New owner, need help

[McCoyBeardieNico]

HI there, I need help as I am feeling completely lost. We purchased our BD back in May for our son. He is high functioning autistic, and loves animals, especially reptiles. Caring for Nico(short for Nicol Bolas) has made a big difference for him. I feel like we were given a lot of bad info when we got him. We were told to feed him meal worms and some veggies. He doesn't eat his veggies though, I have tried several different things, yellow squash, zucchini, Brussel sprouts, Bell peppers, a little lettuce, but I was told it's not very nutritional. The only one he ate even a bit of was the Brussel sprouts. Also what is the best supplement to dust his food? Again, I am feeling awful because I had no idea we needed to be doing this. We just upgraded to a new tank as well, 36 x 18 x 20. I am worried the light setup we have isn't enough, or correct. I don't know the complete specifics on the lights, but we have a double light fixture, with one white uvb bulb and one red heat bulb, the red is 100w, I don't know the wattage of the white. We were told to leave the red one on 24/7 and turn the white off at night. I am concerned we are not doing things right, because when I look a pictures of other BD's, Nico seems small. Also he has just recently developed a bump and small curve at the base od his tail, that from research sounds like mbd.

Please help, my son loves his buddy Nico so much, and I want to make sure we are doing what he needs.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Unfortunately pet stores don't give the proper information. Get a bright white basking light and throw a way the red. Get a t5 Reptisun 10.0 long tube for the uvb. Get rid of the coil/compact don't put off the proper amount of uvb that unfortunately is why he sounds like he has developed MBE. Dust his food with calcium 3to 4x a week. You can't reverse it, but you can prevent it from getting worse. Also feed collard, mustard greens, dandelion, turnip greens are all good. Beautiful dragons.com has a list you can go by.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, sorry to hear that Nico is stunted + has MBD. Destiny gave some good advice, get him the bulbs she mentioned....for a white basking bulb you can get halogen bulbs at Walmart or Home Depot [ like a par 38 type white halogen ] . Does he move around alright ? I see him up on the log there [ very nice log by the way ] Can you post a pic of Nico showing his size + bump on his spine better and also show the entire tank ?

For insects, go with crickets , dubia roaches ans Phoenix worms as the staples with mealworms being a small part of the diet.

 

[McCoyBeardieNico]

He seems to get around just fine. As you can see , he likes to climb up onto his log, he gets pretty excited to see us, especially when he can see we are bringing food. I am not home right now, but will try to post some more pics this evening.

When it comes to crickets,how many would you suggest, and do I just put them in there to run around?

 

[Queenofshadows00]

Baby beardies tend to eat more insects than veggies. Try feeding your beardie around 7 small insects a day and a small handful of veggies. As beardies grow up they tend to eat more veggies than insects. Some beardies when they turn juvenile enjoy blueberries (mine doesn't have a sweet tooth so I give him sprouts)

 

[AHBD]

Like was mentioned they need more protein than veggies when young. They actually can easily eat 20-30 or more insects a day as they're growing. To keep the crix from escaping, just take 3-4 at a time , shake them up hard in a jar with a pinch of calcium powder and drop the dizzy + weak crix right near him. As he eats those, repeat until he's had his fill.

 

[McCoyBeardieNico]

Sorry it took so long to get you pics, ended up with a sick little boy too. So I purchased the last reptisun 10.0 T8 that the store had. It's shorter than me tank though, do I need a longer one? I purchased a 150w basking bulb and a ceramic heating one as well, as the room can get a bit chilly this time of year at night. Last night with just that on, his tank got to be about 70, I hope that's okay.

I couldn't get him to cooperate for pics today, he was grumpy and didn't want anything to do with being picked up for pics. But I think you can see the small bump and curve to the base of his tail.

I gave him crickets yesterday, and he LOVED them, ate like 20. I dusted them with repti calcium with d3, I hope that's right?

So far today he doesn't seem all that hungry, but awake and moving around. Still no interest in veggies AT ALL..

 

[AHBD]

That's great, you got a good bulb, good calcium and he ate a good amount. What size were the crickets ? Be SURE they are smaller than the space in bewteen his eyes or it can cause impaction.

Since his tank is so tall and he already has MBD you will need to mount his bulb inside the tank by attaching it underneath the screen. This is easily done, just get some fishing line, wire or something similar and thread it through and attach it like this :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30028/full
See how I have it wired under the screen ? Do it like that so the bulb is closer + not obstructed by the screen.

 

[McCoyBeardieNico]

Thanks, I will do that with the light. Are the other bulbs good, and what about the night temp?

The crickets are fairly small, not tiny but about the same as between his eyes. Should I dust them every day? And I was worried that is the kind with d3, there seems to be mixed info on that.

Also does he seem small? We got him in may, not sure how old he was, but very tiny.

Any advice on getting him to eat veggies? Today we tried endive, mustard greens, yellow squash, yellow Bell pepper and a couple blue berries. He didn't touch any of it.

 

[AHBD]

Yes, your bulbs are good and the night temps. are good. And many baby dragons won't eat much veg., mine that I bred + raised always did because I used to drop tiny pieces in the tank like confetti shower and they would see the movement and pounce on the greens. Then they just learned to like them. So keep a small white paper plate and offer a small amount every few days and one day he'll probably surprise you.