My playfull bearded dragon jasper.

[Bluekush]

Hello everybody. I baught a bearded dragon from petsmart about 16 days ago. He looked so alert in the pet shop. He even let my five year son handle him. petstore people just gave it to him like here you go, my eyes almost popped outta my head. It was pretty cold that day but we had a short car ride home and the car was still warm. I dont know exactly how old he is. Still a juvenile still. I only have a coil uvb bulb in a dome fixture. With uva light beside. Where the tank is thers a big window and the light just pours in. I took the curtain down. I know windows block most uvb i have a fixture know for a fluorescent style bulb reptisun 10.0 they have for 30$ at the pet shop near me.

The first week was hard as he always hid and layed flat even hissed at my wife. Probably didnt help we used a red light his first three nights. I had to do alot of research on how to bond with him. Alot of my google searches took me to this site. Ive made alot of progress with jasper. From the day we got him i was feeding him horn worms and crickets. I love giving him a variety of food and hes such a good eater. I have fake plants in the tank (gotta get real ones soon) he started bitting at them one day so i gave him some okra and he ate a big chunk. Since then ive given him grapes banana papaya spinach romain lettuce. Hes gotten so used to me he lets me give him water from a plastic spoon.

He is so smart and playfull. Since i got him ive bin talking to him for like 15-30 mins a day just chilling by his tank, and occasionally picking him up. I always wink at him and stick my tounge out at him. One day when i came home from work he stared running around the tank when i whent and checked on him he did both these things he winked at me first for like a good minute one eye open one eye closed. Then he stuck his tongue out and started doing some head bobbing it looked like he was laughing and having a great time. This morning he waved at me. He has a small plant he love to knock over and trample. Sometimes i catch him swinging off the vines like there monkey bars. I wanna get a pic one day.

So the other day he started shedding and i gave him a warm bath and so much loose skin came off when i first put him in there he didnt freak out but after a couple minutes he stared squirming so took him out wrapped him in some paper towel and put him in his feeder tank

Honestly everything has bin going so great I wanted to thank you guys for all the advice.and how helpfull this site has bin. I noticed hes bin pooping in one area im gunna put paper towel there and slowly put alittle sand on it and try to litter train him. Ill make a post to update eventually. Oh also i wanted to ask what you guys thaught about when i should feed him. I like to do it in the morning before i leave for work 6 am but i have to wake him. I sometimes do by accident anyways. Gives him time for digestion all day. But i hate waking him up. On the other hand if i dont feed him in the morning he looks starving when i get home at 6:30 his timer goes off at 9 so alot less time for digestion makes the minimum two hours. But ive bin feeding worms at such a young age i want him to digest. You guys think the morning or evening is better. Anyways thanks for reading if you made it this far.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad he is settling in well! I advise upgrading the UVB light as soon as you can. It looks like he is trying to get close to the compact when he's up on the vine so a more powerful light will help him get what he needs more easily.

As far as feeding goes, I would offer two meals per day. If your schedule has you up early, you can change the lights so he gets used to an early schedule too. Set his lights on a timer so they come on 30-60 min before you get up and that will give him time to wake up and get warm before breakfast. They are fine with long days so 14-16hrs of daylight is not really a problem. My lights come on at 6 and go off at around 8:45.

As far as poop training goes, the respond well to routine. It's a good idea to put paper towel down where he poops to make it easier to clean up but ultimately it's best to use a solid surface rather than sand. Makes it much easier to clean and sanitize. I have my adult trained to go on linoleum floor every morning which makes cleanup very easy.

 

[Bluekush]

Thank you copper dragon. I was reading last night how Australia has long days. I adjusted his timer. Im gunna give him two feedings today. He dosnt spend much time on vine hes usually on top of the cave. Expect when he sleeps. He usually goes up ther close to bed time. sometimes on the vine sometimes on the plant sometimes halfway on both. I cant wait to get a better uvb. As for the sand i just wanted to use the stupid reptisand that came with my tank. But maybe ill do it another way.

 

[QuinnF]

YES upgrade uvb light and make sure you have a heat lamp of course. You don’t need a water bowl in his tank if you bathe him 2-3 times per week. You will need a 40 gallon tank at the minimum when he gets to be an adult. There is a great website The Bearded Dragon that will help with nutrition. I recommend dubia roaches mustard and collard greens dandilion leafs and squash. Keep the tank away from the window, the light filtering in can overheat the tank. To tame him just hold him a lot! Good luck I’m sure you’ll love him!

 

[PodunkKhaleesi]

You’ll want to upgrade the UV light to a Reptisun T5 10.0 or an Arcadia (both long tubes). Make sure you mount it at the appropriate/recommended distance. The majority of compacts are essentially worthless when it comes to UV output and some can cause long-term vision issues. You can read the lighting guide on this site for more information. The food items you listed aren’t suitable as daily staples. Good staple greens for beardies are collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, and endive. It’s important to choose food items carefully because some have no nutritional value, some can cause gastrointestinal distress, and some bind calcium (spinach). Check out the link below for a list of suitable staple veggies as well as what foods are best as occasional treats (like fruit):
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
There’s also info on feeder insects that’s very useful.
As far as plants as decorum, I’ve seen lizards chomp with great frustration on plastic plants so I’m not a big fan. And many of the live plants that would be safe for a beardie to consume won’t last long under the heat/UV combo.
That’s great that you ditched the red night light. Gimmicky colored bulbs that pet stores peddle are irritating to a lizard’s eyes and disrupt the animal’s natural circadian rhythm. Make sure you’re taking surface temperatures with a temp gun (stick on/wall thermometers can be very inaccurate and don’t measure surface temperatures). And it was hard to tell from the pic, but if you don’t have a hide (usually a cave) make sure you have that available.

 

[Bluekush]

Hello. I finally got him a reptisun t5 10.0 last night.

. Should i just turn the coil one off. eventually im gunna get a che. But the weather is getting nice now he wont need it for awhile. We let him out to roam today in an enclosed section of the kitchen with just big 5ft firn plant in the middle. All he did was run to the corner and sit there. I guess he was trying to hide. Podunk i do have a cave but he never goes in it. Oh and his tank is 40 g his feeding tank is 10g

I wanted to ask you guys if you thaught my light where in the best spot they could be i know about the screen blocking uv i mean the position of them.

Also two times in a row he whent poo two times on the paper towel i put down. Super easy to clean up.

Also hes always standing

Does this mean anything

 

[QuinnF]

I would hang the uvb light on the inside so the screen doesn’t block any light.