New to this and have a couple of questions!

[lnicholson]

First question. I just measured my beardie. Got her almost 3 weeks ago and I measured her for the first time right now. She is about 9 1/2 inches from nose to tip of tail. Does anyone know how old she would be?

Second question. I have some concerns with her bowel movements or lack of I should say. She is eating well and drinking water but she hasn't pooped in days. Is this normal? She is active and moves around just fine. I don't have have sand in the terrarium. I am using the repti-liner. We started with the alfalpha pellets that came with the Zilla complete bearded dragon kit but the alfalpha came with ants in it. At first I thought they were mites but they were just plain ants but with all the bad things I had heard about the sand I decided this was better for now that she is little. I am also giving her baths every other day in warm water to see if it would help and it hasn't. I don't know what else to do. Does anyone know how often she should be having a bowel movement? I am also checking the temp in her tank constantly and it is within the normal range for a beardie. For the past week we have had unusually cold weather here in Miami. We are not used to this cold so our houses are not equipt with heaters so it has been cold in the house. I have kept an eye on the temp in her tank for that reason. One night I had to turn the basking light on in her tank because it was super cold in there. Finally, our weather is getting warmer and the house isn't cold anymore. Could this be the cause of the problem? Please help!!!

Thank you.
Lisa

 

[Livey]

Size and age can be diffrent with every beardie... im gunna say about 5 months around...
Umm the bowel movement , have you tried rubbing the tummy? usually helps, i just run my fingers down the side of her,
BUT not sure on the ants! :S

 

[Missi1980]

I am no beardie expert, but from what i have read from the experts on here, you can dip a piece of apple in some olive oil and that might get them moving...I "knock on wood" havnt had that problem with my beardie, all 5 give me presents every day!!...good luck, and keep us posted!!

How long has it been since the last BM??

As for the ants, did he/she eat any of them??...u might want to get a fecal done.

 

[duke11]

Hi there,
warm baths every day can help move things along. You can try a few drops of olive oil, warm sugar free apple sauce, sugar free apple juice, or 100% pure pumpkin. When Duke hasn't pooped in a while, I do a combination of olive oil and apple sauce and it makes him go after a day or two. At a young age, it's hard to tell but when I got Duke, he was 9.5 inches too, and 8 weeks (2 months) old. Your dragon is probably around that age somewhere.

You said you got the Zilla complete bearded dragon kit. What things did that come with? Zilla is not a trustable brand at all when it comes to substrate (the alfalfa), UVB, heat, and thermometers. Could you please answer these questions? Sorry to bring you away from what you were originally asking.

What UVB bulb do you use? Please name brand name and percent. (ex: reptisun 10)
How big is your enclosure?
What is your basking temperature (temp taken right on top of the basking spot)?
What is your cool side temperature?
What do you use to take your temps? (ex: analog, digital w/probe, temp gun, etc.)
What do you feed your beardie?

I only want to help. Sorry for firing these questions at you!

Erin

 

[lnicholson]

I am happy to say that the day after i posted she pooped. Ever since she has been going regularly. I am so relieved. I am starting to think it was the cold weather outside that we are not used to. I don't think the tank was getting hot enough. I also stopped giving her mealworms because I read they were harder to digest. Crickets seem to be the best even though I have a total irrational fear of those things.

As for all of Erin's questions about the Zilla products. I have pretty much banned Zilla products from my house and I wrote their comapny a nasty e-mail about their products. The statrter kit came with the following:

20 gllon tank
alfalfa pellets for bedding
a tiny little pack of bearded dragon food
humidity and temperature gauge
water dish/pool
150W blue daylight bulb
50W night black heat bulb
Desert 50 20W UVB flourescent coil bulb

A few days after we had it set up I found the basking light out and when I looked at it I noticed it had exploded. I was really upset but I bought another one because I didn't want Sunshine to be without it and 2 days after that it exploded again and then I was really upset. I went to the store and changed the basking light to the Zoo Med basking spot lamp75W. So far it has been great and I have had no problems with it. The only Zilla product I am still using in the terrarium liner because i am really terrified to use anything else for right now. When she gets older I plan on changing to play sand. I also got another thermometer becasue I wanted one on each side. The thermometer I got was digital and I love it. Once the other 2 lights go I am going to switch to a different brand also. I hate Zilla.

 

[lnicholson]

I forgot to answer some of your questions Erin!

I am feeding my beardie dusted crickets ans superworms. I have been trying to get her to eat her greens but it's been a really slow process. I put her live food in her veggies so that she at least gets some veggies in.

I am making sure that her basking side is somewhere between 100F and 110F. Her night time temp is between 80F and 85F and her daylight temp is between 90F and 95F. The digital thermometer that I have has a probe but I still have the one that came with kit because I like having 2.