... I know...but they need their sleep too and they need complete darkness to get proper rest.

 

[kcarello]

Ha ha...and yes having the dragon cam is awesome...now you know she will eat her salad!!

 

[crazyjoezx]

Thanks so much for your help kcarello!! Im sure it gets annoying having new people ask the same thing 100x lol...I promise I did as much reading before hand as I could, I even out smarted (lol) almost all the pet stores I been to so far! .... I will follow your advice and let you know how shes eating...


While I have you as my Dragon Mentor lol, She has the shelf liner in there now, I am looking to get slate tile in there, do most people have 2 tiles to cover the bottom? its 35inx17in on the inside and I dont think they make them that big right?...I was gonna get 2 18's and have it cut, but what about the crack in the middle? Do I fill it or just leave it?

Thanks again!!!

 

[kcarello]

Hello,
LOL!! I dont mind answering the same questions over and over because it is all educating new beardie owners,,,and that is so very important!! As far as the slate tiles go,,,I really have no ideal . I use non adhesive shelf liner in one, and the other viv I got with the dragon I adopted and he already had the tile in it...but it was the wrong kind,,,it was slick, so I put non adhesive shelf liner over his too. I did find another forum discussing it...so maybe it will help you...if not...go to the enclosure section and see if you can get some help...so sorry I cant help you in this department. Here is the link:
http://www.repticzone.com/forums/BeardedDragons-General/messages/994249.html
Let me know if you need anything else...I am sure you will at some point or another...we all do!!

 

[crazyjoezx]

That's cool, I'll ask around

Feeding update
went to petco got a pack of Med. Super worms and was lucky enough to find out they sell Phoenix worms.. it was $4 for 25 ,I'm sure I'll find it cheaper on line but needed them asap...hoping to buy more at repticon on the 21st

So when I got home I feed her 7 supers,7 PW's and 6 small crickets and she ate them all, I let her bask for about hour and half but needed to give her a bath bc she pooped and like a good girl walked all in it :-/ lol

 

[kcarello]

Thats great!! You should let her eat until she doesnt want any more. It sounds like she ate plenty though..thats good. I am so glad that I am home all day and both of mine are housebroken...they both go outside...of course I live in the south so that makes it possible just about year round too.