New To Beardies

[Jim Morrison]

Hey all,
I just recently bought a baby bearded dragon. I don't know the sex and don't know how to tell. He/she is only about 5 inches long so I think it is still too young to tell anyway. I have read through the forums and a few other websites and am confused on how many crickets I shoud feed it. Also should I feed him/her daily or every other day? I will post some pictures when I figure out how.

-Matt

 

[glowgirl]

Hi there Matt and welcome to the 'Wonderful World of Beardie's' :wink: As far as the feeding issue ... Allow him/her to eat as many cricket's in a 15 minute sitting as he/she will eat ... Do this 3 - 4 time's a day , EVERY day ... remembering to dust the crick's beforehand :wink:REMEMBER ... The rule of thumb ... Only give the size of crick's as the space between his/her eye's ( if you know what I mean ) They sure can eat once they get going ... BUT ... What you put into them , WILL show later :wink: Also ... don't forget to offer him/her veggies that are finely chopped sooooo he/she get's a variety of foods in his/her diet :wink:

Hope this helps in some small way :wink:


Big Hug's ...... Glowgirl xxx

 

[Jim Morrison]

Hey, thanx alot GlowGirl. When I first got him the kid at the store told me to feed him every other day about 8-15 crix. I was wondering why eveytime I lifted the top off he would come running like I was going to feed him. Must have been staving, poor little guy. Also he/she hasn't grown much since I've had him/her. It has probably been about 2 months so my guess is that he/she is about 4 months old and only about 5 inches long. Is that small for a baby beardie?

Thanx again for your help,
Matt

 

[Akeath]

Yes, it's quite small. It probably wasn't only the crickets if he's still so small, the petstores give awful advice so there may be quite a few things he needs for a healthy, happy life that you aren't aware of yet, so to make sure everything is set up for him:
Do you have a UVB light, what kind, and how close can he get to it?
What substrate is he on?
How big is his tank?
How hot is the basking temp and cool side, and how are you measuring the temps?

 

[Jim Morrison]

Hey Akeath,

I know that he has a UVB light but I don't know what kind, I think its a UVB 8 or something like that. He can get pretty close to it he has 2 grape branches. One of them is facing up so he can climb up pretty close to the top of the cage probably about 6 inches from the top. He is on paper towels for now but the kid gave me some sand stuff for when he gets bigger. Also he is in a 20 gallon tank which seems sufficient for his size. And lastly the basking side temp ranges from about 80 at night to 95-105 during the day. I have a analog thermometer right now but this week I am planning on getting a Digital one. I have no idea how hot it is on the other side of the tank but he does move around from side to side so it seems ok. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx a lot guys,
Matt