New Beardie Mom

[Buddysmom1]

I am a new mom to Buddy he’s a two month old Beardie dragon. We have him currently in a 10 gallon tank. We have been told the tank is too small. A family member just gave us a 120 gallon tank. Is this ok? I also have read that lighting is important. Right now we have a uvb light and 50 watts Basking light. I’ll attach pictures of his setup. Also, he has slowed down in eating. He eats Dubai roaches maybe 3 a day. I cut up veggies and add fresh water daily. Any suggestions?? Taking all advice. We are happy to have him as apart of our family and we want him to thrive. Also it’s nighttime here and we were advised by the pet store to turn on a red heating lamp at night.

 

[FiretheBeardie]

Hello,

How long have you had Buddy? Also the red bulbs can be damaging to beardie's eyes, please just get a regular basking lamp. I put my beardie Fire straight into a 120 gallon tank right from the start, and we didn't have any issues. What are you using for substrate? If it's calcium sand, that's not good. You can get non-adhesive shelf liner or a Zen Habitats mat will fit the 120 gallon tank if it's 4x2ft. Just some suggestions!

 

[KarrieRee]

I am a new mom to Buddy he’s a two month old Beardie dragon. We have him currently in a 10 gallon tank. We have been told the tank is too small. A family member just gave us a 120 gallon tank. Is this ok? I also have read that lighting is important. Right now we have a uvb light and 50 watts Basking light. I’ll attach pictures of his setup. Also, he has slowed down in eating. He eats Dubai roaches maybe 3 a day. I cut up veggies and add fresh water daily. Any suggestions?? Taking all advice. We are happy to have him as apart of our family and we want him to thrive. Also it’s nighttime here and we were advised by the pet store to turn on a red heating lamp at night.

Please do NOT listen to the pet store people anymore!! they give bad advice---- first thing get rid of the red light--- they cause all kinds of eye issues distort the vision and keep them awake all night-- dragons like cool and dark to sleep temps in the tank should be 65-75 at night - next please get a solid clear bright white basking bulb examples are Flukers basking bulb or a Exo Terra Intense or a Arcadia Halogen - two digital probe thermometers for accurate surface basking temps 105-110- next please move him to the 120 gallon but partition it off to 1/3 of the tank its going to make it easier to take care of him and he needs a smaller space right now - next if your using a coil UVB please get rid of that as well - another bad bulb that will cause all kinds of health issues --- I have 3 that I can recommend --- please ask I will post links for you --- these things need to be corrected immediately -- as of now hes going thru relocation stress so its good he did eat but he will stop completely unless these things I posted are not corrected --

 

[Buddysmom1]

we got him on Sunday. The pet store informed us to get the red heating lamp for night time and to turn off the white one.Do you leave the heating basking light on all day and night? The sand is not the calcium sand. I can’t remember the name of the sand but the lady at the pet store told us to get the one that we have I will have to ask my husband when he gets home the name… just went blank.

 

[Buddysmom1]

Hello,

How long have you had Buddy? Also the red bulbs can be damaging to beardie's eyes, please just get a regular basking lamp. I put my beardie Fire straight into a 120 gallon tank right from the start, and we didn't have any issues. What are you using for substrate? If it's calcium sand, that's not good. You can get non-adhesive shelf liner or a Zen Habitats mat will fit the 120 gallon tank if it's 4x2ft. Just some suggestions!

Thank you sooo much for the quick response

 

[FiretheBeardie]

we got him on Sunday. The pet store informed us to get the red heating lamp for night time and to turn off the white one.Do you leave the heating basking light on all day and night? The sand is not the calcium sand. I can’t remember the name of the sand but the lady at the pet store told us to get the one that we have I will have to ask my husband when he gets home the name… just went blank.

If your house stays over 65 degrees f at night, you don't need any extra heating at night. Make sure that you're using play sand if your using sand at all, although it's not recommended for babies. Work with KarrieRee on your lighting.

 

[Buddysmom1]

Ok, thank you so much!!

 

[KarrieRee]

we got him on Sunday. The pet store informed us to get the red heating lamp for night time and to turn off the white one.Do you leave the heating basking light on all day and night? The sand is not the calcium sand. I can’t remember the name of the sand but the lady at the pet store told us to get the one that we have I will have to ask my husband when he gets home the name… just went blank.

Please get rid of the sand as suggested -- I would get some textured NON adhesive shelf liner from Walmart or you local home improvement store cut to the size of the tank and clean w/ vinegar/ water 50/50 wipe down w/ a clean wet dish rag - photo period should be 12 hrs on 12 hrs off that is for both the UVB and basking bulb --- do not feed the dragon before 2-3 hrs of lights off - they need time to start digestion and your surface basking temps are what start that -- if you find that your tank is dropping below 65 at night invest in a CHE ceramic heat emitter -- you will need a dome w/ ceramic socket and it needs to be able to hold the wattage of the bulb you using - for a 120 gallon I use a 100 watt bulb keeps my tanks around 73 at night and only use them on nights of below zero weather