Meet izzy!

[Izzy34]

Hi everybody! My name is Derek and I just got my first beardie!
Me and my girlfriend have been looking for a reptile for a while and when we went and visited her frien who has a three year old beardie named herbie, we fell in love. We went lookin at pet stores and only found one place in town with beardies. All babies though and we wanted something a little less fragile due to the fact we are a little more inexperienced. Went on the local classifieds and found this little girl at a reptile adoption center in our area. She wasn't very well cared for we don't think as she are a good handful of crickets and mealworms. We named her izabella or izzy! She's beautiful.

 

[Izzy34]

Here's another pic. Lights came on at 7:30 this morning. Woke up and she was basking on her rock!

 

[Love4animals]

Just a tip DO NOT use sand it might look natural but it can cause impaction and impaction leads to death. What happens is when the Beardie is eating they could injest some of the sand and once they injest alot of it, it clogs their system and kills them. Most people use sand but it is actualy very harmful to them so don't use sand. Safe good substrates: reptile carpet, tile,or slate do the job, any loose substrates that they can injest is harmful.when I had my first reptile (leopard gecko) I used sand too and didn't know but quickly changed it.I was about 12 when I had my leopard gecko I'm 14 now though. Btw hope this helped!

 

[Love4animals]

Btw welcome to the forum and love your dragon I have a Beardie named tiger and he/she is only 5 inches long and loves to cuddle with me after bath time

 

[Izzy34]

Haha thanks! I've been doing alot of reading and am gonna change out a bunch of stuff in her cage tonight. I'll post some pictures when I'm done! No more sand that's for sure. That's how the old owner had her. I think I'm gonna go with adhesive free liner or some repticarpet.

 

[Love4animals]

Yeah carpet works good I use that for my Beardie, but soon I'm going to get him tile

 

[Love4animals]

One more tip DO NOT EVER use heat rocks they can A malfunction or C overheat and burn your Beardie eaternily not good I don't really know much about the heat rocks burning them so if you want more info you can always google it

 

[Izzy34]

So got the new stuff all into the Tank. Got some repticarpet and a big log for her to bask on and some new lights. She seems to be very happy! Got a cricket house for my crickets and some butter worms as treats for her. Got those stupid dial thermometers until I can afford some digital ones.

 

[morphmom]

I love stories about adopted adults! They have so much to offer! Beautiful, wonderful second chance dragons. Congrats! Welcome Izzy! :mrgreen:

 

[Izzy34]

So lights go out at nine thirty last night and she ends up climbing up a vine we have in the cage and she falls asleep perfectly vertical on this plant. I woke her up and took her out and put her on my stomach, not even two minutes and she's fast asleep while in watchin the tube!

 

[lauraj1055]

You should get rid of the red light, and use a bright white light for basking. Dragons need a lot of light during the day to keep them active and their appetite stimulated. And never use the red light at night. They need the darkness in order to get their sleep.

 

[Izzy34]

I have two broad spectrum 10.0 UVB bulbs for sun and the red is just for heat as well I have an under tank heat pad that is on at night time for her. Night temps are 70-75, basking is 95-100 and cool side is 80 degrees. Should I just get a light bulb to provide daytime heat for her?

 

[F0rger]

The red lights don't bother beardies too much when they sleep, especially if you turn the lights off in the room and have some shelter they can sleep in. I need the red light for the heat during the night, or it'll dip down below 75 degrees. If you really have qualms about it, though, you could always get a heat lamp, no light and enough heat.

 

[lauraj1055]

I have two broad spectrum 10.0 UVB bulbs for sun and the red is just for heat as well I have an under tank heat pad that is on at night time for her. Night temps are 70-75, basking is 95-100 and cool side is 80 degrees. Should I just get a light bulb to provide daytime heat for her?

Ok, I know a lot about beardies, and am here to help anyone that needs it, so please follow my advice:

1, ditch the heat mat. Beardies do not absorb warmth from under them, they need overhead heat.

2, Do not keep the red bulb on at night. They don't need it, the temps can go down to 65, and they need that cool down for optimum health. As long as your house is not below 65 at night, you don't need any heat source at night. In the winter, you can use a CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter) that gives off heat but no light. But do not keep it too warm at night.

3. you can use a regular household basking bulb. I use 75 watts in my bigger cage.

What are you using to check your temps? The basking spot should be around 102 - 105 for adults.

what are you using for calcium? and how often? Do you bathe him?

These are just a few questions I have right now

 

[Izzy34]

Well the heat light is only on during the day and is off at night. I bathe her once a week and I have those stupid dial thermos. I am waiting till payday to get some digital probes. I am using reptivit calcium and d I believe. And every other feeding.