New Beardie Baby

[ldyrddragn05]

Hi,

I just got my new Beardie Baby addition to my family. This is my first Beardie and I have been preparing and reading as much as I can about beardies. I was told by the rescue that he is a boy and about a year old. He is eating like crazy. I have given him crickets, meal worms, kale, and collards with calcium dust and he seems to be eating it all. He loves to be held and will chill on my leg or shoulder as long as I will let him. He has a curly cue in his tail I was told was a defect he has had since he hatched. It does not seem to bother him. I am not sure what to name him yet but he looks soooo small in the 40 gal breeder tank I have set up for him. I was also told that he is a sandfire and should become very colorful as he gets older. I am not using any substrate in the tank for now since he is so little. Just tons of climbing stuff and a large log to hide under and climb on. I also got one of the lizzard lounges the attatches to the tank but he goes under it not on it. Is there anything anyone would suggest to a new beardie owner? Any tips for the little guys?

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Hello and Welcome!!! We love pictures here!! :lol:

 

[fresnowitte]

Hello & Welcome to BD.org!
And........
Congratulations!

Look forward in seeing pic's. :wink:

You mentioned that he was eating mealworms did you mean superworms? Mealworms have a hard shell called chitins that is very hard for beardies to digest...which can cause impaction...also a mealworm has very little food value. If your new beardie is over 15 inches then supers would be better if not over 15 inches I suggest looking at some of the other options for feeders. It's really great that he is eating so well for you. Not sure if you have seen this nutritional chart or not but just incase you haven't it's a great reference for some beardie foods. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Also you said you were not using any substrate. You don't mean that he is on the bare glass do you? It's really hard for them to walk on the slick surface. May I suggest using papertowels and when your ready to put down a substrate can I suggest not using a particle type. I use to use a particle substrate until I had a bout with parasites. The only thing I can say is particle substrate works much like a litter box. It harbors the bacteria from the liquidy part of their poops. i switched to tile and other non particle substrates an I have not had any more bouts so far with parasites. Plus being that beardies tongue everything they ingest the particles and can not digest them which can leed to impaction as well.

Sorry didn't mean to ramble.

Again Welcome Aboard!

 

[protiemama]

Of course you meant to ramble Barb- It's one of the many reasons we all love you!

WELCOME from my zoo!
Listen to Barbara, she knows her stuff. :study: And remember We LOVE pictures! :mrgreen:

Sandy H

 

[ldyrddragn05]

Hi All,

Thanks. Never do I mind one that rambles...Espcially with good info included. Ok so I now have paper towels down under the climbing stuff and dishes for him to walk around on. Great Idea ! What do you guys suggest to clean the cage? Wipe out was one suggestion I got from petsmart. I did not know that about mealworms. I unfortunatly did mean regular mealworms. Thats is what the stores suggested as a good form of food, but I have also at the same time been giving him crickets 25-30 at a time, and veggies (Collards and Kale). Growing Boy! So the next time I go to get worms I will get supersorms and see if he eats them. I think he is big enough. He has been eating the small/medium crickets so far. Is it ok after he gets bigger to use playsand as a substrate? What else are fav foods of the beardies? I appreciate all the info and warm welcome. I will post pics as soon as I can get it figured out on my home computer/digital camera. Thanks again all. Kim

 

[fresnowitte]

Hi Kim!

They do make a herp safe cleaner I can't remember what it is called off hand( I think it starts with an N) I let you know if I remember but I'm sure someone can chime in with the name. :wink: You can also use a 1 part bleach to 10 parts water solution just make sure that you rinse an all fumes are gone before putting beardie back in. I don't use a particle substrate so cleaning is much easier. I can clean up any messes with a paper towel then I use a santi-wipe and wipe again with a damp paper towel. For the furniture items I have a large stock pot that I boil the wood, rocks, and dishes in....with the wood items I usually bake afterward at 350* to 375* for 20 minutes to make sure that it is dry as well...so not to create lots of humidity in the enclosure.

As you will learn many pet stores will give out incorrect information and suggest improper products.

I feed mine a variety of live feeders like Phoenix worms, Horn-worms, Silkworms, Butter-worms, Super worms(which I raise), roaches(Blatta Lateralis~Turks~which I raise), and on occasion a wax worm but only on occasion they are very high in fat.

I found myself nearly bankrupt buying feeders from the store....for a couple of years now I have ordered my feeders online. This is the company I normally order from http://www.mulberryfarms.com/horn2.htm I'm in California but there might be a feeder dealer closer to you.

There are members that do use a sifted play-sand with adult beardies. I personally don't like the Litter Box concept. And it will be much more difficult to clean let alone sanitize. Particle substrates should be changed quite often I found it to be a lot of money I was spending each year. Plus my beardies got buff when I switched to hard surface instead...personally I'll never go back. Take a look in the Enclosures forum at some of the members vivs....I guess the bottom line is it really is a matter of choice whether to use particle substrates or not...but I would rather not take any chances at impaction or parasites. Not to say all of the set ups that I've seen in this thread I would agree with but it's someplace to start for ideas. viewtopic.php?f=34&t=66704

I mentioned some of the live feeders but some of my beardies favorite foods other than feeders would be...

Mustard Greens
Kale
Chard
Cilantro
Butternut Squash...actually all squash! :lol:
String-less Sweet Peas
Bell Peppers (use different colored ones for looks to entice them...mine like yellow and red items)
Dandelions & Clovers (only if positive there have been no pesticides or other chemicals used on them)

Some of their favorite fruits which should only be given on occasion are...
Raspberries
Strawberries
Mango
All Melons
Apples peeled
Grapes
Peaches & Plums

That's just a few I can think of off hand there's many many more combinations as long as you give them their staples. Which that list at beautiful dragons is color coded as to if and how often items can be feed.

It's best when making their daily salads if you can include 2 to 3 of the dark green leafy veggies from the list at http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
Then I usually put in a mixture of at least 3 other veggies from that list...about 1 maybe 2 times a week they get a few bites of fruit.

When beardies are young and growing alot they require about 80% of their diet to be protein. When they become adult somewhere near a year that changes to about 80% vegetation. While young they should be getting one feeding perday dusted with a Calcium with D#3 5 days a week unless your using a Mercury Vapor Bulb then you'd us the Calcium without D3....Adults about 3 days perweek. They should have one feeding perday 2 days a week dusted with a multivitiman. For supplememnts I perfer Repcal brand.

:roll: See what happens when you give me the okay to ramble? :laughing6:

 

[ldyrddragn05]

Ok so I printed out all the info in the last post and laugh because again it is ok to ramble... I ordered from Ghanns Insects online. I ordered a ton of pheonix worms, crickets, and silk works to give him. We will see how he likes them. Hope he continues to eat like a pig. Thanks again

 

[protiemama]

Wow, Barb, You almost wrote a beardie manual! :shock: :laughhard: Actually you should. Maybe co-write w/t Tracie, Gina, Dianne and of coures our fearless leader, Beardie. :lol:

Kim, I order from Ghann's too. They have great customer service and wonderful overcounts! Much cheaper to buy from in the southeast. I live in Tn, south of Nashville. Where are you?
I love to use tile in my viv. It wipes clean so easy. Once a week I take them out and scrubb them in the sink with really hot water. Then air dry. Keeps the claws trim too. The dragon's, not mine. :lol:

Sandy H

 

[ldyrddragn05]

Hi,

I am in MD in Baltimore County. Ghans was great and not to bad to ship so we will see when they ship to me. I believe they will on monday since it is a holiday weekend. Happy Fourth everyone. Never thought of using tile. Great idea. Can you clip their claws like a dog/cats? I have a pet nail clipper. Hmmm There are so many listings of diferent things to use in the bottom of the cage. From towels, to sand, to reptile carpet, to tile, to wood...ect... :study: SO much to take in Never thought it could get so complicated but my beardie is worth it. REALLY Need to name him soon. So we will see. Hope to post a pic soon too. Thanks All. Kim