Newbie to bd.

[tj4x4fun]

My name is Eric and I just was given 3 juvinile bd I believe one small male and 2 females about 6 to 8" long. I just purchased a 40 breeder for them (36x18x17") his is what they were in previously but it had a cracked left glass pane. Broken glass and 2 kids don't mix. I have had large iguana but that was 10 years ago. :wink:

Any how I have a 26wt UVB zoomed dessert sun screw in type bulb that went out about an hour ago as well as 4 24 watt 6500 t5 ho light. I will pick up a basking lamp tomorrow. It had a 100wt zoomed red heat lamp. Should I go to a t8 UVB as well?

Second.... I have crushed walnut shells as substraite. Is this ok? Also had the fake foam wall for a background but the crickets can hide back there so I took it out. Do most people paint the back outside of thief glass black like in the saltwater world?

Any help would be welcome.

 

[FranktheTank]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
What I know from this site and research any loose substrate is not acceptable as it can cause impaction in young dragons, and infections. I would go with something like paper towels while they are young. it's inexpensive, and easy cleanup. Also from this site I know it is best to house your dragons separately. Beardies are solitary reptiles and prefer to be alone. Housing them together can lead to fighting, injuries, and worse. Also males mature quicker than females, so housing them together is not safe in that aspect. I do practice what I preach as well. I have a male and female who I house separately, and I keep them on paper towels as substrate for now. When they are older I'll be switching to tile. As for lighting, both of my beardies have the t8 uvb tube, reptisun 10.0. They both have 50w basking bulbs zoomed I believe. Their basking temps reach 105-108, the hot side is 95 and the cool side is 84. I hope this helps, I'm still new to the world of beardies myself, but everything I do for them has been learned on this forum and I have 2 healthy happy beardies! I'm sure people with more experience will chime in giving you more information.

-Kaleen

 

[tj4x4fun]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
What I know from this site and research any loose substrate is not acceptable as it can cause impaction in young dragons, and infections. I would go with something like paper towels while they are young. it's inexpensive, and easy cleanup. Also from this site I know it is best to house your dragons separately. Beardies are solitary reptiles and prefer to be alone. Housing them together can lead to fighting, injuries, and worse. Also males mature quicker than females, so housing them together is not safe in that aspect. I do practice what I preach as well. I have a male and female who I house separately, and I keep them on paper towels as substrate for now. When they are older I'll be switching to tile. As for lighting, both of my beardies have the t8 uvb tube, reptisun 10.0. They both have 50w basking bulbs zoomed I believe. Their basking temps reach 105-108, the hot side is 95 and the cool side is 84. I hope this helps, I'm still new to the world of beardies myself, but everything I do for them has been learned on this forum and I have 2 healthy happy beardies! I'm sure people with more experience will chime in giving you more information.

-Kaleen

ThNks for the info the walnut is coming out and I am going to go to tile. Lucky for me lows and petsmart are just next door to each other. Makes for one quick trip.

Here are some pics

 

[drgnfly2265]

Hello and welcome! Oh my, the last pic is way too cute :mrgreen:

 

[FranktheTank]

Tile is a perfect choice! Makes clean up super easy. I hope that you decide to separate them too. It's the best thing for their health and safety. I love the pics you posted, so cute!

-Kaleen

 

[tj4x4fun]

Tile is a perfect choice! Makes clean up super easy. I hope that you decide to separate them too. It's the best thing for their health and safety. I love the pics you posted, so cute!

-Kaleen

Thanks that is Emma our 15month old in the corner. She Loves them!!!!!!

I picked up a zilla 20" T-8 10.0 UVB on my lunch as well as a 150watt zoo med heat light. As soon as the basking light went on all three ran to the branch. Its reading 108F at that point. What should the light cycle be? I have it on a timer from 8 am to 11pm.

I removed the inferred 100wt used for night heating. What do I use in its place? The tank does have a Zoomed UTG heater but I never used it on my Iguana because it can cause severe burns. :evil:

As far as tile goes... What size sould i use? do I cement and Grout it in? Whats the deal?

I was told I can keep all three together until they are sub adults. I really only wanted one but the came as a set of three from a friend.

Also Crickets are cheap but how easy is it to breed them I have a Cricket Carrier with the 2 tubes that can be pulled out from the side and I am feeding them the orange stinky cubes.

 

[tj4x4fun]

Ok I finally took out the walnut. It was only in there 2 days so hopefully it didn't do any damage. I replaced it with non skid drawer liner. It was a family event. Also took some more pics of the Fine set up.

 

[FranktheTank]

Looking good! I was going to let you know, the only lights you need are the uvb, and the basking bulb. If your temps are correct you should be all good. I have my lights on a timer lights on at 8am and off at 10pm. The only reason you would need a night time heat source is if your temps drop below 65f. If the temp gets below that then it's safe to use a ceramic heat emitter which doesn't give off any light, just heat. But if your temps don't get that cool over night you're just fine. They need that cool down at night to help with digestion and health. I hope that helps! If you research on this forum and read the different discussions usually your questions and concerns will be answered. We all seem to have the same issues when we got our first set up started.

-Kaleen

 

[tj4x4fun]

How old would u say they are? They are 6 to 7 inches long. Heads are the size of a quarter almost.

 

[drgnfly2265]

Looks like the same shelf liner that I'm using. Looks better :wink:

 

[tj4x4fun]

Thats what I thought. Way easier to clean too! I found out my dragons were born in may or July depending on the clutch. So is 7 inches a good size for a 4 to 5 month old?

 

[ts0426]

my oldest dragon, dude, is 17 inches and he is about 6 months....it all depends on how well they were fed and the lighting they had.

 

[tj4x4fun]

wow thats huge! The smalest is 6" the med is 6 1/2" and the largest is 7". they were fed crickets every day or so and no salad. he had a 100watt inferred at night at and a power compact screw in uvb during the day. i dont think the tank got over 80 degrees at all. thats why i bought a new lighting set up. as soon as I hooked up the basking spot they all ran to it. they seem pretty happy now so hopefully they will grow a bit now. I plan on keeping only one once they are bigger. when i feed they both eat 2 large crickets each is this enough?

 

[tj4x4fun]

Payton playing with her new friends. She wants me to put a light in her bed so they can have a slumber party. She will be 3 in December. Talk about a little Tom boy. When we went our side she kept wanting to get sticks for her lizards. Too cute.

Here's a pic

 

[Explora]

Hi and welcome! I just picked up tile for my baby boy today, so all I can really share is what I've learned from several days of obsessively scrolling forums. Slate and porcelain are the best kind, but slate is porous and absorbs liquid easily. Porcelain tiles are glazed so nothing gets past them! If you go with porcelain, try to make it a little rougher because it files down their claws and mimics their natural habitat better. Some beardies freak out with tile at first, but just give them a little time and they should be fine hope this helps!