NO UVB FOR 2 DAYS?

[BreezyBeardie]

I recently bought a beardie 20 gallon starter kit from Petsmart for my juvenile. I just found out today that the Reptisun COILED bulb that came with the kit can cause so many problems! I am so worried so I looked all over online at pet stores and no one sells the long non coiled ones in stores. So I found one on Amazon and it says it will be here no later than Friday. Since it is Wednesday night right now and he is already sleeping with lights out, is it safe for me to keep the coiled reptisun uvb OFF until the safe, healthy one gets here? I am way too afraid to turn the other one back on after hearing about the problems it can cause. And for some reason, he loves to bask under that rather than the actual basking bulb, which scares me even more.

So my overall question is; Is he going to be safe for 2 days without the uvb?

THANK YOU!

 

[kcarello]

Yes, he will be fine. If its possible to take him outside for a bit each day for some natural sunlight, that would be great. But he will be fine for a couple days.

 

[BreezyBeardie]

Okay because I just got him and I am already stressing, haha. I just want his home to be perfect for him, especially because I will be away this weekend so I don't want my family to have to worry about ANYTHING except for feeding him.

I can definitely sit outside with him for a bit though. How long would you recommend?
Also, thanks so much for replying! I needed someone to say that so I can sleep tonight.

 

[kcarello]

If you can sit outside with him for 30 minutes to an hour, that would be great!
What are you feeding him and how much and are you using supplements?
Crickets are good for starting them off, but tiny ones, pinheads, and make sure they are no bigger than the space between his eyes. And they should be dusted once a day with calcium, 5 x week, so weekdays do that, then on the weekends, one feeding a day feed them dusted with vitamin powder. He should be fed 2 - 3 times a day, and be allowed to eat as many as he wants in a 10 - 15 minute period each time,,,and that can come up to ALOT of crickets. You should be giving him salad first thing in the morning, like some collard greens and some acorn or butternut squash. You may already know all this and all this typing is unneccasary and I could be in bed...but what the heck,,it might help you out..lol.
Beautifuldragons.com has a wonderful nutrition list that is very easy to follow and most of us use it to the T. Good luck with your baby!!
Kelly (sleep well!)

 

[JCuratola]

Dont worry i did way worse. My little guy was without UVB for at least 4 days. They gave me the coil one as well. They dont know anything in pet stores its a shame. Anyways he is good now so the two days shouldnt be a problem.

 

[BreezyBeardie]

If you can sit outside with him for 30 minutes to an hour, that would be great!
What are you feeding him and how much and are you using supplements?
Crickets are good for starting them off, but tiny ones, pinheads, and make sure they are no bigger than the space between his eyes. And they should be dusted once a day with calcium, 5 x week, so weekdays do that, then on the weekends, one feeding a day feed them dusted with vitamin powder. He should be fed 2 - 3 times a day, and be allowed to eat as many as he wants in a 10 - 15 minute period each time,,,and that can come up to ALOT of crickets. You should be giving him salad first thing in the morning, like some collard greens and some acorn or butternut squash. You may already know all this and all this typing is unneccasary and I could be in bed...but what the heck,,it might help you out..lol.
Beautifuldragons.com has a wonderful nutrition list that is very easy to follow and most of us use it to the T. Good luck with your baby!!
Kelly (sleep well!)

Thank you for the info! I did know most of it and I am trying to do these things. He will not eat the veggies I have tried to give him (all I have is lettuce, spinach, and carrots). He won't touch any of them. I have not yet tried the kale or mustard/collard greens either. I am going to go to the store tomorrow though. How to them come when you buy them? Because not only is there no room in my fridge for 3 new things of vegetables, but they will probably go bad by the time he eats all of them. Maybe there is a salad bag that has good stuff in it that I can buy?

 

[BreezyBeardie]

Dont worry i did way worse. My little guy was without UVB for at least 4 days. They gave me the coil one as well. They dont know anything in pet stores its a shame. Anyways he is good now so the two days shouldnt be a problem.

Wow looks like you were in the exact same boat as me :-/. I'm glad to know that everything is alright with yours though, and also glad to know that 2 days without one he will definitely be okay. Thanks so much for sharing!

BTW, This is what I got for my 20 gallon tank http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F95Z0A/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00
Please say this is healthy and safe. That is what I have understood...

 

[kcarello]

I am so sorry to tell you that you need the 10.0 You got the right brand though!! I am so sorry, just send it back and get the right one. Your dragon can go up to a week or two, as long as you can take him out for a little while in the natural sunlight. Also, no there is no bagged lettuce mix that is good for your dragon. Anything with the word lettuce in the description is no good for your dragon, and the spinach and carrots are really not good either, not as staples...too much vitamin A which can be toxic to them. Collard greens are the most popular, you usualy can buy a bunch of them, that is, they are a bunch of leaves wired together and they are usually under a $1.00...It is hard to feed it all to them before they go bad, so I usually feed alot of it to the feeder insects too. Beautifuldragons.com has a wonderful nutrition chart that most of us go by! What type of feeder insects are you using? Squash is good for them too, acorn or butternut. Good luck!

 

[BreezyBeardie]

But I thought 10.0 was too much for only a 20 gallon tank?! :-( :-( Okay this is so much information! This stupid kit that I bought is ruining everything! Okay I just ordered the 10.0 and I am going to buy a NEW terrarium hood since the one from the kit is now too small anyway.

Also just realized that the Reptisun coil from the kit actually says "tropical". What a joke...... Ridiculous!

 

[kcarello]

I know it seems overwhelming right now..but it really isn't bad at all...its just the beginning and alot of that is due to the misinformation you receive from the petstores. You are doing great figuring it all out!! In no time at all you will have the right lighting food and temperatures and a very happy, healthy dragon!!!
Once you get the right lights, then you need a digital thermometer with a probe to get the correct temp readings. You will need to leave the probe in place for about an hour before taking the final reading. You need the basking SURFACE, hot side, and cool side. Did you go look at the food chart yet?
Hang in there, it will all be worth it!!!

 

[BreezyBeardie]

Wow thank you so much you have been such a great help! And thanks for the positive support as well .
I just bought an AcuRite thermometer with the probe on the basking site and the actual thermometer on the cool side. The temps were around 104 basking side and about 85 cool side. I was pretty happy to see the temps doing well. But then again, this is currently without the UVB which now that I am getting the longer one it is going to take up probably most of the tank now. I hope the temps don't rise too much. Will have to wait and see. And I just realized this so now I am worried about that!

 

[kcarello]

The uvb light put off little heat, so you should be fine. How is your little guy doing anyway??? What did you name him/her? How are enjoying your dragon so far???

 

[BreezyBeardie]

Phew okay good . His name is Rocky and I think is he doing well. Not eating all of a sudden. Was never really eating much but I have only had form about 4 days now. I think he still needs more time to adjust. Ate about 8 crickets within a few minutes 2 days ago. Yesterday he ate 3 and I was literally placing him in front of the crickets and I took everything else out of his tank and he still didnt even care. So I think that he is still adjusting and also could possibly be from the UVB light situation as well. I put a salad full of kale and some carrots in his bowl yesterday and today (the previous days all I had was spinach and lettuce but he didn't eat them anyway). Today he finally took a bite of kale but then ran off to his tree where he sits on top of and basks almost all day long.
Today I am going to give him a small bath for hydration purposes and sit out in the sun with him to soak up some UVBs.

 

[kcarello]

You should get some collard greens and some acorn or butternut squash, its the only things mine will eat. I love his name!! Just be careful he doesn't run off or get scared when you take him outside.

 

[BreezyBeardie]

I could only buy one veg at a time to see what he likes. Mostly because at the grocery store, everything came in a pound and I don't have enough room in my refrigerator for 3 pounds of all different vegetables. So I started with kale. But I am definitely going to try some more next week. He ate another piece or 2 since I posted earlier. But it's still nothing. I tried giving him a low bath but he wouldn't let me put him down in the water so I submersed my hand while he sat on it and the water was up to his feet sometimes touching his belly. So I guess that was good. Then I tried taking him outside putting some of his veggies in the container as well. He surprisingly ate a piece while we were outside, but just kept trying to escape most of the time. I stayed out there for about 20 minutes. It's 90 something degrees today so I was sweating bullets and he just hated it.

Almost the whole time we were out there though he had his mouth wide open....I attached a picture so you could see. What does this mean? Was he liking the sun but still wanted to be out of the container? I am also going to post this in the Behaviors section as well.