New dragon owner

[Tillygirl]

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.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, it sounds like Puff is in good hands now and you provided a lot of helpful info. Your guesstimate on Puff's age was about right, probably 3 months.. And you are right that the baby needs to be in the tank for most of the day, especially a few hours after eating. So if the desert uvb bulb has plastic over the fixture be sure to take it off. What brand is it ? Can you post pics of everything ? Here's how .

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

BTW, here's a tutorial on keeping spotted salamander's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmAhmZ8LTE8

I don't know if it mentioned it in the video but salamanders can't be handled very much and never handle the salamanders after you put sanitizer on your hands, they absorb toxins through their skin.

 

[KarrieRee]

Welcome to the forum your off to a good start ------------- first thing I want to say is ditch the coil UVB that came w/ the tank -- they are NO good - the tube fixture you have keep it--- what is the bulb in it look at the bulb itself it will tell you the brand - NO Thrive or Zilla --- if its one of those exchange it out for a Reptisun 10.0 T 8--- it will need to go inside the tank w/ NO plastic cover over the bulb it needs to be exposed approx 8-10 inches directly over the basking decor piece --
Next you do not need the heat mat basically they dont do any good unless your dragon gets sick and you can use it then for warmth so hang on to it -- if your tank is getting 65 or below you do not need heat in the tank at nite -- they like cool and dark
You need to go get a digital probe thermometer from petco or petsmart for $6 -- this is a MUST!!!! Your stick ons are not giving accurate basking temps and this is crucial along w/ that UVB!!!!!! They are the most IMPORTANT things in that tank --------------- when you get the digital probe take the probe place it on the basking decor where she sits for 10 minutes then take temp -- you want it 105-110 -- cool side of tank 80's and in the middle of tank warm part around 90's or so ------
Bugs need to be dusted 5 x per week w/ calcium D3 and 2 x per week w/ vitamins Reptivite
I would lay off the waxworms they are fattening -- you can use worms like small super worms silk worms butter worms to entice her to the bowl in the morning first thing - you can also use the BSFL or phoenix worms same thing as a salad topper to get her to the bowl as well - let her see you add these worms to her bowl to get her attention - you will need a glass or ceramic bowl so they cant escape let her eat from her bowl for 1 hr or so then add your dubia roaches to the bowl - I would stick w/ the dubias they are easier to care for - you will not need to dust the BSFL or phoenix worms
Baths do not need to be given every day - in fact I would lay off she is probably going thru relocation stress and that will stress her out more - you can wash or rinse her greens before serving and that will give her water and you can mist her in the tank w/ the shed - if its really bad take a baby soft tooth brush and spray and brush her lightly to loosen it -- do not pick -- it can cause damage --
I am going to give you some websites to order from ---
http://www.dubiaroaches.com great place out of Kansas -- they are currently not shipping roaches as they are trying to replenish stock -- they do have good hornworms - and butter worms when in stock
http://www.reptilesplus.com they are affiliated w/ dubia roaches -- from here you can order dubias and small super worms they are the only place that I know of that carries small supers -- they are out of butter worms as well - you can order BSFL or phoenix worms or calci worms or nutri grubs all the same thing from here as well
http://www.symptonbsf.com good place for the BSFL -- they have a nice glass bowl from there for escape proof but it is spendy I got the xlarge I think it was like $16 -- I know there are other places you can find cheaper I am sure --
http://www.reptilianarts.com good place for silk worms -- if you order in bulk make sure you get food as you will need to feed them every day and clean the containers out of the poop and old food---they are a great staple feeder -- order small and grow them out - you can feed the small ones to the dragon --
http://www.coastilsilkworms.com the east coast was out check the west coast --
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
Next I would get a 10 gallon aquarium and put your dubia roaches in there --- feed them dubia food and things you feed your dragon like squash and carrots -- they like both and carrots are good for hydration -- just dont feed your dragon carrots too to much Vit A feed at nite so they are good and gut loaded for morning feedings---- the BSFL can sit on your counter for 2 weeks or so before turning into flys and then if they do you can feed them to the dragon -- NO meal worms ---- they are too harsh on babies stomachs you can feed when she gets older ---- horn worms are a good hydrating worm and they grow really fast and big so order small amounts if ordering them --
If you have any more questions please ask but for the most part you got it --- just get rid of the coil UVB ---- also the HH bulb your using is fine as long as its keeping your basking temps to what I had posted and that MUST be taken w/ a digital probe --- a infrared heat gun is good to have as well and you can get them from your local home improvement store ---
Happy shopping
Karrie

 

[Tillygirl]

Hi! Thank you both so much for reading all of that and responding!

I have removed the coil UVB bulb. I had no idea that it wasn’t okay. They really should not sell those to people as a UVB for bearded dragons. The tube light is a a reptisun dessert UVB 10.0 18 inch. I put it in a fluorescent fixture with the plastic covering removed. I’ve slid the tube UV from the middle of her tank to above the basking spot and raised it so it is above the basking spot. Oh! We have a screen lid we put on the tank at night or if we aren’t in the same room as Puff, but we leave it off during most of the day.

I will order some calcium with D3 and a multivitamin. Is the calcium without D3 okay until I get the other?

I will get a better thermometer either today or tomorrow. In the meantime would the infrared no touch thermometer I use to take my daughter’s temp give a more accurate reading than the dials hubby bought?

Thank you for the salamander information. I’ve tried to be diligent and keep Claire from holding them, but it’s hard to convince an overly enthusiastic 9 year old of that. We’ve had the salamanders for almost 2 years now. The two that died were pretty sickly when she found them. One —Tabby—was paralyzed from the middle down, so my daughter hand fed her and would have to help remove sheds. Losing Tabby was really devastating, especially with the upset to my daughters routine because of Covid.

I’m going to try to post some pictures.
Here is a view of her tank after I removed the coil bulb and slid the Tube UV bulb over to her basking spot.

Here is a picture of her warm side of her tank. It has her hide log, her branch thing and a hammock my daughter made. This is taken before I removed the coil UV and slid the tube UV down.

This is her in her hammock, you can see her branch thing a little bit, too.

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/21007/full

And this is a picture of her eating some mango.

Thank you for the list of reputable websites to order food from. I thought that Dubias would freak me out, but they freak me out less than the crickets do. I hate crickets. We have to keep some crickets regardless of if we feed them to Puff because we volunteered to take the class tarantula home when school closed. I thought it would be for like two weeks, not for months and months. ??‍ Works don’t bother me too much, either. Really it’s just the crickets I don’t like. They jump and I’m always freaking out that they are going to get out.

I’ll turn off the heat mat as well.

Thank you guys for all the advice!

 

[AHBD]

Looks pretty good for the most part. Can you post a pic of your screen ? If it has the larger holes it would be best to put the Reptisun uvb on top. To incrrease uvb reflection you can put a piece of aluminum foil in the fixture behind the bulb.

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok the UVB needs to either go directly overhead w/ NO reflector in the fixture approx 4-6 inches --- if you get a fixture w a reflector it needs to be directly overhead 8-10 inches from basking decor- the reflector maximizes the rays of the UVB -- w/ out it and being not close its not going to do much good you can get a fixture from petco or petsmart ---
or you can do this
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=252370
it will tell you how to use the tin foil
Karrie

 

[AHBD]

Please post a pic of the screen, you really need to have it on because your baby can easily climb out in a minute. The reason I asked to see the size of the holes is because the uvb goes through quite well with the large hole screen, the screen with window type mesh blocks a lot more.

 

[Tillygirl]

The screen lid is being kept on her tank now. It’s small mesh so I don’t think light goes through it well. The UVB is in the tank, so hopefully that is okay.

Here is a picture of the screen.

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/21008/full

Hubby put foil on the UV fixture. Thermometers, vitamins and calcium with D3 is ordered and can be picked up tomorrow. ?

Hopefully I’m getting everything straightened out and haven’t caused any damage in the last two weeks. ?

 

[AHBD]

No, you haven't done any harm. Is the uvb in the same spot ? Ideally it should be from above rather than the side.

 

[Tillygirl]

Thank you for the reassurance I haven’t done any harm.

It’s as close to over the basking spot as I can get it without blocking the heat bulb. I’m not sure how to arrange things to fit both directly over.

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/21011/full

Also, should we have a second climbing thing/hide on the cool side of her tank?

 

[AHBD]

You could put it on top of the screen, since it's so close to her basking spot and you have a reflector it would produce a decent amount of uvb. And you don't need another piece of decor on the other side, maybe when she's bigger.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, the tube bulb needs a fixture encircling it so that it can directly shine the UVB down
onto her.
She looks happy there in the picture. I think she will be fine but should do even better with
the lighting placement improvements.

Keep us posted on her.

Tracie

 

[WinFam01]

I'm a newbie so I'll leave the husbandry stuff to the vets, but wanted to say congrats on your new addition!
You sound kind of like me, got a dragon for my kids and found myself fascinated.
I love that Claire is into reptiles, so cute!

 

[Feetlover01]

Haven't seen anyone mention the carpet so thought I add. The repti carpet i was always told isnt good. Nails get stuck even if its been washed a few things. Worse of all holds alot of bacteria. I had a bad learning experience using it with my first beardie that isn't here with us. I have 3 baby's so I use shop paper towels. But like tiles an easy liner for flooring. Just thought give you a helping hand. Maybe avoid a issue down the road. One thing I learned is a clean tank an food is a healthy dragon.