Meet my beardie c: (+ some newbie Q's)

[ashen]

Hi!
I'm kind of new to all this bearded dragon stuff, and got my beardie about 2 weeks ago
I was going to get him near christmas but I ended up getting him a little early but I HAVE NO REGRETS!
This is him:

(sorry for the pic overload)
I'm still a little confused on their behaviour and all that, so I have a few noob questions and some others concerning the health of my beardie, but before I begin I'll give some info:
So I got him from a really good reptile shop in town and got all/most of the supplies from there. His current tank setup consists of:
-Climbing decorations (like logs and branches)
-A hide (which he doesn't like and instead prefers to climb on top of it)
-shallow food dish
-One of those Arcadia UVB lights which goes nearly the whole length of the viv
-a basking light with Habistat which sets the temperatures up to 120 degrees i think
His current substrate is newspaper because i cant find anywhere that sells rough ceramic tiles that fit wide enough.
I don't really know much about my beardie, I don't really know his age but he is around 13" and weighs 114g.
So here are some Q's
How much is he actually supposed to eat for his age? I feed him about 18 locusts in the late morning and feed him another 5-10 in the afternoon if he ate all the others from the morning. (along with veggies)

He has just recovered from having a limp on his front left leg but he walks on it a little funny... like he walks on his wrist instead of his "hand" (or foot, i don't know what the term is). Is this something I should be worried about?

How often should I bath him?

What kind of dragon is he? Like i've heard all these terms about "hypos" and "translucent" and I kind of want to know what he is.

How old do you think he is? He's 114g and around 13" from nose to tail.

Thanks! c:

 

[CooperDragon]

He's a cute little guy with a sheddy face =).

Your setup looks pretty good to me. Paper towels are totally fine as substrate. You can use butcher paper or non adhesive shelf liner as well if you'd like. Anything solid and easy to clean up/replace. I'd set the Habistat to top out at 110 if you can. You want the basking area to be about 100-110 and the cool side to be about 75-80.

Offer him as many bugs (no bigger than the space between his eyes) for about 10 minute or so, a couple of times per day. Are you dusting the bugs with calcium supplement? Offer a salad as well but don't be discouraged if he favors bugs. He needs the protein to support growth but it's good to have salad become familiar as it's easier to transition him over at 12-18 months when his growth slows and he prefers primarily veg.

When did his limp start? Did he fall or injure it physically? Walking on the wrists can indicate a calcium problem so it's important that you dust the bugs with calcium supplement and he gets proper UVB exposure. The Arcadia bulb you have is a very good brand. Do you know if it's a T8 or a T5 and how high above the basking area it's mounted? It also shouldn't have anything between the bulb and the basking area such as plastic covering that some fixtures have built in as that will intercept UVB rays.

You can give him baths as often as you'd like but watch his reactions. If he likes to swim around in a warm bath you can offer them daily. If he doesn't like it and acts stressed, I'd offer them less and just offer some extra water via dropping some on his nose for him to lick up. Just bathe him if he gets smelly or dirty in that case.

I'm not very good with the types of morphs but he looks like a normal dragon to me. Are all of his finger nails completely clear?

At 114g and 13'' I'd guess he's maybe 4-5 months old.

 

[ashen]

Thanks so much for answering my questions! I know it was alot to ask for :]

If you're wondering about the duct tape on the back wall, it's only temporary as the vents at the back of the viv snapped when i stepped on them (oops). It's a W.I.P and fitting a nice background over the weekend so it feels a bit more natural.

I've been given a calcium supplement, Nutrobal, but i've been told that calcium supplements with phospherus in them deafeat the object of using it in the first place. I think i've been overdoing it really, because the locusts i feed him look like they've been standing in snow for a couple hours! and I lightly sprinkle the veggies with the calcium.

I'm super glad he eats his veggies everyday because ive seen people on here who can't get theirs to eat any!

His limp started a day after I got him(he might have had it longer, but i only noticed it then), I took him to the vets as soon as I found it because i was worried sick about it. They did an xray and there were no broken bones but what was weird, was that on his leg there were fine black marks which were all down his leg. She said it looked like it got stuck in some fine wire and he was sent home with some anti inflammatory. Since then it has improved greatly, he's now putting all his weight on it and swelling gone down but the only issue is him walking on his wrist.

As for the arcadia bulb, it's a T8 and is about 7" away from one of his basking areas. A shop owner suggested buying a reflector, since the bulb isn't in the middle of the viv... is this necessary or is it just a con?

He seems to enjoy his baths but i cant really tell. He just lies in the water with his eyes closed while i massage his back.

His toenails are all clear/white.

Also, is it possible that beardies are selective about the humans they like? Mine doesn't really like my mother at all and went all black beard and won't accept food from her hands. And he won't fall asleep on her either. When I pick him up he falls into a deep slumber... almost like he's comatose! When he gets spooked he runs onto me as if to say "HELP DONT LET IT EAT ME"

And he sometimes closes one of his eyes when anyone pets him, usually the one closest to the person petting him. I don't really know what this means? Is he comfortable or stressed or what?

Thanks C:

 

[CooperDragon]

The calcium supplements (and food) rely on a ratio of calcium to phosphorus which should favor calcium for proper absorption. I haven't used Nutrobal but it is 46:1 in favor of calcium which is fine. I wouldn't coat the bugs so heavily. Just put some of the dust at the bottom of a small cup and then put the bugs in a few at a time and gently shake so they're coated but with just a thin, widespread coat. That should be plenty. It's great that he's eating his veges. Keep that up as part of a nice balanced diet. Some of them will eat veg young and others won't. Just a personality thing I guess.

If they took an X-Ray and the bones looked like they have healthy density and no breaks, then it will probably be fine. The anti-inflammatory should help. Offering some silk worms may help as well - they produce serrapeptase which acts as an anti inflammatory as well. Once it stops being swollen and doesn't hurt he'll probably start putting proper pressure on it again. Not likely a calcium related issue.

The T8 bulb is good at that distance. You'll want it to be about 6-8'' for proper output so that's just right. I would use a reflector with it so you get as much as you can out of it. The T8 bulbs aren't as powerful as the T5s so a reflector would be helpful. Not totally necessary but I'd recommend using one. It concentrates and can greatly increase the UVB directed at the basking area. Taterbug has put together a great lighting guide which may help. It shows the Arcadia 12% T8 at 8'' producing UVI of 1.5 with no reflector and 3.2 UVI with a reflector at the same distance. I recommend having a UVI between 3-5 at the basking area and a gradient down to 0 in other areas of the tank.
https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides

If he just sits with his eyes closed he may be enjoying it or at least tolerating it so it's probably OK. Make sure the water is warm to the inside of your wrist, just like you'd test baby milk or baby water. Don't leave him too long as the water gets cold. He should get time under the basking light after bath and drying so he can warm back up.

If his nails are all clear then he may have some hypo genes I believe.

They do definitely have individual personalities and can attach to some people and not others. If she spends time around him and is gentile and speaks softly he may come around in time and realize she isn't a threat. It's great that he already sees you as secure though!

When they close one eye like that I take it as meaning this isn't horrible but i'd like it to go away please. Closing an eye kind of makes it go away. If it bothers him a lot he'd likely move out of the way or flinch though. You'll get the hang of his moods and signals over time. Since they're all a bit different I can't tell you for sure.

 

[ashen]

Thanks for the informational replies, it cleared a lot of things up for me :]

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm happy to help. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[ashen]

Okay so I just got some tiles from the tile shop and put them in along with his brand new rock background. Hopefully the ceramic tiles and the background will file down his needle-point nails.
When i put him in though, he kept attacking the floor and trying to eat the patterns on the tiles. Should I be worried about this? He's been doing it non stop since i put him in until I put him on his log and he seemed to have sttled down. He seems to be more interested with eating the floor than the locusts hopping around him! :roll:

 

[CooperDragon]

It sounds like he just needs to adjust to the change a bit. He's probably a bit rattled. He'll likely settle down in time. As long as the tiles have a little bit of texture they should help keep his nails filed a bit. You can trim them yourself too if you want. You just need to be patient. You can use nail clippers and clip just the very tip of the nail. If you run the clippers along the back of the nail toward the tip you'll feel it catch at the end of the quick. You can cut beyond that area. I would avoid this unless they get really bothersome though because if the nails become too dull it makes it tougher for them to climb and hold onto their basking areas.

 

[ashen]

Thanks for all the help :]

by the way...does he look skinny to you?
Just wondering since someone mentioned he looked skinny

 

[anastasia6988]

Aww, congrats on your new beardie. He is adorable. As are ALL beardies in my opinion. .

He doesn't look too thin to me. I'd say as long as he is eating healthy and being active there is not much to worry about. Just feed him properly and find what he likes, he might fatten up a little.

I'm new to the beardie life too so of course others can feel free to chime in.

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree. He looks pretty good to me as well. If his activity is up and he's eating he's probably in good shape.