New Beardie & Owner Help

[tisfortaya]

Hello!

I got a new (to me) bearded dragon on Saturday. The previous owner told me it is a 1 1/2 year old female, and she came "with everything". After getting her home set up and getting her settled in, I began to more closely look at how she was being cared for before, and I am hoping to get some advice and help on a few things.

I'm going to list as much info as I can, to start, followed with my questions... sorry in advance for the ridiculously long post!

INFO:
The tank is 48 in (4 ft) long, ~24 in (2 ft) tall, and probably ~20 in deep. The top has two screen panels, and the front has sliding glass doors with a small screen panel below them. The bottom of the tank has ~1 in thick stone-like tiles, and the decor inside consists of two large branches, a faux stone cave that is too small for her but she sits on top of, and a faux stone Buddha. I also picked up a straw mat-like hammock for the corner where her basking light is, a wooden house big enough for her to go inside of on the cool side of the tank, and faux stone food and water dishes (her previous owner provided food on a plastic dish lid and no water dish).

She came with a dome light fixture and a 100w repti basking spot lamp, a digital thermometer with a probe, and two dial thermometers attached to either side of the back walls of the tank. She was being fed spinach and superworms, although I was unable to determine how often or how much she was being fed, and it doesn't seem like she's been given any supplements. She was bathed for 15 minutes once a week, and misted two or three times a week. I picked up Rep-Cal calcium with D3, and will pick up Rep-Cal herptivite soon (need to go to a farther away pet store).

I keep our house between 68 and 72 F. I have the digital thermometer probe on her basking spot, and the temperature was not getting as high as 30 C (86 F) at any given time. I picked up an under tank heater (one sized for a 30 gallon tank) and put it beneath her basking spot, hoping to warm things up a bit. I also put the basking lamp inside the tank, hoping to get it closer to her. I haven't noticed much of an improvement. So far, she spends most of her time laying totally flat on the tile that is above the heating pad, occasionally going into her hammock that is above that tile and directly beneath the lamp. I do intend to pick up an infared temp gun.

QUESTIONS:
1. Should I buy a new basking spot lamp? It is a 100w, but I don't know how old it is - I initially thought it should be replaced once burnt out, but now I'm wondering if it doesn't produce as much heat because it might be older?

2. I know that UTH pads aren't ideal as they could potentially malfunction and cause burns, but it seems like it is her favourite spot to be, and she literally wiggles down to press herself flat to the tile. If I am checking it daily, can I leave it in for her?

3. I know I need to buy a UVB light for her, and I am wondering if there are pros and cons between getting a PowerSun bulb (UVA/UVB, heat & light all in one) or getting a ReptiSun 10.0 tube in conjunction with the repti basking spot lamp?

4. I have so far fed her 4-5 superworms a day, along with offering salads of mixed greens, bell peppers, cucumber, broccoli, banana (which she apparently absolutely hates - won't offer that again! haha), and apple. I am going to pick up more insects for her tonight, and am planning to try to get hornworms, silkworms, BSFL, and as a last resort, crickets. Does this sound okay?

5. I am thinking that I would like to pick up a dry food for her (I am thinking of the Fluker's buffet blend) to keep a little something extra available in her tank, should she want it. I'm misting her cage once a day, and making sure to mist her salad. Does anyone know any pros and cons of offering small amounts of dry food, and whether dampening the pellets would be good or bad?

6. She is currently in shed, mostly on her back, sides, and belly. I gave her warm baths Saturday and Sunday evenings, and very gently rubbed the shed where it was the most loose. I noticed on Sunday that she turned her beard black during her bath, and was constantly trying to get away from me while I dried her off, whereas on Saturday, she was happy to sit with me for a good hour or so. Is this likely because of the shedding and/or new home, or should I be concerned at all?

Thank you so, so much for reading my mini novel! And a million thank-yous in advance for any insight or help

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, it sounds like the previous owners tried to do good by her but some things are needing major adjustments. For heat, get another aluminum dome reflector and pick up a 4 pack of halogen or incandescent 75 watt bulbs at Home Depot/Walmart. You can get the reflector there as well. No need to ever buy pet store heat bulbs again, just get the ones I mentioned but no Led or colored bulbs. Your poor girl is snuggling on the tile where it's warm but she needs heat from above, so set up another heat fixture as I mentioned and keep it close to the other one to give her a nice hot zone.


A Powersun is fine but there are reports that the don't always put out enough uvb so go with the Reptisun 10.0 t5 [ not t8 ] for uvb.

Don't bother with dry foods, most beardies don't care for them and she'll get better nutrition + hydration from fresh veggies [ the best greens are turnip, mustard, collard, kale, dandelion ] but no spinach and very little fruit.

Some beardies hate baths so only do them once a week at most, then pat her dry + put her back in the heat or else she'll get chilled. Those are the main things I can think of. BTW, can you post pics of her + her set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

 

[tisfortaya]

Hi there

Thank you for the response!

A few updates... as it turns out, 'she' is a 'he' (based on looking under his tail and seeing two VERY obvious lumps), and I've renamed him Rhaegar. I picked up another light dome, a SolarGlo bulb, an infrared thermometer, and a couple other things. Unfortunately, none of the pet stores accessible to me (3 of them) had the Reptisun 10.0, or any Reptisun tube lights at all. I decided to get the SolarGlo 160W because I figured some UVB is better than no UVB, even if it isn't as much as a 10.0 T5, ya know? Hopefully this is okay... I haven't read as many bad things about the SolarGlo as I have about the Powersun, which is why I picked it.

After getting everything set up and running, I started checking temperature zones. The basking spot is staying around the 100 F mark, with a gradual change down to about 75 F across the length of the terrarium. This sounded pretty good to me - do you agree? Oh, I should add that I have unplugged the under tank heating pad, but am keeping it in place just in case (cold winters up here in Canada!).

I have been unable to find the greens you listed below, aside from kale which I've read elsewhere is in the same vein as spinach for beardies? I have been giving him bok choy, which he LOVES, broccoli and cucumber, predominantly, but adding pieces of this and that to see what different veggies he likes. He'll happily eat waxworms and superworms, but isn't interested in crickets (these are the only insects available at the pet stores around me). I've read insects should be offered about 3x a week for adults, with salads daily. Does this sound okay?

Okay, I'll ease up on the baths! A really good portion of his shed came off Monday evening and Tuesday, so he's looking a lot less crispy

Here are some pictures of him and his enclosure (I intend to get a background and scrape off those stick on thermometers - does it look too plain/should I add more decor?):

 

[AHBD]

That's good, and he looks great ! I've used the Solarglo in the past with no problems so I'd say good choice.

 

[tisfortaya]

That's good, and he looks great ! I've used the Solarglo in the past with no problems so I'd say good choice.

Oh, good! I'm so glad to hear that! Thank you so much for your advice!