Needing Some Advise please!

[Kera]

Hey all...I am still somewhat new to this site and am now a proud "Mother" to a tiny breardie...I'm still not completely sure as to how old he/she may be...The lil one is from nose to tail tip, only 5"...just measured this morning...and like I said I'm still rather new to it all so if anyone would be willing to give a few helpful pointers I would be soooo grateful...See the little one is for my boys for Christmas and really wanna make sure he/she stays with us for a long, healthy, and very much happy and loved life time...and does anyone know as to when you can start to figure out the sex of a beardie, I'm kinda curous...lol...Oh I also have a Chinese Water dragon as well so if anyone would be willing to point me to some good forums like this one OMG I would be eternally grateful...I can't seem to find any and it's kinda bumin me out...lol...

 

[jeserah]

Hello Kera!

Wow, 5 inches is a TINY baby (but oh, so adorable!)
First, I would make sure you have all of its basic requirements met. On the site we like to see a 20 gallon long aquarium being used (but for that size, smaller might be better initially) until they are 9 inches or so (people will differ here, but just don't keep your beardie in a 20 gallon tank for ever, it's just too small), then up to a 40 gallon breeder or larger you go.

Do you have a reptisun 10 fluorescent tube for the beardie? It would behoove you to purchase one in you don't, as other UV bulbs can, in fact, damage your dragon directly and/or indirectly.

Calcium and vitamin supplements are a must. I highly recommend Repcal and Herptivite.

A bath every other day is also crucial for the health of your beardie. At that small size, they can lose water and become severely dehydrated in no time, so a good soak in a bath will prevent dehydration.

Stress. Babies at that size can easily stress enough to cause health problems. I would recommend minimal handling aside from baths until it's a little bigger. You can tell how stressed they are based on the dark marks on the belly. A clean, creamy belly typically means stress-free. A dark, charcoal or highly spotted belly means pretty stressed.

Lastly, bookmark this website and reference it often:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/
It contains invaluable nutritional information and very good care sheets for your beardie.

Don't forget to read up on proper tank temperatures, etc. The care sheets on the above website will help you with that. I'm sure others can add more. Good luck, and welcome to the site!!

 

[jeserah]

Oh I also forgot to add that you should not use sand or any loose substrate for your beardie. The best right now would be paper towels or tile. Sand can cause impaction and kill your baby. Ground walnut is bad also.

 

[Kera]

Ok here goes...this is what I have for my lil peanut...He is in a 12D x 18H x 30L tank (aka 29 gal I think) and for the flooring I have the reptile carpet so that its a bit more cushion on his toes...as for the bath thing...I have a softball size dish of water that is only up to his lil belly...but yes i do give him a bath every other day due to him being in that dish constant...I have held him a few times but only while sitting on my bed...just in case of a fall...I feed him the 1/4" crickets and the tiny pellets of bearded dragon food (green n red I think)...he loves it...and the occasional fruit baby food style though...omg he loves peaches...lol...he has plenty o' sticks, a basking area of about 104, a hide away cave (that he never goes in...lol), and rough rocks to climb all over...he loves his new home too...my husband and I have already started the plans for his BIG viv...its gunna be about 4-6' x 2' x 2'...oh as for the UVB light no I don't have the fluorescent 10.0 one yet but will be picking it up next Friday...as of right now he along with my water dragon (Nieryn) have the ReptiGlo 5.0(26w) compact... and a 100w heat/basking light

 

[fez09]

The best UVB on the market right now is the Reptisun 10.0 tube, you can order it from www.petmountain.com for $20.00, I would get that ASAP!