NEW DRAG-ON OWNER STORY

[DAVANT]

Hello to everyone my name is nickname DAVANT. I am a new bearded drag-on owner as of Christmas thanks to my lovely fiance. A Bearded drag-on was no.3 on my wish list and i knew she wasn't going to get me no.1and2 so it was all good, reply me if your wandering what 1and2 is....Anywayz im an animal lover to the heart, i love pets that gives me attention and I'm a long time freshwater fish owner with 2 big aquariums. So to make a long story short one day while shopping for fish stuff at animal jungle in va.beach VA. where i live, i visited the reptile section and asked some kid that works there what can i put in my dry 20 something gal aquarium. Im thinking something cool like a scorpion, trantula spider or some exotic frog or turtle definitely not a snake. Keep in mind i like pets that gives me attention like my fish all day long. So out with them creatures that will make my baby girl scream and put me on the couch if it escaped its cage LOL. The young boy introduced me to these reptiles that for one are cute and entertaining, two they are inexpensive and easy maintenance so i was like sweeeeeet I'm gonna get one sooner or later. THAT WAS A YEAR AGO!!! I shop at different pet stores some big chains and mom n pops stores and they come n go always at different prices i guess based on age or size. I never done any research on the net so I'm going into this basically from kids working in local pet store. Through out the year i saved that aquarium for hoping Santa will bring me a baby DRAG-ON. So two weeks before Christmas as I make a last minute shop for my fish at Pet Paradise i seen Baby Bearded Drag-ons on sale for 39.99 I was like wow that's the cheapest I've ever seen there usually 59 to 79 bucks any giving day. That's when I put it on my list as no.3 for Christmas. Sure nuff Christmas eve about 3pm my baby girl says we have to go somewhere and I'm like cool lets go, so we end up pulling into Animal jungle and says Merry Christmas baby and I'm like ooh my god I'm about to get either no2 or no3 on my list cause they don't sell no1 there, get it HMMM. So i follow her to the reptile center and she hands me the receipt for one bearded drag-on and she says she picked one out and they marked it with a green dot under its belly but i can pick another if i want , i was like Na i want the one you picked plus it was the best looking one in there. So i was very pleased and happy but then reality sink in when i ask the man what else do i need to set his tank up. Basically he said "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" and i did :| :mrgreen: and we left with a 1 round heat light fixture that glows in the dark, a 18" fluorescent reptile bulb, a reptile carpet cause the man said that was the best, and a good size piece of tree bark that they sell plus a bag of crickets. I put back about 50 bucks worth of stuff that i improvise with things around the house, like veggie dish, water dish, heat rock and some big marble rocks to hold down the carpet. Oh yeah my Oscar's donated one of there hood fluorescent light fixtures for Drag-on to use until i find something more fit-able for that small tank. Well its been about a week since its been set up and i have observed it first couple of days hes cool and seem OK. Ive been doing a lot of research on bearded drag-ons on the net and sites and read a lot of forums. I've read a lot here and this site seems to be the Best place for advice, emergencies, online friends, bragging, and pics. Most of all fun and peer-learning. SO PLEASE LET ME REINTRODUCE MY-SELF MY NAME IS DAVANT AND MY BEARDIE's NAME IS DRAG-ON

 

[redn3ckkittycat]

Awwww what a sweet present!!! Welcome to the forum!! Here is some reading, just to keep you up on your new beardie friend!!
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
http://www.kakadudragons.com/caresheet/caresheet.php
http://blackninjakitty.com/herps/dragons.php

Hope they give ya alittle more info! Post pics as soon as you get them We LOVE pictures

 

[DAVANT]

HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS I HAVE AS OF RIGHT NOW 1. HOW LONG OF THE TWO LIGHT SOURCES SHOULD I KEEP ON DRAG-ON? WHAT IS THIS SOCALLED 14/10 RULE.
2. I THINK IT IS A JUVENILE HOW DO I KNOW ITS AGE? BY SIZE OR ASK THE PET STORE.
3. SHOULD I WORRIE IF ITS ON SOMETHING HIGH? CAN HE JUMP OR FALL OFF AND INJURE ITS SELF?
4. I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE VITAMIN D3 POWDER OR CALCIUM UNTIL I DID RESEARCH SHOULD I IMMEDIETALY GO GET IT AND MIX IT IN WITH CRICKETS?
5. I FEED IT BABY CRICKETS AND LETTUCE HE EATS IT ALL THEN GOES ON TOP OF ITS TREE BARK RIGHT UNDER THE HEAT LAMP AND LETS ITS HIND LEGS HANG OFF OF IT THEN LOOKS LIKE HES GASPING FOR AIR WITH ITS EYES CLOSED IS THIS CALLED BASKING?
6. I JUST LEARNED ABOUT GUT LOADING CRICKETS WHAT DO U SUGGEST THE BEST VEGGIE OR FRUIT TO USE.
7. SHOULD I WORRIE ABOUT DRAG-ON RUNNING AWAY? IT RUNS FROM ME SOMETIMES AND I GENTLY GRAB HIM BUT WHAT IF HE GOES UNDER SOMETHING OR IN A CRACK WILL HE COME BACK OUT? SHOULD I USE THE HEAT LAMP FOR BAIT TO LURE HIM OUT?
THIS WASJUST SOME ??????????? GOT TO GO THANKS FOR THE REPLY..

 

[redn3ckkittycat]

HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS I HAVE AS OF RIGHT NOW 1. HOW LONG OF THE TWO LIGHT SOURCES SHOULD I KEEP ON DRAG-ON? WHAT IS THIS SOCALLED 14/10 RULE. They need roughtly 12-14 hours of sunlight, about 10 of dark.
2. I THINK IT IS A JUVENILE HOW DO I KNOW ITS AGE? BY SIZE OR ASK THE PET STORE. Hmm Age is mostly the deteremineing factor, rather than size, because of tail nips n such. Did the petstore tell you how old he was? Generally juvies (IMO) are 6-10 months. Give or take.
3. SHOULD I WORRIE IF ITS ON SOMETHING HIGH? CAN HE JUMP OR FALL OFF AND INJURE ITS SELF? They will make it a point to sleep in weird positions, jump off things, hide, and do everything to scare you. Just make sure nothing is more than 4-6 inches high, this is my opinion.
4. I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE VITAMIN D3 POWDER OR CALCIUM UNTIL I DID RESEARCH SHOULD I IMMEDIETALY GO GET IT AND MIX IT IN WITH CRICKETS? You should get it as soon as you can. Not neccassarily RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE...but definatly within a few days.
5. I FEED IT BABY CRICKETS AND LETTUCE HE EATS IT ALL THEN GOES ON TOP OF ITS TREE BARK RIGHT UNDER THE HEAT LAMP AND LETS ITS HIND LEGS HANG OFF OF IT THEN LOOKS LIKE HES GASPING FOR AIR WITH ITS EYES CLOSED IS THIS CALLED BASKING? That is basking at its finest!
6. I JUST LEARNED ABOUT GUT LOADING CRICKETS WHAT DO U SUGGEST THE BEST VEGGIE OR FRUIT TO USE. I personally feed them everything I feed my beardies. All their veggins/fruits they dont eat. You can also buy commercially made cricket gut loads, they seem to work too.
7. SHOULD I WORRIE ABOUT DRAG-ON RUNNING AWAY? IT RUNS FROM ME SOMETIMES AND I GENTLY GRAB HIM BUT WHAT IF HE GOES UNDER SOMETHING OR IN A CRACK WILL HE COME BACK OUT? SHOULD I USE THE HEAT LAMP FOR BAIT TO LURE HIM OUT? If you let him loose in your room or wherever you have him, just keep an eye on him. He will eventually come out. They like warm spots (such as the back of the computer tower). You can also get him a leash/harness so you dont loose him! Its kinda like follow the string and find the beardie!
THIS WASJUST SOME ??????????? GOT TO GO THANKS FOR THE REPLY..

Hope this helps! I will do what I can to hlep!

 

[jennybud]

first off you said you bought a heat rock, please don't use it! beardies sense heat from above but not below. he can burn his belly cause he doesn't know how hot it is underneath him. and the florescent light, do you know if its a uv or not. they need the uv to digest there food properly. the best is reptisun 10.0 most of the others are crap. so definately look into that i think you can find them online pretty cheap but at the pet stores they are usually $50. and you will need to change it every 6 months weather it burns out or not.

for the food. you said you were feeding him lettuce. most lettuces do not have a lot of nutrition and contain alot of water. this can give them dyarihea(sp?) you should buy him dark leafy greens generally they are just as cheap and better for them. my favorites are collard greens, turnip greens, and mustard greens. these are staple foods they can have everyday and should have at least one of them (i generally switch back and forth mustard for a week then the next collard ect) i also buy something to add in small quantities that are feed occasionally like parsley, cilantro, or yellow squash. fruits are good for treats maybe once a week like anything ending in berry, mango, apple, melons but as they are high in sugars they should be only treats not everyday. look around on the feeding forum and some where under veggies? people post a good list of what you can and can't give him.

good luck with Drag-on

 

[DAVANT]

Thank you Kitty and Jenny for the replies i appreciate the advice and concerns. Um I'm not using a heat rock, i have a customized sculptured round stone that's the size of a baseball but has a flat bottom. DRAG-ON loves it to jump up on it then leap to the top of a big piece of tree bark i got standing up under its basking light. IM gonna start addressing DRAG-On as "He" until i know 4 sure lol. He's to lazy to climb it from the bottom so he hops up on the rock then jumps onto the wood its so cute. But anywayz he just sheded to my knowledge his first skin SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME i forgot reptiles do that. Ive been reading a lot of threads on this site and read some weird things but i keep reminding myself that these are other peoples experiences and opinions. And sometimes miss interpretation's of the poster. Well don't have time tonight to ask to many more ????'s but as of right now it seems like my beardie is very healthy and happy so am i. I put some extra background decorations from my fish tanks on the back piece of his tank and it has 75% of foliage and a picture of a rock. So yesterday i cleaned out his tank and put him back in it and he started jumping at the glass thinking the rock was an object. I felt bad but at the same time it was humorous he done figured it out now.
yea jenny i agree about the lettuce i never seen that on a list to feed him.I been giving him some collard greens the last couple of days but he doesn't seem interested he eats a little bit of it. He loves the meal worms plus there easy for my wife to feed him when I'm at work instead of the crickets. I just found out i have to keep the meal-worms refrigerated i didn't know now there all dead lol. I also got a can of that vitamin d/calcium and i laced a new batch of crickets and meal worms and hes been eating them, i wonder if that lead to him shedding? Other than that the only real problem is keeping his tank heated at night...I guess i need to get another light fixture for infrared. U see i read a thread talking about this situation and i thought i had everything i need. Maybe i do maybe i don't, i think there's a lot of confusion in the forums because of where and how people live. So i went and got another temp gauge that someone mentioned and now i got two. One to monitor the basking area its a stick on gaugethat's always showing 100deg. And now a digital with a wire that i put in the middle of the top screen hanging down about a half inch in the middle of the tank. I wanted to see how cold it gets in there at night with no heat light. IT was 75deg. room temp. So i decided to give him the heat lamp at night instead of the day where the temp in my house is warmer. DO YOU FOLLOW ME. OK my question is does he need darkness to get sleep? Is this method OK or do i need to get another fixture for night night time to keep him warm if so then what a infrared? Also a couple of more quick questions.
1. I've read that the Repti-glo 10.0 is not a good natural light source, is that true if so why they sell them i spent 20bucks on it
2 I've also read that they suppose to eat like 50 crickets a day. Are these people serious. now i feed him about 5 to 8 a day and he sucks them up in seconds plus greens hell eat here n there plus just added meal-worms to the rotation about 5 to 8 every other day. does this sound like a decent diet for him, keep in mind hes only 8in long..
THANKS EVERYBODY FOR YOUR SUPPORT
P.S. He keeps running from me whats up with that? And working on pics got to shrink them to fit avator................PEACE

 

[Ayasha]

Hi Davant and welcome! Congrats on your new lil one
At 8 inches, it sounds like your dragon might still be a baby, and yes, they tend to eat you out of house and home! As a baby, they need a lot of protein, and therefore require a large number of live feeders, eating 2-3 times each day. As he gets older, the live feeder count will go down as he will depend more and more on the veggies. My lil guy is 8" at 7 weeks old and eats 5-7 small crickets and 7-10 butterworms or 12-15 phoenix worms at each feeding, plus he enjoys some greens each day ( loves cactus pads best).

 

[redn3ckkittycat]

Hi Davant!!! Glad to know he's having fun! Make sure you read up on those sites. I saw that you said feeding mealworms is easy for your wife, (I'm glad everyone loves him btw) but mealies aren't the best worms for babies. However, you can get phoenix worms, silkworms, or even hornworms, which are nice and great for your baby. About the reptiglo 10.0, it just recently has been shown to admit to much UVB on the verge of UVC waves. I still have one, though. I was advise by Tracie (Drache) that as long as it is further away than 10 inches, I was ok. At least until I have the extra to purchase a new one. Since dragon is new, you could go to the store and exchange the 10.0 for an 8.0 and you'd be fine. Or purchase one online at lllreptile.com for $12.99 (they are on sale right now). Also, one other thing (I think everything else is ok in your post, this is the only things I read that I want to advise you on) I'm glad you have a digi thermometer now, but, I would suggest using it on his basking spot. Because you really should know the surface temp on their basking spots, and make sure they stay between 100-110 degree. Those stick on ones work for ambient temps, but can be up to 20 degrees off. I think that was it. Everything else sounds good! Hope this little tid-bit helps! OH! Re-read. As far as night time. He really needs a nice bright light during the day, for heat, a long with his UVB. A bright light will help his eyes, because of the color/brightness of the UVB. At night, his temps are safe to drop down the low 60s. They do need darkness to sleep, because they kind of semi-hibernate at night. If it drops before 60, you can get him a ceramic heat emitter. It does not produce any light, just heat. OOps! I keep missing stuff. Sorry. As far as feeding. Follow this rule of thumb. I call it an 80/20 split. Babies need 80% protein (live feeders) and 20% salad (greens n veggies). What I suggest doing, is, 2-3 times a day, for 10 mins, give him as many feeders as you want (remember never any bigger than the size between his eyes). That is where people get the 50 crixs. My baby polishes off 10-15 roaches, 20 crixs, and 10-20 worms a sitting. :shock: When they get about 16 or so inchs is when their diets normally change. Then, as adults, they need 80% veggies n salad, and 20% live feeders. Now...I think I'm done. LOL. If I missed a question, just let me know ! Hope it all helps!

 

[DAVANT]

A FEW PICS FOR THOSE WHO CARE

 

[Catalyst]

He loves the meal worms plus there easy for my wife to feed him when I'm at work instead of the crickets.

Make sure you go easy on the mealworms, because of their hard shell they can cause impaction in small dragons (i.e. block up their intestines). They can be okay to use as treats (depending on who you talk to) if you make sure your basking spot is warm enough and you keep your dragon well hydrated.

I also got a can of that vitamin d/calcium and i laced a new batch of crickets and meal worms and hes been eating them, i wonder if that lead to him shedding?

Not quite. Dragons shed as they grow, and at points it'll probably seem like your guy is shedding constantly, they grow pretty quick.

Other than that the only real problem is keeping his tank heated at night...I guess i need to get another light fixture for infrared.

How warm is the tank at night? Dragons don't need extra heat unless the temp drops below the low sixties F. If it does get colder than that, you should use a ceramic heat emitter - a ceramic disk that screws into a dome light fixture and puts off heat without any light. Most dragons sleep better when it's dark, and the infared light can disrupt their sleep leading to a grouchy dragon (they can see the red light despite pet store claims to the contrary).

One to monitor the basking area its a stick on gaugethat's always showing 100deg. And now a digital with a wire that i put in the middle of the top screen hanging down about a half inch in the middle of the tank.

Those stick on the glass strips can be inaccurate so I'm glad you have a digital therm with a probe. Good temps are key to keeping a dragon healthy and happy. However, it's not doing much good hanging up in the air like that. You need to place the probe right on the basking spot to get the temp there (should be in the 100-110*F range) and then on the cool side to get that temp (should be about 80*F). Knowing the overall temp isn't enough. Generally the probe has to sit in place for about 20 minutes before it reaches it's final reading, although some thermometers are a bit faster.

IT was 75deg. room temp.

That's just fine, you don't need to add any heat at night. It's natural and healthy for the dragon for the temps to cool off at night. As long as it doesn't go below the low sixties, he'll be just fine.

1. I've read that the Repti-glo 10.0 is not a good natural light source, is that true if so why they sell them i spent 20bucks on it

They're new lights that are still being tested. Unfortunately there are a lot of lights out there that are junk, but no one really regulates that type of thing so you need to know which are the good ones before you buy. The reptisun 10.0 is the best, with the reptisun 5.0 and reptiglo 8.0 being okay. These are the full flourescent tube bulbs, not the compact ones. The compacts (look like energy saver bulbs) have a variety of problems associated with them, and any ESU or RZilla brand bulbs are junk.

2 I've also read that they suppose to eat like 50 crickets a day. Are these people serious. now i feed him about 5 to 8 a day and he sucks them up in seconds plus greens hell eat here n there plus just added meal-worms to the rotation about 5 to 8 every other day. does this sound like a decent diet for him, keep in mind hes only 8in long..

Yep, we're serious. Growing dragons need lots of protein in order to grow properly. When they're small they should be offered live food twice a day (they have small stomachs and so can only eat so much at once), up to 50 crickets a day. He'll keep up with this type of appetite until he's an adult (12-18 months old) at which point you cut him back to 30-50 live bugs a week. As mentioned above, I'd personally cut out the mealies due to the risk of impaction, and up the number of crickets you're offering to 50 a day (although he may not eat that many right away).