Meet Khaleesi my new baby beardie!

[JLollino]

Hello Everyone,
New bearded dragon owner and have immediately fallen in love with this little girl (hopefully girl, still too early to tell without risking injury) Got her at the local petstore and fell in love right away as she was the most active and attentive of the small batch and would stare me down the entire time. Had to have her and immediatly got everything I needed to make her safe and happy and picked her up later that day and brought her to her new home. Eats like crazy, 3 times a day between 7-10 Crickets at a time and a couple of dried pellets just in case. Just picked up her greens today (Turnip greens, Bok Choy, and some Collard greens) Start to give her those tomorrow. Love the site and looking forward to learning a bunch and sharing everything about Khaleesi as she grows. Thanks everyone!!

Also please any advice would be greatly appreciated as Ive only had her for 2 days
--Joe

 

[CooperDragon]

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you're off to a good start. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Pushkin]

LOVE the name, would definitely use it if I every got a girl!

 

[Kessed]

Welcome to the world of being owned by a beardie!

 

[Pushkin]

As for advice, here are some of the best tips/ideas that I've gotten here:

1. Make sure that you are using a fluorescent UVB light. UVB is essential, but some bulbs can actually do more harm than help. The general consensus is that the Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent tube is the best option out there.

2. A weekly bath is recommended for hydration - warm (but not hot) water, about shoulder-depth. I used a tupperware container as a bathtub when they were little, and put a paper towel in the bottom so they could walk easily in the water. You can also "potty train" your dragon - warm water makes them go to the bathroom, so I bathe mine daily for about 2-5 minutes (until they go). I lift them out of the water as soon as I see that they are about to go (they raise their tail a bit), and hold them over a plastic bag. Then, tie up the bag, and your tub and the dragon's house stay clean.

3. Babies eat insects like MONSTERS. Mine could eat like 60 crickets a day. Just know that it does get much better and cheaper. Dubia roaches are a great feeder to look into - you can get tiny baby ones for your little one; I buy 1.5 inch ones for my adults. They don't carry parasites like crickets do, and they don't smell bad like crickets do! Also, don't be worried if your baby ignores the greens at first - they won't start loving their veggies until they are young adults (or even later). Just keep trying.

4. Dragons love snuggles. A lot of dragons will fall right to sleep if you wrap them up at night like a burrito. I used to wrap my babies in a flannel cloth napkin and they'd be asleep in 30 seconds haha! Now they have stuffed animals in their homes, and I still snuggle with them before bed each night.

Not sure if any of that is new to you, but hope it helps!

 

[JLollino]

Thanks everyone!
Ive been trying to do everything i know of, I installed a reptisun 10.0 inside of her tank. Had to install it myself along with some custome modifications with a basking light to keep her temp up.

She seems to spend a good amount of time on her log in the top corner but tends to be pretty active at times

Ive been feeding her crickets and trying to feed her some greens but i can hand feed her a piece of two but thats about all shell eat even with it in her cage all day

So i just ordered a few hundred small dubia roaches online and am contemplating breeding some but not so sure yet. I don't like the crickets as they are dirty and I hear alot of people that have had beardies with parasites from the crickets so until i get the dubias shes been eating between 30 and 40 a day with some calcium powder dusted on top. But ive had to stick them in the freezer for 30 seconds so they dont hide in her cage

Also this morning she started shedding on her hind legs and I tried to give her a litttle bath in warm water haha but she was having none of that and tried to jump out after a few seconds. So hopefully ill just keep giving her little baths to get her used to them.

 

[CooperDragon]

You'll probably like the roaches much better than the crickets. I found that feeding bugs in small batches of 5 or so at a time (and then just repeating for 10 minutes) makes it easier to track them so they're less likely to get away and hide in the enclosure.

 

[JLollino]

Just a little update I got my Dubia roaches in today and I got a little kit so it came with the egg cartons the feed and the water crystals. Khaleesi absolutely loves them and she's eaten more of these in 2 sittings than she ate in a day with the crickets. So much easier to keep track of but I'll be honest still trying to get used to the fact that I have a tub of a couple hundred roaches but if she likes them and they're good for her than I'll get used to them.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad they are working out well. SO much easier to keep than crickets. Just think of them as big potato bugs. They're harmless =)

 

[Pushkin]

Just a little update I got my Dubia roaches in today and I got a little kit so it came with the egg cartons the feed and the water crystals. Khaleesi absolutely loves them and she's eaten more of these in 2 sittings than she ate in a day with the crickets. So much easier to keep track of but I'll be honest still trying to get used to the fact that I have a tub of a couple hundred roaches but if she likes them and they're good for her than I'll get used to them.

Haha, I know exactly what you mean! I still use gloves when I feed mine, I can't bring myself to touch them. But they are healthy for beardies and they don't jump and smell!

 

[JLollino]

Haha ya well I'm getting better with them and she's been eating them like crazy 40 yesterday and already 20 today. Bought a scale this morning and before she ate I weighed her in and my little baby is a whopping 10grams hahaha and 6 1/2 inches long nose to tip of tail. So she's still super small which is making me feel I must have gotten her really young because I've had her over a week and she's gotten noticeably bigger since I got her. I'll be doing weekly weigh ins to make sure she's growing properly

 

[Kessed]

If you're interested in watching her grow, come over to my thread!

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=216804

 

[JLollino]

HAha already on it messed I posted to you thread before I even saw you responded. Looking forward to helping you out, expect my updates weekly

 

[Kessed]

Fantastic!