New Breadie *Kricket*

[FFprazs]

Hello everyone,

My Fiance and I just recieved a new family memeber of a Bearded Dragon that we have playfully named Kricket. (yes we spelled it with K not C's) We are a little lost with this new family memeber and we are trying to read as much as we can. We came across this website and are so thankful for all the information.

A few questions and well is this normal.

~ Kricket loves well crickets he is averaging 2 -3 a day but we have only had him a few days. When we brought him home he chowed down on 3 within a few min.
~ We put some bok choy and carrots in his cage and he wont touch them. Given we have only had him a few days.
~ He has had multiple BM's.
~ We have the proper light and a heating pad that we read would work for his basketing heat. It is a pad just for that I actually believe that is what it is called.
~ We were told that his tank would be big enough for a little while. We are looking for a bigger one in the next month or so. But does he need more room sooner?
~ Does everything look okay in our tank?

Here is a picture of a little man! He is about 6 in tip to tip maybe 7.

His home!

Taken today!

First night we got him, he was about to eat a cricket

Any tips, information! Are we doing okay?

P.s. We don't know if Kricket is a girl or a boy!

Michael and Jamie

 

[Grixxly15]

I would first suggest getting Kricket off of the sand. You see sand can cause impactions which is when that sand clumps up into a ball and gets stuck in their digestive tract. If not treated it can eventually be fatal. There are many attractive non-particle substrates such as tile (my personal favorite), repti-carpet, non-adhesive shelf liner, paper towel, butcher paper.

Also your beardie may not eat that much the first week. It's called relocation stress. Some have it some don't. Once Kricket gets used to his new surroundings you may find him eating 30-50+ crickets a day. I know it sounds like a lot, but they have to eat that much to grow.

Get rid of that heating pad to. They can't feel heat underneath their bellies.


Offtopic:

YAY 1337 post!!!!!

 

[Neromom39]

Congratulalations on your new "Master" as you will soon find out they are . If I could add just one thing about the sand, many of the experienced knowledgeable posters on these forums will advise you against sand due to the fact that beardies lick everything and therefore increase the risk of ingesting the sand. They will also tell you that if you insist on using sand be sure that it is washed playsand and NOT the CalciSand as this clumps when wet. If you feed your little one inside his/her enclosure then I would recommend changing the substrate. Our enclosures have tile and sand, but we feed our beardies outside of their vivs so they don't have the risk of taking in any of the sand when they gobble up a cricket. We have a couple of diggers which is why we keep the sand. Bedtime is spent with at least a half an hour of digging/burrowing in their caves. There is so much to learn from everyone here and in a few weeks or even days you will be set.

 

[cricket119]

Congrats! Baby beardies should eat food only as large as the space between their eyes. Babies should be fed 3 times a day, as much as they can consume in 15 minutes. Take out any uneaten crickets as they can chew on your beardie. You might want to feed in a seperate container. Baby beardies can consume between 50-100 crickets a day!! So 3 or 4 isn't much. Keep offering veggies, although young beardies tend to ignore them. I don't think carrots are a great veggie though. There is a place on this site that gives good value of veggies. Mine likes collard greens. Is your light a reptisun? They are good. A coil light and reptiglo cause eye problems. Do you have calcium and vitamins? I was new to beardies 9 months ago, and have learned so much on this site. Did you give him a bath yet? This helps keep them hydrated. Best of luck, Chris

 

[FFprazs]

Okay so sand out! Carpet in!

New light, out the door now to go get one!

Collard greens on the list also.

Just got out of the bath. He stood there. But after he was frisky and climbing all over the place. Will they jump off your shoulder cause before we could even blink he was over the shoulder and was a climbing fool.

What about water source? We bought a waterfall. But it did not work out to well so now there is just standing water in a bowl.

How important is misting?

And we realize just how small out little man is after looking at everyones pictures! Thanks for all the help so far! New pictures to come and keep the help coming!

Michael and Jamie

 

[Blind]

I would not worry about him jumping, but if he does just carry him in your hand.

They get all the water they need from greens and baths. The waterfall can raise the humidity in the tank WAY too high. You do not need a water bowl.

Misting is not important if you bath him in lukewarm water 3-4 times a week.

 

[msmaui]

My baby happens to be a BIG jumper. I can't put him on my shoulder yet and I've had him 2 months. So, yes, I'd be careful about the jumping if I were you. A few nights ago I was sitting on the couch holding him in my hand and it took him about a second to jump from my hand to the coffee table, about 2 feet away.

 

[Elora]

boy he is pretty cute!!!!

I hope he starts eating more soon. Im sure he will once he gets used to his new home!

If you are feeding hime crix then make sure that the crix are gut loaded. this means that you feed the crix so that they are packed with nutrition. Crix right from the store are more like empty shells. You can feed the crix broken up bearded dragon pellet food, or you can buy special crix food. Also the crix will need a way to get moisture so puting some sliced apples in the crix containter will do fine. Buying them from the store can get expensive. Especially when he starts eating more he will want to eat over 30 a day. You can buy online in bulk. I personally dont like crix becuase they small and are a disaster trying to feed to the beardie. they jump all over and get out of the cage. I always find one crawling around on the walls. I bet your beardie would LOVE phoenix worms. http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/StoreFront they are high in calcium. Are you dusting your crix with calcium? Babies really need calcium to be able to grow healthy strong bones. If they do not get calcium they will get MBD wich makes their bones turn to mush. you can get 400 worms for only 25 dollars. You would probably want small or medium.

How are the temps in your cage? under the basking light you will want it to be around 105 and maybe around 80 on the cool side. The easiest way to measure the temps is to get a probe thermometer from walmart. the stick on ones can be wayyyy off. Do you have a UV light? Bearded dragons also need a source of UV to help with their bones and appetite.
here are some websites that have helped me A LOT

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/

 

[FFprazs]

boy he is pretty cute!!!!


How are the temps in your cage? under the basking light you will want it to be around 105 and maybe around 80 on the cool side. The easiest way to measure the temps is to get a probe thermometer from walmart. the stick on ones can be wayyyy off. Do you have a UV light? Bearded dragons also need a source of UV to help with their bones and appetite.

Thanks for all the great information! So much help! Yes we have a UV light. We were unable to find a basking light. We are thinking it is too cool right now so we are getting that taken care of today. Thanks for the crix information! We were actually talking about it last night. So the worms is a good source of food! Do they need to be dusted with cal. We did not know about this dusting!

Again thanks!

 

[Elora]

no problem! What brand of UV light is it and what kindof bulb? dust your feeders with this if you have a tube UV light http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/vitamins-medicines-and-cage-cleaners/-/repcal-ultra-fine-calcium-with-d3/

They NEED calcium or they will develop crooked bones and will not be able to walk, ect.. (metabolic bone disease) i think i spelled that right!

How did it go getting the basking light? you can get a flood light bulb from you local hardware store or even grocery store. depending on how cold it is in your house and the size tank you have you could try 60 watts or 40. Also the ones they sell at the pet store are okay. As long as its not a colored bulb. Beardies are happiest with a bright white light along with their uv light. Its too dark in their cage with only the UV light.

Good luck! post more pics!