My first Beardie - Questions/Concerns I have

[DaRkL3AD3R]

Greetings!

This is my first post here, this seems like a great board and looks very helpful

First I would like to say that I am a brand new Bearded Dragon owner. I have a baby, approx 4 inches long. I have everything setup very well. Using a 45 gal. tank 36"x18"x16". I have a 150 watt basking lamp on a dimmer, at about half its max output, this yields a basking spot temp of about 116F and about 90F on the hot side. The cool side is anywhere from 75-80 depending on ambient temp, at night it drops to 70F in the tank. Right now I'm keeping things simple in the tank. I have a water bowl, food bowl, a hide (hollowed out half log) and a climbing decoration in his basking spot, to get him half a foot off the ground. I am using a reptile carpet that fits the floor perfectly. Also I had an Exoterra Reptiglo 15w 10.0 UVA/UVB fluorescent, but I read bad things about it so I returned it and ordered a Zoo Med Reptisun 20w 10.0 24" for my fixture. Hopefully I get this tomorrow as its very rainy where I live so no outdoors sunshine soaking for my poor little Spike.

Well so far everything seems good with him. He is very accepting when it comes to being picked up. He doesn't squirm away, he lets me pick him up and he sits still for the most part in my hand. I am trying very hard to leave him be in his enclosure most of his awake hours. I want him to become fully comfortable and stress free in his new home. I've had him for about 3 days now and he seems fairly acquainted in his home. I do have some concerns though.

1) He doesn't climb up to his basking spot. He may climb onto the object but hides out in a spot thats shadowed, without full light hitting his body. Temps are "ok" on that side so he shouldn't be too cold. Just concerned about why he won't bask.
2) Feeding. He only eats 3-6 crickets a meal. He refuses veggies, and I don't want to put him on worms or anything but crickets until he grows a little. I think he's only about 4-5 weeks old, so I should wait till at least 2 months for worms right?
3) He's very lethargic. He sits around on the hot side all day, doesn't move much unless its feeding time. Even then it's hardly anything to get excited over.

I just am doing my best to make sure any issues that may arise are not from me failing him. Since I've got him (3 days ago) I've made a total of 15 trips to various pet stores, trying to get more information and purchase the right things for him. I can't believe its true, but Petsmart initially sold me a 12x12x12 7gal. enclosure for him O_O I got home, set it up and said "no" and swiftly packaged it up and returned it for my new 45gal long tank. It's so nicely setup now that I am actually starting to feel content with my setup. I was always looking at things with a level of intricacy that I hardly put into my own health and life :lol:

Just wondering if what I'm experiencing is normal so I can be at rest and know that my baby beardie will grow up big and healthy. I haven't taken him to a vet yet because A) I don't feel its necessary, yet and B) I am not sure what to expect if I even did take him. Cost, procedure, etc all mysteries to me.

If anyone can give me some insight on all of this, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope I didn't post this in the wrong place, and please let me know if you see anything wrong! (besides not having a UVB light at this time, like I said it should hopefully be here tomorrow)

Thanks!

Here's a picture of his tank:


And here's my baby, Spike:

 

[cashrokxsz]

dont evin touch the worms. they r no good. jus stick to crix of give him roaches.

 

[ziggy23]

Your basking spot is a little high. I would aim for 100-110F.

the screen will filter out some of the uv rays, so when that gets in you'll want to mount it inside the tank. A lot of people do this with those 3mm stick on hooks. Make sure the little one can get within 6-8 inches.

A lot of the behaviors and eating problems you describe could be caused by relocation stress. Some dragons get over it quickly, some can take a few weeks. It's normal for them to not be as active, or eat as much when they come to a new home. I'd say if his appetite doesn't pick up after about 2 weeks, then maybe get a vet check, or at least a fecal done. Oh and don't forget to dust your feeders! Hatchlings should be fed 2-3x a day. 1 meal dusted, calcium 5x a week and multivitamin 2x a week.

Also it's very normal for a hatchling to not show much interest in salads. Just keep offering it. Here's a good site with nutritional info. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html It could take quite a while for them to come around to salads. That's perfectly normal. Make sure you cut it really small. put it in a food processor if you want. I recommend aiming for a colorful salad. A lot of color is very attractive to them, and looks very tasty. Don't worry if they don't eat it for a while. But if you offer it daily, it's just a matter of time before they try it. They are naturally inquisitive, especially when they're babies, and they tend to explore with their mouths.

But overall good job!

 

[DaRkL3AD3R]

Thank you for the tips!!

Just wondering, you said that 116 was too hot for a basking spot. I just want to verify something. I placed my thermometers probe on the highest point on the branch under the basking lamp, and it took a long time to reach 116. It pretty much instantly hit 110 though, (correction, not instantly. It takes about 10 minutes to hit 110) but took a few hours to reach 116. Could that 116 then just be from sitting in it for so long, heating up? I mean if my beardie gets to his temp peak, wouldn't he gape his mouth, and if thats not enough, just move to a cooler area?

Also on that note of the UVB being mounted inside. I'm not sure if thats possible? How would I do that? I see you mentioned hooks, but I didn't see anything like that anywhere pet store wise. If I were to mount it on top, but pull the screen out a little (it slides open to the front) so that the bulb isn't blocked by the screen, but the screen is closed right up to the fixture, would that be fine? From his basking spot it would be about 12-15 inches away from the bulb at most. If there's no screen in the way would that be ok?

Thanks again oh and look at this. I placed him up on the branch since he seemed to be basking at the bottom of the tree, and he's been sitting there for awhile now. Probably 30+ minutes I think he just needed a gentle nudge in the right direction haha

 

[cashrokxsz]

from a uvb strip light. they need to b apprx. 10-12 inches away to work effectively.

 

[DaRkL3AD3R]

Ok I think all is looking good! I believe my poor baby beardie was just going through a case of the new home blues. Now that about 4 days have passed and he's starting to settle in, he seems to be doing much better. His appetite spiked bigtime! Just yesterday I fed him 3 crickets in the morning for breakfast, and in the early afternoon around 2 PM I fed him another 2. I always feed them one at a time and if he doesn't seem interested in the last one then I stop. Both times (morning and afternoon) he finished the last one then after I dropped another cricket in, he just looked away showing no interest.

Well this morning, I got him to eat 6 dusted crickets big leap from 3. Waited till around 4 PM later today, and fed him some vitamin supplemented crickets (the spray stuff right?) and he had another 6! Went from 5 yesterday, to 12! Very happy!

So as of right now, my only concerns are:

1) MBD
2) Impaction

I wish I knew just how "soft" baby bearded dragon's feet are supposed to be, because after looking at videos demonstrating weak bones due to MBD, my beardie seems very similar his feet are very squishy, sometimes his front feet are not placed flat on the ground but in a sort of strange manner. His hind legs are usually off to the side, but his toes can be very oddly sprawled about. Ie - not straight out in alignment with his foot, but rather curved and curled up.

Impaction I worry about because apparently it can happen at any time. I don't use sand, I have a carpet, so thats one less possibility. But usually I wake up in the morning and find 1-3 fecal matters about. Today I woke up to find 0. All day long, never went to the bathroom. Even when I gave him a warm bath, which when I gave him one a couple days ago he went rather quickly, today, nothing. Hoping tomorrow I wake up and find something, and if I don't he'll be in the bath for a good 15 minutes. I just want my baby to grow up healthy, no illnesses, diseases or fatal problems

I'll update tomorrow sometime with the results. Wish Spike and me luck!

 

[nair88]

Also on that note of the UVB being mounted inside. I'm not sure if thats possible? How would I do that? I see you mentioned hooks, but I didn't see anything like that anywhere pet store wise.

it's definitely possible. just stick it to the back using double-sided tape or velcro

 

[DaRkL3AD3R]

it's definitely possible. just stick it to the back using double-sided tape or velcro

Thats crazy! hahaha I mean, I would only do that if I used a BOATLOAD of velcro!

So as of 9:30 AM I have some good news update on Spike. First off, he did have a bowel movement, so no impaction (yay) and another positive thing is when I gave him a bath, his underbody was completely white! Since I've got him, he's had just slight blackness under his beard, and belly. Well today he looks healthy and happy, stress free.

However with the good comes the bad. Unfortunately for whatever odd reason, he has no energy or appetite today. It's still early, but usually when I wake up in the morning and lean out of bed, I see him sitting right up front of the tank looking at me as if to say "it's breakfast time! feed me!" Well today he was sitting flat on the ground in front of his basking spot, head down. He has continued to stay that way even after a bath and some playtime. When I dropped a cricket in his tank, he didn't even so much as look at it. So its been about 3 hours since I woke up and gave him his bath, and he's still laying flat near his basking spot. Dunno if he's just being a lazy lizard or if there's something wrong.

And another great news is my Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent is out for delivery It should be here before the afternoon! I'm going to try and get a ton of velcro so I can mount the fixture inside the tank, but we'll see how well that goes.

 

[squirell]

Hows the weather there? When its rainy or gloomy my little guy is the laziest thing in the world. He will sleep till noon if I let him.

 

[ziggy23]

Hows the weather there? When its rainy or gloomy my little guy is the laziest thing in the world. He will sleep till noon if I let him.

mine do too. just like with people, sometimes they just have lazy days.

 

[nair88]

Thats crazy! hahaha I mean, I would only do that if I used a BOATLOAD of velcro!

i used the industrial strength stuff.

works like a champ.

 

[DaRkL3AD3R]

i used the industrial strength stuff.

works like a champ.

Oooo gonna have to get some. Home Depot/Lowes?

And yes its rainy and gloomy where I live right now. Can that really be why he's having such down days? He isn't eating anything today left 2 dusted crickets in his cage and he looked at one when it crawled near him, but whenever he lunges for a cricket and misses he gets so discouraged. He just sits there all depressed and will let them crawl on him because he doesn't even want to try. He also stopped drinking water, first time I took him in my hand and dropped small droplets on his noise, he immediately drank it up. Everytime after that he acts as if there's no water there at all. Kinda getting worried about him.

 

[nair88]

Oooo gonna have to get some. Home Depot/Lowes?

i've never looked for it at either one of those places, but i would think they would have it. i know i've seen it at places like staples, office max, and walmart though.

 

[DaRkL3AD3R]

Great I will check them out today! My reptisun 10.0 24" fluorescent came in today. I have it hooked up to my hooded fixture but I can't see this working long. It's above the screen going down 16" and it seems pretty weak in my BD's basking spot. Is it normal for him to lay flat with this head sorta looking down into the ground? Because he basks or naps like this a lot

Picture included so you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about. He sits like this most of the day:

 

[squirell]

If all else fails you might have to force feed him some baby food as suggested above. He might still be dealing with relocation stress as well and today just happens to be one of his off days. Last time it was gloomy and rainy out for a coulpe days mine barely ate and slept till noon one day because I didnt get up till then. Once the skies cleared up he was back to his normal self. As for him missing the crickets you can put them in the freezer for about 5 minutes and it will slow them down. You can also try hand feeding or using tongs to feed them to him individually. Be careful though he just might get used to you doing that and then you are his slave for life!