new bearded dragon owner.. any tips??

[babybubba21]

im a new bearded owner and i have read alot of things but everything i have read tells me something diffirent ... i just got my new friend on thursday .. well this is what i have been doing during the day i use a 150 watt incandescent uva daylight blue( zoo med) light with a coil uvb (zilla) light .. the one side of the tank gets to about 100 and the cool side gets between 75/80.. i feed him crickets in the morning and he eats about 4 in the morning and in the afternoon he eats 4 meal worms and 2 of each in the evening, he wont eat any veggies should i be worried about that ?? and what kind of veggies should he be eating and is meal worms good for him? and how many times should i sit him in warm water durning the day or week ?? and i have sand in his tank is sand good for him or should i get him something else ???? and how close should he be to the uva light ?? and one time he was sitting on his rock and his mouth was open is that normal ?? and sunday he stopped eating and wont eat today and he wont open his eyes or move around and he was doing really good till sunday .... im worried im not doing anything right .. so if anyone can give me ideas or tips i would really appreciate any information i can get ..

 

[demonsmomma]

sand is no good neither is meal worms at least not for little guys..i think they ahve to be 17 inches from head tot ail before they cna handle meal worms i know my max aint even big enough yet hes 15 inches .. you should use paper towels , news paper. or tile i had bark in but i saw my max eat a piece on accident so i removed it and hes on news paper now ,,, and baths to help him pass the lil piece of bark ,,i think he can as it was tiny ,,and he is big ,,anyways i have learned from the wonderful people on here that babies temps should be 95-115 on the warm side and 85 on the cool side once they get bigger their warmth can be from 90-110 and 80 on the cool side ..dont worry about them not eating greens and the opening the mouth thing is ok as long as you dont hear a gasping or clicking sound when he does it if you do thats signs of a repsiratory infection . keep an eye on his eating and up the temps to 95-115 probly just keep it at 100 at the lowest since hes probly so little ..you will need a uvb and a heat light..they reccomendthe repti son or glow 10.0 they are 40 bucks at my pets store ...but you cna get them cheaper on line ,,if he stops eating for about a week i would take him to the vet..and get tested for parasites,,but since you gave him meal worms i would start doign warm baths every other or every day until he poops to ensure there is no impaction,,you can also help the pooping with some oil on his nose ,, that he should lick up..anyways hope this helps and dont be afraid to ask questions as these people want to help

 

[munchkins9802]

Hi How old is your dragon?He should be eating as many feeders as he can in a 10 minute time period. Many babies dont eat the "salad" from the beginning--so just offer it to him daily (what is in his salad?). Many babies eat upwards of 50-100 crickets a DAY!!!Temps look good--depending on how you are taking the temps (digital probe, stick on, other?)Now for the Bad news for you:
1)I saw you have the coil UVA, the bad news is that Bulb is NO GOOD--causes eye problems among them. You need the UVB/UVA bulbs. The BEST one out there is the REPTI SUN (NOT Glo) 10.0. You can find this really cheap at petmountain.com
2)Make sure his feeders are NO BIGGER than the space BETWEEN his eyes
3) Mealworms--dont feed them to him stick with crickets, phoneix worms, silkworms or dubia roaches). Mealworms have a hard chitin (outer shell) and make it hard for them to digest and can cause impaction in babies
3a) GET RID OF THE SAND--impaction risk and bacterial breeding risk. Get carpet, paper towels/newspapers/slate tile or NONADHESIVE shelf liner.
4) Dust his crickets with calcium 5x/week (1 feeding a day ) and vitamins 2x/week.
You said he stopped eating, has he pooped recently?he could be impacted from the sand/mealies or it could be relocation stress. Give him a lukewarm bath up to his armpits and massage his under side (the right) in a GENTLE cycling motion to help the poop come out. Olive oil or unsweetened applesauce will also help the poop come out

I really think he is impacted from the sand. Try our techniques and let us know how it goes

 

[babybubba21]

i will keep everyone up dated and i will for sure try everything that everyone is suggesting to me.. he pooped yesterday and the veggies im feeding him is roman lettuce shredded up apples and carrots .. and for checking the temp im using the kind that sticks on .. im so worried about him he was so energetic when i brought him home and now he just keeping his eyes closed and not sitting up and he is about 5inches but it is mostly tail long

 

[secretevo]

I noticed you said you are using the stick on thermometer. :| Those are not accurate at all when you are trying to tell what the temp is right under your basking bulb. That will only give you the temp on the side of the tank right by the sticker. I would buy one of the digital thermometers that has a probe you can place right where your beardie would bask for warmth. That way you have an accurate idea of how warm he is getting, and wether its even warm enough.. Too cold and they cant digest their food properly and to hot he wont bask. You can get these in the pet stores or i have seen some at wally world. Hope this helps. :lol:

 

[babybubba21]

if he doesnt start turning around what do you guys thingk i should do for him ?? should i force feed him since he isnt eating .. and if so what should i force him to eat?? veggies or crickets ??

 

[BaskingBaby]

if he doesnt start turning around what do you guys thingk i should do for him ?? should i force feed him since he isnt eating .. and if so what should i force him to eat?? veggies or crickets ??

If you get him the correct setup, he should start eating like a little piggie. You need a Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube, and you can use a regular bright white household light for heat instead of the blue one. They love BRIGHT light. Halogens tend to run hotter so you could try one of them.

You will need a digital themometer with a probe, the stickons are crap like someone said. The temps can be up to 20 degrees off.

Everyone else had the same great advice....good luck and give it a try!

 

[babybubba21]

thanks for eveyone help !!! he started to eat today and be more energetic ... what kind of veggies should i feed him when he gets older?