Newbie from Baltimore area

[Relwarc]

Hello everyone!

I am a newbie to the Beardie world. I have been waffling about getting one for almost 2 years. I was a consultant until recently, only home 2 days a week, so I figured it would be a bad idea. Now that I'm home every day, I got my first Beardie! I went to the local reptile center/store/care facility. I bothered the poor guy for a good 2 hours, asking questions. He looked at me like I was nuts with my little notebook and dumb questions... :roll:

I ended up getting little "Thrall", a red sandfire bearded dragon. He's 7 weeks old.

I set his tank up like the guy at the store told me. His basking spot is about 105. He's already become part of the family!

I have a couple small concerns that I'm hoping are just his adjustment to his new environment.

When we got him, he was a feisty little one. He was staring at me and would jump at my fingers. (that's why I got him)

When the man at the pet store went to pick him up, he ran, he squirmed and everything. When I got him home, he was docile. He'll run up to the top of his driftwood and wait for me to pick him up. He'll even grip the back of my hand with his tail when I hold him. This is the exact opposite of what the guy told me. He said he'd be a little hand full until he grows up. Is this normal? Is he stressed?

My second worry is his apparent lack of appetite. I have only had the chance to feed him twice, as I've had him for less than 24 hours. I put crickets in the tank with him, and he'll eat one or two, then lose interest. Is this also part of his acclamation? Should I be worried?

The last one if his fascination with his reflection. I've already read a few remedies and plan to try them, but sometimes when I'm sitting near his tank on the couch. He'll stand up on the glass and try to climb it towards me, staring at me! Maybe he just needs to get comfortable.

I know I will probably find answers as I research. I plan to read and search a LOT before I post again. I'm not new to the forum world, I am part of many car forums. So I know how searching goes!

I'm excited to become part of the community and experience life with little Thrall!

 

[Relwarc]

I want to add a question...

I've searched for "stress marks" on the search. There are plenty of posts that say "yep, those are stress marks!" but none that say "stress marks are...." or "stress marks look like...."

Is little Thrall stressed? How can I tell?

 

[lillylizard]

okay i will try to answer all your questions. the scratching on the glass with his belly against the glass means he wants out. the eating is normal. he may not start eating normally for a few days. or even up to more then a week. my guy didn't eat for 3 days. stress marks are the dark marks they get on there tummies and beard.
the dark marks you can see on his tummy and such are stress marks. this was after a vet apointment.

with him being calm it may just be stress from moving and being out of where he's used to, or he has already bonded to you, and doesn't like being put away. my little guy has been known to black beard when he gets put away.
so i hope this helps you. anymore questions don't be scared to ask. question what kind of UVB light do you have in his tank? also he is a very pretty baby.

 

[Relwarc]

Thanks!

Looks like he's definitely stressed. Poor little guy He definitely doesn't like being put back either. Ha he grasps onto my hand and doesn't want to go back!

The UVB light is the coil type, the guy at the pet store told me that should be ok.

I've since read on the forum that I need to go buy a tube type. I'll be doing so ASAP. Hopefully that helps with his health.

I saw on one of the care sheets to use Reptisun 5 or 8.... then I see people using 10.... what should I be using?

 

[lillylizard]

reptisun 10.0 also do not buy your fixture at a pet store will be way more money then you need to spend. i have an 18" bulb and an under-the-counter fixture that fits an 18" tube light. way cheaper. at a pet store you will pay $40 walmart $10-20 also when he starts eating he will eat you out of house and home. i sujest buying crickets in bulk of 1000. between my 3 lizards (2 leopard geckos, 1 beardie baby) 100 right now last me a week and a half. the stress marks will go away. everyone and a while he may flash them at you again because he's grumpy, or shedding, or something. like you didn't feed him right after his morning bath, or you go back to sleep after waking him up, and didn't feed him right away so he pooped in his food bowl.... (thankQ Elyott) its just his way of telling you he's grumpy or upset.

 

[Relwarc]

I'll be shopping for lighting today!

I'm disappointed that the pet store didn't know this. I specifically went to a reptile center and not a conglomerate because I wanted to do this "right". Ha I guess we can't all be perfect!

I really appreciate your help. I want Thrall to be happy and healthy!

 

[lillylizard]

no problem. and as soon as he starts eating normally he will start growing like a weed.

 

[Relwarc]

I have a couple questions about food, actually.

Crickets, these are the staple, right? until they reach around a year, and then veggies make up 50% plus?

Is it a no-no to buy your crickets at the local petsmart?

I saw "superworms" are for a beardie 15" plus, what else do i need to keep rotating in their diet?

 

[lillylizard]

Okay crickets are a great staple and petsmart is okay jut don't know how many you can buy at once. It may be more worth your money to order. Superworms for 16"+ because they have a cink in hre. Woles till there older and small hornworms and small silkworms are great feeders. You can us silkworms as a staple and there wicked healthy but there pricy so unless your breeding them like i'm gonna try its kinda hard to have them as a staple

 

[Tonja]

Here is the nutritional color coded chart most of us go by when feeding our babies. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Babies and juvies need to eat 80% protien to 20% greens then it flips as they reach maturity <anything with the word lettuce in it are not nutritional> feed collards, mustard, turnip, escarole or whats on the nutritional chart. They should eat all the live feeders they can in 10-15 mins which can be a lot of crickets. Dubia roaches are good feeders and you can get starter colony kits online or in the for sale section of this forum. Dubia are excellent, dont bite, cant climb smooth surfaces and dragons seem to love them. You need to dust with calcium with d3 5 x week and vitamins 2 x per week. There should be a gradient temp range in your tank...105 -115 on the basking spot for babies..90 to 95 on the hot side..warm side 85 and the cool side 75 to 80 degrees. Some babies do get stress marks on them from a change in environment..moving from the store to your home. For lighting the reptiSUN 10.0 and the arcadia d3 12% are the most recommended lights for UVB on here and the fixtures need to be a t-8 which you can get at walmart for under 12.00. They can be hung inside the tank with command strips or industrial strength velcro < mine are velcroed in and do not budge>. I would not recommend meal worms as they are hard to digest cause of the hard chitin shell on them. Superworms can be fed after they reach 16 inches long although I do feed mine freshly shed <pink> superworms that are really tiny. Substrate should not be loose like sand or walnut chips, dragons lick their environment and ingest the sand or walnut and it is known to cause impactions in them. Personally i use ceramic tile as its so easy to clean, you can also use newspaper, non adhesive shelf liner, paper towels. Basking spot should be 6-8 inches from the light heat source. I use a crystal clear household bulb for both of mine to bask under and its close to the UVB light so the UVB wont hurt thier eyes. Hope some of this helps.

 

[Relwarc]

Got it.

I think changing to the Reptisun 10 and letting the little guy settle in for a week should help some of my worries. I've been reading all day. Ha Hope my boss didn't expect any good work today!

Headed to the pet store and Walmart tonight. Get Thrall on his way!

 

[Tonja]

when you get the fixture make sure its an under the cabinet mount..they are inexpensive and look at the details on it..it will tell you its for a t-8 bulb..you can order the reptisun 10.0 much cheaper than the petstore prices at http://www.petmountain.com/category/286/1/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs.html

 

[shrambo]

Hey! I'm in the Baltimore area too! Howard and Anne arundel county areas. What pet store did you get him from? About time I find someone on here in my area.

 

[LoveMy4BeardieGals]

You can also do phoenix worms as a feeder. Beardies LOVE them and they are already full of calcium so no need to dust them. Reptiworms also which I believe are the same as phoenix worms. My staple feeders are dubias, crickets, phoenix worms, and the occasional wax worm or super worm. They also get daily salads with mustard, collard, turnip, and dandelion greens. Sometimes kale or escarole is mixed in. I top with some type of squash (acorn, butternut, spaghetti, or yellow) and sometimes it gets a quick dusting of bee pollen powder.

Hope this helps! And best of luck with your new baby!

 

[Relwarc]

Hey! I'm in the Baltimore area too! Howard and Anne arundel county areas. What pet store did you get him from? About time I find someone on here in my area.

hey! I'm in the Hunt Valley area. I got him from the "wet pet and reptile center" in essex.


ok everyone..... I'm nervous. I know it's only been 2 days. But he has eaten a grand total of maybe 5 or 6 crickets since moving in.

His little stress marks are also super dark and prominent. He seemed to love the new Reptisun 10, so hopefully that's a step in the right direction.

Let me describe some funny behavior. I made him a little rope out of bailing twine, (it was new, not moldy or anything). He seems to love it, he decided to shed (Molt?) last night as well. In a matter of 2 hours, he had gotten an entire layer off! Running around like a little mad man rubbing himself on things.

Then, that night, he climbed the rope to the top of the cage, right against the screen and went to sleep. He spent the entire night that way. 7 ish hours. Didn't move one bit.

When I woke him up in the morning, he was pretty unwilling to move for maybe 20-30 minutes.

Is any of that odd? Maybe I'm just super afraid to mess up with this little guy, but I want to be sure I'm doing the right thing. Thanks!