Meet Frank!

[krystalsboy]

Hello everyone! My name is Krystal and I am a brand new mommy of baby beardie lovingly named "Frank" (by my husband). I don't know how old he is, but by his size I'm guessing a coupIe months maybe?? I got him a few days ago. I guess I am a nervous mom, I've never owned one before but I have wanted one since childhood. Now, 27 years old, I feel I am ready to raise one. He is in a 30 gallon tank, but we will be buying a house in June and he will get a 50 gallon then. I dont have much in his tank. A rock under his UVB lamp and a rock on the other cooler side. A water dish and the tank is lined with some paper towels. The warmest area is 105 and the coolest 80. He does not seem as active as others have described babies should be. He eats about 10 very small crickets a day. He has ate a few small bites of parsely, but doesn't really seem interested in his greens and veggies. I am not sure what supplements/vitamins to give him yet. He got a warm bath yesterday. He didn't seem to care for it, but was very active after it and had a big dinner! I'm so glad to find a place with people who actually know GOOD care for beardies...the pet stores gave some horrible advice! ANY advice you could give to help better Frank or his living conditions would be greatly apprecitated. Thanks!

 

[jakeh2009]

welcome to bd.org- i wouldnt worry much about veggies right now, just make sure to have them in there for him, try hand feeding him the greens along with the crickets. as for the bath, i dont think they know we are doing it as a favor for them, my lil guy is starting to warm up to it now but at first he would run all over the place. just make sure to have your hand close so he knows your there to help him, also try softly rubbing his belly from the front towards the vent, it can help them go if you know what i mean lol. can also try baby food if you feel he is not getting enough nutrients, just make sure whatever veggies you buy in babyfood just say that item and water on the ingredients. i use my finger or syringe to feed and he loves it, squash, peas, green beans. those are the three dino likes. sounds like frank has a good home, im sure he will be well taken care of. once again welcome!

 

[krystalsboy]

Thank you so much for the advice! I did what you suggested. I gave him a warm bath for about 10 minutes and messaged his tummy (as best I could, he's a bit squirmy in his bath). About 20 minutes later he had a nice poop in his tank. I dont think I've ever been so happy to see poop! HAHAha! ANyhow, thanks for the advice. I think I can relax a little now. I'm going to the store today to get calcium and vitamin supplements. Your Dino is very cute...looks alot like Frank!

 

[jakeh2009]

if you have not yet went to the store and bought the supplements, you may want to check petmountain.com very good prices and many people here recommend them. the repcal line seems very popular. what type of uvb bulb are you using? brand name and is it mercury vapor or tube light, just wondering because those who have experienced the reptiglo 10.0 have had many problems. zoo meds reptisun 10.0 is the leading tube bulb right now. just thought id let you know that information, i learned that when looking for bulbs.

 

[cheese]

welcome

 

[krystalsboy]

I have not purchased supplements yet, so I will check out that site. Thanks! As far as lighting, I have an Exo-Terra 100W UVA daylight bulb and a 26W Exo-Terra Repti Glo 10.0 UVB. Is this a good bulb? I just bought it today because I mistakenly thought that the daylight bulb had UVB. Still learning, which I thought I had done the research, but some books are not the same advice as the people on here. And I'd rather take you're word for it, you all are the one's raising them! I am considering Rep-Cal Calcium and D3 and Rep-Cal Herpivite for my supplements. Does this sound good?

 

[krystalsboy]

Okay, so the repti glo UVB is a no-go. So would Zoo med's "Reptisun 10.0 UVB Desert Bulb - 26 Watts" (screws in as a dome bulb) be sufficient for a 30 ft tank? Also, should I purchase a platform or some driftwood so that he can get closer to the light?

 

[cheese]

Any compact bulbs an hurt your beardie but the tube stip of that bulb is good and the cheapiet place. To buy one is at pet mountain.com and get the 10.0 bulb the desert is not good.

 

[cheese]

Okay, so the repti glo UVB is a no-go. So would Zoo med's "Reptisun 10.0 UVB Desert Bulb - 26 Watts" (screws in as a dome bulb) be sufficient for a 30 ft tank? A thirty inch tank or a thirty feet tank
Also, should I purchase a platform or some driftwood so that he can get closer to the light?

 

[jakeh2009]

yea i would return the reptiglo and get the reptisun 10.0, just like cheese stated i got mine off amazon for 26 bucks shipped because petmountain was out of them but it was still a few bucks cheaper going with amazon. I have a four foot tank and i went with a 24inch bulb, just because the fixtures were readily available at walmart for that size. if you have a lid you may want to attach the bulb to the bottom side of the lid as they tend to block out upto half the output of the bulb. As for the wood and such, i prefer not to purchase just because its so expensive, i found all mine in the woods. you just have to be careful and make sure if you go this route to get thing the wood may be harboring out. i took all the stuff that would fit in the oven and baked it on a cookie sheet for 25-30 mins at 400 degrees, but you can also use a bleach/water mixture and let the pieces soak. either way will kill anything harmful. if using the bleach method id imagine you have to let it sit and dry for a day or so because id say the fumes are probably harmful.

 

[krystalsboy]

the 18" reptisun is on the way, my tank is only 30 inches wide, I think I will have to put the light on top of the screen. I got the Fluker's 24" fixture and I don't know how I could attach it under the screen. Maybe with wire?

 

[jakeh2009]

yea you can use wire, i just used bread ties, as that was all i had available at the time worked fine, may sound cheap but you cant even tell, may have to connect a few together to fit around the base. also some fixtures have mounting holes, if your lid is like mine with with metal mesh holes you can put the screws threw on the bottom side of the lid and then hang the light that way, the screws fit perfectly in the holes but the ones i tried had heads to big to fit in the mounting holes on the fixture. so when u get the light it will probably comes with some screws, so you can try that method as well. good luck

 

[krystalsboy]

Actually, I just went to Lowe's yesterday and got a $10 flourescent fixture that I was able to use 3m tape to stick to the top inside of the tank. Just waiting on the bulb. Go to "Enclosures" and "I Love Lowe's" to see the pics. THanks for your help. How's your Dino?

 

[jakeh2009]

very nice, i like the cave idea, also gives alot of space to climb. our little guy is doing great, he is starting to eat more and i think he is catching onto his greens, not sure how much he is eating but i see them all over his tank so he atleast knows where they are. getting bigger by the day, hes had about 30 crickets today which is good because i got them a few days ago so im sure they are going to die soon, hes alot more active now too, i was thinking the reptisun was making him goofy but i think it was because i redid his tank and he was boggled. his colors are starting to brighten up alot.. isnt it crazy what we do when we become slaves lol

 

[krystalsboy]

yea, I bought a small little "cage" to keep my crickets and got some cricket feed. I bought 12 dozen on Saturday and they are still alive. I've only had a few die. If he's going through that many a day, you may wanna do something like that. You can just take it with you and they will just fill that up at the store. Glad DIno is doing good. Frank gets his bath once a day for 10 minutes but still hates it. He only tolerates it if I let him sit on my hand in the water the whole time....SPOILED :roll: He eats about 10-15 crickets a day and will eat some parsley and banana if I put it right in front of him. We have enjoyed him so much! Can't wait till he gets bigger!