new to site and new to beardies

[HCDbeardie]

HEY guys.

MY name is clay and i am new to the reptile world and decided to get a bearded dragon. Im no shure if its male or female i really dont no how to tell. Its about 2 inches long so its just a baby. its name is baxter.

setup

29gal tank
100 watt basking light
curly uvb bulb in middle of tank
reptile carpet
small, shallow water dish

Temps
100F-Basking
75F-cool zone
49% humidity

Hows it sound

 

[jscott]

hello and welcome .

is your dragons seriously two inches long?! that like this:

|-----------------|


thats pretty dang small. if he really is that size you need to be extra carefull.

i hate to tell you but you gotta remove the curly light. they have caused many problems for users on this site. try to excange it for store credit, if you cant youll just have to eat the loss.

the 100 watt might be abit much. what are your temps durring the day and how are you measuring them? if your using a stick on dial thermometer dont bother. get a digital probe thermometer or a teperature gun, they are the only accurate way to go.

his hot spot should be no more than 110 but not below 100. he NEEDS to have a cool side too. his cool side should be whatever the ambient room temperature is in your house. if its not, your cage is too small for the heat source your using.

reptile carpet is ok but messy. make sure to clean it often and get all the poop out. i find tile works better, you can simply take it out and scrub it off with antibacterial soap.

remove the water dish as well. i wouldnt say its common, but it is possible for dragons to accidentaly flip upside down in their water and drown. it is rare for a bearded dragon to drink standing water anyhow. its far more common to spray their greens with water before they eat them. one of my 3 dragons drinks from a pipette, the other two just get moisture from their greens and bathtimes.


above all things mentoined, PLEASE change out that compact flourescent. get one of these instead:

http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html

this site is probably the cheapest youll find this bulb and is is VERY SAFE & STRONG.

once again, welcome to this site :wink: .

 

[jscott]

PS get rid of the curly light all together from his cage. use only the heat light untill you can get a proper UV-B tube.

if you try to buy that ReptiSun 10.0 in a petstore they will charge you 50-60$ +TAX.

thats versus 27$ shipperd from that site :roll: .

also, make sure his heat lamp is on only one side. he needs a cool side just as much as a hot spot.

turn off ALL lights at night. he only needs heat at night if it goes below 60F and in that case, only use a CERAMIC HEAT EMMITER. it looks like a clay light bulb. it produces heat but no light.

 

[fresnowitte]

:wave: Hello Clay & Welcome to BD.org!
And..........
Gratz on the New Baby!

When you measure your baby do it from tip of nose to tip of tail.

I have to firmly agree with Jason about the UVB your using.

Are you using calcim and multivitamins?
I highly recommend rep-cal brand. With all but MVB's you need to use a calcium w/D3(pink label) dusting one feeding a day with it, 5 days per week until he/she reaches a year then reduce to 3 days per week. Use multivitimins(blue label) dusting one feeding per day 2 days per week.

Also what are you using to gauge temps with?
The dial and tape strip types can be up to 20* off. I suggest an infrared temp gun or a digital probe and make sure you measure it directly on the basking spot.

We look forward to seeing pic's of your baby Baxter soon. :wink:

Here are a couple of links on nutritional values to beardie foods the second link is for live feeders;

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

http://www.feedersinc.com/insect-comparison/

Again Welcome Aboard!

 

[HCDbeardie]

hi everyone.

im going to the pet store right now to buy a new uvb bulb and a new source because the one i have now only takes the curly bulbs.

i dust his crickets every fedding with the green labled calcium. is that bad or good? im not shure.

the thermometer i use us a digital. is has like a metal ball at the end and then goes up a wire and displays digitaly. is that bad lol?

i will remove the water dish

thats all i can think of right now

thanks for all the comments.

 

[fresnowitte]

i dust his crickets every fedding with the green labled calcium. is that bad or good? im not shure.

You need to use the pink label with D3 the green label is for those who use Mercury Vapor Bulbs only.
An you only need to dust one feeding per day.

Make sure to stay away from coil or compact bulbs........I suggest with your set-up a reptisun 10.0

The thermometer your using is a digital probe that's good. :wink:

Also you need to make sure that your baby stays hydrated. Some of their moisture comes from the food they eat but is not quite enough. I suggest dropping water on Baxter's nose for him to lick off. Also you can bath him in luke warm water up to his arm pits. Make sure to supervise every second.

 

[HCDbeardie]

ok so when i go to the pet store i need to get

10.0 uvb bulb and source

pink label calcium

and dust one feeding a day


and then i should be all set to go?

 

[fresnowitte]

ok so when i go to the pet store i need to get

10.0 uvb bulb and source

Make sure it's not the reptiglo 10.0 but rather the reptisun 10.0.
The way I remember which one is bad is reptiglo rhymes with No. :lol:
An yes to the calcium and dusting.

and then i should be all set to go?

For now. But we still would like to see pic's when you have time. Hint....hint! :wink:

 

[HCDbeardie]

ok im leaving for the store now and ill post pics the second i get home and everything setup.

 

[fresnowitte]

ok im leaving for the store now and ill post pics the second i get home and everything setup.

 

[HCDbeardie]

ok i went to the store and returned my curly bulb and the source.

the lady said that they had nothing that would be good for my beardie

she sais she has a beardie and she uses a mercury vapor bulb and she sais it gives off uvb and uva more than any other bulb plus its just like a regular light bulb plus it gives off heat.

would this be good or not?

help me out im having alot of trouble with this uvb stuff lol

 

[fresnowitte]

MVB's are the best you can use in my opinion, they simulate the natural sun better than any other bulb.
The only problem is they don't come in anything smaller than a 100watt so they are not recommended for anything under a 40gal breeder. If you were to get a bigger viv(40gal or larger) you could use it, but then you would use the calcium without D3.