New Beardie Owner Finds Things So Confusing!

[jings55]

Hi! I am a rather new beardie Mom. We got Stryker II on May 11th, 2012 at 3 1/2 months. So he's about 5 3/4 months now. He is 10 inches long and weighs 48 grams. I don't know whether this is good or bad. Can someone tell me whether he's a good size and weight? He seems robust and healthy and he did go to the vet for deworming. We try to alternate days-one day he gets 30 small crickets dusted in calcium and vitamins and the next day or two he'll get about 10 small meal worms, which we don't dust, as it doesn't seem to stick-even with their heads cut off! (Is this necessary???) And he gets salads with different veggies and fruits every day and eats most of it. We've been feeding and taking care of him at night. Is he suppose to be taking care of earlier? We are not morning people, especially since school is out. Nor do I have his lights on a timer, so they vary each day.

Secondly, he had his first real shed that I saw yesterday, although my grandchildren said he's been shedding a little now and then. The night before we noticed he was shedding a little and gave him a 30 minute warm bath. We saw him in his water dish two nights in a row and his back looked very powdery before his shed yesterday. Is this normal? And he shed in his water dish and it was a big pile of goop! He was a beautiful olive green color with some orange before and now he has a lot of black to his color. I am very disappointed as he doesn't look as nice. I thought colors got brighter??? Will his colors continue to change with each shed?

My next problem is with the lighting. We had him in a ten gallon set up that we bought with him in it-all set up from the pet store-although he came from a local breeder. He had a Zilla Dessert 5.0 UVB strip light on him. As well as a Zilla 100 watt day & 75 watt night basking lights in a hood. Yesterday, we decided to move him into the 40 gallon breeder tank we originally got for our other Beardie who died in a week's time. We did not know she was sick. We bought her on craigslist and thought we were getting a good deal! We disinfected the cage with bleach after she died. (Ha! I won't tell you how much we're spent so far on the beardies! A lot!) Anyways, here's my confusion: we have 3 large dome lights on this 40 gallon set-up. A Zilla 100 watt Day and I think, 100 watt night (which came with the tank) basking lights and an Exo-terra Repti Glo 10.0 coil UVB light, which also came with the tank and the girl I bought him from said it was only good for a couple of more months. This makes me uneasy. I don't trust her. So I want to replace it. Do I go with a new 10.0 coil, which I've read isn't the greatest or do I look for a 10.0 tube style light with a "hood"??? What kind? And do they make them in a size to fit a 40 gallon? I've already talked to two pet stores and they seem more confused tham I. Or can I use my 18" strip light, take the 5.0 out of it and see if I can find a 10.0 that will fit??? I have the coil UVB in the middle of the tank.

And finally, these last two days, he has not sat under either basking light. The first night he stayed glued to the glass of the new cage most of the night and then settled on his new hiding log in the middle of the cage. I have Driftwood? under each basking light but am not happy with it. He liked them in the 10 gallon set-up, when I alternated them and there was no hide log. I would like to get him some higher branches or a fake rock formation he can climb, or something. I want to get him closer to the lights! Any suggestions? And where should the basking branches/perch be-under which light? And after the UVB light purchase-hopefully soon-the following month, I want to buy him a dual digital thermometer with probes to take accurate temp readings. I have this cheap thermometer in there, that tells me nothing. I can't even read the numbers on it!

I'm sorry. I know I wrote an essay, but these things have been bothering me and pet stores give me different info and the 2 guys at each store left and I feel I don't have an expert to talk to. Any help and advice would be appreciated!

I really love Stryker, he makes me so happy! I want this guy (?) to be around forever. Ill try to post pics elsewhere, later, when I figuire out Photobucket.

 

[Toasty]

jings55, I'm going to send you a pm

 

[ynevar]

Hi! I am a rather new beardie Mom. We got Stryker II on May 11th, 2012 at 3 1/2 months. So he's about 5 3/4 months now. He is 10 inches long and weighs 48 grams. I don't know whether this is good or bad. Can someone tell me whether he's a good size and weight? He seems robust and healthy and he did go to the vet for deworming. We try to alternate days-one day he gets 30 small crickets dusted in calcium and vitamins and the next day or two he'll get about 10 small meal worms, which we don't dust, as it doesn't seem to stick-even with their heads cut off! (Is this necessary???) And he gets salads with different veggies and fruits every day and eats most of it. We've been feeding and taking care of him at night. Is he suppose to be taking care of earlier? We are not morning people, especially since school is out. Nor do I have his lights on a timer, so they vary each day. I wouldn't give him meal worms at all, they can cause impaction. There are a lot of other feeder choices out there that don't have the same problems. Meal worms have a lot of chitin and as such can lead to impaction for a dragon. Juveniles need to be fed protein 2-3 times a day, as much as they can eat in 15 minutes. Good feeders are silkworms, crickets, Phoenix worms and even micro superworms. All must be no bigger than the space between their eyes. When in doubt, go smaller. I would use the staple veggies that are listed on the Beautiful Dragon website.

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Secondly, he had his first real shed that I saw yesterday, although my grandchildren said he's been shedding a little now and then. The night before we noticed he was shedding a little and gave him a 30 minute warm bath. We saw him in his water dish two nights in a row and his back looked very powdery before his shed yesterday. Is this normal? And he shed in his water dish and it was a big pile of goop! He was a beautiful olive green color with some orange before and now he has a lot of black to his color. I am very disappointed as he doesn't look as nice. I thought colors got brighter??? Will his colors continue to change with each shed?I am not an expert on shedding, but I do know that my dragons have changed over time.

My next problem is with the lighting. We had him in a ten gallon set up that we bought with him in it-all set up from the pet store-although he came from a local breeder. He had a Zilla Dessert 5.0 UVB strip light on him. As well as a Zilla 100 watt day & 75 watt night basking lights in a hood. Yesterday, we decided to move him into the 40 gallon breeder tank we originally got for our other Beardie who died in a week's time. We did not know she was sick. We bought her on craigslist and thought we were getting a good deal! We disinfected the cage with bleach after she died. (Ha! I won't tell you how much we're spent so far on the beardies! A lot!) Anyways, here's my confusion: we have 3 large dome lights on this 40 gallon set-up. A Zilla 100 watt Day and I think, 100 watt night (which came with the tank) basking lights and an Exo-terra Repti Glo 10.0 coil UVB light, which also came with the tank and the girl I bought him from said it was only good for a couple of more months. This makes me uneasy. I don't trust her. So I want to replace it. Do I go with a new 10.0 coil, which I've read isn't the greatest or do I look for a 10.0 tube style light with a "hood"??? What kind? And do they make them in a size to fit a 40 gallon? I've already talked to two pet stores and they seem more confused tham I. Or can I use my 18" strip light, take the 5.0 out of it and see if I can find a 10.0 that will fit??? I have the coil UVB in the middle of the tank.I wonder why she died? Do you know? I guess I am a little leery of bleach, mostly because I recently learned it doesn't kill everything, as my beardies contracted coccidia and bleach does NOT kill coccidia. And I thought bleach killed EVERYTHING!!! I got the professional cleaner at beardeddragon.co a little goes a long way and it is effective at killing a lot and is harmless when dry. I would definitely get the Reptisun 10.0 tube light. The coil lights have been known to cause eye problems from what I have heard. I got the Repitsun 10.0 18" at Petco, so should be easy enough to find, or find online. What substrate do you have him on?

And finally, these last two days, he has not sat under either basking light. The first night he stayed glued to the glass of the new cage most of the night and then settled on his new hiding log in the middle of the cage. I have Driftwood? under each basking light but am not happy with it. He liked them in the 10 gallon set-up, when I alternated them and there was no hide log. I would like to get him some higher branches or a fake rock formation he can climb, or something. I want to get him closer to the lights! Any suggestions? And where should the basking branches/perch be-under which light? And after the UVB light purchase-hopefully soon-the following month, I want to buy him a dual digital thermometer with probes to take accurate temp readings. I have this cheap thermometer in there, that tells me nothing. I can't even read the numbers on it!He may just be adjusting to the new surroundings. I really would find out ASAP what his temps really are. I have a temp gun and love it. It is pretty inexpensive and I can measure various places in the tanks. He needs to have basking areas that are 95* to properly digest his food.

I'm sorry. I know I wrote an essay, but these things have been bothering me and pet stores give me different info and the 2 guys at each store left and I feel I don't have an expert to talk to. Any help and advice would be appreciated!

I really love Stryker, he makes me so happy! I want this guy (?) to be around forever. Ill try to post pics elsewhere, later, when I figuire out Photobucket.They are soooo easy to fall in love with and my lil guys make me so happy too. I look forward to seeing pics of Stryker! I hope what I wrote helps. I am still learning but feel pretty confident in what I wrote.

 

[jings55]

Hi, again!

I couldn't figuire out how to reply to your replies personally!

But I want to thank you both for the advice and taking the time to write to me. I couldn't pull up both replies for some reason, so I hope I'm answering all questions.

The pet stores near me don't carry waxworm or silkworms, so I guess I will have to look into to odering these on line. Do you have a particular seller that you reccommend? I do not want to order alot. I can't immagine ordering 1000 for one beardie! Where do you keep them? In the refrigerator, like mealworms? How long will they live if not eaten right away? I would freak if they escaped!!! Don't the wax worms turn into moths? I hate things that fly!!! And if I did buy either of them, How much would I feed Stryker to begin with?

As far as our first beardie-I wrote about her on another part of this site where you could write about beardies that died. Her name was Stryker I. To make a long story kinda short, we knew nothing about Beardies when we bought her, except for some basic research on line. She was 24" long and had beautiful colors, but the previous owner lied to us and told her she was a he and that he was 1 year old. The pet store we took her into to buy supplies the next afternoon, told me he was a she and several years old and pointed out that she was dirty with fecal matter and had two old burn marks on her. One looked like a cigarette burn on her stomach. The other was on those sort of fat pads they have on there shoulders. (What are they exactly?) The owner claimed she never used heat rocks. Well, anyways, a few days after we got her, she stopped eating. We noticed a huge sore growing on the side of her lip. Later that day, she coughed up a lot of muscousy blood! We rushed her to the vet who said she had an infection-an abcess, cleaned it out and gave her two shots. I think they were both antibiotics and he also dewormed her, although I do not know if he did a fecal. He sent her home with instructions to feed her baby food and some liquid antibiotics, but she died during that night. Basically, I think we bought a sick animal. The vet confirmed that he was a she and guessed her age to be about 7 years old.

I will look for the 18" Reptisun light. Who makes it? Or where can I order it from? I think Petsmart has a similar kind, I'm not sure. Hopefully it will fit into the strip I have for the Zilla Dessert 5.0.

Stryker is on a green repti carpet. In the 10 gallon, he had one that looked like astro-turf. This one is just green fibers. I don't like it. It shows the calcium and the makes the dried bits of his salad, hard to see to clean up. And if you or the beardie spills water, it stays wet. I think I may try to find the astro-turf again or go for a beige, dessert color.

Stryker looked a little dehydrated this afternoon. I gave him a good soaking and called his breeder, as I was in a panic. He told me to soak him for a week every day, do away with the 100 watt night/heat light, as my house is never below 73-72 and try to get a temp reading on his basking side. He said a 100 watt basking bulb might be too hot in the 40 gallon and I may have to go down to a 75 watt. He also told me to buy regular old fashioned light bulbs, next time, to save money. The breeder agreed that he was small-but I've been keeping a chart on him since we got him and weighing him and measuring him at home and he has grown about 3 inches and gained 29 grams. The breeder said, in his opinion, mealies were alright and you didn't have to cut their heads off-only if they were Superworms, which I don't give him, yet. Too big. He said his size could be genetic and also that each beardie is different, so I shouldn't spazz out about it as long as he's eating, drinking and pooping.

Where did you buy the temp gun? I saw on on You Tube on someone's video.

His color looked better today. I didn't see the black-just that the green looked darker towards his sides. He still has an dull orange pattern.

Took care of Stryker this afternoon and he is tucked in for the night, now! Do you all give yours any fleece for a little blanket? I know he likes to bury himself in my clothes.

Well, thanks again for all your help! I'm learning... :study:

 

[ynevar]

Hi, again!

I couldn't figuire out how to reply to your replies personally!

But I want to thank you both for the advice and taking the time to write to me. I couldn't pull up both replies for some reason, so I hope I'm answering all questions.

The pet stores near me don't carry waxworm or silkworms, so I guess I will have to look into to odering these on line. Do you have a particular seller that you reccommend? I do not want to order alot. I can't immagine ordering 1000 for one beardie! Where do you keep them? In the refrigerator, like mealworms? How long will they live if not eaten right away? I would freak if they escaped!!! Don't the wax worms turn into moths? I hate things that fly!!! And if I did buy either of them, How much would I feed Stryker to begin with? Well, a baby dragon can eat a LOT of crickets daily. They basically will eat protein 3 times a day, as much as they can eat in 15 minutes. So that can be a LOT of crickets. So, 30 crickets is probably not enough. I really wouldn't do the meal worms at all. I have two baby dragons. I WAS going to the pet store, buying crickets in small batches for a few days and keeping them in a cricket keeper. THEN the pet shop doubled their price of crickets. So basically I could get a 1,000 crickets online for what it cost me for less than 10 dozen here at the pet store. You can see that I just had to get over my bug fear and switch to keeping larger quantities of crickets. It's really NOT as bad as I thought it would be. Amazing what the love of a dragon will do. LOL :mrgreen: So, I see you are on the other side of the world, this company is highly recommended for crickets from another poster, who lives on your side of the woods. http://www.ghann.com/store/store_sub.cfm?Category_ID=1 You may start off with 500 of the 1/4" and see how you do with that? That is if you want to get crickets in bulk. It really is economical and you'll be amazed at how many crickets a baby can eat. If you went with just worms, for convenience then you'd be paying a lot of money. Crickets are very economical and easy to keep. They won't eat crickets like this forever, they aren't babies for long... As adults they will switch to eating less protein and more veggies. They also have Phoenix worms http://www.ghann.com/store/store_product_detail.cfm?Product_ID=114&Category_ID=2 The best place to get silkworms is www.mulberryfarms.com. I get my crickets and all my feeders from Mulberry Farms, but they are closer to me than the other one I listed. You If you feed them to them fast enough (which is possible) they won't grow into any flying things hehehe....Just to give you an idea, my babies just ate about 60+ crickets EACH in ONE feeding. Once they are full, they are full and won't eat any more. I simply take the uneaten crickets out and put them back in the cricket container. I also feed them in batches, not 60+ at once, that would be too overwhelming I think. I give them about 20+ at a time---3 times! It's crazy but they are rapidly growing. Is like baby bottles for a human. I keep the crickets in a 10 gallon tank with a screen top. The Phoenix worms come in a cup with a plastic lid, no holes or anything so they can't escape. The silkworms from Mulberry farms come in a cup that has ventilation but they can't escape from. My only problem with the silkworms has been sometimes if you don't feed them fast enough there can be a mold buildup and you have to take all the worms out, clean out the mold and put the worms back in. Is kind of a mess. So I feed them heavily instead of crickets so I don't have to stress over mold when I have them, but they are expensive feeders. You don't have to refrigerate the silk worms or the Phoenix worms at all.

As far as our first beardie-I wrote about her on another part of this site where you could write about beardies that died. Her name was Stryker I. To make a long story kinda short, we knew nothing about Beardies when we bought her, except for some basic research on line. She was 24" long and had beautiful colors, but the previous owner lied to us and told her she was a he and that he was 1 year old. The pet store we took her into to buy supplies the next afternoon, told me he was a she and several years old and pointed out that she was dirty with fecal matter and had two old burn marks on her. One looked like a cigarette burn on her stomach. The other was on those sort of fat pads they have on there shoulders. (What are they exactly?) The owner claimed she never used heat rocks. Well, anyways, a few days after we got her, she stopped eating. We noticed a huge sore growing on the side of her lip. Later that day, she coughed up a lot of muscousy blood! We rushed her to the vet who said she had an infection-an abcess, cleaned it out and gave her two shots. I think they were both antibiotics and he also dewormed her, although I do not know if he did a fecal. He sent her home with instructions to feed her baby food and some liquid antibiotics, but she died during that night. Basically, I think we bought a sick animal. The vet confirmed that he was a she and guessed her age to be about 7 years old. I am so sorry to hear that, how sad...Is really heartbreaking and the cigarette burn... jeez that just makes my blood boil!!! Stryker I at least passed with a family who cared what happened to her...

I will look for the 18" Reptisun light. Who makes it? Or where can I order it from? I think Petsmart has a similar kind, I'm not sure. Hopefully it will fit into the strip I have for the Zilla Dessert 5.0.
http://www.reptiza.net/beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=63&product_id=50

Stryker is on a green repti carpet. In the 10 gallon, he had one that looked like astro-turf. This one is just green fibers. I don't like it. It shows the calcium and the makes the dried bits of his salad, hard to see to clean up. And if you or the beardie spills water, it stays wet. I think I may try to find the astro-turf again or go for a beige, dessert color.The carpet can catch their nails and be hard to clean. I highly recommend slate. You can get natural slate tile at Home Depot. I wouldn't grout them in. You may have to cut a few to get them to fit just right, but basically they are so easy to clean, take the soiled one out, clean it, dry it and pop it back in. They also help to naturally file dragons nails, so having to clip their nails less is another result. The easiest one for babies is paper towel. I use that for my babies. Others use shelf liner. I am glad you are not using a loose substrate.

Stryker looked a little dehydrated this afternoon. I gave him a good soaking and called his breeder, as I was in a panic. He told me to soak him for a week every day, do away with the 100 watt night/heat light, as my house is never below 73-72 and try to get a temp reading on his basking side. He said a 100 watt basking bulb might be too hot in the 40 gallon and I may have to go down to a 75 watt. He also told me to buy regular old fashioned light bulbs, next time, to save money. The breeder agreed that he was small-but I've been keeping a chart on him since we got him and weighing him and measuring him at home and he has grown about 3 inches and gained 29 grams. The breeder said, in his opinion, mealies were alright and you didn't have to cut their heads off-only if they were Superworms, which I don't give him, yet. Too big. He said his size could be genetic and also that each beardie is different, so I shouldn't spazz out about it as long as he's eating, drinking and pooping. He may gain more weight and length as you feed him more often. Babies seem to be bottomless pits of crickets!!! I have one that is smaller than the other and I think he just is a smaller guy, but I spazz anyway. LOL. The regular bulbs definitely save money! Yeah as long as your night time temps don't get too low you don't need a night light. Great on his growth, he will see even more growth and you will just love watching his progress! What type of supplements are you giving him? Calcium? Multivitamin?

Where did you buy the temp gun? I saw on on You Tube on someone's video. http://www.reptiza.net/beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=67&product_id=65

His color looked better today. I didn't see the black-just that the green looked darker towards his sides. He still has an dull orange pattern.

Took care of Stryker this afternoon and he is tucked in for the night, now! Do you all give yours any fleece for a little blanket? I know he likes to bury himself in my clothes. I give them little fuzzy blankets to sleep with, but take them out during the day. Stumpy gets really ticked when I take away his fuzzy. I just don't want him to poo on it LOL and he seems to poo like a champ.

Well, thanks again for all your help! I'm learning... :study:I am still learning too and share what I know and what I have learned from the great people on this site and the resources they have directed me to. I hope you got a chance to look at the Beautiful Dragons Nutrition page. It really is a HUGE help on what to feed them both insect and veggie/fruit wise. I am loving watching my babies start to grow as they were stunted from having a parasite, which I had no idea about until later on. I didn't really use this site until later in the game, I wish I had read more on here before, I might have caught on sooner that they were not doing quite right earlier. However lesson learned and they are thriving after several vet visits, lots of cage cleaning and treatment. BY the way... this is the most awesome cleaner for the cage, a little bit makes a LOT. I have to share how wonderful it is, as I recently learned that even bleach doesn't kill some of the bugs that these little guys can carry. :shock: http://www.reptiza.net/beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=73&product_id=249

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

Hi there - good for you for trying to improve upon the care of your little guy! You're already getting great advice from members more experienced than I, so I only have a few things to add.

You said that you care for him mostly at night. Beardies need at least 2-3 hours under their lights to digest food properly, or else food can rot inside of them or cause impaction and/or vomiting. So just make sure he has a few hours of light left after he gets fed. Also, at your beardie's young age he should be getting at least 2 live feedings per day & allowed to eat as many feeders as he can within 10 minutes each time. His feeders should be dusted with calcium+D3 at least 5 times per week. The vitamin powder is needed 2-3 times per week. So is he in the 10gal or the 40gal now? A 10gal is way too small to obtain the correct temperature gradient. You want his basking spot to be 100-110 degrees, hot side around 89-96 degrees and cool side 78-85 degrees. It is very important to use a digital thermometer with probe or an infrared temp gun to measure these temperatures as accurately as possible. It is also important that he has a consistent light cycle, so I would highly recommend getting a timer (you can find one for about $10 at any hardware store). He should be getting 10-14 hours of light per day. Being that he's younger, I would recommend 12 or 13 hours. When his lights are off, he needs complete dark and silence to be able to rest well.

I hope this answers some of your questions, and I greatly commend your effort to give your beardie the best life/care possible!! I know it's probably a lot more work than you were thinking it would be, but it was the same scenario for almost all of us here. This forum had really been a lifesaver and wealth of information though, so stick around and you'll be a perfect beardie parent in no time!

 

[jings55]

Hi! Thank you Ynevor and Xtinalotusmonster for your valuable advice!

Ynever, thanks for the websites. I'm going to print out this page as soon as I get some ink for my printer this week!
As far as using tiles go, it sounds like a good idea except won't the little rascals be cold on them? How do you cut them?

Xtina, I use Fluker's calcium with Vit D 3-4 times a week, depending whether he gets crickets or worms and I use Rep Cal's Herptivite twice a week-maybe more, depending on who's feeding them. My granddaughter gives them both, unless I say somethine first. (she's 12 and ADHD). I don't dust the worms because the dust doesn't seem to stick. Any advice there?

I will increase his feedings to twice a day and the amount of food he gets. There's a discussion forum going on right now about "How big is your beardie" and Stryker is the smallest of them all for his age!!! Last night (I know daytime, not nighttime!), we doubled his mealworms from 20 to 40. He had a hard time getting the last few down-I think he was stuffed! Anyways, I had given him more crickets the day before, too -and two days/nights in a row, he hasn't touched his salad! And he usually eats it with no problem. Also his waste products today just looked like a black puddle with some hard white. Did I impact him? I've been told not to bother cutting the heads off the mealies by a couple of people in the last few days-including the breeder, the pet store got him from and gave me his contact info. He looks alert and happy, otherwise. So, I think I should feed him twice a day! I know crickets should be his main diet-but my husband does all the shopping and is annoyed at having to buy crickets every other day and is upset when I told him we need to double them, daily. I also know he should get some variety. I cringe at the thought of having a 10 gallon with 500-1000- crickets in it. I don't think I could stick my hand in it. I understand it would be cheaper, My husband said he does not want bugs loose in the house-and neither do I! I don't know what to do! We also have some anoles, that the girls caught outside, who eat crickets and mealies. I am all for releasing them back into their environment and using the money we would spend on them, on the beardie-but my kids are against it! (I am raising my two oldest grands). What do tou do, Xtina, about obtaining and keeping their live food?

Is it okay to feed him if his lights are still off or being shut off? I just did away with his nightime basking light two nights ago. Was told he doesn't need it as it is never below 72 in my house. And I''m going to change out his RetiSun 10.0 coil UVB back to his Zilla 5.0 UVB strip/tube light that he had in the 10 gallon cause of the coil might affect his eyes. Do y'all agree with this? He is now in the 40 gallon set up. I plan on buying him a 36" Reptisun 10.0 and a 36" terrarium Hood made by Reptisun, as soon as we can afford it (September?) I can get them on Amazon. Do you think he'll be alright with just the 5.0 on him?

Any help from anyone will be much appreciated! :help:

 

[ynevar]

Hard urates (the white part) is usually not good, should be soft but well formed pooh. I am glad you are feeding him more, but get scared when I hear he is eating that many meal worms. I think if you keep giving mealies due to them being a lot easier than crickets, there are other options. Phoenix worms are a GREAT staple feeder. They are not as cheap as crickets but if you buy in bulk they are worth it. How big is he? How big is the space between his eyes? If you let me know that I can give you some feeding options and send you the links to some ideas.

http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/the-Phoenix-Worm-Sizes--Place-Order-Here/Categories The extra small worms are TOO small for baby beardies and depending on how big he is he would either get the smalls or the mediums. I'd go with the larger amount, as my guys can eat 30-60 worms at a sitting.

You could also do micro superworms. Which are not the best feeder but are far better than meal worms in regards to impaction. You can get the micro superworms from Mulberry Farms.
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/Superworms/Micro-Superworms-p48.html Keep in mind that they go by the same rules as crickets, no bigger than the space between their eyes, and some of the micro supers get big fast, so keep that in mind.

Also, just an idea. You could make a chart next to his tank, with the days of the week for your granddaughter to mark off, what supplements she has used. Like a check list. So if she has already done calcium for the day she won't do it again. That way he does not get too much calcium or multi vitamin.

I was a freak about loose crickets in the house and honestly, I have not had many at all. I had more loose crickets with the cricket keeper than I have with the 10 gallon tank. :shock:

You could use Several small cricket keepers because those are easy to shake the crickets into a baggie? I could give you suggestions on how to get them into the cricket keepers (OUTSIDE) but it would be harder to keep clean than a 10 gallon. The cost is certainly a lot more. I don't know what others will suggest. But I do know that most keepers will say NOT to go with the meal worms. They may be convenient but there are other feeders that are just as convenient.

I wouldn't feed him at night, and he doesn't need a night basking light unless your house gets too cool. (below 60)

I'll defer to the others more experienced on the UVB. I do know that the research I have done on shows that the UVB light is important. I am hoping that someone else will pipe in on the UVB light suggestions. I use the Reptisun 10.0. I already had a light fixture though. They have inexpensive light fixtures at the hardware store. I'd make a post in enclosures about it, and ask what others think.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

I'm going to second the importance of getting the Reptisun 10.0 tube as soon as possible. UVB is the most important thing to them, and Sept is a long time to be under a coil bulb. You can buy the Reptisun tube bulbs for only 20-25$ at Petmountain.com, and a cheap hood (if you don't have one), can just be bought at home depo. Just take out the bulb that comes with, and take off the plastic hood.

I keep crickets in bulk and if you are open to a few tips, then here they are.

Keep them in a large 20 gallon opaque lidless plastic bin. They can't climb the sides, and never escape from mine.
Put in a few cardboard egg carton peices and toilet paper tues/paper towel tubes. The crickets love crawling in the tubes, so instead of chasing down crickets, we just pick up a tube and shake it into the dusting cup. That way, no touchy the crickets Xp.
I also feed my beardie in a seperate bin ( we use a shallow sterilite bin). That way, we can ensure no crix get loose in his viv, and we can easily put them back in the main bin when they're done. I buy my crix in bulk from LLLreptile.com.

Congrats on the new family addition!

 

[jings55]

Beardiemommy, I like your idea about the plastic bins for the crickets 8) -I could handle that! As long as hubby agrees...I did take away the coil today and give him the 5.0 reptisun. Money is really tight right now with school starting up next month. We have custody of my tow oldest granddaughters. My daughter owes us so much money...it'll take her a lifetime to pay us back. Right now she is renting a house from us-but all along we've been paying her bills. She just finally got a job 2 weeks ago-she's suppose to pay us some of what she owes out of her paycheck. When that happens, I might be able to squeeze out some money. Neither my husband or I really knew the daily cost of keeping the beardie fed and healthy. The person I got our first one from, that died, made it sound so easy-or course, that one was full grown and only lived a week. When we bought the new beardie, the pet stores made it sound simple, too, though I got conflicting-and now I find out-inaccurate info.

But it was probably just a matter of time til we bought a beardie. I've always wanted one. This one was bought for my granddaughter's birthday present. We got it early, since I'd thought I'd found a good deal on craigslist. Not! Anyways her 10th birthday was Sunday, but she rarely participates in his care.

Ynever, I forgot to weigh Stryker today because it was my granddaughter's birthday and we had company , but I usually weigh him on Sundays. Last week, at 5 1/2 months, he weighed in at only 48 grams and measured 10' long from nose to tip of tail. From what I'm reading in the discussions, He is way underweight and small for his age and I am way underfeeding him and several people have said the same thing about the mealies. I am currently feeding him small/baby crickets and small mealies. We once bought the regular superworms by mistake and I nearly freaked! My turtle (who's humungeous) had a nice treat! I think they're the right size. I don't know what the right size would be for the other worms mentioned...what worm would you buy first if you wanted to forget about the mealies and he needed to put weight on? I don't want to clog his arteries (Do they even have arteries?) but I want him to grow to his potential.

Oh! And by the way, I've been looking and following the info and short videos offered on discussions...and I'm not so sure he's a he! The store told me he was -at 3 1/2 months. The vet said he was too young to tell at that same age. I don't think I asked the breeder-although he may not knw which one I bought, if he gave several to the pet store.

Since he din't eat he salad in 2 days and I honestly didn't check to see if he pooped today, we did not give him more mealies. I think I over did it the day before. He just got salad and his beardie pellets. I di mean to get him crickets today, but by the time we had a chance to go out-the pet store was closed. I forgot they close at 6pm on Sundays. Tomorrow he shall have crickets! I held him today briefly, but he didn't get his bath, either, but he didn't look dehydrated anymore, but who am I to judge?

Hopefully tomorrow we can get on a better schedule!

I need to get my husband involved. I need to read some of this info to him (cause he won't read it (stubborn senior citizen!). :study: I am learning and have learned so much, since we got the beardie and his predicessor and he knows nothing! He needs to know how important the right care is for the little one to grow and thrive!

 

[ynevar]

Beardiemommy, I like your idea about the plastic bins for the crickets 8) -I could handle that! As long as hubby agrees...I did take away the coil today and give him the 5.0 reptisun. Money is really tight right now with school starting up next month. We have custody of my tow oldest granddaughters. My daughter owes us so much money...it'll take her a lifetime to pay us back. Right now she is renting a house from us-but all along we've been paying her bills. She just finally got a job 2 weeks ago-she's suppose to pay us some of what she owes out of her paycheck. When that happens, I might be able to squeeze out some money. I had my niece for a year nearly and know how hard it can be financially to take on the care of children and pay for the ones you have. You are doing double duty...I am glad your grandkids have you. Neither my husband or I really knew the daily cost of keeping the beardie fed and healthy. There is a thread about the cost of keeping a beardie going right now, I think most people spend a lot of money, more than they imagined they would to properly care for a beardie.The person I got our first one from, that died, made it sound so easy-or course, that one was full grown and only lived a week. When we bought the new beardie, the pet stores made it sound simple, too, though I got conflicting-and now I find out-inaccurate info. It's amazing how much money they do cost. Maybe that's why we keep suggesting the online cricket in bulk LOL It's far cheaper and you can feed him/her enough that way. The plastic tubs are a great idea. You could even put a screen on the top of a tub (using a hot glue gun) just make sure it is a metal screen so that way if it got bumped by someone it wouldn't send crickets flying. It' wasn't too long ago that I had busy 10 year olds in the house so I know I'd want a cover on mine. You can get the mesh from beardeddragon.co or from your local hardware company. http://www.reptiza.net/beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=62&product_id=233I put the link there so you'd know what to look for at the hardware store. Get a deep tote with a snap on lid and smooth sides. Some say you can drill holes, I just freak about the thought of escapees so I'd go for the mesh and lots of hot glue (see even us who are freaked about the loose bug idea do this stuff... ohhh all for the love of a beardie!)

But it was probably just a matter of time til we bought a beardie. I've always wanted one. This one was bought for my granddaughter's birthday present. We got it early, since I'd thought I'd found a good deal on craigslist. Not! Anyways her 10th birthday was Sunday, but she rarely participates in his care. She will always remember her dragon though and if you make do things together it can be quite enjoyable. I have been able to involve my kids in the care of my babies and it's really quite rewarding. Even my oldest is now in love with the lizards, she was holding Gimpy today and said I wish I could just kiss him!! hehehe

Ynever, I forgot to weigh Stryker today because it was my granddaughter's birthday and we had company , but I usually weigh him on Sundays. Last week, at 5 1/2 months, he weighed in at only 48 grams and measured 10' long from nose to tip of tail. From what I'm reading in the discussions, He is way underweight and small for his age and I am way underfeeding him and several people have said the same thing about the mealies. I'd hate for you to to put so much effort, money and emotion into this little one and lose him to a food choice. I am currently feeding him small/baby crickets and small mealies. We once bought the regular superworms by mistake and I nearly freaked! My turtle (who's humungeous) had a nice treat!hahahah I bet he loved that!!!! I think they're the right size. I don't know what the right size would be for the other worms mentioned...what worm would you buy first if you wanted to forget about the mealies and he needed to put weight on? I don't want to clog his arteries (Do they even have arteries?) but I want him to grow to his potential. If money was tight, I would spend the money on his UVB light and do bulk crickets and if you had extra money to spare, I'd buy Phoenix worms. I would measure the space between his eyes and figure out if he could take the small or medium Phoenix worms. If he could do the mediums, I would buy a zoo cup which is 1,000 plus which will last 2-3 weeks. He/she could eat 50+ per meal. They are naturally high in calcium and would require no dusting of calcium at all. But that is like 30.00 for 1,000 worms. If cost is a factor at the moment I'd go with the crickets and dust with calcium.

Oh! And by the way, I've been looking and following the info and short videos offered on discussions...and I'm not so sure he's a he! The store told me he was -at 3 1/2 months. The vet said he was too young to tell at that same age. I don't think I asked the breeder-although he may not knw which one I bought, if he gave several to the pet store. :shock: Maybe he is a she? You'll have to figure out how to post a picture of Stryker's posterior and see if someone can guess for you. I am not good at sexing them yet, but I am sure someone could venture a guess! hehehe

Since he din't eat he salad in 2 days and I honestly didn't check to see if he pooped today, we did not give him more mealies. I think I over did it the day before. He just got salad and his beardie pellets. I di mean to get him crickets today, but by the time we had a chance to go out-the pet store was closed. I forgot they close at 6pm on Sundays. Tomorrow he shall have crickets! I held him today briefly, but he didn't get his bath, either, but he didn't look dehydrated anymore, but who am I to judge? I'd give him a bath in the morning tomorrow errr today (it's nearly 3 am here, can't sleep) and see if he goes pooh. I really hope he is not impacted from the mealies. If he doesn't go, rewarm his water (it should be like that for a baby just warm to the touch but not too hot at all) and let him sit a few minutes more. I hope he poohs though.

Hopefully tomorrow we can get on a better schedule!

I need to get my husband involved. I need to read some of this info to him (cause he won't read it (stubborn senior citizen!). :study: I am learning and have learned so much, since we got the beardie and his predicessor and he knows nothing! He needs to know how important the right care is for the little one to grow and thrive! Took my husband a little while to get on the beardie train, but after a while boy he really has been quite sweet about it. I educated him by sharing stories of rescues, what others did wrong and what we can do right for our little guys. That seemed to help give him a better understanding of importance of good care etc. It is harder educating someone who won't read along with you, but I have faith that you can do it. I find ways to appeal to my husband's fiscal sensibilities. If I order these crickets in bulk, I will be saving XX amount of dollars over time. He practically whipped out the credit card for me. Those kinds of things help too. A LOT hahaha.. :mrgreen:

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

Xtina, I use Fluker's calcium with Vit D 3-4 times a week, depending whether he gets crickets or worms and I use Rep Cal's Herptivite twice a week-maybe more, depending on who's feeding them. My granddaughter gives them both, unless I say somethine first. (she's 12 and ADHD). I don't dust the worms because the dust doesn't seem to stick. Any advice there?

Honestly I wouldn't recommend feeding meal worms at all, especially at your dragon's young age - as it causes a big risk for impaction and it's just not worth it. Stryker really needs Calcium+D3 five times per week right now to be able to grow big and strong. I would suggest feeding a different type of worm (phoenix, reptiworms, butterworms, horn worms, silk worms) or just using crickets for now.

I will increase his feedings to twice a day and the amount of food he gets. There's a discussion forum going on right now about "How big is your beardie" and Stryker is the smallest of them all for his age!!! Last night (I know daytime, not nighttime!), we doubled his mealworms from 20 to 40. He had a hard time getting the last few down-I think he was stuffed! Anyways, I had given him more crickets the day before, too -and two days/nights in a row, he hasn't touched his salad! And he usually eats it with no problem. Also his waste products today just looked like a black puddle with some hard white. Did I impact him? I've been told not to bother cutting the heads off the mealies by a couple of people in the last few days-including the breeder, the pet store got him from and gave me his contact info. He looks alert and happy, otherwise. So, I think I should feed him twice a day! I know crickets should be his main diet-but my husband does all the shopping and is annoyed at having to buy crickets every other day and is upset when I told him we need to double them, daily. I also know he should get some variety. I cringe at the thought of having a 10 gallon with 500-1000- crickets in it. I don't think I could stick my hand in it. I understand it would be cheaper, My husband said he does not want bugs loose in the house-and neither do I! I don't know what to do! We also have some anoles, that the girls caught outside, who eat crickets and mealies. I am all for releasing them back into their environment and using the money we would spend on them, on the beardie-but my kids are against it! (I am raising my two oldest grands). What do tou do, Xtina, about obtaining and keeping their live food?

You could also look into roaches (dubias, discoids, hissers, lobster roaches) as a better feeder option. I know it sounds icky, but they're actually much better than crickets nutritionally. You can even breed your own roach colony very easily and save lots of money!! If you set up a colony of dubias, they don't stink, can't jump or fly, can't climb smooth surfaces, don't make any noise... so they're actually much less gross than crickets in my opinion.

Is it okay to feed him if his lights are still off or being shut off? I just did away with his nightime basking light two nights ago. Was told he doesn't need it as it is never below 72 in my house. And I''m going to change out his RetiSun 10.0 coil UVB back to his Zilla 5.0 UVB strip/tube light that he had in the 10 gallon cause of the coil might affect his eyes. Do y'all agree with this? He is now in the 40 gallon set up. I plan on buying him a 36" Reptisun 10.0 and a 36" terrarium Hood made by Reptisun, as soon as we can afford it (September?) I can get them on Amazon. Do you think he'll be alright with just the 5.0 on him?

He does not need any kind of night time bulb. However, he really needs to be fed a few hours before lights off time. You can really set his lighting schedule to whatever works for you. For example, if you want to be able to wait until 7pm at night to feed him, then set his lights to go off around 10-11pm (lights on around 9-10am). He absolutely has to stay at a minimum of 95 degrees for 2-3 hours minimum to properly digest food. The strange bowel movement you described above could be a result of digestion issues due to not having enough time/heat to digest. I made the same mistake with my dragon recently and it caused a big ordeal (you can read about here if you want >> viewtopic.php?f=45&t=172680).

As for the new Reptisun UVB bulb, it should definitely be a 10.0 but a 24" should do just fine in a 40gal breeder. It's much easier to find fixtures for 24" lights too. If you get the terrarium hood fixture, then make sure you have some way to mount it inside the tank and not on top of the screen. The screen mesh lids filter out a lot of the necessary UVB rays. Your beardie will need direct exposure and be able to get within 6-8 inches of the UVB bulb.

Let us know how little Stryker is doing!

 

[ynevar]

I think lobster roaches can climb both glass and plastic, but if you put vaseline around the top of their enclosure they can't make it through that. Heheheh I could just see my lobster roach tank, an inch thick layer of vaseline around the top! hehehe!

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

I think lobster roaches can climb both glass and plastic, but if you put vaseline around the top of their enclosure they can't make it through that. Heheheh I could just see my lobster roach tank, an inch thick layer of vaseline around the top! hehehe!

Eeeep! :shock: ...this is why I use dubias lol

 

[ynevar]

I am gently coaching my husband to a Dubia colony....