Looking for some enclosed advice!

[NYRkorey]

Let me start off, I don’t own a Beardie yet. I want to make sure this is all correct before I bring him home.

I have a 40Gal Breeder tank he/she will be in. A couple question I have is for the basking light I have it set to about a foot above one of his bridges. I have a 70watt PAR38 flood. Is that to far away for him or is that ok? My UVB I spent the extra coin and bought the 22inch Arcadia 12% D3 I read a lot of reviews about people saying that’s a great UVB and it will sit on top on the lid half away over him so it covers his full body while basking and half way into the middle of the tank. On the cool side I have a log archway he can hide under if he wants to get away. I plan on keeping the light on for about 12 hours a day. Is that Too long?

Quick question about bathing. I hear new babies are really shy and should give them time to adjust before going after them to pick them up. My question is should I wait a week or so before picking him up and bathing him because I don’t wanna scare him by picking him up and putting him in the sink or bathtub too quick.

Feeding wise. I’m up and out of th house at 630am. I know he needs to be fed 3 times a day so I plan on the light coming on around 545-6 give him time to wake up before I feed him. If I feed him a little after 6am then again at 4PM then again later in the night at like 9Pm is that to late for him to eat?

 

[Bear333]

Let me start off, I don’t own a Beardie yet. I want to make sure this is all correct before I bring him home.

I have a 40Gal Breeder tank he/she will be in. A couple question I have is for the basking light I have it set to about a foot above one of his bridges. I have a 70watt PAR38 flood. Is that to far away for him or is that ok? My UVB I spent the extra coin and bought the 22inch Arcadia 12% D3 I read a lot of reviews about people saying that’s a great UVB and it will sit on top on the lid half away over him so it covers his full body while basking and half way into the middle of the tank. On the cool side I have a log archway he can hide under if he wants to get away. I plan on keeping the light on for about 12 hours a day. Is that Too long?

Quick question about bathing. I hear new babies are really shy and should give them time to adjust before going after them to pick them up. My question is should I wait a week or so before picking him up and bathing him because I don’t wanna scare him by picking him up and putting him in the sink or bathtub too quick.

Feeding wise. I’m up and out of th house at 630am. I know he needs to be fed 3 times a day so I plan on the light coming on around 545-6 give him time to wake up before I feed him. If I feed him a little after 6am then again at 4PM then again later in the night at like 9Pm is that to late for him to eat?

Hi there!

Your setup sounds great! I’m always so glad when new beardie parents decide to thoroughly research BEFORE getting their beardie. I would try turning on the light and measuring with a temperature gun after a few hours that the light is on (to get the exact temp) and judge from there to see if your lamp is too cold/hot or too close/far. You don’t have to bathe him when you first get him unless he seems really dirty (covered in poop or other). I would wait a week just so he adjusts The feeding schedule seems pretty good, I usually give my beardie an hour to wake up and bask before I feed her, but then again she’s a year old and she was much more eager to eat and active in the mornings when she was younger haha! 12 hours is perfect for the lighting to stay on. People usually say 12-14 hours a day is sufficient. 9 is a little late for a feeding, but it all depends on what your dragon is used to and his personality. Sometimes my beardie would put herself to bed before 7, but all are different so you and your bearded dragon will learn and get used to each other’s schedule.

 

[NYRkorey]

I would never bring my little guy home unless he is well taken care of it’s his life too! My only concern is if I feed him around 6am then again when I get home around 4. The lights go out around 6-7pm he would only really be eating 2 times a day which isn’t good. I would have to sneak a third meal time in there before the lights go out around 6-7. Hopefully he will be hungry enough to eat again even though he just ate at 4Pm. If that all makes sense

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, a 3rd feeding is not mandatory at all, this is just info that gets repeated over + over. I raised big healthy dragons from the egg and they don't need 3 feedings every single day to thrive.
Your lights should stay on for 14 hrs. a day for a baby, so if they come on at 6 a.m then keep them on until 8.

Aside from that, you can always leave a bowl with BSFL [ black soldier fly larva ] such as Phoenix or calciworms in the tank that can be eaten when the baby wants. And never feed them too close to bedtime, best to wait until the next day .

 

[NYRkorey]

Oh okay. Maybe on weekends I’ll try and sneak a 3rd feeding in from Time to Time. We have to see how me and the Beardie work with our schedules that’s all. As for the calcium I have calcium with D3 I plan on giving him Monday-Friday on his crickets and sat-Sunday give him his multi vitamin. Is that a alright thing to do ?

 

[AHBD]

Since you'll be using an Arcadia D3 bulb, get calcium without D3 as well as with. Use the ca. without D3 for the most part, just use the D3 lightly once or twice a week since he has such a good uvb bulb that will provide D3.