Hi there. I just purchased our little guy last Monday for my sons 6th birthday. (of course, I am the one doing all the caring for...but my son really loves his new pet!) But, I will admit I was not prepared for how much work a bearded dragon is. I didn't do any research before I bought him. I just went to the pet store and came home with our little guy and a bearded dragon cage kit. So....now you know how much I need to learn! But I have been doing research since the night we brought him home and I feel like I have learned some, but I am still really worried about his health. Our family has fallen in love with this little guy really fast!
So here are my concerns. I don't think the pet store was taking good care of their BD's. They said they "think" he is 5 or 6 months old but he is only 8 inches long from head to tail. Isn't that really small? The only thing the pet store was feeding him was lettuce and carrots and about 5 crickets a day!! Isn't that horrible? They told me crickets were just treats for them and not a main diet. So I was shocked when I came home and started to realize how many crickets I would have to feed him each day.
I now feed him collard and mustard greens each day along with other veggies from the online nutrition guide and I feed him crickets twice a day. He usually eats 20-30 crickets each feeding.
I am also concerned about his substrate. I had him on Alfalfa Meal which came with the bearded dragon cage kit, but I learned that was not healthy for him, so I just switched him to terrarium liner tonight. I am concerned because he has been acting funny since I put it in there. He doesn't seem to like it. Also, it seems like this liner will be hard to clean. The alfalfa meal was easy because I just scooped out the poop. Does anyone know if terrarium liner is easy to clean? How do you do it?
I am using the lighting the cage came with. They are R-Zilla dome lights. It came with a 150 watt day blue light incandescent bulb, a UVB coil bulb, and a night black heat incandescent bulb. The cage is 20L. I also thought this would be big enough for my BD throughout his life because that is what the pet store told me! I now know I need to buy at least a 55 Gal tank when he gets a bit bigger. I have been worried because he rarely sits in his basking area. He spends most of the day on the grapevine that sits in the middle of the cage which is also directly under the UVB light.
I have been worried about dehydration so I have been trying to give a a bath every other day. When you mist BD's do you spray their entire body?
Also, our little guy does not like to be held. I try to hold him every day but he is really wild and trys to get away. Oh, and tonight he fell asleep on the grapevine and every other night he has gone to sleep on the ground. Is that weird? Won't he fall off?
So sorry this is long. I am just so worried! Oh, and we are still working on a name for our "little guy!"
So here are my concerns. I don't think the pet store was taking good care of their BD's. They said they "think" he is 5 or 6 months old but he is only 8 inches long from head to tail. Isn't that really small? The only thing the pet store was feeding him was lettuce and carrots and about 5 crickets a day!! Isn't that horrible? They told me crickets were just treats for them and not a main diet. So I was shocked when I came home and started to realize how many crickets I would have to feed him each day.
I now feed him collard and mustard greens each day along with other veggies from the online nutrition guide and I feed him crickets twice a day. He usually eats 20-30 crickets each feeding.
I am also concerned about his substrate. I had him on Alfalfa Meal which came with the bearded dragon cage kit, but I learned that was not healthy for him, so I just switched him to terrarium liner tonight. I am concerned because he has been acting funny since I put it in there. He doesn't seem to like it. Also, it seems like this liner will be hard to clean. The alfalfa meal was easy because I just scooped out the poop. Does anyone know if terrarium liner is easy to clean? How do you do it?
I am using the lighting the cage came with. They are R-Zilla dome lights. It came with a 150 watt day blue light incandescent bulb, a UVB coil bulb, and a night black heat incandescent bulb. The cage is 20L. I also thought this would be big enough for my BD throughout his life because that is what the pet store told me! I now know I need to buy at least a 55 Gal tank when he gets a bit bigger. I have been worried because he rarely sits in his basking area. He spends most of the day on the grapevine that sits in the middle of the cage which is also directly under the UVB light.
I have been worried about dehydration so I have been trying to give a a bath every other day. When you mist BD's do you spray their entire body?
Also, our little guy does not like to be held. I try to hold him every day but he is really wild and trys to get away. Oh, and tonight he fell asleep on the grapevine and every other night he has gone to sleep on the ground. Is that weird? Won't he fall off?
So sorry this is long. I am just so worried! Oh, and we are still working on a name for our "little guy!"