New (and worried!) owner of a beardie.

[Aetherling]

Hi everybody!
As of last Saturday, I am the proud owner of gorgeous little Scarlett.

I was informed by her previous owner that Scarlett is 5-6 years old, eats well (especially kale and spinach), sheds regularly and brumates around Jan/Feb. The move went well, and she was installed in my house without any issues.

However, I am a massive fussbudget, and I worry Scarlett isn't doing as well as she should. Since Saturday, she has not really moved from her favourite basking spot in the corner of her vivarium unless she needs to poop or eat. She spends both day and night flat on her belly in this corner and mostly just glares at myself and my husband when we walk past.
When offered crickets/locusts she comes out and eats happily and healthily (she's had 28 locusts and 17 crickets since Saturday, spread over three meals). When finished eating she goes straight back to her corner and goes flat as a pancake again. She has not touched any of her salad (She's been offered kale, broccoli, bell pepper, butternut squash, carrot and banana and she always has access to water.).
We have handled her a few times, which she doesn't seem to mind. She happily sits in both mine and husband lap, and looks curious and alert. When we put her back into the vivarium, she goes back to her corner and glares at us again.

I have put this behaviour down to stress from moving house, and stress with having new owners, and I am hoping in a few weeks she will be more active. But I have never owned a beardie before, and I am terrified I am doing something wrong. Would love some advice from experienced owners!
Scarlett's routine is as follows:
Wake up at 8am. Breakfast (salad/veg) served at 9:30-ish. She is then left alone during the day until I come home from work at 5pm and feeds her crickets (every second day) + cleans out any left over food and poop. Bedtime is at 8pm. Daytime temperature in vivarium is 35C, with the basking spot around 40C. Nighttime temperature is 20C, with a ceramic heater.

Many thanks for any input, please help me keep my gorgeous girl happy and healthy!

 

[Aetherling]

Some images of Scarlett and her setup:

 

[Varalidaine]

She looks like a happy girl! Does she have a UVB bulb? I couldn't tell from the picture. If so, do you know when it was last changed?

As for food, I would recommend not feeding call and spinach too often. They both bind with calcium and pass it through the system and they also have goitrogens, which suppresses thyroid function. Here is a great color coded list with explanations of veggies that can be fed every day, occasionally, etc.

Finally, I would say that in those pictures, it looks like she is on the ground on the slate when basking and not on her branch? If she's always on the ground and flattened out, that could mean that the branch is too close to her heat bulb and therefore too hot, so in order to bask, she has to be lower than the branch, but that spot may not be warm enough. When they pancake like that, they are increasing their surface area to absorb as much heat as possible. I would think her branch is too hot but the slate is too low and not warm enough, hence trying to get big and laying there for long periods trying to be warm enough.

As a side note, it seems you are so invested in her and that's great! I also really want to thank you for not buying from a pet store but instead adopting her from someone else. Thank you so much for doing your part!

 

[Aetherling]

Thank you so much for replying!

She does have a UVB bulb but I do not know when it was last changed. I have heard it needs to be replaced every 6 months, so during the weekend I will go and get her a new one to make sure it's fully functional. Her original owner adviced me to keep the UVB on for three hours in the evening to let Scarlett digest her food, but after looking into it I got the impression that this wouldn't be healthy for Scar, so she now has her UVB on all day (same as her basking light).

She does bask on the ground, preferrably in the corner under her CHE. She seems to associate that spot with heat, rather than the hotter spots under her basking light. I will take your advice and look into getting her a better basking perch. Perhaps a low, wide rock perch would be more sufficient.

Thanks for the advice about the veggies. I read that spinach wasn't healthy as a daily food, but I didn't know about the kale! Will cut down on it, and replace it with something else. I have a big bunch of turnip greens, they might be a better choice. She seems keen on peppers as well (on the rare occasion that she has her veg!).

Thanks again! Hopefully this will help her perk up a bit

 

[Varalidaine]

Just realized I never gave you the list of food! Bahah, sorry. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

There you go!

Yes, UVB should be on 10-14 hours along with her heat lamp. As for basking sites, it can take some playing around. It took me 2 months of trying multiple branches and bulbs to figure out my guy just wanted to bask on his cave, so I put his cave under his lamp and boom, never leaves his bask light now! She may like how the slate absorbs heat, so you can try stacking some slate tiles a little higher. As long as her bask spot reaches correct temperatures and is close enough to the UVB bulb. That would be the other concern with basking. You don't really want her down in the corner away from the UVB. Do you know which bulb you have or will be purchasing? Most are effective at 6-12" away from the dragon, so at some part of the day she should be closer to the UVB to make sure she is getting enough. Lying on the floor of the enclosure, she's too far away to be getting anything goof from it. Do have an IR Temp Gun or Probe Thermometer to measure temperatures? If you find that the basking branch is too warm and that is her reason for avoiding it, I would suggest getting a lower wattage bask light to encourage her to get up closer to the UVB when basking.

 

[Aetherling]

I took your advice and moved her branch down lower, and she changed her basking spot immediately! While she still enjoys her hot slate under the CHE, yesterday and today she spent most of her time on the branch. Or well, her top half is draped over the branch, her butt is in her food bowl! She is such a weirdo :lol: But she is up at the glass when she's basking now, well in range of her UVB and she spends most of her time looking out at the room and at us. So it seems like an improvement. She seems more comfortable and relaxed.
She has also started using her hidey-hole more, which I take to mean she is reaching a hotter temperature when basking now and that's good.
I'll keep an eye on her and tweak things as and if needed. I think you are right that she might prefer rock to bask on rather than wood.

As for her UVB, I am not sure what make it is she has just now. Her fixtures are Arcadia. I was thinking of getting her a ReptiSun light, but I don't know if they go in Arcadia fixtures or if they need their own brand of fixtures? What would you recommend?

 

[BruceLarryOzzie]

Omg! She is adorable. Cute cute dragon.

 

[Varalidaine]

Yay! Glad she is a little more out and about now! I'm fairly certain you can use any bulb with any fixture as long as the wattage and voltage is okay. You also want to see if it's T8 or T5 bulbs. If she already has an Arcadia though, I would just stick with those. Though less convenient to purchase, they are better bulbs than the ReptiSuns. You can purchase Arcadia here: http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/bulbs/arcadia/

The owner of the site is also SUPER helpful when picking the right bulb so just shoot him an e-mail with your enclosure size info and fixture size/type and he'll match you up with what you need

Oh! And I just noticed you have that green hammock thingy. I suggest removing it. Members here have had their dragon's get their claws stuck in the little holes and dislocate or break a limb. If you want a hammock, get one made of solid, tight woven fabric. You can find them all over Etsy
https://www.etsy.com/search?q=bearded+dragon+hammock&order=most_relevant&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US

 

[Aetherling]

Thank you so much for the advice, Varalidaine! The food list has been a godsent, especially for my husband who, while he loves Scarlett more than he'd like to admit, considers her my pet and won't go out of his way to read up on stuff. The other links have been brilliant as well, I've gotten her a new UVB and gotten rid of her hammock. Thank you so much for pointing the dangers out.
On another note, never realised how much beardie stuff is on Etsy. While I am sure a lot of it might be unsafe, I am now seriously considering getting her a harness, and a new hammock, and maybe a little Santa hat just for Christmas photos.... :lol:

 

[Aetherling]

And thank you, BruceLarryOzzie! I told Scarlett, but she just rolled her eyes at me... She is well cute though. :lol:

 

[Varalidaine]

Your welcome! I love that food list! I have it with me whenever I go shopping for our own groceries and like to pick out new things for my dragon to try. Which UVB did you decide to go with?

And yes, so much cute stuff on Etsy! I actually bought my guy a harness with dragon wings on it....can't wait for it to come in the post! :-D I also bought a hammock from there, put he didn't really like it and would just poop on it -__- I'm looking into getting him a cuddle sack though so while he brumates he can be soft and warm.

 

[BruceLarryOzzie]

Etsy is a dangerous dangerous place for beardie slaves er I mean owners. You could spend whole paychecks! LOL.
I love the Santa hat and think you should post pictures. Not sure scarlet will like it much though.

btw - I bought some remnants of fleece at the craft store (Joanne's) and cut it in to large triangles to fit the corner of the viv. I made my own hammock with suction cup hooks from the dollar store. My one bearide, Ozzie, likes to poop up there so having replacements is really nice. I can clean them and wash them in the washer. Or just toss them if they are pooped on. My beardies love their hammocks!

 

[SpacialCoogs]

I'm also a good beardie slave and bought dragon stuff from etsy.

Pampered beardies is a great shop and all her sale help fund a lizard rescue. I follow her on facebook as well so you can see all the little guys she helps. I have a halloween costume and a nice fleecy from there that is Scaleys favourite.

I actually made my own harness for super cheap. It's a hip harness but it doesn't have dragon wings (which are really neat). I can give you more information if you are interested. I take my dragon camping so I need a secure way for her to travel/roam.

 

[Aetherling]

Had a proper look through Etsy, some of the things for beardies are just brilliant! Had my heart broken when I saw the cost for posting and package though - £5 for a hammock, £20 for transport! :shock:

Might just follow the excellent advice of sewing it myself!

And that harness with the dragon wings - I WANT IT SO BAD. Scarlett would probably look at me as if I'd lost my mind if I tried to put it on her. "Seriously, human? You expect me to wear this?!" But she'd look so adorable!

 

[SpacialCoogs]

You can get felt sheets from craft stores, cut it to shape then a little hot glue to a harness and boom. Instant winged dragon!