Hello! We are brand new bearded dragon owners, and I really just want to make sure we are doing everything right. I saw a list of general questions to answer, so I went through those. If anyone is willing to offer advice or reassurance or constructive criticism, I would greatly appreciate it. Our dragon’s name is Puff, and she is technically my daughter’s. My daughter, Claire, had 3 spotted salamanders (wild caught by her and Dad while I was out of town on a mother daughter trip with my mom, cousins and aunts. Anyway, by the time I got home the salamanders were pets) that she loved and was extremely obsessed with. Claire is 9 and has Aspergers, and reptiles/amphibians are a special interest of hers. Two of them died three weeks ago. I had been thinking about it since the salamanders came into our lives, and two weeks ago I decided that a bearded dragon would be perfect for Claire. She loves reptiles and amphibians and wants to hold them and spend time with them and love them. Bearded dragons seemed to fit the bill. We got Puff at the pet store. When I first began thinking about this, I had wanted to be able to go to a reptile show and get our dragon from a reputable breeder. With the death of two beloved salamanders combined with the stay home order, it became important to get a dragon as soon as possible. Of course, my daughter being who she is chose the smallest, saddest looking dragon in the cage. She became much perkier and energetic after we had her at our home for day. Claire loves to have Puff out of her tank and sitting with her. I’m constantly yelling at her to put Puff back under her lights because I worry about her getting too cold or not getting enough UVB. This sweet little dragon is already the center of my daughter’s world, so it is one of the most important things in the world to me that I am caring for Puff correctly.
Sorry this is so long!
How old is your dragon?
2-3 months old (I am guessing. I didn’t even think to ask that day)
How long have you had your dragon?
2 weeks
How long is your dragon?
8 1/2 inches
What is the sex of your dragon?
We think female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
40 gallon terrarium
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Reptile carpet that is switched out weekly so the used one can be cleaned.
Do you use UVB lights?
Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
Coil over the basking spot and a tube along the backside of her tank so UVB hopefully covers her entire tank
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
Coil bulb is the zoo med one that came with the habitat kit (it goes in the combo deep dome dual lamp fixture. I believe it is repti sun 5.0 compact fluorescent) and the tube one is the 18inch 10.0 desert UVB
How old is your UVB bulb?
Coil is 2 weeks old, the tube is 24 hours old
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
The coil one is about 8 inches above her basking spot. The tube one is probably closer to 7 inches above the tank floor.
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
We use a regular light bulb that is white light and is 100 watts
What are the basking temps?
Basking temp is between 100-105
What is the cool side temp?
Cool side is between 75-85
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
We currently use imaginarium thermometer from petco. We have thermometer on each side of her tank, and also a humidity gage. I would like a temp gun, but my husband just bought these when I told him the little stick on temperature strip that came with our tank was no good and that we needed to be able to measure both sides of the tank.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
The thermometer is stuck to the side of the tank, on the inside, right next to the basking spot
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
She has a (fake) log hide and a heating pad is on the underside of the tank on the outside of the tank with the log partly on the heat pad area. I hope that makes sense.
What do you feed your dragon?
Collard greens, kale, cucumber, mango, strawberries, Brussels sprouts, carrot, butternut squash, asparagus. Mainly we give collard greens with a little mango on top because the only thing she has shown interest in is mango. We try to mix it up and see what else she might like.
She gets crickets that we dust with calcium powder, and we sometimes put wax worms in her greens to try to entice her to eat them. We use dubia roaches as well, also dusted. I read it is good to mix up their diet. I’m planning on ordering some phoniex worms because I have read that they have the best calcium to phosphorus ratio for bearded dragons.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
We feed in the morning about 60-90 minutes after we turn on her lights. It’s usually between 9 and 10am. We offer salad first, then whatever live food she is getting that day. We feed live food again usually around 7-8pm. Puff has her salad available all day
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Yes, the crickets are given Flukers orange cubes and the Dubai roaches have this Cheeto looking thing they come with. The wax worms get a few oats.
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
We are using the sample that we got when we got Puff. It is repti calcium without D3. We dust live food each time we feed.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
She poops usually once a day. Sometimes twice
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
We bathed her 2x a week but just yesterday she began to really shed so we have done daily baths. Today we did bath twice, as that seemed to be soothing for her.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
She has a water dish in her tank that is changed out daily
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Not yet. We have a vet in the next town over that has experience with reptiles. We are planning to see the vet when the stay home order is lifted
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
No, she is by herself. Her tank is a glass tank so all the walls are papered over (with just white paper for now) except the front wall. She did not enjoy seeing her reflection.
Sorry this is so long!
How old is your dragon?
2-3 months old (I am guessing. I didn’t even think to ask that day)
How long have you had your dragon?
2 weeks
How long is your dragon?
8 1/2 inches
What is the sex of your dragon?
We think female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
40 gallon terrarium
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Reptile carpet that is switched out weekly so the used one can be cleaned.
Do you use UVB lights?
Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
Coil over the basking spot and a tube along the backside of her tank so UVB hopefully covers her entire tank
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
Coil bulb is the zoo med one that came with the habitat kit (it goes in the combo deep dome dual lamp fixture. I believe it is repti sun 5.0 compact fluorescent) and the tube one is the 18inch 10.0 desert UVB
How old is your UVB bulb?
Coil is 2 weeks old, the tube is 24 hours old
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
The coil one is about 8 inches above her basking spot. The tube one is probably closer to 7 inches above the tank floor.
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
We use a regular light bulb that is white light and is 100 watts
What are the basking temps?
Basking temp is between 100-105
What is the cool side temp?
Cool side is between 75-85
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
We currently use imaginarium thermometer from petco. We have thermometer on each side of her tank, and also a humidity gage. I would like a temp gun, but my husband just bought these when I told him the little stick on temperature strip that came with our tank was no good and that we needed to be able to measure both sides of the tank.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
The thermometer is stuck to the side of the tank, on the inside, right next to the basking spot
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
She has a (fake) log hide and a heating pad is on the underside of the tank on the outside of the tank with the log partly on the heat pad area. I hope that makes sense.
What do you feed your dragon?
Collard greens, kale, cucumber, mango, strawberries, Brussels sprouts, carrot, butternut squash, asparagus. Mainly we give collard greens with a little mango on top because the only thing she has shown interest in is mango. We try to mix it up and see what else she might like.
She gets crickets that we dust with calcium powder, and we sometimes put wax worms in her greens to try to entice her to eat them. We use dubia roaches as well, also dusted. I read it is good to mix up their diet. I’m planning on ordering some phoniex worms because I have read that they have the best calcium to phosphorus ratio for bearded dragons.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
We feed in the morning about 60-90 minutes after we turn on her lights. It’s usually between 9 and 10am. We offer salad first, then whatever live food she is getting that day. We feed live food again usually around 7-8pm. Puff has her salad available all day
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Yes, the crickets are given Flukers orange cubes and the Dubai roaches have this Cheeto looking thing they come with. The wax worms get a few oats.
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
We are using the sample that we got when we got Puff. It is repti calcium without D3. We dust live food each time we feed.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
She poops usually once a day. Sometimes twice
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
We bathed her 2x a week but just yesterday she began to really shed so we have done daily baths. Today we did bath twice, as that seemed to be soothing for her.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
She has a water dish in her tank that is changed out daily
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Not yet. We have a vet in the next town over that has experience with reptiles. We are planning to see the vet when the stay home order is lifted
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
No, she is by herself. Her tank is a glass tank so all the walls are papered over (with just white paper for now) except the front wall. She did not enjoy seeing her reflection.