Out of The Closet Lurker:)

[Elaina]

Hi everyone! I've been reading this sight for months now and never seemed to take five whole minutes to register :roll: I am Mom to a brand new beardie, I haven't named him/her yet...But She has been here two days now. Man she is SO TINY!!!! She is maybe 3 inches long from snout to tail base. I have had beardies before (its a sad story I'll tell one day) but this is our first baby. I'm fretting over her like a newborn human baby..lol.

Anyway, in my crazy life, I also have a wonderful husband (I take his 'artistic' personna with a grain of salt tho 8) ) And I have 10 yr, 9 yr, and 2yr old boys. We also have a 29 gal freshwater aquarium. We can only have scaly friends b/c the baby has random animal allergies, hopefully that will change. I need a female ally- even if in the form of a doggie. My goal as the kids become less time intensive is to have some furry friends and to have Many more scaly guys around. One day I really would like to open a rescue, do foster care... something like that. I have instilled a love for animals in my children and their compassion constantly amazes me. My 9 yr old and I are interviewing to volunteer at the Humane Society.

Anyhow, I'll be hunting for baby related info here, but any hints are So welcome. I was up til 2am reading and stuff last night.

I just thought of a name. Lola. Ha. Its prolly a boy.

So, as I was about to say, I want Lola to get Big and be fiesty. Flood me with tips if you have them. Nice to be here, THANKS!

 

[wlflana]

Welcome! Congrats on the new baby! Just post on here what type of setup you have and everything (UVB, food, temps, etc.) and someone who knows more than me will give you tips and adjustments! This place has saved my baby's life at least two times!

 

[Elaina]

I already see some problems that I am going to rectify today. But I'm hoping for some advice to clarify before I go out to the store (again).

We have an Exoterra 18 in Cube tank. I think its too tall for the UV to reach her, I am thinking of putting her in our 10 gal empty aquarium, but I'll have to make some purchases to get that to work.

18 " cube tank
100 watt heat, under tank heater in her basking corner (b/c the temp was hanging at 85) Temp at its highest yesterday was about 95, cool side about 85.
In the past I used a UVB strip light. The guy at the pet store (famous last words) who says he breeds beardies and other reptiles..says he uses the fluker coil that you screw into a single lamp fixture, and swears by it. Whether that is a good source or not (I may go back to the strip) its way farther than 12 inches from her. Thats one reason I was thinking of putting her in the 10 gal so the UV would reach her better. It may be better for the humidity too.
I cut a toilet paper roll in half for her to hide in on the cool side. Ghetto..but she is so tiny..the 'regular' rocks and logs I have scare me for her size. I'd like to figure out what I can put in for her to bask and hide in and climb on that will feel more natural, right now its bleak in there..but she IS SO SMALL I don't know what to get!
Humidity is about 25%. That needs to go up right?
I am using brown paper for her substrate. She has a small water dish and greens (I know the good recipe ) on her cooler side of the tank.
I fed her pinhead crickets yesterday 3x and misted her several times during the day. Umm... how many crickets is too many? Does the 5-10 min rule apply to babies? She ate 15, then 20, and then about 9 the third time (because I ran out..she would have kept going!)

My previously adopted beardies were not in good health when I got them, and ultimately despite lots of blood sweat tears money and Vets they died. We still cry over them, and it was around July 07 when the second one passed. I do not want to go through that again.

 

[Lsorrent]

Welcome :wave:

Get rid of the coil light and get a strip. Either the ReptiSun 10.0 or the ReptiGlo 8.0. The coils are bad for their eyes and will cause damage.

I'd go with a shorter tank, personally. Your baby should be able to get around 6-8 inches from the uvb.

Brown paper is good for substrate. Others for babies can be carpet, paper towel, non-adhesive shelf liner, or tile.

As for feeding, yes, as much as she can eat in 10-15 minutes, 2-3 times per day. Remember, feeders shouldn't be any bigger than the space between her eyes.

I've lost a beardie too before, I know how hard it can be.

Good luck and I can't wait to see pics!

~Laura~

 

[Elaina]

Now were rockin. Got the strip, and there was only a ReptiGlo ten in the size I needed, so that was fine. I set up the smaller tank, a little log to hide under and even a little tree to climb on. The cool side is 75, the bottom of the basking area is 100. And Now the UV is totally across the width of tank. She's perkier too! Now, if she would only eat her greens.... :?