My First Beardie

[azar]

My first one and i hope to keep it alive with all your help. I love the little dood. My first pet ever actually. Any suggestions about my set up? As you can tell im new at this. I dont want it to die

HE'S CHILLIN HEHE. THE METER AT THE BACK READS 83 IS THAT OK?

IS THE LIGHTING POSITION OK? SHOULD HE BE UNDER THE UV INSTEAD OF THE RED LIGHT? HOW LONG DO DOES THE RED LIGHT HAS TO BE ON, SAME GOES FOR THE UV LIGHT?

HE DOESNT SEEM TO LIKE DRINKING WATER OUT OF THAT GRAY TRAY AT THE BACK? ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE HIM DRINK OUT OF IT? FEEDING HIM IS EVEN HARDER (ESPECIALLY GREENS AND FRUITS)

THANKS FOR READING GUYS. ANY SUGGESTIONS AT ALL WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

 

[Dogitude]

Sand is a very bad substrate and not a good one for beardies it can die i suggest you get a new substrate one i like is crittercountry but there are various othere such as newspaper,papertowels or dragoncarpet

 

[Dogitude]

how old is your bd

 

[mikey]

your lights need to be a little closer, i think. he should be under a basking for heat and a uvb for natural light. the hot side should be around 100-110 and the cold side around no lower than 70.

and yes, sand is not good for little beardies if they accidently eat alot of it!

 

[NintendoVixen79]

There is piles of great info in the site's caresheets-
http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/

You shouldnt have a red light at all.
And where is the UV you speak of? Is that bulb a mercury vapor bulb then?

You need a digital thermometer or a temperature gun instead of teh round dial one you have on the back. You need to measure the actual surface of his basking spot to see that its around 110 (anywhere from 105-115 is good) Make sure thats the temperature on the surface of the basking spot itself- NOT the air temperature.
And make sure he has a cool side of the tank that is 75-85.

If the white bulb is a mercury vapor he should be 12" from it (i think. I dont use a MVB so someone else can help you more with that). If thats just a regular heat bulb you need to get a UV strip light- either a reptiglo 8.0 or a reptisun 10.0 and he needs to be able to get within 6" of it.

Is the sand calci-sand (i ask cause it looks very finely ground like calci)? This can be risky even though the bag says its digestable. It can clump up and harden in the beardie's system since beardies like to constantly taste their surroundings. You can use non-adhesive shelf liner or tile for an attractive non-particle substrate without all the impaction risk.
Playsand is a less risky sand option, but still needs to be watched, especially as a baby.

You dont need to worry about fruits and veggies so much now. Chop up a salad and keep it in the tank daily and if he wants to nibble he will. If not, no big deal. Fruits are an occasional treat. (make sure you use greens like Dandelion, collards, or escarole. And other good veggies like butternut squash, etc. Never use regular iceburg lettuce or romaine)

If he's not eating his insects, it could just be relocation stress. Beardies may take a few days or a couple weeks to get used to their new environment.
What insect do you feed? I assume crickets? Make sure they are smaller than the space between his eyes. And offer him as much as he'll eat in 10-15 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day. He may eat 20, he may eat 50 or 100. Each beardie is different.
Did you get Rep-Cal Calcium with D3 and no phosphorous? They need this dusted on their insects 5x a week. And 2x a week they need the Rep-Cal Herptivite multivitamin.

Dont worry about him not drinking the water. Most people do not even have a water dish in their tanks. They get moisture from their food, from their baths (soak them in water no higher than their shoulders a few times a week or more), and their spritzings (get one of those spray bottles for water and spritz him daily)

Ok thats all I can think of right now. But there's alot of info in that caresheets & article link (also located at the top of the forum page)

 

[azar]

hes around 5-6 months
and it is a mercury vapor
the sand is called vita-sand (sonoran white)

thanks guys. especially nintendo. great help. i guess i need a couple more things.

should he bask under the mercury lamp or the redlight? i think my whole temperature is off in my tank. does anyone have pictures of your tank and please post them up. maybe i can look at how a real tank should be. thanks

 

[azar]

oh and he does eat his crickets fine. he's actualy a pig. as for vitamins i have 2 bottles. a pink and a blue container. I appreciate the water info. as for his veggies he wont eat in the tray. i'll have to put it beside him (where his chillin) is that ok? or would he go to tray when he wants too. i've never seen him do that tho.

 

[azar]

can anyone please show me how your tanks are set up? i dont want my zues to die

 

[Dogitude]

heres mine

 

[mikey]

kaidas temporary home:

 

[azar]

nice tanks guys.

what kind of lights are you using mikey? you dont have a red light like mine? how come? when do u turn them off or on? i noticed you have three and dog has one. any reason why?

errrr these lighting things are very confusing too me.

 

[Dogitude]

Im planing to build a new cage jjjust like this out of a drawer

if youre interested in making one too here is the info and all


http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Ffr%3Dsbcfp-imp%26tab%3DImages%26p%3Dbeardie%2Bcage%26btn%3DSearch&w=650&h=271&imgurl=708designs.netfirms.com%2Fcustomcage%2Fbeardies-pythonscage.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2F708designs.netfirms.com%2Fcustomcage%2Fcustomcage.htm&size=23.9kB&name=beardies-pythonscage.jpg&p=beardie+cage&type=jpeg&no=1&tt=35&oid=f044bd5e530a37ce&ei=UTF-8

 

[chick_panther]

If you have an MVB you don't need a heat lamp (usually). The most common problem with MVB's is overheating and dehydration. Bathing will hydrate your dragon's skin, but internally it gives a very minimal amount of moisture. Spray water on the beardy twice a day, untop of his head and keep doing this until he stops drinking. How big is that tank? If its a 20 than make sure the area below the MVB doesn't exceed 110 degress. If its even bigger you shouldn't worry about it.

Get rid of the red light and position the MVB where the red one is, with something (a stick or what not) to be able to get within 12 inches of the bulb, but no closer then 8" because then they'll burn themselves. Make sure the cool part of the tank is aroun 75 degrees.

Most people suggest not to use vita-sand or calcium sand. My vet said not to use regular sand either. Most people use shelf-liners. mike's_dad uses Bed-a-beast which is a substrate made out of coconut fiber. I'm switching to that, because I'm using repti-bark which is also bad. So if you want a substrate that your beardy can burrow into I suggest you ask mikes_dad, otherwise get a shelf-liner. But its your choice.

Make sure you wash the water dish out daily. Even if he doesn't drink from it he might bask in it, and likewise poop.

Beardies usually won't take to vegetables, but still ahve them there as an option. After about 2 months they'll take to eating them. I personally use setp 2 baby food because it's pretty much just the vegetables mushed up with a bit of water, which keeps them hydrated. Peas are very palitable to a beardy, but the green beans are two watery. As a treat I give banana's- but a healthier choice is apples. Stay away from multi-vitamins or foods with a Vitamin A supplement (natural vitamin is okay in small amounts) and favor anything with beta carotene in it.

Other than that your tank looks great. Is that log big enough for your beardy to hide in? You need a hiding spot if not. Keep asking questions and welcome to the forums!

 

[mikey]

nice tanks guys.

what kind of lights are you using mikey? you dont have a red light like mine? how come? when do u turn them off or on? i noticed you have three and dog has one. any reason why?

errrr these lighting things are very confusing too me.

the black light on the left is a 110w basking bulb on a dimmer for the basking temp. on a 14 hour day timer.

the long light is reptisun 5.0 for UVB. on a 14 hour day timer.

the silver light on the right is 75w to keep the cool side up to temp. turn it off manually.

i plan on keeping the two round lights for the new enclosure but the small reptisun is getting replaced by a 48" reptisun 10.0. you can get a timer anywhere... the one i have has 8 outlets. 2 for day period, 2 for night period and 4 universal.

the red lights you have are meant for night time, but the color messes with the dragons sleep, so i would get rid of it and get a ceramic heat emitter, if you need it.

 

[NintendoVixen79]

You're very welcome.
Just get rid of the red light. It's unnecessary and just adding heat to what should be the 'cool' side of the tank. He should be basking under the MVB, about 12" away from it.
Make sure you get a good thermometer right away b/c the right temperature is one of the most important things. If the air temperatures are too hot they can overheat which can kill them. If the basking temps are not hot enough they cant digest their food!
What size is the tank btw?

Here is pic of my tank set-up. Its a 75 gallon. Ridley is 5 1/2 months old. Its a set-up though with a strip UV light seperate from teh basking bulb. The hammock and the log are close to the UV so he can get the right rays. They cant get close to a MVB like that...
The pile of slate is his heat basking area.