New Bearded Dragon Owner with a couple of questions.

[Rensai]

Hi,
I'm very new to owning any kind of reptile. I've got some good friends that just started raising some and they've been helpful, but they don't raise Bearded Dragons, so I had a few questions, just to make sure I'm getting started on the right foot.

My new Beardie's name is Ozymandias (King of Kings!)

1. I've got an R-Zilla combo-dome for heat and light. The bulb says that it emits UVB rays. Do I also need a light that emits UVA rays? I've read in a couple of places that this is good for growth and development.

2. When should I start offering veggies, and what kinds are best to start them on?

3. How often should I mist him so that he's getting enough water.

4. Are mealworms and crickets okay at this age, or crickets only?

5. His basking spot is around 95 degrees. Is that good enough, or should I focus some more heat and get that up to 100. He was under the 95 degrees for a few hours today and finally went to the other side of his habitat, into his hide for a little bit.

6. He is very wary of the family right now. If we come around, he usually freezes, though it is getting better. Will this persist, or will he get used to us?

7. I used a 40G tank in anticipation that he'd grow out of a 10G or 20G soon enough. When I feed him, should I move him towards where I am dropping the food in? If I don't he seems to miss the fact that the food is even there and stays up on his perch, basking.

Thanks for your help,
Ren

 

[rossm007]

hey ren u should start by answering these question.

It helps if you answer in RED.
How old is your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

 

[rossm007]

to answer some of ur questions tho

u can start offering him veggies whenever, if he is still a baby then he might not take to them right away but its always good to offer it< say when u go to work, they will get hungry and eventually get curious.

i mist my guy at least once a day. and even give him a bath every two days with the water up to at least his elbows. they take in water thru their vent (a little hole by their bum) so a bath helps alot more then a misting. it also helps them with bowel movements too!

u should be feeding him a majority of live food if hes still a youngster and ogger a bowl of veggies everyday (changing everyday so its fresh). meal worms are not good for them due to their meat to shell ratio and they canbe harder to digest. i stick wit gutloaded, dusted crickets myself. other people here have some good suggstions on other live feeders

u should get is basking spot a little hotter. close to 100 is prolly going to be more benificial for him. they are desert reptiles and are used to the heat. they need it and also sunlight or the uvb rays to help wit growth.but also remember that if they get too hot they'll go somewhere else and if they get too cool then they will come back to the hot spot eventually! if ur guy is still a baby then a 40 gallon might be too big for him right now. u could just put a divider make it half the size till he gets a litlle bigger. that could be why he doesnt see his food. i dump mine him and they land right infont of him so he knows its food time. but if they get away he loves to hunt them down.
u also dont want to leave un eaten crickets inside wit him because they tend to crawl and even chew on ur beardie at night and that could lead to many problems!!

anyways anything else i could help u with jus let me know.

 

[Rensai]

How old is your dragon? I'm not quite sure. He is fairly small though. I bought him at Petsmart. He might be three-four inches from snout to the base of his tail
How long is your dragon? Three our four inches from snout to the base of the tail.
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40G Tank
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Reptile Carpet
Do you use UVB lights? I have an R-Zilla UVB light.
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Flourescent Tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? R-Zilla 120 volt
How old is your UVB bulb? Brand new
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 6-8 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Yes, 150 watt
What are the basking temps? 90-93 degrees
What is the cool side temp? 75-80 degrees
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? two digitals
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Right near the area where he basks, about 6-8 inches away from the basking light.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Gutloaded Crickets, once a day dusted with Calcium, He also has Bearded Dragon pellets, he has eaten a couple of them so far.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Morning and Afternoon
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Every day so far, had him two days. Flukers
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Haven't yet
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No

 

[Rensai]

Is there any chance of getting my original questions answered? My dragon isn't really eating at all, but my questions have been basically ignored in favor of people who posts cute pictures of their dragons... If not, I'll move elsewhere and see if I can find answers there...

 

[fresnowitte]

First sense you did post in the introductions forum let me say............
:wave: Hello & Welcome to BD.org!
And...........
Congratulations on the New Beardie!

Is there any chance of getting my original questions answered? My dragon isn't really eating at all, but my questions have been basically ignored in favor of people who posts cute pictures of their dragons... If not, I'll move elsewhere and see if I can find answers there...

Sorry but I don't think you were being very fair with that statement as I bearly seen your thread. If you'd like to move on elsewhere that is up to you. But I can tell you that this is the most active bearded dragon site on the web. So if you think your going to get an answer quicker somewhere else good luck.

Now if you'd like to be patient and give us a chance to read your questions that would be great.

1. I'm not familiar with your light, but I can tell you that the best and 3 most recommended ones are;
a) Mega-ray
b) Mercury Vapor Bulb
c) Reptisun 10.0
Never use a Repti-glo, compact, or coil bulb

2. Your beardie may or may not show interest in veggies, but they still need to be offered daily.
Beardies need 2 to 3 dark green leafy veggies per day. (Spinach however is not a good one for beardies)
Here is a link to a food chart that is color coded. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

3. I personally bath mine daily to make sure they stay hydrated and you can mist the veggies.
(Beardies absorb most of their water thru their vent.)

4. Meal worms are never okay for beardies they are to high in chitins (The hard outer shell) and can cause impaction as well as they are not very nutritious. Super worms however can be feed to beardies but not until 15 to 16 inches long. As while beardies are small they do have a kink/bend in their intestines which if fed a super or any feeder larger than the space between their eyes can cause severe problems. You might consider Phoenix worms, Silkworms, Butter worms.........

5. His basking spot which is right where he would sit at the highest point to bask should be between 105*-110* for his food to digest properly.

6. You have only had your beardie for a few days he is still going thru relocation stress they all do. During this time your beardie may not eat real well and will be somewhat skittish.

7. You could try moving him toward the food but remember to remove any crickets that he hasn't eaten after 10 to 15 minutes. Crickets are carnivores they will eat at your beardie.

Sorry if I sounded short in the beginning of this reply.

Again Welcome Aboard!

 

[Rensai]

Thank you for your response. I apologize if I was impatient, I was just very worried about him. It seems that no matter what I do, I can't quite get his basking temperature over 97 degrees. I've got a 150 watt ceramic bulb plus the R-Zilla heat bulb working along side it.

He ate one cricket yesterday, but that is about it I'm afraid.

 

[fresnowitte]

I understand your just worried. I also apologize for my shortness.

Beardies go thru a thing we humans call relocation stress this happens not only when changing owners but when you change just about anything in their invironment. This will cause them to act skittish or even sluggish. They probably will not eat well for a couple of days. Your beardie needs time to adjust to the new owner and surroundings. This can take a few days up to a couple of weeks but each day you should see some improvement.

I'm not familiar with your light but I'm headed to read up on it an I will be back with what I've found.

 

[fresnowitte]

Okay I googled in "R-Zilla UVB" in the site google tool at the top right of the page and came up with several conversations about this bulb.
It looks to me as if it is not a very good bulb. Here is a link to one of the threads where it was being discussed.
You may also want to google it yourself and read some of the other discussions. :wink:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=98294&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

I personally use the Mercury Vapor Bulbs as they put out heat and great UVB all in one. And when an if it is to cold for my beardies with this bulb, I just add a regular white household bulb during the day for additional heat an a Ceramic Heat Emitter for extra heat at night if my house is going to drop below 65*.

 

[Rensai]

Thanks very much! Can you usually purchase a Mercury Vapor Bulb at a place like Petsmart or PetCo?

 

[Rensai]

Also, can you recommend what wattage MVB I should get, for a 40G viv where my basking area is about 6-8' away?

 

[fresnowitte]

Thanks very much! Can you usually purchase a Mercury Vapor Bulb at a place like Petsmart or PetCo?

I think they may carrie a PowerSun 100watt but they are very expensive there. Something like $80.00.
You can order one online for much cheaper probably 1/2 the price or less.
Here they have one at Pet Mountain.
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-incandescent-bulbs/107801/powersun-uv.html
I also like the Exo-Terra Solar-Glo MVB.
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/solar_glo.php

These are the 2 products that I use. For the 40gal you would probably need the PowerSun as the Solar-glo's smallest wattage is 125watt an I find that the 100watt works well with 40gal.

 

[fresnowitte]

Also, can you recommend what wattage MVB I should get, for a 40G viv where my basking area is about 6-8' away?

With the MVB you need to mount it level but it needs to be 12 inches from the basking spot.
You can either lower the basking spot or you can raise the bulb. Also with a MVB you need to
use a calcium powder without D3. I recommend the Rep-cal brand it is the best of the best.

Here's what I mean by raising the bulb.
They also sell a lamp stand that you could use to raise the bulb.

 

[Rensai]

Once again, thank you so much for your help. I'll order this new light for Ozymandias tonight and hopefully have some better UVB for him by the weekend.

I think I saw a lamp stand like that locally, I'll have to look for one.

Again, thanks. I will keep you updated on he progresses!

 

[fresnowitte]

Your very welcome Ren!
Please do keep me posted an I hope you don't mind that I ask, but I'd love to see
a pic of your adorable beardie sometime. :wink: