New Beardie!!!!

[Sandy165]

Hello everyone! Just got a beautiful Sandfire Beardie this weekend, My three boys are in heaven!

She is the most gorgeous thing and is so amusing to watch! We love her and want to do the best for her, but it does not help when you are given little or wrong advice.

The information I received when I got 'Sandy' it appears was not very helpful. I researched for a while to gather info about what was involved in keeping a beardie. However when I got her I was told that the Rept Basking spotlamp (by Zoo med) was all she would require. No heatpad or UVA. I was a little puzzled by this, so I did some more research, only to find that she did indeed require a UVA lamp, and for night a heat mat!!!! So duely rushed out and got them for her, panic over .... or was it???

I then read that I should not leave the crickets/locusts in the viv for longer than 10-15 mins, incase they bite her!!!!
and now find out that the shop sold me calci-sand as a substrate,and on this website caresheet, it clearly states that I should not use sand for a juvinile beardie. What the hell do I do now? scrape it all out???

Help!! I am very confused, I do not want to do anything to put her at risk.

Any comments, advice would be great!

How do I get a picci on here of Sandy????

Regards X Sandy 165

 

[perns rider]

yea calcium sand is deadly to all ages of beardies if the beardie eats it its like cement in there stomach and they can get impacted but you can remove the sand from the viv by vacuuming it out and if you look at the pictures forum one of the top posts will tell you how to post pics (con grads on the new beardie)

 

[LawDragon]

Congrats on the new little girl! In your post you were referring to a UVA light. Did you mean UVB? When you're setting up your dragon's viv you need two different lights: (1) Some kind of basking light/heat emitter (standard house bulbs and halogens work just as well as the Zoomed basking light you got, for future reference). These put out UVA and heat, as well as bright white light. (2) A strip-style UVB flourescent (avoid the coiled compacts, their UVB output is not as even and they'll have to replaced every month or two). Most people recommend the Repti-sun 10.0 the most, followed by Repti-sun 5.0, and Repti-glo 8.0. You can get this kind of light in various different lengths to suit the length of your tank, and can be mounted in the standard flourescent fixture that you can find in any home-improvement type store.
Another alternative is to use a Mercury Vapor Bulb (MVB) in place of both lights, but you may still need to add an additional household bulb to get your temperatures right (100-110* on the basking spot, 75-80* on the cool side). Also, these bulbs do not work well for smaller vivs since your dragon shouldn't get closer than 12" to the bulb (they are very bright).
As for the heat pad, there are two different theories being put out about why you shouldn't use an under-tank heat pad: (1) dragons don't sense heat well from below or (2) dragons sense temperature in more of an all-around feeling. In either case, they will not notice if the floor they're standing on gets too hot, and they can burn their stomachs. Also, you shouldn't need a heat pad or night-time heat at all unless your house gets below 60* at night. In that case you could either mount the heat pad you have up against one of the side walls of the viv, or take it back and get a ceramic heat emitter (fits into a lightbulb socket, but does not emit light).
Finally, (I know, long message) good for wanting to get rid of the calci-sand. For a baby, the best options are solid substrates: paper-towel, newspaper, Non-adhesive shelf liner (like for kitchen pantry shelves), Repti-carpet, or ceramic or slate tiles. If you go with tiles make sure to get sealed, un-glazed tiles. Sealed so they don't absorb your dragon's leavings and all the bacteria found in them, and not glazed so that your little dragon doesn't go sliding around the viv. I hope all the information helps, and if you have more questions, please feel free to ask. There's lots of people here eager to help.

 

[Sandy165]

Hi guys! Thanks for your replies. Found out how to upload picture, so you can see our beautiful baby.

I returned to the original pet shop, not where I got Sandy from but the one that was most helpful in the beginning.

They told me not to worry too much about taking out the Calci-sand, in fact, they said it was quite good for them. I bought the expensive stuff (£7.99GB£ per bag). Not sure why there are so many differences between the advice given???? :shock:

I've put some natural slate down in her viv in one corner.

Anyone else live in Kent, UK? What is the best place in the area for the correct advice/supplies.

IMG]http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee56/Karaokequeen165/sandy1.jpg[/IMG]

 

[Lsorrent]

Adorable baby

Please please please ignore what the pet store told you and TAKE OUT THE CALCI-SAND!

I lost a baby beardie to calci-sand impaction, I wouldn't want the same thing to happen to you

Remember, most pet stores are only trying to sell, and sell as much as they can. The people on this site are not in it for the money, they're in it to help people raise happy and healthy dragons.

 

[jennybud]

the pet stores say calci sand is good because of the calcium and they think that it means the reptiles will get calcium from it and thas why it's so wonderful but if it gets wet like in a beardies belly it turnes to cement and they can't digest it or pass it out of there body's (try flushing a whole back down your toilet this has about the same effects but you can call a pumber to fix your toilet it's a lot harder to fix your beardie) if you really like your sand look and want to keep it and your beardie is old enough not to eat the sand you can go to a home improvement store and buy a bag of playsand (like for kids sandboxes) and sift it with a screen or even a flour sifter. this will remove any debris that is harmful to your beardie. then but it in a cake pan or something and bake it in the oven for about 30min at 350. this will kill any germs or harmful bacteria then after it cools you can put it in your viv.
i also read something a bout a under tank heater. this is a bad idea too because the beardies only sense heat coming from above them. they can't feel how hot the floor is. because of this they can get burns and blisters because they don't realize how hot they are getting.

unfortunatly most petstores are ill educated and the only information they learn is from the products they sell and everyone wants to think they are good but they aren't. some of the other information you may have been told and don't realize it's wrong can result in a dead beardie. most likely they sold you a stick on thermometer with a dial to read the temp. those are inaccurate as much as + or - 20 degrees. we have one as well as a thermometer that is a digital with a wire and probe. i put them side by side to check the temp. the digital read 107 degrees (basking spot) while the stick on read 123 degrees. if all i had was the stick on then i would have changed bulbs on my heat lamp and the basking temp would only be around 80 which isn't high enough to digest their food properly.

also do you have a calcium supplement and multi vitamins?
do you have a misting bottle to mist your dragon with water (most dragons won't drink out of a bowl of water though the petstore would have sold you one) you should mist your dragon atleast twice a day and give them baths regularly.

i don't know what other advice to give you but like other people have said petstore are in it for the money we are in it for protection and caring for bearded dragons. if you have any other questions feel free to ask!

 

[Sandy165]

Hi everyone!

Thank you for all your advice, I have taken on board all of it! Yeah you are right, they have sold me a stick on thermometer with a dial to read the temp!!

You may be pleased to know that I have placed natural slate tile all over the base of her viv now, and the heat mat is not turned on at all.
I will have to look into how much a probe thermometer will set me back.

Once again, thanks for the advice!!

Take care

Sandy165 x

 

[jennybud]

if you buy it in the reptile section you will be set back $22 to $25 but look at the aquairium section i found the same one for about $7 to $12 or look at walmart in the outdoor section. i think that one is about $10. so look around a bit i'm sure you'll find a good deal.