New Beardie owner!

[Shoxaju]

Hi everyone,

My name is Joshua and I recently, along with my partner Cheyenne (who may post on occasion, but doesn't have an account here) got a very young beardie. We don't know the exact age, but it's somewhere between 1-2.5 months old.

I would love to get some feedback on my starting tank (I plan on building a bigger one once I can get materials and all that put together) and we're a little concerned because our little beardie hasn't been eating much at all since we got him a few days ago.

My tank set up is a 20 gallon "All Living Things" starter tank with a 100w basking lamp in a small dome fixture (current set up has basking temp around 109-111 with the cool side hovering between 79-82) and a 26w high output UVB lamp in a dome fixture as well. I'll upload some pictures off my phone because they won't transfer to my computer for some reason.

We have a few pieces of decor including a large branch and a cave to hide in and have been trying to get our Beardie to eat squash, turnip greens, mealworms, basil leaves and flukers dry food pellets. I think it's just stress that is keeping him from eating right now, but I'm concerned. He's eaten a little and pooped once since we got him (right on Cheyenne's shirt no less), and we should be getting crickets in the next day or so.

Any advice? pictures to follow.

 

[Shoxaju]

Here is a picture of the current tank set up

And here is our happy little dragon!

EDIT: he pooped again, on Cheyenne's shirt again, but still won't eat more food.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm unable to see your photos. Please try uploading them here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button.

I would give him some time to settle in as his appetite may come up once he gets used to his new surroundings. A move can be stressful to them. I suggest offering the crickets (with a light, even coat of calcium powder) once they arrive. Offering some black soldier fly larvae or silkworms would also be a good idea for some variety. Having a salad available for him every day is a good idea but he may ignore it for a while in favor of bugs which is pretty normal. Here is a list of items to offer in a salad http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

As far as the tank goes, the sooner you can get a full size enclosure built with high quality lighting, the better. The 20g will do for now but won't be sufficient for long. The 26w UVB light should be OK but isn't the best. I'd make sure he can get within about 6-8'' of it for best results. How are you measuring your temperatures? Do you have an IR temp gun or digital thermometers with probes? If not, I suggest using those and adjusting the lighting if needed. The analog gaugues can be inaccurate and measure ambient temperature rather than surface temps. If the temps are accurate, that's a pretty good gradient to have in place.

 

[Shoxaju]

I didn't know about the image uploader. Here are the pictures

Happy beardie

Tank set up

We have since moved the basking lamp back to the top (the temp spiked up to 119) and put the UV where the basking was, which is pretty close to the ground and right over his little bath.

I have one digital thermometer in the basking area and an analog thermo/hydrometer on the opposite side

 

[CooperDragon]

That looks pretty decent for now. Do keep an eye on the temps to keep them in check. Also be careful to keep the basking light well out of reach as those can get quite hot and cause burns. I suggest browsing the Enclosures section for some ideas for your permanent home for him.