New beardie owner questions!

[LulaC]

Hi!

Yesterday I brought my new 2 month old beardie home. Obviously, as it's so young, it's hard to tell the gender - if anyone else has been in this situation, what is the solution? Do you assume it's a boy or a girl so you can name it?

Also, wondering about feeding: One of the ladies at the petshop I got "him" from has her own beardie at home. She told me to feed "him" mealworms, crickets and salad. So far "he" has eaten mealworms but won't touch his greens. Is this just because he's stressing about a new home, or is he fussy? I've read here that mealworms aren't great for them, so what would you suggest?

Hasn't pooped yet, and I'm confused: I've heard from one person that they'll go every day (a bath is great to help it along), another person that they only go a couple of times a week. Which one?!

Other than that he/she loves being handled already, though I've been instructed not to do too much as he/she is still so small. Gave him/her a bath this morning and after I dried him/her off, she wouldn't go back into the terrarium, kept crawling up my arm and snuggling!

Thanks for your help!

 

[cfjustin]

Hi!

Yesterday I brought my new 2 month old beardie home. Obviously, as it's so young, it's hard to tell the gender - if anyone else has been in this situation, what is the solution? Do you assume it's a boy or a girl so you can name it?

Also, wondering about feeding: One of the ladies at the petshop I got "him" from has her own beardie at home. She told me to feed "him" mealworms, crickets and salad. So far "he" has eaten mealworms but won't touch his greens. Is this just because he's stressing about a new home, or is he fussy? I've read here that mealworms aren't great for them, so what would you suggest?

Hasn't pooped yet, and I'm confused: I've heard from one person that they'll go every day (a bath is great to help it along), another person that they only go a couple of times a week. Which one?!

Other than that he/she loves being handled already, though I've been instructed not to do too much as he/she is still so small. Gave him/her a bath this morning and after I dried him/her off, she wouldn't go back into the terrarium, kept crawling up my arm and snuggling!

Thanks for your help!

Congrats on your new one! Since he is so young he should never eat mealworms. They have a hard chitin shell which is hard to digest and may cause impaction. He will rarely eat greens most likely just a bite or two since hes so young but fresh greens should be offered daily. Not pooping/eating is a part of relocation stress but it should go away in a few days. What is the current set up your using?

 

[LulaC]

What would you suggest in place of mealworms? So offer him greens daily, just putting a bowl in? The woman suggested cut up freeze-dried crickets in his greens bowl also.

I've got a repurposed china cabinet. We built a little platform/shelf that he climbs up a branch to, then the basking rock is on that shelf below the basking light. We're using a 50W UVA & UVB fan heat light, plus a basking light, recommended by the woman I know who has a beardie. Temp is 91.4F on hot side, 80.6F on cool side, there is also the bottom layer which is still warm but not in direct light. He has a basking rock, the branch that he uses to get up to the platform (likes to lie on that), a hide boxy thing, and more branches and rocks in the lower level.

Finally he pooped!

What would you suggest about the gender? Just decide what I think it is? It's very tricky not knowing

 

[diamc]

Congrats on your new beardie. A 2 month old is growing at a fast rate so it needs LOTS of protein from live food so may only nibble once in a while on a few greens but that actually isn't a worry. As cfjustin said, just keep offering fresh ones daily. Some beardies don't show a real interest in greens until at least 6 to 8 mo old.

Other choices of feeders besides mealworms are phoenix worms, silk worms, small dubia, small crickets. We don't recommend freeze-dried crickets because you don't know how healthy they were before they were processed or even if they were still alive. Also, some of them could be too large for a young beardie since you should only use feeders smaller than the space between their eyes.

Is this the light you're using? http://www.reptileone.com.au/instructions/Heat%20Fan%20Light/R1_fanheatlight_public.pdf We actually only recommend the Repti-Sun 10.0 strip fluorescent or the Arcadia brand lights as those were the ones that showed the appropriate amount of UV output when the UVB testing was done. So, not sure if the one you have now will prevent metabolic bone disease and other health issues.

I know you said the hot side of the tank is 91.4 but what is the basking SURFACE temp? If you're using a round gauge (dial) type thermometer, those can be off as much as 20 degrees. So, in order to get accurate readings, would recommend an infrared temperature gun or a digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end.

Great that he pooped, what a relief for you and for him. :mrgreen:

May be a little time yet before you can know for sure what sex your beardie is. You might want to think about a name that could be used for either. :wink:

 

[LulaC]

Yes, I'm using that light you linked, as was recommended to me by the woman from the pet store who has her own beardie at home. Hers is a 10 month old and that's what she's been using the whole time, surely she wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't safe?

We're using a digital thermometer with long wire and probes, in order to check basking surface temp, do I just place the probe on the basking rock?

I've been told it can be around 6 months from now that I'll know the sex of my beardie, so do I just give it a gender neutral name and just think of it as one or the other?

Thanks so much for your advice!

 

[AHBD]

Hi Lula.....it may be possible to sex your baby. If you set him flat on a table or on your leg or some other flat surface, then take his tail + arch it straight up in the air and take a couple of pics of the vent area if you can [ one straight on and one at a slight angle ] and post them here I might be able to tell you what gender it is.

 

[diamc]

We know more about the Repti-Sun 10.0 strip fluorescent and the Arcadia bulbs, most of us have experience using them for many years and also know how well they surpass the other UVB bulbs so that's why we continue to use them. I wanted to share this info with you because we recommend the bulbs that we have heard great things about and try our best to prevent a beardie from developing metabolic bone disease and other health problems which can occur if a UVB isn't putting out a sufficient amount of UV rays.

Good that you have a probe thermometer. You place the probe right on the basking log or rock (touching it) and then wait 45 min to an hr for the temp to stop rising before getting the final basking surface temp. Then you place the probe way over on the bottom of the cool side & wait the required time there.