It all started when I was just browsing the animal section of craigslist. There was a post about a Bearded Dragon up for adoption. I looked up the subject on google, did a few hours worth of reading and decided that I would take him in. I emailed the poster asking them about the tank, if they had ALL the necessary lightning, some general questions about the Dragon and what they have been feeding them. A few days of back and forth emails later, on a hot Friday evening I was on my way to pick her up. Unfortunately I was a couple hours late because of an unusual amount of traffic on the way from work ; I called them ahead to warn them that I would be late. When I get there it takes me a while to find the right house as the one I needed and the ones around it have no lightning. I knock on the door to hear nothing back. I gave them a call and got the house answering machine which I could clearly hear outside. I was with a friend so we stood around for a bit discussing what we should do now, at that point a guy walked up to us asking if we had come for the Dragon; a few minutes later I was helping him carry out the tank. I thought to myself "This looks like a small tank", but having been promised a 40 gallon tank and not knowing what one looks like I gave it little mind at the moment. Next the guy gives me a silver dome light with a 100W regular bulb in there, I asked him if that was it and he said yes; at this point I will mention that I was arranging the whole deal with his sister and she was not home at the moment. This was the point where I realized that this Dragon has not been taken care of well, to say the least; that and also the lack of any kind of basking log or rock in the tank! 
Unfortunately by then all the stores were closed and I would not be able to do anything to improve this situation.
When I woke up on Saturday, skipping my shower and breakfast, I went straight to the nearest Petco, bought the imitation log you can see in the picture and 50 crickets as at the time of the pickup I was informed that they had fed her on Monday! It was suspicious that the store had only one isle (consisting of one shelf, about 7ft long) of reptile products right at the entrance with very little stuff on it so I asked an associate, pointing at the isle, if they had any other products for reptiles possibly elsewhere in the store; the answer was no. So I paid for my purchases (also got a spraybottle, superworms and eco-earth for my chinchillas) and rushed back home to feed the dragon. She had fun eating the crickets but during the process I noticed even more that the tank was kind of small for her to move around comfortably, oh and did I mention it had sand everywhere? I spend some time browsing the internets and figuring a list of what else I needed to get for her and some sites on line to get it from. Later that evening I ended up going back to that same Petco to get stuff for my dog and while wandering around looking for dog stuff I found a whole other inconspicuous reptile isle with more stuff in it like lights, unfortunately they only had the reptile carpet with the dreaded loops. I bought a Reptisun 5.0 and this light:
I came home and replaced the light right away but this light is too big for the enclosure so I had to prop it up with letters that you see in the picture of the tank. She immediately took up her basking spot on the log.
Here is a few questions:
1) Should I keep the imitation log or get a rock or a real log? If the rock is the answer then where do I get it? I have not seen any stores selling any.
2) Should she be fine with the T-rex mercury bulb or should I use the reptisun as well?
Sunday went by fine, did research on line, found alto of interesting things. Fed her some crickets, tried feeding her apple, she grabbed a piece straight from my hand. Chopped up some more apple and gave it to her in bowl and dropped some crickets in it, while catching crickets she grabbed a piece of apple with one and ate all the other pieces. Then I tried feeding her a mix of shedded carrots, chopped up green peas and broccoli and she just ignored it. I tied some banana to a string and lowered it to her and she gladly consumed a few pieces of banana this way. I need to get the salad moving! Although its not practical to get a whole bunch of things on a string. Here is a few more questions:
3) Do I need to chop up the vegetables to pieces shorter than the distance be ween her eyes or will she bite off as she sees fit? I have noticed with the apple and the banana she chewed them up pretty thouroughly.
4) Where do I get such things as collard, kale, dandelion, bok choy, turnip and mustard greens? Also escarole and chickory?
On Monday I noticed a Pet Smart on the way home from work and decided to stop by and see what I could get there. They actually have a very good selection of reptile products. There I got some Zoo Med reptile carpet, a vibrating food dish (did not help with the veggies, she just completely ignored it), some more crickets and some of this stuff:
Most importantly I saw a real 40 gallon tank in this store! Yeah and to think I thought the tank I had was a 40 gallon one. I will buy one either off the internet or in the store (does anyone know any good reptile stores around Philadelphia area?)
I am planning to give her a bath and take her to a vet as soon as I think I could handle her. I already found a good reptile vet which is the same one I take my dog to, and they always treated my dog very good so I hope the reptile vet they have is just as good (let me know if you know a good vet around area code 19053, thats Feasterville, PA right outside NE Phila)
P.S. The light is about 12 inches away from her head when she is on the basking log. I don't know the temperature but I ordered a Temp Gun and it should be here soon!
Well this is my hello to this forum, sorry for the long introduction. Please let me know if I could do something better.
Unfortunately by then all the stores were closed and I would not be able to do anything to improve this situation.
When I woke up on Saturday, skipping my shower and breakfast, I went straight to the nearest Petco, bought the imitation log you can see in the picture and 50 crickets as at the time of the pickup I was informed that they had fed her on Monday! It was suspicious that the store had only one isle (consisting of one shelf, about 7ft long) of reptile products right at the entrance with very little stuff on it so I asked an associate, pointing at the isle, if they had any other products for reptiles possibly elsewhere in the store; the answer was no. So I paid for my purchases (also got a spraybottle, superworms and eco-earth for my chinchillas) and rushed back home to feed the dragon. She had fun eating the crickets but during the process I noticed even more that the tank was kind of small for her to move around comfortably, oh and did I mention it had sand everywhere? I spend some time browsing the internets and figuring a list of what else I needed to get for her and some sites on line to get it from. Later that evening I ended up going back to that same Petco to get stuff for my dog and while wandering around looking for dog stuff I found a whole other inconspicuous reptile isle with more stuff in it like lights, unfortunately they only had the reptile carpet with the dreaded loops. I bought a Reptisun 5.0 and this light:
I came home and replaced the light right away but this light is too big for the enclosure so I had to prop it up with letters that you see in the picture of the tank. She immediately took up her basking spot on the log.
Here is a few questions:
1) Should I keep the imitation log or get a rock or a real log? If the rock is the answer then where do I get it? I have not seen any stores selling any.
2) Should she be fine with the T-rex mercury bulb or should I use the reptisun as well?
Sunday went by fine, did research on line, found alto of interesting things. Fed her some crickets, tried feeding her apple, she grabbed a piece straight from my hand. Chopped up some more apple and gave it to her in bowl and dropped some crickets in it, while catching crickets she grabbed a piece of apple with one and ate all the other pieces. Then I tried feeding her a mix of shedded carrots, chopped up green peas and broccoli and she just ignored it. I tied some banana to a string and lowered it to her and she gladly consumed a few pieces of banana this way. I need to get the salad moving! Although its not practical to get a whole bunch of things on a string. Here is a few more questions:
3) Do I need to chop up the vegetables to pieces shorter than the distance be ween her eyes or will she bite off as she sees fit? I have noticed with the apple and the banana she chewed them up pretty thouroughly.
4) Where do I get such things as collard, kale, dandelion, bok choy, turnip and mustard greens? Also escarole and chickory?
On Monday I noticed a Pet Smart on the way home from work and decided to stop by and see what I could get there. They actually have a very good selection of reptile products. There I got some Zoo Med reptile carpet, a vibrating food dish (did not help with the veggies, she just completely ignored it), some more crickets and some of this stuff:
Most importantly I saw a real 40 gallon tank in this store! Yeah and to think I thought the tank I had was a 40 gallon one. I will buy one either off the internet or in the store (does anyone know any good reptile stores around Philadelphia area?)
I am planning to give her a bath and take her to a vet as soon as I think I could handle her. I already found a good reptile vet which is the same one I take my dog to, and they always treated my dog very good so I hope the reptile vet they have is just as good (let me know if you know a good vet around area code 19053, thats Feasterville, PA right outside NE Phila)
P.S. The light is about 12 inches away from her head when she is on the basking log. I don't know the temperature but I ordered a Temp Gun and it should be here soon!
Well this is my hello to this forum, sorry for the long introduction. Please let me know if I could do something better.
