Newbie here, please help!

[CedricsMomma]

Hey everyone.

I just recently purchased my first bearded dragon. Still a baby, but seems veryyyyy happy. I have him set up in a glass tank, with his light on one side and a cool spot on the other. I purchased him from a pet store, and believe I was told many wrong things to do. They gave me a all in 1 basking and UVB light. He seems to bask under well, and knows to go under it after eating. My inside thermometer reads about 100°-105° is the basking area. I was also told to use a red heat light at night. But I noticed if I put him to sleep in my hand and return him to the cage with a red light he wakes up. I have left his light off the last 2 nights, and he slept both night all the way through. As I began reading that they don't even need red lights at night!!! I am beyond furious with some of the info they gave me. I am also using Vita-Sand, as I was told it is calcium based and dissolve's easily if eaten. I look on other stuff, that says no sand at all!! Someone please steer me the right way, to ensure my little man is safe, and healthy.

 

[Destreaux]

Baby beardies shouldn't be on any form of lose substrate. My boys are all on calcium sand but they are all adults. Babies are so much more prone to impaction. I would use a retpi carpet. Is your all in one light a sun spot? Also instead of the red light I would use a ceramic heat emitter if the room he is in drops below 75 degrees F at night. You will get a lot of different answers from different people but this is what I do and haven't had a problem.

 

[CedricsMomma]

I am going today for the CHE. As he seems very content at night without the light. I am pretty sure he is a baby he's about 6-7 inches long. I will also buy the reptile carpet while I am there. You are so right, so many different things, and I don't know which is right. Just want him to be happy and thrive. I also plan on getting a new viv thermometer at Walmart today, as I read the stick ons are trash. He wakes up every morning and usually basks for about an hour and a half- 2 hours, and I can immediately tell he's ready for breakfast. Then he'll go back to basking. He has passed stools on me and 1 in the cage, so I'm hoping his digestion is going well so far. I hope these new changes will make him happy!

 

[CedricsMomma]

Also my light is ZooMed Reptile basking spot lamp. It says heat, daylight, basking, and UVA. But I am for sure grabbing one of the reptisun ones today! I have barely seen anyone with what I have.

 

[lizardmom25]

That Zoo med light isn't an all in one, like the pet store said. It doesn't provide UVB. Good for you for doing the research on your own!

 

[CedricsMomma]

I asked her why it said only UVA and she was like oh it's fine. Screw that! I love forums, I seem to get the best info these ways. He will be.much happier now!

 

[Terry15]

The non adhesive shelf liner is better to use, easy cleanup. I used the reptile carpet for the first year, but you really need 2, to switch them out when they get dirty. The shelf liner is great since bugs won’t be able to hide under it.

 

[CedricsMomma]

OK I will Def look into that, some people have said tiles can work also.The shelf liner one seems like it'd be an easy up keep, thank you!

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Postby Destreaux » Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:48 am

Baby beardies shouldn't be on any form of lose substrate. My boys are all on calcium sand but they are all adults. Babies are so much more prone to impaction.

I'd just like to point something out, calci-sand is a very life threatening substrate to ages both young and old. It is true babies are more prone to impaction as they are weaker, however that doesn't change what a substrate can do to the body of an animal. I'm 99% sure if you swallowed quite a bit of that stuff it would end up killing you as it forms a concrete road block in your stomach. Theres about a 1% chance that our body could possibly handle it but I doubt it. Though I may be wrong about the human body and how it may handle it, however I'm not wrong about calci-sand being life threatening. Its caused many many deaths in many lizards.

 

[Destreaux]

Postby Destreaux » Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:48 am

Baby beardies shouldn't be on any form of lose substrate. My boys are all on calcium sand but they are all adults. Babies are so much more prone to impaction.

I'd just like to point something out, calci-sand is a very life threatening substrate to ages both young and old. It is true babies are more prone to impaction as they are weaker, however that doesn't change what a substrate can do to the body of an animal. I'm 99% sure if you swallowed quite a bit of that stuff it would end up killing you as it forms a concrete road block in your stomach. Theres about a 1% chance that our body could possibly handle it but I doubt it. Though I may be wrong about the human body and how it may handle it, however I'm not wrong about calci-sand being life threatening. Its caused many many deaths in many lizards.

I would also like to point out that the care sheet says to use regular play sand. How is that better?

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Well.... regular washed play sand doesn't have things added into it that makes it turn to actual concrete in the stomach. So calci-sand VS washed play sand, the washed play sand would be safest.

However no particle substrates should be used at all, causes way too many problems and why risk harming your loved long living pet. Plus sand is just not natural at all for this specific species of bearded dragon.

 

[Destreaux]

Well.... regular washed play sand doesn't have things added into it that makes it turn to actual concrete in the stomach. So calci-sand VS washed play sand, the washed play sand would be safest.

However no particle substrates should be used at all, causes way too many problems and why risk harming your loved long living pet. Plus sand is just not natural at all for this specific species of bearded dragon.

Here is what I found in my research..
Where are Bearded Dragons Found?

"Bearded Dragons are found in the wild in a variety of habitats which are difficult to reproduce in the confines of a vivarium. They are semi-aboreal meaning they like to climb, they live in scrubland, desert, rocky areas, coasts, woodlands and this depends upon the species location. Different species will have slight differences in tolerance of environmental factors such as UVB, humidity and temperature but are all within a common range to the Pogona family."
http://pogopogona.com/bearded-dragon-facts/where-do-bearded-dragons-come-from

There are so many different opinions on this.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

It should be noted that when they say desert they don't mean sand dunes.
Not all deserts are sand dunes, heck even Antarctica is a desert.
Just stating this in case you didn't know.

And yes they come from a variety of habitats, we're talking about Pogona Vitticeps specifically however and their care requirements currently and in central Australia where they are found it is mostly a dry brush or forest environment. And the more "desert" looking areas would have a sun baked earth and clay type of look with little to no sand at all.

 

[Destreaux]

It should be noted that when they say desert they don't mean sand dunes.
Not all deserts are sand dunes, heck even Antarctica is a desert.
Just stating this in case you didn't know.

And yes they come from a variety of habitats, we're talking about Pogona Vitticeps specifically however and their care requirements currently and in central Australia where they are found it is mostly a dry brush or forest environment. And the more "desert" looking areas would have a sun baked earth and clay type of looking with little to no sand at all.

I did know that. I am not uneducated. You do what you do for your beardies and I'll do what I do for mine. Everyone I know personally keep theirs on a fine calci-sand just like I do. Even the keepers I have known for years. No one has ever had a problem.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

I was not saying in anyway your uneducated, I just know a lot... surprisingly a lot of people that I've met don't exactly know that. They usually assume desert means sand dunes everywhere.

It saddens me that anyone could risk a living animals life because they like the overall appearance of sand, however I hope if anything goes wrong with your beardies that you switch your substrate rather than have them suffer longer. After all they live for 15-20 years, and I personally cant imagine living in a bacteria breeding ground, where every time I lick anything or eat anything I'd have the chance of dying of impaction for that long.

And by the way, no responsible or knowledgeable keeper would even keep a living animal on calci-sand. Most likely the keepers you talk about listen to petstores that provide the wrong info or exotic vets that dont know a single thing about bearded dragons or reptiles in general.