Meet Toothless

[OneBigDude]

Now that my cage is set up and the temperatures are where they should be, I brought home a beardie tonight. He's not my first, but my only one currently. I had one that passed about 4 years ago and have been itching to get another. Here she is.....Toothless (guessing this is a common name nowadays, but it's a great movie.)

http://s1288.beta.photobucket.com/user/onebigdude/media/IMG_20130225_195537_141_zps4e73b450.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2
http://s1288.beta.photobucket.com/user/onebigdude/media/IMG_20130225_195546_996_zps2078e692.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1
http://s1288.beta.photobucket.com/user/onebigdude/media/IMG_20130225_211756_056_zpsed91f5c5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

[brittani299]

He is cute

 

[daner923]

Welcome! I see you have a strip thermometer in there - is that what you are using to measure temps, or do you have a digital thermometer with a probe/a temp gun as well?

 

[OneBigDude]

Welcome! I see you have a strip thermometer in there - is that what you are using to measure temps, or do you have a digital thermometer with a probe/a temp gun as well?

Lol The strip thermometer is stuck pretty good to the side, it is stuck pretty good to the side and I would rather leave it there than peel it off and leave a sticky mess. I have a digital thermometer on the basking area and the cool end. Its crazy how much bad advice you can get from a pet store. I had my last beardie for about 6 years (passed away around 6 years ago) and after reading this site, my whole set-up was pretty bad for the guy. Wrong lights, wrong substrate, wrong heating, etc...After reading this site, i'm pretty excited to have one set up properly. Here is a picture. The basking spot is right at 110, but since the the meter is at ground level its reading 89 for the basking side.

http://s1288.beta.photobucket.com/user/onebigdude/media/IMG_20130226_133025_917_zpsf10ba1df.jpg.html

 

[daner923]

Looks awesome! The only suggestion I have is that the UVB is a bit far. It should be only 6-8 inches from the basking spot for optimal UVB utilization.

 

[OneBigDude]

I have had Toothless for 3 days now and he ate 10 crickets the first day, 20 yesterday, and 11 this morning. He hasn't pooped yet and impaction shouldn't be an issue since he was housed on linoleum before I got him and newspaper in his current enclosure. I let him soak yesterday and he drank when I dripped water on his head. How long should I wait for him to poop before I get worried?

 

[daner923]

Make sure you aren't feeding anything bigger than the space between his eyes to help avoid impaction. He might have a small impaction, so try offering some olive oil, canned unspiced pumpkin, applesauce, or baby food prunes to get him to poo. Generally little guys like that go once or twice a day. You can also try a slightly warmer and deeper bath than usual to promote swimming and a bm.

 

[OneBigDude]

Make sure you aren't feeding anything bigger than the space between his eyes to help avoid impaction. He might have a small impaction, so try offering some olive oil, canned unspiced pumpkin, applesauce, or baby food prunes to get him to poo. Generally little guys like that go once or twice a day. You can also try a slightly warmer and deeper bath than usual to promote swimming and a bm.

I've been feeding him pinhead crickets. They are smaller than the space between his eyes. He's only 6" snout to tail. I just went down and held him for 5 min then drew him a nice warm bath. He splashed for 30 seconds then poo'd. I've never been so relieved to see an animal "go" lol. Thanks! :lol:

 

[daner923]

You're welcome! Bath time is the best, and yea, I never would have guessed poo could be so exciting as with a beardie! :lol:

 

[OneBigDude]

Here are some updated pictures. I think he is getting used to the enclosure...

 

[daner923]

So cute! If he is hiding the the tree a lot, you might want to take it out for a couple weeks so he will adjust to his new home more.

 

[OneBigDude]

So cute! If he is hiding the the tree a lot, you might want to take it out for a couple weeks so he will adjust to his new home more.

He spends most of his time basking on the rock under the halogen light. Last night he slept in the tree. It scared me because I couldn't find him this morning and never thought to look between tree leaves :roll:

 

[daner923]

Don't worry, he won't be that small for long :lol: Max started out at about 7 inches in October, and now he's 18 inches. He couldn't hide from me if he wanted to, at least not in the tank.

 

[OneBigDude]

Just saw this so I figured I would fill it out:

How old is your dragon? A month or so? 6 inches
How long have you had your dragon? 4 days
How long is your dragon? 6"
What is the sex of your dragon? male i think,but HE is still to small to be sure
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40g breeder
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? newspaper
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Repti-Sun 10.0
How old is your UVB bulb? 4 days
How close can your dragon get to the UVB, and where is the UVB bulb located? 9-10 inches above the basking spot
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Yes GE halogen flood light 50 watts
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)? CHE
How long are lights on each day? 10-12 hours
What are the basking temps? 107-109
What is the cool side temp? 72-76
What is the night time temp? 71-74
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? digital with indoor/outdoor probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? probe is about 1 in above basking rock
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. pinhead (small) crickets
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? once late morning and again late afternoon
How many live feeders do you offer at time? 15 he usually eats 10-12 each feeding
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? store does
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Yes, Reptocal - calcium w/ D3
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? poops in the bath tub during soaks
Do you bathe your dragon? How often? Once a day
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? no
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no

 

[daner923]

Doing great! Just a couple small things. Is the UVB on top of a screen or inside the tank? If it is on top, it would filter out about 50% of the UVB, so you would want to mount it inside. You want the probe of the thermometer directly ON the basking spot, not above it. The surface temperature is the key here. Make sure to offer as many crickets as he will eat in 10-15 minutes at each feeding. If he only wants 10-12, that's fine, but if he eats all 15, you need to keep offering until he stops. You need to continue to gut load them at home, since they will basically poop out all the good stuff in a matter of hours. Dust with calcium at one live feeding a day 5 days a week, and with a multivitamin once a day the other two days. Are you offering greens?