- Beardie name(s)
- Drogon <3 RIP 2019- March 11, 2024 Lily: new girl in the house/ 5 months old
Hi Everyone!
*I know my post is long, but PLEASE HELP! Experienced owners only please*
I am a new bearded dragon owner and before you ask, I did my research. Thoroughly! I read a few books and did hours of online research to make sure my new family member would be okay in my new home. I recently bought a bearded dragon through Craigslist and the pictures of the little guy seemed really healthy. I also did research on what a healthy bearded dragon should look like.
Here are some basic stats about my dragon:
Purchased on 10/19/19
1) He's about 4-5 months old
- about 10 inches from snout to tail
2) reddish morph
3) Male
4) relaxed personality.
Upon purchasing the bearded dragon, here is what I learned from the owner about Drogon's enclosure:
Substrate and Enclosure: clay burrowing material with calcium sand.- The substrate had not been changed since July (just bought him in October 19). While he said he cleaned it, there was dead skin, feces and urates on the enclosure decor etc.
Tank size is 75 gallon aquarium
- Changes I made:
In order for Drogon to be happy and healthy, I removed every inch of that old nasty sand, vacuumed out the tank, and cleaned it down thoroughly with Fluker's cleaning formula and rinsed it down. Patted dry with paper towels.
- Next, and I know some bearded dragon owners won't be happy, but I laid a clean new substrate down of calcium sand. Before you say anything, he has a huge dish with a reptile carpet under it for veggies, and with his crickets, I feed him in a nice big storage container so he can run around and eat without fear of impaction.
-After this, I thoroughly scrubbed his tank furniture, and anything that looked old or too small was discarded.
As you can see, his tank was gross.
Diet: Before and After
The previous owner fed Drogon gut loaded crickets along with some juvenile bearded dragon food. According to his craigslist page, he would only change the food and water once a month, but he may have cleaned it out more often *sigh and cringe* He was fed every other day and the crickets were dusted with calcium, about 10 per feeding. Didn't offer any vegetables.
My Changes:
I cleaned out all food dishes with the same Fluker's formula. In the cage, I provided some shredded kale pieces and squished blueberries along with a bit of his BD juvenile pellets. This is changed daily, and dishes are washed. He also has access to clean water, but I also misted him twice yesterday since he was exhibiting signs of dehydration (sleepy eyes, wrinkly skin). Yesterday, he was fed 10 calcium-dusted crickets. Going to feed him 2x today since I read this is great to do for Juveniles.
Heating and Lighting
The owner used to work late, so Drogon was on a late sleeping schedule. To fix this, I purchased a timer so now he has 12 hours of basking/UVB and 12 hours of sleep.
With Owner:
Temperatures and humidity unknown, but he used a 60 W Exo Terra intense basking spot bulb.
UVB: Reptisun 10.0, 24 inches
With Me:
I removed all the stupid peel-and-stick strip thermometers since they don't do crap. I don't even use them for my fish.
Current basking spot: 95 (on the branch itself, slightly lower, about 86)
UVB bulb: this was changed with a fresh bulb, but still same strength and dimensions
Cold side: about 72 degrees
Humidity: 60. I know this is a bit high, but I live in South Carolina and we just had a bad storm, so this is a bit out of my control. However, if you know any ways to lower it, let me know
So what's the problem?
A few days ago, Drogon's poop seemed normal. Solid, dark, with a clear separation of urate and feces. This morning, I noticed his poop was quite loose and green (kale?) no solid urate and it smelled like a baby diaper no blood or obvious creepy crawlies (worms, etc.) The solid piece of poop was mysteriously missing... please tell me he didn't eat it. X___X
I cleaned his perch with the same Fluker's formula patted it dry and placed it back in the terrarium. I also checked out Drogon. He has some stress marks on the underside of his belly. Vent was clean.
Please help me answer the following:
1) Is everything in his habitat good? As far as changes, I want to get a higher wattage basking bulb today and this week I want to clamp his UVB inside the tank.
2) Am I doing something wrong with his diet? I'm wondering if his poop was like that because this is the first time he's eating vegetables.
3) How can I further improve my beardie's happiness and health? I really want my baby to thrive. I've fallen in love with him.
*Notes on pics:
- Cricket container was just cleaned yesterday with fresh food, so please don't think I left it like this -__- they crapped all over.
-
Thank you for reading my post. I sincerely appreciate all the help!
Selkie
*I know my post is long, but PLEASE HELP! Experienced owners only please*
I am a new bearded dragon owner and before you ask, I did my research. Thoroughly! I read a few books and did hours of online research to make sure my new family member would be okay in my new home. I recently bought a bearded dragon through Craigslist and the pictures of the little guy seemed really healthy. I also did research on what a healthy bearded dragon should look like.
Here are some basic stats about my dragon:
Purchased on 10/19/19
1) He's about 4-5 months old
- about 10 inches from snout to tail
2) reddish morph
3) Male
4) relaxed personality.
Upon purchasing the bearded dragon, here is what I learned from the owner about Drogon's enclosure:
Substrate and Enclosure: clay burrowing material with calcium sand.- The substrate had not been changed since July (just bought him in October 19). While he said he cleaned it, there was dead skin, feces and urates on the enclosure decor etc.
Tank size is 75 gallon aquarium
- Changes I made:
In order for Drogon to be happy and healthy, I removed every inch of that old nasty sand, vacuumed out the tank, and cleaned it down thoroughly with Fluker's cleaning formula and rinsed it down. Patted dry with paper towels.
- Next, and I know some bearded dragon owners won't be happy, but I laid a clean new substrate down of calcium sand. Before you say anything, he has a huge dish with a reptile carpet under it for veggies, and with his crickets, I feed him in a nice big storage container so he can run around and eat without fear of impaction.
-After this, I thoroughly scrubbed his tank furniture, and anything that looked old or too small was discarded.
As you can see, his tank was gross.
Diet: Before and After
The previous owner fed Drogon gut loaded crickets along with some juvenile bearded dragon food. According to his craigslist page, he would only change the food and water once a month, but he may have cleaned it out more often *sigh and cringe*
My Changes:
I cleaned out all food dishes with the same Fluker's formula. In the cage, I provided some shredded kale pieces and squished blueberries along with a bit of his BD juvenile pellets. This is changed daily, and dishes are washed. He also has access to clean water, but I also misted him twice yesterday since he was exhibiting signs of dehydration (sleepy eyes, wrinkly skin). Yesterday, he was fed 10 calcium-dusted crickets. Going to feed him 2x today since I read this is great to do for Juveniles.
Heating and Lighting
The owner used to work late, so Drogon was on a late sleeping schedule. To fix this, I purchased a timer so now he has 12 hours of basking/UVB and 12 hours of sleep.
With Owner:
Temperatures and humidity unknown, but he used a 60 W Exo Terra intense basking spot bulb.
UVB: Reptisun 10.0, 24 inches
With Me:
I removed all the stupid peel-and-stick strip thermometers since they don't do crap. I don't even use them for my fish.
Current basking spot: 95 (on the branch itself, slightly lower, about 86)
UVB bulb: this was changed with a fresh bulb, but still same strength and dimensions
Cold side: about 72 degrees
Humidity: 60. I know this is a bit high, but I live in South Carolina and we just had a bad storm, so this is a bit out of my control. However, if you know any ways to lower it, let me know
So what's the problem?
A few days ago, Drogon's poop seemed normal. Solid, dark, with a clear separation of urate and feces. This morning, I noticed his poop was quite loose and green (kale?) no solid urate and it smelled like a baby diaper
I cleaned his perch with the same Fluker's formula patted it dry and placed it back in the terrarium. I also checked out Drogon. He has some stress marks on the underside of his belly. Vent was clean.
Please help me answer the following:
1) Is everything in his habitat good? As far as changes, I want to get a higher wattage basking bulb today and this week I want to clamp his UVB inside the tank.
2) Am I doing something wrong with his diet? I'm wondering if his poop was like that because this is the first time he's eating vegetables.
3) How can I further improve my beardie's happiness and health? I really want my baby to thrive. I've fallen in love with him.
*Notes on pics:
- Cricket container was just cleaned yesterday with fresh food, so please don't think I left it like this -__- they crapped all over.
-
Thank you for reading my post. I sincerely appreciate all the help!
Selkie