Message To: Plamza In reference to Message Id: 2089604
New Beardie Website
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Just a few things you may be interested in fixing:
On the
care sheet:
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A UVB fluorescent bulb. A good choice is the ZooSun Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent bulb.
Daylight bulbsand night time ceramicheat emitter.
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Feeding page:
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Bearded dragons are omnivorous. They will eat both insects and vegetables. Adult dragons will also eat pinky mice, baby lizards and anything else they find tasty. They tend to do best on a varied diet based primarily of vegetables.
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True, they may be able to eat pinky mice and lizards in the wild, even though it is true... I wouldn’t put that on my site for one reason, some people buy an animal like a monitor or a Bearded Dragon because they want to feed it live mice and wild caught lizards, they buy them just because they have a sick thing with watching them chase down the mice and lizards and watch them suffer and all that crap. You probably get what I’m saying. Even though the mice and lizards thing is true, some are going to regard it as a neat fact then give them bugs and salads, the proper diet. Whereas some are going to take it as, oh, look I want one so we can give him all the anoles in our back yard post a video of it on You Tube. Or, give him too many mice and kill him with fatty liver disease. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to nit pick, just something you may want to consider, as to what it could lead some to do.
As far as waxworms, they are basically just fat wrapped in skin. They would be a good treat but, I would never recommend them as a staple.
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Insects should be a part of your bearded dragon’s diet every other day.
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That is not necessarily true, babies up to about a year old should be fed as much as they will eat in a 15 minute period, 2-3 times a day, everyday. Once an adult, insects should be given 3 days a week.
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You should add the supplement to your adult bearded dragon’s diet about once a week.
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Again, no, they should have a supplement that is just pure calcium, a calcium supplement with D3 and a multi-vitamin supplement would be good as well.
To save me from re-typing something already said, read Nancy’s comment: (Another Knowledgeable Member from Reptic Zone)
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At his age he should be getting pure calcium once a day until he is 8 months to a year, then 3 x a week for life. The multivitiman can be offered once or twice a week for life if your using the Herpivite, and D3 of course is once a week no matter what the age unless you use a MVB.
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If you are wondering, I think the multi-vitamin she is referring to is the same one I’m going to refer you to: Rep-Cal Herptivite.
Okay, few more things...
Caging:
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A bearded dragon will need space. The bare minimum size is 36? x 12? x 18? for one lizard.
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You will get mixed results on this, but in my opinion that is not big enough. A minimum should be 4’ long x 2’ wide x 2’ high. I don’t even keep my juvie’s in a tank that small. With 12" they can’t even turn around without touching on either side of the cage. It really constricts their movements. Remember, the advice you give could be the governing point of whether someone gets a beardie or not, many buy them when they shouldn’t and they don’t believe in forking out for their lizard. That size is ok for a young one, but how many are going to forkout the $150-200 it would cost to buy a tank that is of proper size for an adult. Whereaa, if they know to buy a 4x2x2 for say, the Beardie will have a big enough home. Whereas if they spend for the initial size, many are going to say it’s good enough and leave it at that. You know what I mean?
Also, they don’t need an under tank heater period. If night time temp’s drop to below 65 degrees, they should get a Ceramic Heat Emitter that is on a dimmer or thermostat and they should make sure the night time temps arent any more than like 70-73 degrees as any warmer would screw up the Beardies sleep.
Also, maybe I missed it but I see no mention of temp’s. If they decide to use Washed Sifted Play Sand (the only loose substrate you should list to a newbie) the basking temps should be around 115 degrees, otherwise with a solid substrate the should be around 105-110 degrees. At those temps make sure to mention to keep them
hydrated as just like anything else, high temperature dries stuff out, including Beardies. I
bath babies and juvies 2-3 times a week as they will be shedding often if given proper care. Adults I
bathe once a week or more if I have time.
Baby Dragons:
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Good food will be small crickets, recently molted meal worms, and wax worms.
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Again, Wax Worms are just wrapped up fat, they could be compared to the fillers in hot dogs and bologna, they will merely take up space in a dragons tummy. Not much more than that, try not to recommend Meal Worms as they really are hard on a dragon. Those are my thoughts, here a few from Nancy as well:
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..."I agree with Cody, and here is another quote you stated...
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Crickets, mealworms or superworms that have been gut loaded.
Frozen mixed vegetables: beans, carrots, peas.
Fresh vegetables: carrots, mustard, collared, dandelion greens, or kale.
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I do not agree with feeding meal worms to a beardie of any age, especially babies unless they are the freshly molted ones. They have a hard chitin shell which beardies find very hard to digest, so even if they are gut loaded, there is still a chance the beardie may become impacted from the shell.
Also, if you state frozen vegies are ok, you should also state that once they are frozen they loose nutrients so vitiman B should be added to anything frozen. You stated to feed carrot as well which should be fed as treats due to the high vitiman A content which is not good for beardies if offered as a staple.
In the breeding section there’s nothing stated about the age they should be bred, (sorry if I missed it),
Under the substrate section this is what you stated also...
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The substrate for the cage can be paper towels, aquarium gravel, commercial calcium sand, pebbles, reptile carpet, or play sand. Play sand is an inexpensive, natural-looking substrate good for all but baby bearded dragons.
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Calcium sand and or any gravel is a big no no...If you want an impacted or dead dragon then it’s ok...For supliments you do not state what should be given and how often for the age of the beardie, and D3 is toxic for beardies if given to much, you should state this as well...
I could go on and on but I really do not have the time. Anyway, not trying to be mean in any way, just trying to help, and you could sure use a few changes on your site. I mean, if your going to help people with beardies, at least give them all the correct info...
Nancy
