New Beardie Mama, need some reassurance :)

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Raindrop

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Hey all,

Sorry for the long post I'm a new Mama and this is my first Beardie (also I talk a lot in RL so I find it hard to edit :p)

I work somewhere that has a 9-year-old bearded dragon and I fell in love with him so I got my own! about a week and a half ago.

I've done so much research and am constantly looking things up. The guy I got him from is an amazing small business reptile shop owner in our town and is so amazing he always answers all my questions. However, I just want some reassurance! I'm kind of making myself nutty by constantly obsessing and stressing over him.

His name is Toothless, we are pretty sure he's a he. He's we believe 2 - 3 months and is a translucent.
He's eating great about 10 - 12 crickets a day, in sessions of 3. So breakfast 4, lunch 4 ...etc. After no interest in greens for a few days, about 5 days in he loves his collard greens.
He's pooping great.
He seems relatively happy, he's not a huge fan of being held but we're giving him time to adjust and trying to get him used to it in very small increments. He tolerates his baths and we do about 2 a week for a max of 5 minutes because he doesn't love it and I don't want to make him hate it.
His sheds seem to be going well.

I'm just concerned about his lighting.

We have everything.

60 ish gallon tank with a mesh top.

T5 High Output UVB light that runs the span of the tank. minus a few inches on each side from Zoo Med. I believe it's 36".

We have a 100 W basking light

as well as a 150 ceramic heat lamp, that we don't always use but sometimes do to keep it a bit warmer.


His cool side is around 79 - 80 and he rarely hangs out there.

Now his basking spot is a bunch of branch-type things and possibly on top of his hide rock and hammock.

There are three branches he uses to hang out on sleep etc. And they are directly under his basking light. Pictures attached.
However, they never get up to 110. I do have a temp gun so I believe it's fairly accurate.

His rock gets to 92 which he uses to hang out on for small periods sometimes.

The one he hangs out on to sleep is around 95 - 98.

The other branches he sits on are 89 - 90.

His hammock is about 90.

I know a couple of degrees difference isn't bad but if it's supposed to be 110 minimum that's about 20 degrees different!
Do I need a higher wattage?

I mean he seems fine but I want him to be perfect and happy.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions.
 

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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Hey all,

Sorry for the long post I'm a new Mama and this is my first Beardie (also I talk a lot in RL so I find it hard to edit :p)

I work somewhere that has a 9-year-old bearded dragon and I fell in love with him so I got my own! about a week and a half ago.

I've done so much research and am constantly looking things up. The guy I got him from is an amazing small business reptile shop owner in our town and is so amazing he always answers all my questions. However, I just want some reassurance! I'm kind of making myself nutty by constantly obsessing and stressing over him.

His name is Toothless, we are pretty sure he's a he. He's we believe 2 - 3 months and is a translucent.
He's eating great about 10 - 12 crickets a day, in sessions of 3. So breakfast 4, lunch 4 ...etc. After no interest in greens for a few days, about 5 days in he loves his collard greens.
He's pooping great.
He seems relatively happy, he's not a huge fan of being held but we're giving him time to adjust and trying to get him used to it in very small increments. He tolerates his baths and we do about 2 a week for a max of 5 minutes because he doesn't love it and I don't want to make him hate it.
His sheds seem to be going well.

I'm just concerned about his lighting.

We have everything.

60 ish gallon tank with a mesh top.

T5 High Output UVB light that runs the span of the tank. minus a few inches on each side from Zoo Med. I believe it's 36".

We have a 100 W basking light

as well as a 150 ceramic heat lamp, that we don't always use but sometimes do to keep it a bit warmer.


His cool side is around 79 - 80 and he rarely hangs out there.

Now his basking spot is a bunch of branch-type things and possibly on top of his hide rock and hammock.

There are three branches he uses to hang out on sleep etc. And they are directly under his basking light. Pictures attached.
However, they never get up to 110. I do have a temp gun so I believe it's fairly accurate.

His rock gets to 92 which he uses to hang out on for small periods sometimes.

The one he hangs out on to sleep is around 95 - 98.

The other branches he sits on are 89 - 90.

His hammock is about 90.

I know a couple of degrees difference isn't bad but if it's supposed to be 110 minimum that's about 20 degrees different!
Do I need a higher wattage?

I mean he seems fine but I want him to be perfect and happy.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions.
Welcome to beardie world :)

Please get a digital probe thermometer you want two of them one for getting accurate basking temps and one for the cool side of the tank -- how are you getting those temps- IR guns are good but will not read off a hammock you need to take your probe and place on the spots hes sitting for basking leave 10 min or so then get the temp -- hes got a great heat gradient nevermind I see the digital probe -- use it on the hammock for sure --- your screen is a fine mesh or a wide hole type -- this is going to determine placement and distance for the UVB --- basking temps for him should be 105-110 in at least one spot hes going to sit where he is most comfortable --- so w/ all the temps your getting that is good but we want to make sure hes got one spot that is warmer than the rest -- your gonna want to get a digital probe hygrometer Exo Terra Digital Hygrometer
optimal humidity is 40-50% nothing under 20 and nothing over 70% --- please dont leave any crickets in your tank -- they can come out at nite and bite him --- I think I see carpet in there you might want to think of switching that out for some textured NON adhesive shelf liner cut to the size of the tank thats going to eliminate hunting for them if your feeding those --- easy to clean w/ vinegar/ water you can find it at Walmart or your local home improvement store
You can order some BSFL from here www.symtonbsf.com order large and do not dust them add those to the tops of his salad every morning in front of him feed as many as you want they are a great staple feeder -- you will need a bowl like this or similar to to keep them in the bowl
https://www.amazon.com/MACGOAL-Rept...uGQB&pd_rd_wg=tLkwE&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d
they are a great compliment to his staple feeder -- drop them in front of him to get his attention feed his salad about an hr before you feed his main staple insect -- you want him eating salads now even a little
website for nutrition Nutrition Content ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
 

Raindrop

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the reply!
I didn't know about the crickets he mostly eats them all but I'll make sure there are none left in the tank.
I also didn't know about BSFL I'm in Canada so I might have to look around, the place I got him I'm sure has some.
I'll move the temperature thingy around and see what I'm at, thanks for that.
His bottom isn't carpeted it's the Reptisand from zoo med.
He's a pretty awesome hunter, it's a joy to watch :)

hopefully, I get get a better read on his spot and it's a good temperature.

Thanks again for the quick response!
 

Raindrop

Member
Original Poster
I also wanted to ask if my lighting set up is okay? should the UVB be on the inside of the cage?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I hope the picture helps
Is it a thick heavy screen? Or a lighter weight? I am almost tempting to have you have it unobstructed- the holes look wide enough but the thickness is going to determine that
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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