My son and I got a pair of beardies the other day from Petco. The are settled in to their terrarium and have been eating about 5 - 10 crickets a day so far. Not what I would like but I'm curious as to whether or not the eating could be stress from the move. They are about 6" - 8" long (snout to end of tail ) ,appear alert and have been having bowel movements 1-2 times a day. They have been exploring the aquarium quite a bit but mostly basking. aquarium temps seem good. I am using a dial thermometer/hydrometer for now but have moved it all around terrarium the past few days to make sure temps are good. Cool side is about 80f - 85f high side about 100f and basking spots I would have to estimate approx. 105-110. They have a UVB bulb and fixture as well as a basking lamp on the warm side and a normal light on the cool side to keep overall temp up during the day. At night all the lights go out and temp drops to about 75f. Bok Choy available with greens and some wax worms/small mealworms throughout the day but hey do not appear to be interested in it. Sorry for the rambling nature of the post but I wanted to give as much info as possible. Just want to make sure these guys do well and are healthy. I have had snakes and other lizards but these are my first beardies. Thanks in advance for any advice info.
Ralph
Hello, and welcome to the forum. First off, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get them their own separate enclosures. They can and will hurt each other- even of you can't see it, one is going to be dominate. One will hog the food, heat, and UV. What type of UV are you using? You should have a ReptiSun 10.0 t5. That dial thermometer is junk, and is off by 10º-15º! Get an IR temp gun (Amazon has them for around $15). Immediately remove mealworms completely from their diet- they are very hard to digest and not healthy at all. Please give us any more information you have about them, their diet, and their enclosure/heating/lighting
This is the new terrarium. Thinking about taking back the kit we bought and getting my own lights etc. for the new terrarium. Problem is Son would be prob have to use the 10 gallon I got until he can buy his own. If I continue to separate them at feeding time and provide multiple basking sites etc do you think they would be ok for another week or two. I am home with them all the time so the only unsupervised time is while I sleep. Just wonder if sharing would be better than putting his in the little tank.
Alrighty, been a few days but RL has been busy . We took back my son's beardie as he wasn't going to contribute and be involved and I now have mine in the 29 long for a few months at which point I should have my new terrarium built. I have posted some new pics because I feel things are better set up and he is doing better. He seems a little dark (like he's getting ready for a shed but much more active and happy. Mine had never even done any gaping while he basked before. Here are some current & before/after pics.
In second pic mine is the one on bottom. These are for basis of comparison so I can see if I am correct in my observations.
Current pics...
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He appears to be gaining a little weight and looks overall healthier to me. Not the best picture but his underside is much more white with very light stress marks . Used to stay almost black all the time when the other beardie was there.
He has already had his bath today and has been eating BSFL, dusted crickets and will eat bok choy occasionally but only by hand.
My only concern is he seems a little bit dark . Hoping he/she is just about to shed. I noticed in his soak this morning he really brightened up Those red stripes are beautiful
We started our first shed today (Well, first since I have had him.) Over the weekend my daughter and I went to Reptile Convention and I came home with a Veiled Chameleon. Always wanted one of these and With The leopard gecko and beardie I'm staying good and busy
Terrarium is pretty stable now and he is very active. Actually comes running towards the glass when I walk over to him sometimes I still want a better substrate solution as the shelf liner I'm using doesn't look very nice but I'm not risking his health just for aesthetics .Will Post Pics tonight
We started our first shed today (Well, first since I have had him.) Over the weekend my daughter and I went to Reptile Convention and I came home with a Veiled Chameleon. Always wanted one of these and With The leopard gecko and beardie I'm staying good and busy
Make sure to quaranteen the new lizards for the next few months , use f10 hardwipes after handling them if he's going to be handled or fed afterwards.
Terrarium is pretty stable now and he is very active. Actually comes running towards the glass when I walk over to him sometimes I still want a better substrate solution as the shelf liner I'm using doesn't look very nice but I'm not risking his health just for aesthetics .Will Post Pics tonight