Picked up my first beardie last night, he's 2 years old and called Steve.
Trying to sort out his lifestyle as he is not pooing unless put in a warm bath.
I have changed the UV light strip, altered the temp on the lamp as when I put a thermometer on the basking stone it went off the scale at over 130 degrees, and I have also changed his diet from crickets and spinich to locusts covered in calcium powder and savoy cabbage. Going to change the substrate on friday from play sand to calcium sand, friday as the local exotic petshop is getting some in then.
I believe he hasn't had a poo for a couple of days now and think if he hasn't had one by the time I get home tomorrow after work then i'll have to give him a bath.
Was really excited to see his response when I put the locusts in his tank - WOW!!!! they can certainly move!!!!
One thing I will ask is I have turned the temp down on the habistat to the point where the bulb will go out and it is still reading 100 degrees on the basking stome and yet the habistat is reading 76 degrees - any idea why? the bulb is 60 watt.
Any advice or help will be really appreciated as I want to make sure I am doing things right.
:wave: Hello & Welcome to BD.org!
And... Congratulations!
Lighting and temps are the trickiest part of being a beardie slave.
What type of device are you measuring your temps with?
If it's a dial type thermometer or a tape strip then it is most likely giving you an incorrect
reading as I have found those types to be off as much as 20*.
Here's a link that I also found helpful it has some nutritional values for some live feeders.
Also gives you care sheets for these feeders; http://www.feedersinc.com/insect-comparison/
If you are wanting to have sand as a substrate keep the play sand. Calci Sand can lead to a fatal impaction. In all honesty though your best bet would be non adhesive shelf liner, repti carpet, or even newspapers or paper towels. Good luck!
Going to keep the play sand as a few have suggested to keep it.
I have sorted out the temp, dawned on me the probe for the habistat was quite far away from the basking area so temp reading lower so wattage goes up thus creating a hotter basking spot.
Just given him a bath and yippee!!!! he has had a poo, first in a week, first one I have experienced and not what i expected, but then didn't really know what too expect. Is it quite normal to push out a little white sack before brown ones?