New Beardie owner here

[Badsneaker]

Hi!

We are a new beardie owner here. We have never owned any reptile like this before.

We have a 4 month old beardie. He lives in a 20 gallon terrarium with screen top. Heat lamp on top, heat pad on bottom. Store bought substrate. He is eating well it seems, we watched him down 5 crickets in one sitting, but we have a few questions. These are probably covered somewhere here.

Would he be happier with a friend? We have not determined if he is a boy or girl yet.

I have a infra red temp gauge used for monitoring temps on Nitro R/C cars. Is this accurate enough?

How often does he need to drink water? I have a small water bowl, I haven't seen him drink from it. I have put drops of water on his snout when holding him and he does lick it.

Is it OK to leave a few crickets running around even if he seems full and uninterested in them?

Any other initial advice would be helpful!

Thanks!!

 

[ReptileMom]

at 4 months old your beardie is probably getting pretty big. your going to have to upgrade is enclosure. your temp gauge should be fine. what are your temps.? sometimes it's hard to get the cool side cool enough if your hot side is hot enough when you have a smaller tank. especially since you have an under tank heater. you should get rid of that, they can malfunction and burn your beardie. they can't determine heat from their underside. 5 crickets is really not very many. are you feeding no larger than the space between his eyes? how often are you feeding? he absolutely does not need a friend. they are solitary animals. if you house 2 males together they will fight to ones death. if you house male and female the male will breed her to death. occasionally you can house 2 females together, but they are happier alone. if he is not drinking from the water bowl, remove it. alot of beardies don't use bowls. give him baths or spray him outside of his tank. you should bath him at least a couple of times a week. they can get hydrated this way and sometimes they will drink there. after he has finished eating you should just try to remove unwanted crickets, they can sometimes nibble on your dragon at night. oh, you didn't mention a uvb light. does he have one? and what about supplements. are you feeding greens? hope this helps you and doesn't overwhelm you. if you can answer these questions it will help us help you have a happy, healthy dragon.

 

[Badsneaker]

Hi,

Thanks for your help and quick response. Actually maybe he's 4 weeks, he's only about 6 inches from head to tail. I can't remember what the shop owner said.

He has a UVB bulb with a ceramic/metal hood. This and the under tank heat pad was recommended by the pet shop.

I have tried a few carrot shavings in a small bowl. I have been feeding him oce a day. I take it I should feed him 2-3 times a day.

Should I turn the light out at night? Its been on since we got him last Saturday. I have a dig temp gauge.

Thanks again.

Should I check the temps from the outside of the glass?

 

[jeepergal]

What kind of substrate do you have? If it is sand or wood chips get rid of it ASAP Go to Walmart and get non-adhesive shelf liner or at the pet store get a repti carpet. They cannot digest sand or wood they will get impacted and thats bad. Also dust your crickets will a calcium powder with Vitamin D3 no phospherous in it.

 

[jeepergal]

You can turn out the lights at night as long as it isnt really cold in your house. My Dragon is almost 4 months old and she likes dandelion greens acorn squash, strawberries, go to feeding in the forum and they have a website called Beautiful Dragons and it will tell you what fruits and veggies are good and whats not. Irwin eats about 35 to 50 crickets a day

 

[Badsneaker]

Temps inside near the light are about 100 degrees. Cold side about 75-80.

I gave him a quick bath today. He didn't seem to mind, he lapped once at the water.

Should I mist once a day? What do you use, like a fine mist spray bottle?

I will get the reptile pad, I saw it at PetQuarters. I will dis the "mulch" stuff my pet store recommended if you guys think it is OK. PetQuarters had their BD's in sand.

Temps here in NH are similiar to Illinois. We have'nt turned the heat on at nite.

Should I keep the pad underneath and get a rock dome for him to sit on and go in or should I take the pad off and get a heat rock?

I will turn the light off for a while tonight, he does like to sit on branch under the light though. I'm afraid he'll get cold.

 

[zepthemagicdragon]

don't use a heat rock, there is a potential for injury/burns from it, especially with a young beardie. instaed, you can buy ceramic heat-emitters that can be screwed into a lightbulb socket if you are worried it gets too cold. i use a spray/mister bottle for my beardie every day instead of having a water dish, because he really has no idea how to drink out of a dish eventually beardies can be on sand, but when they are young, there is a chance that they can ingest some while hunting crickets, and get impacted. either papertowel/newspaper work fine, and are very disposable if you don't mind that it isn't that pretty.

 

[ReptileMom]

unfortunately most pet stores will give the wrong recommendations. they have guides that are given to them that they have to follow whether it's right or wrong. they don't seem too worried about trying to fix their problems. they will hire just about anyone, no experience necessary, so they tell everybody what they've been told. it's a terrible cycle and unfortunately too many beardies either die or suffer for a long time because people don't know what they are doing. you won't have any problems now that you found this website. there is lots of great information on here and you will get answers to just about any ? you may have.
so, get rid of the mulch, heating pad. don't leave his light on at night, he can't sleep well. if it gets too cold you can follow the advice that was given earlier and get the ceramic heat emitter, it has no light. temp gauge is good. your cool side should be around 80 and you should have a basking spot at 105-110. what uvb light are you using? does it have a covering over the fixture? plastic or glass? do you have a screen top on your tank? he will get used to the baths. they are the best way to hydrate them, he obviously needed some water if he was drinking. if you do spray him with a water bottle do it outside of the tank unless you do it directly under his basking spot after it's warmed up. are you using supplements? (calcium, multivit.)

 

[Badsneaker]

Hi, I appreciate all the help and info.

The light is a purple colored when off. yellow when on. It was recommended by the pet store. Its a small store, locally owned not a big chain. I don't have the box to know the wattage. I'll find out tomorrow. It has a dome around it with a ceramic piece at the top. Screen top on the tank and I leave the light on top of the screen on one side. I will put a pic up on next post. He has a nice straight branch set up where he will bask about 6 inches under the ligh. Around this area temps are around 100.

I did turn the light off last night and turned it back on today. He ate a few crickets this morning and a few tonight. I"m not sure how many he ate during the day I was at work. I put a few drops of water on his nose. He seems to be active, I tried a few carrott shavings. He didn't seem interested. Overall I think he is doing OK, should he be eating more?

I will swap the mulch stuff for a reptile pad over the weekend.

 

[Ozzy's Mom]

Sounds like your off to a good start. Congratulation on the new beardie.

You talk about lights, but I didn't see anything about types of lights. I just wanted to be sure you knew they not only need a heat source, but must also have a UVB light. Indoor lighting doesn't provide the same stuff that's necessary for beardies to stay healthy. Your cool side should stay around 85F and the basking side should be between 105-115F.

The best UVB bulb are reptiglo 8.0 or 10.0, and your beardie must be able to get within 6 inches of the light. Most pet stores will sell a fixture for about $30-$60 that has an ESU light. These are really crap and don't provide much if any UVB. So then you must buy the UVB bulb separate for anywhere from $20-60. The cheapest way is to figure out what length your light fixture needs to be and buy it at home depot for about $8. Then go buy the reptiglo light at the pet store or online.

Be sure you've removed the plastic cover that often comes with the light fixture.....as UVB does not travel through plastic or glass.

There are also lights called mercury vapor bulbs (MVB) that provide both heat and UVB. These are best when used in a ceramic fixture as they get too hot for plastic! The need to be 12" or so from your beardie as opposed to the 6" for regular UVB. Also, they are a lot pricier bulb since they provide both the heat and UVB. Most people on here that use them, swear by them and say they really bring out the colors in their beardies. I just haven't converted yet.

As for your heat source, usually a regular 75 watt bulb will do. You can buy a special one at the pet store for $10-20. Though a regular bulb works just fine and costs you a small fraction of what the pet stores charge.

Beardies should get 12-14 hours of light a day in the summer. If you like to help them with brummation, you can cut it back to about 10 hours or so in the late fall.

They shouldn't have a light on at night because this will interfere with their sleep cycle. Also, you won't need any other heat source at night, unless it gets colder than about 60F. Beardies sleep best when it's about 65F at night. If it gets colder than that, the ceramic heat emmitter is the best route. Heat rocks will burn your beardie since they mostly sense heat from above and not on their bellies.

As for feeding, you should be offering your beardie as many crickets as he can eat in a 15 minute perriod at least 2-3 times per day. Crickets should be dusted with calcium about 5X/week and with vitamins 2X/week. After 15 minutes, be sure to remove the crickets! If they get hungry they will chew on your beardie and can leave some nasty sores. They like moist stuff, so they will usually start with the beardies eyelids.

Right now as a baby, your beardies diet will be about 80% feeders and 20% veggies. This gradually changes as they get older. By the time your beardie is a year old, the numbers should flip flop. Any adult beardie needs to be fed a diet of about 80% veggies and 20% feeders.

An excellent site for salad ideas is: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html It tells what's best to feed, what's not, and the reasons why. The first time I posted here in May, someone sent it to me.....and I still refer to it ofen.

I hope this will help you out. If you have any questions just message. The info I gave comes mostly from what I've learned on this site and the care sheets listed here.....along with personal experience.

Oops...sorry for the long bit on UVB. I just noticed you do have some sort of UVB. I must have missed it the first time I read the post.

Anyway....good luck and take care. We'd love to see pictures too

 

[Badsneaker]

Thanks for the great info. This better info than I 've gotten locally for sure!

I've been turning off Bobby's light at night he sleeps good. I picked up a cricket box and have about 6 dozen small to medium crickets in it. He seems to be eating well.

I know the bulb I have is UVB, it doesn't say what spec on the glass. As you see in the pic, the lamp is about six or so inches from his basking spot. I put the reptile pad on bottom. The rock dome is not heated, but there is a small heat pad under the the glass on that side. It does warm the rock. He will sit there when he is launching his attack on crickets, but he doesn't sleep on it. He seems to like sleeping on the cold side. If you think I should turn off the heat pad I wil. I keep a small bowl on the left side with some moist dragon food and some carrott strips.

As far as hydration, we mist him a few times a day while holding him. He seems to like it. At least if he doesn't he hasn't complained yet!!!

We put him in the tub every other day. Is this enough water. He pooped twice today, it was very dark and seemed to be pretty wet.

Here are a few pics of Bobby and his home. One pic is with flash on, the other without. If you guys have any suggestions, let me know. We have only had him one week now.

 

[Ozzy's Mom]

Looks pretty good!

I would be careful with that bulb though. Unless it's a mercury vapor, I'm pretty sure it's not providing enough UVB. Some regular bulbs will say UVB, but it's only minute amounts.

UVB is important for all beardies, but especially for babies. They need it to help digest their food properly ....so they can get the full benefit from it.

Since your heater is an under tank heater, I really don't see that it could hurt him. It's just that it doesn't really help him either. We use them with our snakes and it doesn't get so hot that it will burn anything. Though it really isn't necessary for beardies. I guess if it makes you feel better use it. If you want to save on electricity, don't.

Misting daily with a bath every other day should be fine.

Only one other suggestion. My Ozzy is an adult, so he eats large crickets....that are fairly easy to catch. Though my hubby and I just brought two younger beardies home yesterday. The little one eats small to medium crickets. Yesterday he ate a couple, so I dumped in a dozen. Then he didn't eat any more. It took me forever to catch those darn crickets. It's even more difficult if you don't have removable hides, ledges, etc. I recommend getting a rubbermaid container, punching some holes in the sides, and using it to feed in. Then getting left over crickets out is much easier and they can't hide from you. Or you could just leave the crickets there.