New Member of the Family (Questions and pics inside)

[Drewhop]

For a lil while now I have been doing research on what our next pet would be. I have been looking for local breeders and possibly attending a reptile show. I happen to be searching craiglist and typed in bearded dragon. One came up local and for a great rehoming price. I sent a few messages and it seemed that the animal had been well taken care of the owner just felt it was time to move on cause they did not have the time that they used to to take care of it. Works for me.
So few days ago we picked the beardie up. We got two lamps a 55 gallon aquarium as well as a 120 gallon aquarium. The lamp with the uvb bulb had broken when they brought the enclosure outside when I was picking up so I had to pick up a new bulb. (Mistake one) I had remembered reading that one of the repti bulbs was good and one was bad. I bought the bad one thinking it was the good one. I bought a reptiglo 10. uvb bulb. I hope it will be good until this weekend when I can go purchase another. If anyone thinks this is a ok bulb let me know before I spend another 15-30 dollars on another bulb. I am not worried about the price I just want the best bulb for our dragon.

The beardie we got is between 12-14 inches and was slightly angry when we brought him home. Gave us a few black beards and we were little questionable on how much handling he may have recieved. Today we let him sit in his nice new warm enclosure and this evening when I got off work he was happy to let me pick him up and spent about a hour sitting on my lap and walking around my couch with me.

I am going to post a few pics of him sitting on my lap as well as his enclosure.
The enclosure is 4x2x2 . I have a hide on on the cold end that is made out of tupperware. Home made cause I could not find anything in the store big enough for him. Other end we put a couple of rocks that we had boiled for our fish tanks that we never used in them. I boiled them again just for safe measure for about 3 hours. (Yes I forgot about them while spending time with the lizard.)
We plan on making a nice background soon.
Any help about enclosure ideas as well as lighting would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

So without further rambling here are few pics.

Enclosure

Upclose Pic

Checking the camera out.

 

[Drewhop]

Oh we are also having a problem coming up with a name. Any ideas would be great.

 

[lacy_black]

He's lovely, reminds me of a moon beam.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello and Congrats on your new beardie He is very sweet looking!

That's too bad you bought the wrong bulb! The one that you want is the ReptiSun 10.0, which if you cannot find locally you can get online here http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html
If you kept the packaging for the other one you could possibly return it for a refund.

If you want to go over your set up...we can make sure everything is up to par!

What watt and type basking bulb are you using?
What are the temps on both basking and coolside?
What are you measuring temps with?

I noticed the colored bulb...it is recommended to stay away from those. All they need is the uvb and a bright white basking bulb.

 

[leelasmom]

Wow, very good looking dragon! :mrgreen:

If you go to the DIY forum here, you can find lots of good ideas about substrates (like making one out of tile) and browse through pics of some really awesome viv's.

*KUDOS* to you for doing careful research before making your decision about getting a beardie.
You may have already noticed that there are many rescued beardie stories here...mainly because there are quite a few people who DON'T look into caring for beardies prior to getting one. :x
So, good for you...I just wanted to say that!

 

[vickson420]

Hi
Congrats on the new fella.Tank looks great just one comment because I didnt see it,do you have a digital thermometer with a probe or an infared temp gun to measure the temps?If no then you will need one of those as they do require specific basking SURFACE temp of 95-105F and cool end air temp of 75-80F.
The beardie is very cute.I love the markings and coloration.He actually kind of reminds me of my Drago .
He definately needs to be fattened up and does look a tad dehydrated so you will want to be sure to get him in the bath.Here is a good website for appropriate veggies to give him:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
Do you know how old e is? Did you get any vitamins and calcium for him yet?

 

[zebraflavencs]

Call Him Moon shadow !
Lovely boy !
Janie.

 

[Drewhop]

I will try and answer all the questions as best as possible.

I do have a probe thermometer it is in the back right the crinkled looking wire. But I went to a reptile show today and found the tempgun.com laser thermometer that I was getting ready to order.

My basking light is a 100 watt reptisun. I think I may need to go a little bigger cause as of right now I am only getting basking temps of around 88-91 degrees. I tried to move the light a lil closer to him but it does not want to hang at the correct angle. My other solution may be that I am going to possibly build a styrafoam/grout bridge to bring him closer to the light.

The colored bulb is a heat bulb. I only bought it cause my night time temps were dropping to low. Without the ambient temperature was getting close to 70 degrees. With the heat bulb It is staying ambient around 75-78 on the cold side. Is there a better way to regulate the temps at night?
Heating this 120 Gallon Aquarium is harder then maintaining my thermoregulation for my leopard geckos lol.

Veggies wise he has been pretty picky. I have tried mustard greens/colared greens/ acorn squash and he has only nibbled on the acorn squash. Has not touched any of the greens yet. He loves strawberries tho but I know I am only supposed to feed those occosionally.We did let him snack on a few super worms and meals worms. Figured a lil extra treats wont hurt much. Tomorrow I will give him some more crickets with some repti vitamin and calcium.

As for supplements. I currently have 3 different types of calcium. I have calcium with D3. I have just calcium with no d3. And calcium with phosphate. I have only been giving the regular calcium for right now. I just bought the reptical vitamin supplement today at the reptile show. I wanted to see what was the best for him so I bought all of them just to be sure. I had calcium with d3 for my leopard geckos already.

We have also had him since Wednesday. Since then he has received 2 baths. We are going to give him another bath tomorrow cause he got strawberry and squash juice all over his face tonight.

Any recommendations for getting a little bit higher surface temps. My only worry about making the styrafoam/grout got the ideas from this website. http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/index.html is that they wont hold the heat in the rock as well as the real rocks are. I have never used styrafoam but I would not think it would hold temps well. I would love to raise the rocks up higher but I do not feel they would be stable enough if I elevate them anymore. He seems to be pretty strong and I would hate to have a collapse on him.

Here are a few more pics we snapped about 20 minutes ago.

We also came up with a name I would like you all to meet Apollo.

Yeah this is my good side

Yep I can still see you

Thanks for the help and look forward to helping someone in the future.

 

[vickson420]

Ok glad you have a therm just wanted to make sure.I am a bit confused about your basking bulb though,are you sure its reptiSUN not repti-Glo?Reptisun is a UVB bulb and either comes in a tube or a coil/compact.If its the coil compact not only wont it give off heat but its dangerous so I recommend turning it off asap.For nightime heating you might be baetter off with a ceramic heat emitter as they dont give off any light so it wont disrupt the sleep pattern as the colored bulbs do in some cases.You do only need that if your temps fall below 65F otherwise you need not worry about using either the CE or the colored bulb.You will also want to make sure that your basking spot is high enough so that you beardie is getting within 6-8 inches of the UVB except of course when using an MVB bulb.This will also help you get those temps regulated a bit easier.As for the calcium ,big NO on the one with phosphates.Phosphates are harmful to beardies so be sure not to use it.You will want to use the one with D3.The one without should really only be used if using an MVB bulb.Last thing is he is a very handsome guy and I love he name!

 

[Drewhop]

I am sorry for the confusion. My basking light is a Exo-Terra SunGlo Basking Spot Lamp rated for 100 watts.

I am trying to find this bulb locally but my local pet stores do not have them.
http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html

I do have one question about the above bulb tho. How many watts does this bulb need to be so I can make sure I get the right one for the size of my aquarium.
I am also making a lid for him this week and need to incorparate the size of the light fixtures into the lid.

 

[vickson420]

I am sorry for the confusion. My basking light is a Exo-Terra SunGlo Basking Spot Lamp rated for 100 watts.

I am trying to find this bulb locally but my local pet stores do not have them.
http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html

I do have one question about the above bulb tho. How many watts does this bulb need to be so I can make sure I get the right one for the size of my aquarium.
I am also making a lid for him this week and need to incorparate the size of the light fixtures into the lid.

Hi
Thanks for clearing that I up.That is the correct UVB bulb you need.It doesnt come in watts per say there is only one wattage(per length) in regards to that but it does come in different lengths(wattage changes for each).You want to order the one that will cover 1/2 to 3/4 of you tan in length so if you have a 36 inch long tank then order a 24 inch bulb.Also your going to need a fixture for it as well which you can get from the hardware store or online.I actually recommend you arder the bulb online it will be much cheaper then what you will pay in the pet shops.Make sure whatever fixture you get fits the bulb length you order and is a T8 fixture.

 

[Drewhop]

So with my 48" tank I need at least 36" bulb. I am going out hunting tonight for a bulb again see if I can find one locally for online price if not I will order online. Luckily next few days it is going to be sunny and I can let Apollo hang out on the porch for a few hours.

 

[MyLittleFoot]

great looking beardie and the name fits

 

[vickson420]

So with my 48" tank I need at least 36" bulb. I am going out hunting tonight for a bulb again see if I can find one locally for online price if not I will order online. Luckily next few days it is going to be sunny and I can let Apollo hang out on the porch for a few hours.

Yes that would be the best length however you could get away with a 24 inch if you cant find the 36 inch.Great that Apollo can get some natural uvb/light just be careful out there with him as he can bolt like a flash should he get startled.You can get a leash or even put him in an enclosure(not glass) but do make sure he has a place to escape the sun as well if he is going ot be out there for a long time.Good Luck.

 

[Drewhop]

So with my 48" tank I need at least 36" bulb. I am going out hunting tonight for a bulb again see if I can find one locally for online price if not I will order online. Luckily next few days it is going to be sunny and I can let Apollo hang out on the porch for a few hours.

Yes that would be the best length however you could get away with a 24 inch if you cant find the 36 inch.Great that Apollo can get some natural uvb/light just be careful out there with him as he can bolt like a flash should he get startled.You can get a leash or even put him in an enclosure(not glass) but do make sure he has a place to escape the sun as well if he is going ot be out there for a long time.Good Luck.

Three straights days of just taking him outside for a few hours and he is honestly a completely different beardie. We have a leash on him when he is outside and my wife or son have ahold of the leash at all times.

My uvb bulb is on the way right now from Reptile Supply.

Our garage has been taken over by building a basking platform as well as another hide. Soon our beardie will be living in his own little palace.