New to Bearded Dragons

[jake1191]

In january 2013 i rescued my first scaly pal, an american alligator, Prometheus who is about a 2 years old and 29 inches long snout to tip of tail now but was very badly taken care of and only 18 inches when i got him. The day after bringing him home i went to pick up everything needed to make him a nice little home, while at the Petco the wife wanted to see the Bearded Dragons and really wanted one. But being it was my main goal to get the gator set up and happy i told her it would have to wait.

About a month ago my sister in-law(brother's wife) had their child and made mention that she had a beardie and she hadnt been feed properly for about a month. Well the wife mentioned we had the means to take care of her and we took ownership of her. Sadly she hadnt had proper care in nearly two years. No UV bulb of any type only a red 75 watt heat bulb, No supplementation of calcium or vitamins, Being fed only lettuce, apples, and mealworms, and to top it off only living in a 10 gallon aquarium. So long story short she was not active or happy at all. Upon getting Lizzy, now her name, I immediately got her some crickets and some much healthier greens and did all the research i could do to help her and supplied all of her needs. Now she is doing much better, a lot more active, much more color and seems very happy in her temporary 30 gallon tank. Her custom 50 gallon tank will be done in a few weeks and then she will be set for life.

Finally today my sister in-law comes home with a baby beardie, 6 inches snout to tip of tail, she picked the little guy up from Petsmart because he was cute and wanted to give Lizzy a companion. So now i have the baby that I had to setup in the 10 gallon tank because I know Lizzy, 16 inches snout to tip of tail, would kill the poor little guy. He is shedding and overall looks healthy but i have seen all of the big chain store horror stories so i have my doubts.

Now as far as taking care of the little guy what will i need to do different? I have ready as many care sheets as I could but none seem to be as informative as i would like. I did pick him up some small crickets as my breeding batch havent turned out babies yet for him to eat. Can he have all the same greens and veggies as my normal beardie? What about heat range? I have read anywhere from 80 to 120 degrees on the hot end of the tank. I keep Lizzy at 100 give or take on the hot side during the day and she drops down to room temp at night which is roughly 70-80 degrees.

Any tips or anything is greatly appreciated.

 

[Wizzy]

Hi my name is Brady and my little guy is Wizzy. I got him two months ago from Pet Smart ( and at that time they said he was three to four moths old...they think ). With Pet Smart being said I had to do a lot of research on my own. This site has helped me out a lot. Wizzy is my first Beardie and I'm absolutely in love with him. He's so awesome!

 

[rempop]

Welcome to both of you.

What I have gleaned from this site is that the "rules" for the enclosure and food are mostly the same regardless of size the proportions are what changes. The care sheets are very helpful to me.
That being said. Are you able to get the temp gradient that is needed in the 10 g tank? (110-105 on hot and 80-85 on cool)

As far as greens yes the same is fine, I cut them into pretty small pieces. Per what I have read just don't expect much of the greens to be eaten. Though my Blaze didn't read that and eats most of the greens that I give to him/her.

There is a concern with babies dehydrating fast. So daily baths are needed. I am giving Blaze 2 baths a day as she/he is going through a shed at the moment.

These are what I can think of at the moment. I am sure that those with much more experience than me will chime in. Grats on the new additions to your household.

 

[jake1191]

Currenly using a 50watt Halogen Mini Dome. I am able to get the proper thermal gradient in the 10 gallon tank. His basking side is 95-104 and his cool side with his greens is 78-85. I use a handheld temp gun to take the temps as i dont trust the small thermometers from the pet shop.

I also have been dumping a table spoon of water over him a every few hours to keep him hydrated.

Is town water alright for my beardies? We have a filter drinking water add on to our sink that I have always used for my gators water and for Lizzy's water. But I bathe her in just normal spigot water. Is this ok or should I run the filtered water and then warm it with the heat lamp?

 

[daner923]

You can use normal tap water. I would suggest just giving baths and not dumping water on him - this doesn't do anything. They only absorb water through the vent, not the skin. You can drip water on his nose for extra hydration, but don't mist him.

 

[jake1191]

Forgot to mention I live in town so we have chlorine in our water among other chemicals.

I gave him two baths today for about 10 min each. He doesnt seem to mind the water as much as Lizzy.

 

[jake1191]

Ended up with a much larger enclosure for Lizzy today. The wife found it on a Facebook pet sale group for $60. Total outside dimensions are 48"x48"x20' but the living space is 44"x17"x17" and came with at least $100 worth of accessories and a nice timer.

So I moved Lizzy up to that and Moved my little guy(his temporary name until he can be sexed) up into the 20 Gallon long.

 

[lexus465]

Welcome! It sounds like all your scaly friends are in a loving home! I'm glad you were able to rescue the poor neglected babies!

As far as caring for the baby, there are a few differences (some have been mentioned), babies need more feeders (worms, crickets, etc) but they have to be smaller than the space between their eyes. So smaller crickets and worms are good. My guy really likes the repti/ Pheonix/ Calci worms (same worm different 'brands', fed different foods), a lot of people like dubia roaches as well. On a side note, you may know, but they can't eat super worms until they are more than 16" because of a kink in their digestive tracts and mealworms shouldn't be used because they have too much chitin in their bodies and can cause impaction. They can eat the same greens but usually eat less than the adults. You can check this website - http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html - they have a great list of foods that are good and bad for dragons.

I use tap water for bathing my dragon so there shouldn't be an issue. If you're concerned you can get some of that water treatment (I forget what it is called).

I got my dragon from petco and have had no problems so hopefully your baby will be nice and healthy!

We would love to see some pics too! Even of the alligator! :mrgreen:

Hope this was helpful!

 

[jake1191]

Already copied that list and printed it out to put next to my feeding calendar. Roaches are out of the question as they creep out the wife.

I am looking to put in an order for the link below to supplement the little guy instead of all crickets. He is offered greens and fruits daily but wont touch them yet he tries to eat his fake plants.

http://www.mulberryfarms.com/-font-color-red-b-POSTAGE-PAID-b-font-/Postpaid-Combos-Snack-Packs/Tiny-Herp-Combo-Postpaid-p250.html

 

[lexus465]

I did the same with the list. Even have a copy in my phone! It's very handy.

I heard good things about Mulberry farms but haven't ordered from them.

The roaches creep me out too!

 

[jake1191]

Thought I should come back for an update.

Little guy is now in a 40 breeder tank($1 gallon sale!) and doing excellent! He was at first having some problems with not eating and closing his eyes. I found the Exo-Terra CFL bulb to be the culprit. Replaced it with a 36" Repti-sun 10.0 T5 and he has been great since. He loves his crickets, micro super worms, and butternut squash. Still pushing the greens on him too. He is now up to 8.5 inches long as well!


Lizzy was found to be a male....So now it is Spyro. Also gave him a 36" Repti-sun 10.0 T5 bulb as well. He has put on some weight and is not so skinny anymore. Loves his Supers, phoneix worms, Crickets, and Greens!

I also picked up a medium PVC screen enclosure to give them some real sunlight when it is nice out. I try to get them around 3-4 hours each outside in direct sunlight.


Also ended up trading my alligator for One Argentine Black and White Tegu and one Chacoan Whitehead tegu with a 6'x4'x4' enclosure about a week ago. They are doing excellent but need more time to settle in, they also were not handled much by the previous owner so I will soon start working on that.

The same Night I moved the Tegus in the wife came home with two 4 month old Savannah Monitors that she found free on craigslist. They too are settling in and hide quite a bit but they are eating crickets daily.

Lastly I have talked the wife into letting me go with dubia roaches now! So my breeder colony is on its way. Cannot wait to sleep again without hearing crickets.