new to bd.org

[southernempire]

would just like to say hello to everyone and introduce ourselves. my name is jason. my girlfriend and i recently bought a four year old dragon. i used many sites to research the care and behavior of these amazing guys, but found this site to be the best.

after countless hours of research and considering myself informed, we picked up anisah from a co-worker of my girlfriends, and was very shocked to find the habitat she had been kept in. she had been kept in a 55 gallon tank, basking temp was about 60 degress F, and was feed 3-4 crickets every few days. dried pellet food was offerd, but i was told never touched. i was also told she had little to no interaction with the ecception of the neighborhood kids peering through the glass on occasion.

after seeing the deplorable situation, i had to rescuse ths dragon. we picked her up at a fair price with the whole set up. after new lights, a diet of greens everyday, she is eating 20-30 crix or superworms 3 times a week, with a pinkie on the weekends as a treat. i handle her as much as i can, and in the 2 weeks we have had her she has gone from a liethargic lizard, to a fully animated dragon.

thanks to eveybody that has ever posted useful info , it has helped make the life of one beardie more healthy and satisfing.

 

[shortygirl]

Hey Jason, welcome to BD.org!

Glas to hear you've rescued your girl, sounds like she'll be much happier with you!

Why don't you go ahead & copy/paste the Important Information sticky here so we can double check your set-up to make sure she's getting everything she needs. After being neglected for so long, she's going to need some extra TLC.

Also (this is just my opinion) I'd hold off on pinkies until you know her systems are all working correctly. If she's in any way sickly or malnurished, it can be hard on her to digest. Once she's healthy, you can offer her some (although I don't personally use them, others here do...)

~Michelle

 

[Chris]

once shes put on some weight, adults are healthiest on a restricted amount of protien, they should be 85-90 percent vegetarian.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
...incase u dont have it yet,..

pinkies shouldnt be fed more than fortnightly, with other live feeders reduced on teh day fo the pinky and the following day. and make sure shes well hydrated to help digestion and passing things.
too much protien creates too much stress on their liver or kidneys or something.

basking temps need to be between 100-110F to be able to digest, adults seem to prefer the cooler end of that,...

but anyway, sounds like ur doing a great job with her,..!!
congrats on making the life of one unhappy beardy worth living,..!!

do u have a good UVB light fro her? what brand is it and how old?
its one of the most important things in a beardys tank, without it bone density decreases to a point where they cant lift themselves and muscles start to waste,..

 

[southernempire]

thanks shorty and chris, i will find the info very useful. we just had our first case of impaction this week. i reduced the amount of live prey, but tried roaches and i dont think they went over too well. she loved them, but i think that may be what gave her problems. anyone else have the same problem with roaches?? i have read about mealworms giving some trouble, which i also feed the same day as roaches.
all is well now, she past a stool this morning ( although a bit runny) which she hadent since the end of last week, and is once again active. i will continue with the daily bath and massages for a few more days just to make sure everything is good.
to answer your question about the uv lighting, i just got her a repti-sun 10 when i got her.
thanks again for the info and help, anything more i can learn is always good, so if you have more , please let me know.

 

[shortygirl]

Roaches are (from everything I've read & experianced) an excellant feeder. Like Chris mentioned, as an adult, she should be primarily eating salad. I feed my adult bugs 3x a week, in small amounts (like 5-7 supers or large roaches), but he gets a nice big salad, sometimes 2x a day! :shock:

Mealies on the other hand are bad for beardies at any age. They have alot of hard outer shell (chitin) and not enough meat to make them worth it for a dragon. An insectivore (like my leopard geckos) is "designed" to handle this, but a beardies system can't digest the outer shell & it can cause impactions, particularly in young dragons who have a "kink" in their digestive tract; in older ones it's not so much the impaction risk as that it's just a poor feeder to use.

Roaches, I believe, actually have less exo-skeleton than crickets (or it's more easily digested). They are the closest captive feeder to their natural diet, which is extremely diverse, and probably consists of slower moving bugs (such as roaches & other beetles), smaller lizards, the *occasional* mammal & native greenery.

Your light is a good one, she should be able to get within 10-12" of the UVB for her to get the most out of it. Remember to change it after 6 months of use, they decay rapidly & the usable UVB tends to drop off at the 6 month mark. MVB's have a higher output & a longer lifespan, I use the MegaRay SB 100W flood for all my dragons, from Bob Mac at http://www.reptileuv.com

Hope this helps some!

~Michelle