New baby*BABY* bearded dragon

[Lunabug911]

Hello, I currently have 2, 7 months old beardies and just bought a baby, maybe 6 weeks really too small to be bought/sold, but I felt bad cuz I know pet stores suck with the care of them so I got it. I follow all the rules of thumb when caring for my beardies. My two oldest are healthy and found out they are both males. We knew the one was already but was hoping for a female so we bought a 3rd one hoping to luck into one. Anyway... the baby we bought we brought him home yesterday and I know they will be stressed for a few days but my other ones was not this stressed. He has been black in color since we placed him in his habitat. He is breathing fast also. I know this is all stress, but this one is crazy stressed out. I am scared he is too young and can't handle it. I refuse to give up..... i am just wondering if anyone with a beardie this small has had this problem to where they are stressed out this bad and how it turned out. Please I am worried about the little girl/guy!

He is in a seperate cage then my bigger ones... but the cage is right next to the other one... didn't know if the bigger dragons are freaken him out or something!

 

[ajkry2]

try putting some sort of solid divider between the two so they can't see each other.

hows the humidity?
could you go through your setup for us? lighting, temps, substrate, etc

 

[Lunabug911]

he is in a ten gallon tank. He has a tree thingy to climb on and a log to hid under. I don't put a dish in yet cuz he is still too small and I spray him 2 times a day to get him to drink water. As for eating he hasn't yet. I just brought him home yesterday. I know the stressing is normal, but this is worse then I am used to.

I have him under a 100 watt basking lamp. Hubby is bring me home a heating mat to put under the cage for him today.As for humidity maybe... going by what my other tank is would be a little under 60. He wont even sit on the tree thing to bask... which i though was weird since my other spent all their time up there when we brought them home. His color went back to normal when we was alseep but as soon as the light came back on he went back to the blackish color. if you need more info let me know!

 

[ajkry2]

10 gallon tank is a little small, but it will do for now while your pooper is still small and young. you'll need to move him/her to a 40 gal long (reccommended) when s/he starts growing up though.

spraying him twice a day is actually not reccommended because it raises the humidity. try bathing your BD instead. put armpit-high luke warm water in a tub, sink, or other medium, and let your pooper sit in it for 10 or 15 minutes. they absorb water through their vent (bum) to hydrate, if your BD doesn't drink -- no big deal

heating mats are also not-so-good because beardies can't sense heat under their bellies, and that could lead to a belly-burned beardie which is not ideal, obviously

what do you have on the flooring of your viv.

read this to get a bit more info on lighting...
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=114817

 

[Lunabug911]

As for spraying him I take them out to do it.... my other ones grew up nicely doing this. THis is just to make sure he says hydrated. I don't want to stress him out, that is way i haven't gave him a bath yet. As for the heat mat... my other beardies love it so I am confused on that part. As for the bedding his is on a green thingy until his gets bigger in then I will put the sand stuff in it. I am afraid to handle him that much or at all cuz i just brought him home.

 

[Valex]

Well he thing about the mats is that they are renound for short circuiting, and if they do, they jut keep getting hotter and hotter, and since beardies can't sense heat under their bellies, they will sit there until the cook. Its like that whole frog thing, if you put a frog into boiling water they jump out, but if you put them in cold water and slowly heat it to a boil they will just sit there and cook. They only can sense heat from the top of their head where they have a 3rd eye. (heat sensor like thing)

Another thing, are your 2 older males kept together?

 

[Lunabug911]

Yes, My two older ones are being kept together because when I tried to seperate them neither one of them would eat or anything so I put them back together. I moniter them closely for fighting and they don't. When I first got the second they was trying to show dominence but it stopped and they have been great together since. We have them in a 40 breader. But we are getting a 55 tank here soon. I know you are not supposed to house them together but this was before I knew this and now they won't let me do it without them getting upset. And ya never knew about the frog thing.... I have read so many care sheets and other peoples posts and there is so many conflicting stories it is hard to follow the one way it is supposed to be done. This is where the heat mat came into play!

 

[Valex]

Well its still hard to disdern what is right and wrong. After all they've only been domesticated for 20-30ish years. But this is my favorite care sheet... it was written by one of our VERY active members, who is extremely knowledgable. It has been brought together to avoid mistakes we all have made.

http://www.beardeddragoncaresheet.org/

 

[Lunabug911]

I just skimmed through it real quick.... it looks great, thank you I will read more closely here when my kids go to bed tonight.

As for the food part.... I just started to introduce the veggies to the oldest ones. I have tried a few other times and they was not interested in them. They are eating a little bit but that is all. I tried mealworms under the salad but they just skip the salad and eat the worms so that didn't work for me. As for fruits, I am not sure what they can eat or how much..... so I haven't fed them any because of conflicting stories... but is spinish bad or good?

As for the little one... do you think I should just give it time to settle in... my hubby manages a pet store, not the one we got this one from but I think i know more about them them he does and he is certified to know this crap... but i am teaching him a lot and he is caring for the ones at his store better cuz no one else seems to care. Just like the store I bought the little one at... the guy was getting him for me and he found a dead one..... he said he hasnt' checked on them in a few days. What kind of crap is that? I am an aquatic specialist..... or was and I made it almost my life to know what I was caring for and fell in love with the marine fish! I just started getting into the dragons. Shocking cuz I never liked lizards or anything like that until my husband bought a sick one home for us to try to save. It was too late but ever since I knew I wanted some.

Oh and is there any other way to tell a male from female. We knew the one we got was a male when we got him but the other didn't show anything until his last shedding. We thought it might have been a girl but I was so wrong... now hoping the little one is a girl!