New family member

[SouthernCouple]

Hello,

We got our first beardie on 1-14-14. We named he/she Deszeld, which means ambitious, dragon, fierce, lord/lady.
We are going to call he/she (Zeld) for short. Zeld is 5 1/2 inches long so the chart we found said age is 2 months.

Any thoughts on what type Zeld is?

Our set up is a 10 gal. basic desert kit we got from Petco.
It came with a screen lid, 2- 5.5" dome light fixtures, day white light spot/heat/UVA bulb, night black heat bulb, terrarium liner and a humidity/temperature gauge.

What didn't come with it we bought: like dishes, 2 more temperature gauges, log to bask on and another 5.5" light dome for the 13w UVB bulb we got. Also we got calcium powder, a terrarium background and a timer power cord by Aqualight. It has 8 outlets, 2 for day, 2 for night and 4 for constant-power.

The light layout is night black left-side, middle 13w UVB and right-side day white light. See photo.

The temperature/humidity gauges are reading: left-side 71F, middle humi./temp. 40%/88F and the right-side reads 82F.

So far all Zeld has eaten is mealworms and crickets. I feed Zeld 2-3 times a day but not sure
if that is to often. Each feeding is 2-3 mealworms and 3 crickets.
What isn't eaten before lights out, gets taken out.
I'm offering Zeld carrots, broccoli and fresh water.
Zeld is eating and pooping and loves to be held!

We would like feedback on a good feeding schedule, how to make the setup hotter, should we feed spinach (someone said no to that. Said it would kill him/her) and what is the best way to stop Zeld from seeing his/her reflection! Any help is welcome!

 

[Nattyklis]

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/newbies-guide-what-to-buy/
If you haven't looked at this you may want to. You need to get rid of a few things and gain some others.

 

[zandi202]

Cute baby!

At only 5 ½" I would guess him/her to be younger than two months. I've noticed that most beardies are 8" at two months old.

As for what s/he is, unless you bought them from a breeder, there is no way of telling. Morphs are typically leatherback, silk back, etc. S/he doesn't seem to be either of those, but cute all the same.

 

[SouthernCouple]

At the pet store Zeld was tagged as a fancy beardie.
We looked at some pictures and the best one we saw that matched was called a "Citrus Tiger".

 

[zandi202]

No clue. You could try posting a pic in general and asking people.

 

[itsfish321]

what uvb light did you end up getting. look into the reptisun 10.0 and mounting it in the cage, might have to move up to a 20g though. i had trouble with some lights for my beardie, check out my intro im also new to having a beardie and ours look alot alike. arent they great

 

[SouthernCouple]

Itsfish, I got Exo Terra 13W reptile UVB 150. And yes, they are fun! Deszeld (Zeld) loves to be held. I try to hold him/her at least twice a day!

 

[DixieLonestar20x]

You should go to a tube style UVB bulb and do away with what you have. By the fixture, I am assuming you are using a compact coil style UVB. These have been shown to cause problems with beardies. They not only do not put out enough UVB but also tend to damage their eyes.

A 10 is fine for now...but you might as well start checking your local craigslist or something for something bigger. I start mine out in a 20 gallon as a baby/juvie and I build my own vivariums but I usually swap them to a 4x2x2 by the time they are about 9-12 inches tip to tail.

As far as what it is, like already posted it is hard to tell. They labeled it a fancy because it was lighter than what they normally see. He MIGHT have some citrus down the line some where but there is no way of telling. You would be lucky to find a citrus tiger in Petco or Petsmart though as they is a higher breed and a breeder that is producing those isn't going to be a petco supplier. It is possible to find leatherbacks at petco and petsmart but that is about as far as it goes.


-Justin

 

[SouthernCouple]

Justin, I will be getting a bigger tank from my neighbor that she used to foster a BD in. She said the size is a 30/40gal. and she has the set up. It's up in her attic and needs time and help to get it down. She works a lot at a vet's office. I'm lucky & happy to have someone so close to me if I need help. My husband and I know that to find a citrus tiger at Petsmart would be really lucky but it was just a thought from a picture we saw. :lol:
Can you explain what you mean with the 4x2x2.

 

[Gizmosgranny]

Zeld is adorable. Our Gizmo loves his mesh hammock. We set it up in the basking spot where the temp is 105 he/she lives it. We will be moving Gizmo to a 50 gal tank as soon as our UVB light and fixture arrive. We got Gizmo almost a month ago and he/she has grown almost 3 inches and has shed twice. They grow fast. This site is an awesome resource. Congratulations.

 

[Spikeshuman]

Actually.. Petsmarts "fancy" dragons can have any number of interesting morphs. I have seen leather backs.. a silk back, red dragons, pastel dragons, and citrus dragons.