New Baby

[smknowitall101]

my friend just gave me a bearded dragon. He was born on June 6th so he is really young. Up until now I didn't know that they shouldn't go to a new home that soon...But I have him now so I want to make sure he's nice and healthy.
I have a reptisun 10.0 24" mounted inside a 40B tank with a 100watt basking bulb on a dimmer and lamp stand. I don't have anything for nighttime heat because it stays above 65 degrees in the house. I am going to pick up a CHE just in case tho.
His basking spot is 108 and has a gradient that goes down to 78. I have a temp gun so these are nice accurate measurements
I have tile as my substrate, a homemade basking spot, a magnaturals hide, a few fake plants and a piece of cork , as well as a dish for salads that I keep full with collards/mustard greens and a shallow water dish.
I got him yesterday and he is doing good. A bit skittish but I understand that. He ate a few crickets so far. Doesn't really touch his greens though. I ordered Phoenix worms and they are on their way, but what else can I give him worm wise? Would waxworms be ok?? Or are they too big???
I tried to feed him in a tub outside his enclosure but he wasn't interested...he only will eat inside his enclosure.
He hasn't pooped yet. Is that something to worry about?
Also, this morning when I got up it was 67 in the enclosure and he was so still and a little cool feeling when he was sleeping inside the hide that I thought he was dead...is this normal??? He is nice and active now though.
I want to make sure I am doing everything right . I want him to grow into a strong little dragon His name is Natsu and my name is Ashlee...first post, but I've been stalking the forum for awhile now...that's how I learned how to set him up and what lights to use

 

[smknowitall101]

 

[Gail]

What a cute teeny little baby. Your set up sounds perfect, good job on researching before you brought him home.
Its common for them to get cold and still at night. Since he is so little, adding a little extra heat at night wouldn't hurt.
Waxworms will be too big for now and they are pretty fatty anyways, silkworks or hornworms would be better. Just order a few small worms, they grow quickly and it won't take long for them to be too big, especially the horns. Once he gets a bit bigger, you can try waxworms and butter worms for some variety.
Keep offering greens, sooner or later he will try some. Keep it simple for now, 1-2 kind of more bland greens. I find endive, escarole, and romain are usually well received by babies.
Don't worry about pooping yet, I'm sure he will start producing soon enough. Babies usually go multiple times a day.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[smknowitall101]

Ok thank you for the reply! He did poop literally right after I posted! Made me a very happy mommy
I ended up getting very very small calci worms and he ate a few right out of my hand. I also ordered worms online for him.
I still don't feel like he is eating enough though...he only ate a few crickets and a few worms today. Everything I read says they should eat more than that. But he's healthy and happy, so should I worry if he doesn't eat tons and tons as long as he eats some and seems healthy?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....baby beardies start eating more at the 2-3 week mark. When they first hatch they don't eat for the first 2-3 days on average, then their appetite slowly builds. Just give him some time and as long as your set up + lights are good he should turn in to a little eating machine.

 

[smknowitall101]

Awesome. Thank you. He's my first beardie. I just wanna make sure I'm doing everything right

 

[kingofnobbys]

2 weeks old is VERY young and IMO too young to give away / sell.

Local experienced beardie breeders here (the good ones) keep their hatchlings until they are at least 6 - 8 weeks old to ensure they get them onto the grated veg and greens and softened pellets and are really scoffing down the silkworms, small crickets / roachs or gents and are all in good health prior to selling them. NO MEALWORMS !!!

Keep the crickets / roaches smaller than the distance between his eyes in length.

Silkworms are a fantastic worm to start a hatching off on , high near perfect Ca/P ratio, full of nutrition and contain beneficial enzymes, my hatchie/ juvi beardies thrived on them (was giving small gut loaded (used carrot + adult beardie pellet + puk choi greens to gut load) , feed 3 times a day up til about 3 months old (as many as they'd eat - usually 10 small crickets 2x day + 3 - 4 medium (1" long) silkworms for one meal.
Put the fresh grated / shredded veg + greens and softened juvi beardie pellets in am and leaf until bedtime , replacing daily. The hatchie will graze between meals.
I used the recipy given to me by the my breeder and made mine in bulk and froze it in icecube makers :
1 cup of frozen green peas
1 cup of frozen green beans
1/2 sweet potato skinned and grated
5 large carrots skinned and grated
a whole washed pok choi
all processed to combine and chop the green stuff . I'd wind up with about 24 food cubes which lasted a long time and saved a lot mucking about.
I'd simply take a cube out every few days , thaw it and keep it in little dish with Glad Wrap over it and I'd mix water soaked/ softened VetaFarm lizard pellets and Juvi Beardie pellets with it (about enough to cover my thumb nail daily , all dusted in Ca power as were the crickets.
Was simply putting greens - pellets - veg mix to my hatchies on 4" round plastic take away tub lid and giving about 15g of mix per day including the weight of "dish" , a bit more than they'd eat.





I'd keep him in a smaller enclosure (a converted 100L tube with clear see through sides would be ideal IMO and is what I used to raise my 2 from 8wks to about 6-8mths, and I'd get a MVB for him to ensure he gets plenty of UVA and UVB and heat and so he isn't overwhelmed (by a full size enclosure) and to help him hunt his live insects (too easy for them to escape and hide from him in a big enclosure), I'd have him in news paper or Scott Towels for bedding for few months too so there's no risk of eating begging and becoming impacted.
I think he'll benefit by having a nice warm refuge to sleep in at night ( basic heat pad attached to a simple thermostat set to stay at 37oC 24/7, the pad sandwiched between 2 layers of ceramic tiles (with rough side facing out) , I placed a fake hollow have log over mine as hide and had the pad inside the tub) , the hatchie slept under the log most nights and basked ontop it during the day.

I didn't use an MVB , though most breeders here put their hatchies under MVBs on timers, I used just a 80W Phillips reflector spot lamp in clamp socket and a 15W UB200 CFB for UVA and UVB suspended under the lid pendulum style in a dome reflector socket both on a timer (on 6am off 9pm (summer daytime here in Australia). I had a basking spot temp aim of 40oC +/- depending on the ambient.

Probably wise to remove the water dish , will increase humidity in the enclosure and might cause him to get a RI. best to just mist him once a day (but should get all the water he needs from his insects and veg and greens).Best to keep humidity in the enclosure as low as possible (some aim for under 20% RH in the enclosure , but this can be hard to achieve (if you are near the coast).

 

[AHBD]

A smaller set up would be ideal, but if you can't do that it's better to keep the tank simple. It would be good to take out the majority of stuff except for one main basking log and one small fake plant. No paper on the floor, just bare since crickets hide under it and the beardie can as well. To hydrate him dribble water on his snout with a syringe , eyedropper or spray bottle. Babies need water every day , mine drank 1-2 X a day.....just don't let water pool in the tank, wipe up any excess. Humidity is actually fine up to 40%.

 

[kingofnobbys]

A smaller set up would be ideal, but if you can't do that it's better to keep the tank simple. It would be good to take out the majority of stuff except for one main basking log and one small fake plant. No paper on the floor, just bare since crickets hide under it and the beardie can as well. To hydrate him dribble water on his snout with a syringe , eyedropper or spray bottle. Babies need water every day , mine drank 1-2 X a day.....just don't let water pool in the tank, wipe up any excess.

I agree if you're feeding in the rearing enclosure. Crickets will escape the hatchie and hide and may come out at night and bite the little guy.

I fed mine in a separate tub (with no paper on the floor) but wound up handfeeding them their insects (I had my hatchies in the same tub initially and wanted to be sure each was getting it's share of insects and I enjoyed the act of bonding while hand feeding them).