Hi there,
First, I would just like to say I'm SO sorry that the pet store led you astray. It is an all too common scenario I'm afraid, and one we ourselves fell into. Your story was eerily similar to our own, right down to the bearded dragon being for your son... our family began this adventure last fall when our son was 7 and wanted a beardie ever so badly. It wasn't a day, before we were
all in love with her. I'm going to go about addressing your concerns one and by one:
bjweb":b0b89 said:
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!
When we first made this same realization, it was VERY overwhelming, but it's been several months now, and the routine is pretty much ingrained, so hang in there.
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.
It wouldn't be the first time that a pet store employee hazards a guess as to beardie's age and was way off. That said, if a beardie is not properly cared for (as to diet, temps, and UVB), this can certainly slow/stunt their growth, so it's difficult to determine exact age. In general, we would say that a beardie of 8 inches is about 9-10 weeks old. Here is a reputable growth chart for your reference:
http://www.dachiu.com/beardeddragoncare/growthcharts.html.
The pet store was certainly not feeding the beardie near enough, and the food they were giving him (as you've now learned), was not ideal. The nutrition chart you refer to, I assume you are talking about "Beautiful Dragons?" Just in case, here it is again:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html.
He seems to be eating well for now, which is a relief to me actually, given the
UVB light they sent you home with (more on that later). Are you supplementing with calcium and multi-vites? You will want to dust 5 meals per week with calcium, and 1- 2 meals per week with multi-vites.
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?
When you say terrarium liner, what is the actual substance? Is it Repti-Carpet, or a type of smooth material? If it's the latter, I wonder if your dragon is simply not feeling well grounded, as when they are small and light, they need a certain amount of 'texture' to help them grip. If you're concerned about his comfort and about cleaning it, you might just as well take it out and plop in some good old paper towel which is easy for them to get around on, and super easy cleaning... just toss and replace.
As to picking up poop, I just use some tissue to scoop it up and remove, and then wipe the surface with a rag and vinegar water afterward.
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.
This is the part where things tend to get sticky. The fact is, the pet supply industry is not well regulated. There are just way too many lights out there available that are not good quality, and can even do harm to beardies (we learned this the hard way).
For the basking bulb, you will want a BRIGHT WHITE incandescent bulb, which can be a pet store basking type, or just a plain old household bulb or flood, provided it gives you proper temps which for a juvenile are: basking, 105-110, mid 85-90 and cool side, about 80. I find the household floods tend to give off more heat per watt and also spread the light a bit better. A bright white bulb offers your dragon UVA, and also will guard his eyes from the UVB rays, which even with a quality bulb, can be harsh. For a 20 gallon, I believe a 60w bulb would do nicely. Room temps of course will either drive up or down your temps, so gauging temps closely is important. With that...
May I ask, with what and how are you going about gauging temps? This is another place that pet stores tend to lead us astray. Mainly, it's important to know the three types of temperatures in the tank (see above paragraph), and the only way to gauge them accurately (in particular, the basking temps), is with a digital WITH probe type thermometer (or temp gun, but those tend to be more pricey). This way, a probe end can be placed directly under the heat bulb/on the basking surface (leave for 45 minutes before reading temp), in order to discern what is going on for beardie directly under the light. Too high of temps can cause rapid dehydration, too low and beardie will likely have digestion issues. Pet stores tend to send people home with dial stick on types which not only are useless in taking basking temps, they also have a tendency to be up to 20 degrees off, either way. When we compared ours to the probe, it was a good 15 degrees off. *sigh* A tip: WalMart carries an inexpensive, quality digital with probe thermometer for around $12. It's made by Acu-Rite. It's usually in the hardware area, with the extension cords, outlet attachments, plug timers, household (indoor and outdoor) thermometers.
The UVB you are using is the biggest concern. The coil bulbs have been linked to everything from poor appetite, lethargy, eye issues, slow/stunted growth and at worst, radiation poisoning. Here is a thread/WITH LINK that will explain more: [ Invalid URL Removed / p= t=65424 f=1 ]. It will need a strip fluorescent fixture which can be found at an online pet store, regular pet store OR, less expensively at your local hardware store. Your beardie will be fine without UVB temporarily, if you need to wait for the ReptiSun in the mail. The rule is, better NO UVB (temp), than poor UVB. There are two other tubes I can recommend that are safe, but both are just "ok" in terms of UVB emissions, and as they tend to cost about the same on-line, it's worth it to get the ReptiSun 10.0 tube.
As to the enclosure, yes... he will need a larger tank eventually. A 40 gallon is actually the minimum size. The 55 are nice also, longer but not as deep as the 40 gallon, so they are somewhat of a toss up. When it was coming time to grow into a new tank, we checked Craigslist every day for about 2 weeks I believe, looking for a 40 breeder and we got one for about $40. I'd suggest going that route as you have some time to work with there.
As to him avoiding the basking area. I wonder if it's the 150w light. That seems awfully much for a 20 gallon. Could be too hot. Another reason could be the coil bulb, as they offer rather harsh light. One very typical thing that beardie's do when exposed to these bulbs, is attempt to hide from them. I should say with that then, that when you are able to get a ReptiSun 10.0 tube, and bright white basking bulb, you will want to align the basking bulb and the UVB tube as follows:
______________UVB tube
0 basking bulb
...so that beardie has benefit of both bulbs while basking for optimum calcium processing, and thorough digestion. Also, as I mentioned before the bright white light from the basking bulb will guard beardies eyes from the UVB.
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?
Bathing every other day should keep your beardie sufficiently
hydrated.
Misting is a nice supplement, but dragons take most of their water in at the vent (where they poop
). Misting the whole body is fine, in fact it will be more of
hydration aid if beardie drinks any drops that fall around his mouth. How is the humidity in the tank? Should be running 30-50%.
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?
Sounds like he's a wiggly one. It may take some time for him to calm, as he probably not used to being handled. I would handle regularly, but not
too often to start. One thing you can do is simply place a hand in the enclosure and allow him to explore you a bit, get used to your presence. As to the sleeping, it's pretty typical. Imaginative sleeping positions are something beardie's are rather known for. When our girl was a tyke, she preferred her vine as well. She still tries to lay on it now, but it tumbles underneath her. LOL Fatty that she is. One thing you will notice is that once beardie is asleep, he rarely moves a muscle. We never had a problem with her sleeping on the vine. Anymore, she insists on a cuddle and a blanky, so she was much less maintenance back then. LOL
So sorry this is long. I am just so worried! Oh, and we are still working on a name for our "little guy!"
I hear you. You have excellent beardie instincts already. Took me a bit longer to clue in, and to allow all the new/correct information sink in, and our beardie was struggling under a compact light for longer than I'd like to admit. *sigh* She has thankfully made a full recovery, and is thriving well now.
I hope this helps.
Hang in there!
The best,
Em