New Owner, New Baby, Jealous Wife.

[JoshK]

We just moved to upstate New York.

When we relocated (only from an hour away) we decided to turn our 55 gallon fish tank into a reptile habitat.

Like I imagine most people do we went to Petco and asked some questions and came home with what we thought was proper stuff.

Dome lamp / stand / bulb
calcium substrate
uva bulbs 2x 18"
calcium spray supplement
multivitamin powder
2x glass thermometers
misc rocks/logs
Crickets

The guy told us that in a 55 gallon (48/13/21) or something like that we could probably have 4 or 5. Yes I know now that my tank is not sufficient for an adult and will work on building an enclosure or picking up a proper one from CL.. anyways..

I went home and set up the tank and went back about 6 hours later to get ONE dragon. At least I was smart enough to only bring one home. I bought some crickets the guy said give it 4 in the morning and 4 at night.

Got him home and measured him as 6" and 9g.

Today 6/12/10 is day 2 and quite the difference.

I've been lurking this forum for hours last night, and all day today (except for running around everywhere to get proper equipment) and learning everything that was wrong.

Went to walmart and got a digital thermometer with a probe. They did not stock the brand that everybody recommends (accu something?) but I picked one up anyways for the immediate. The highest point piece of wood seems to be a steady 111. It has climbed up there a bit but mostly hangs out on the lower piece of wood like he is on in this image. (We don't know if it's she/he yet and don't have a name).

After going through all the effort of putting in the sand, I removed it today and put in reptile carpet. I'm thinking tomorrow instead I will buy some 12"x12" tiles.

I ordered 1k crickets from ghanns and a case thing from them also. Anybody have suggestions on a mix to feed them?

I gave it a bath today and saw it drink some water for the first time. I think I had the water a bit too cool, 84. I was using a medicine dropper for my kid to sprinkle water all over it.

I've been trying desperately to get him to eat the crickets in a small tote container we have but it refuses. He'll eat a couple in his tank if he can get them before they crawl under the reptile carpet. Sometimes he evens lets them crawl on him. I'm quite worried about this.

Realizing he needs to be closer to the uva bulbs which are currently replacing stock 18" aquarium hood lights I've started building him a fake rock so he has another high spot. I have the structure built and will get the grout tomorrow.. I don't even know what grout is.

Wow I'm rambling like crazy. My wife is super jealous.. she asked "when we go to bed tonight should I stick out my tounge?"

I responded.. hunny you should do that every night.

She sighed and said "no I meant like the lizard"

 

[beardie parents]

Welcome! The digital with probe that you were mentioning is the accurite. It's about $12. At our local store, I've only seen that one that would work. Sometimes certain Walmart stores carry things that our store doesn't.

I see little boxes that says "image" I'm assuming that means you tried to post pictures. If so, I can't see them.

 

[ArchiesFamily]

Congratulations on the new little guy/gal. Don't worry about him not eating right away. You may have seen as you were looking around the site they can go through relocation stress and not eat for a week or more. Just keep trying.

 

[JoshK]

Congratulations on the new little guy/gal. Don't worry about him not eating right away. You may have seen as you were looking around the site they can go through relocation stress and not eat for a week or more. Just keep trying.

Okay thanks.. I just want him to grow big and strong and I'm so afraid of doing something wrong to make him sick.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Welcome to your new addiction.
Dont worry about feeding in the tank it isnt evil....lol
I use non adheasive shelf liner in my tanks because it tends to lay flat and it easy to clean.
Tiles work great to.
Remember this is a process not an instant thing.

 

[JoshK]

I laid down 16 6"x6" tiles today and the crickets are having trouble hiding woohoo!

there is a small slot down the back and one of the sides that they can gather in but little do they know that the beardie can get them there.

Also we had the first poop in bath today.

I texted my wife.. she didn't seem as thrilled as me.

I'm quickly becoming obsessed.

 

[arrowwalk]

There are very few things as exciting as a new dragon in the house. If it helps my dragon is 2 now and he will not eat unless he is in his tank. I have even tried putting him in a smaller tank with the same style flooring to make feeding easier and he just looks at me. I put him back into his tank and he eats like I haven't feed him in 3 months. I found tongs to be a great way to feed mine to help me with the escaping crickets. I got mine at work (I am the evil petco employee lol). One day I will change everyones oppinion of them petco employees lol.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Hello and welcome.

 

[Sapphire]

Also we had the first poop in bath today.

I texted my wife.. she didn't seem as thrilled as me.

I'm quickly becoming obsessed.

Welcome to bearded dragon parenthood. Haha. I weird out my friends by talking about dragon poop sometimes. Unfortunately my baby has had worms since I got him, after two trips to the vet and two runs of medicine, we still can't seem to get rid of the darn things, so it's important for me to keep an eye on his poop for any changes...

When I first got my baby, he barely ate anything for the first week or two that I had him. The most he ate was 10 crickets in one day. Now he eats 100+ crickets a day (I've had him for two months, he's about 10" long). So don't worry, soon you'll have a hard time feeding him enough!

I ordered 1k crickets from ghanns and a case thing from them also. Anybody have suggestions on a mix to feed them?

I assume you mean on what to feed the crickets? I give mine Fluker's cricket feed and Fluker's cricket quencher, and occasionally some oranges. They aren't picky.