New Beardie mommy and daddy with a lot of questions!

[thebradys]

Hi my name is Brandy, hubby's name is Eric.
We just adopted our first Beardie his name is Godzilla he's a little over a year old. I have a few questions since we have never owned one before. He is in a 40 gallon tank with a water dish, that was full of sand when we got him a log to lay on and a branch to climb. The bottom of the tank is full of this sand like substance...it's almost like small tiny rocks. He also has a heat lamp no other lights. He has never had anything does this mean he is lacking his vitamins he should be getting from the other lights. He was kept in a dark basement with no daylight..poor buddy.
No food was given to us when we got him last night but we were told he likes crickets and romaine lettuce. Which we had none of last night so we feed him finally shredded carrots and green pepper which he ate right up, he even ate from our hand and let us hold him with no issues.

My question is what type of bottom is good for the tank? Also I have read we need more than just a heat lamp what is the best light to pick up?

Here is a photo of his tank (and my happy son with his new pet)

 

[EightFingers]

He doesn't look unhealthy from that pic like I would have thought from his previous care.

Everyone on here will tell you to ditch the sand asap, including me. I've lost a Mali Uromastyx to impaction and won't use sand ever again. I personally really like the look of tile and how easy it is to clean. Measure the inside dimensions, go find some rough slate or tile at lowes and have them cut it to size for you. Very easy.

As far as a diet, it's a more complicated answer. Most people preach diversity. Since he's older from what I understand he doesn't need as much bugs as he does veggies. Check out this link for food ideas, http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html. Crickets are fine, but I prefer dubia roaches if you can get over the word "roach", they are clean, quiet and easy to care for. Also horn worms and silk works are a great buggy option.

Depending on your budget lighting could be relatively inexpensive, or quite costly. You'll need a basking spot of high 90's to 105 and a heat gradient to a cooler end 70/80's on about a 12 hour light cycle of UVB.

The most recommended UVB light bulbs on here are the Reptisun T5 10.0
http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun-Output-34w22in/dp/B00AQU8HAO

Also a great basking light option is a flood light from Home Depot/Lowes. I had to experiment with a few different ones before I found the one that kept the temps I wanted. I went with something like this, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-EcoVantage-90W-Halogen-PAR38-Indoor-Outdoor-Dimmable-Flood-Light-Bulb-2-Pack-429373/203231668 and a ceramic bulb on the other side of the tank.

I choose the more expensive, less hassle option with my lighting. I purchased a HerpStat2 and it automatically turns on and off my basking/heat lights, has temperature probes to keep the perfect temperature and is just plain easy! I never have to mess with my lighting at all and know it's always perfect. I also purchased a digital timer for my UVB which is just on in the AM and off in the PM.
http://www.spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

I'd also pick up some vitamins to dust the food with, get a multivitamin and calcium with D3.

 

[thebradys]

Thank you so much. I have been reading info all day. I did talk to the girl that owned him and found out she did have the uvb light. It is a zoo med reptisun 5.0 UVB.So now i have both lights.

The sand is coming out asap not only for his saftey but it is just plain messy and gets all over him if he lays in his water bowl.

 

[TerryG]

If you want to use a timer for your lights, you could also get a "vacation timer" outlet plug from Home Depot. The one I got was $10 and can be set the same way as reptile timers. It doesn't have the timer thermostat like the previously described one, but having the lights turning on and off would freak my dragon out! I just have it click on at 7am and out at 10pm. She is used to the routine now.