Petsmart baby?

[ananas]

I have a question.

I'm new to the world of bearded dragons, and got one from Petsmart yesterday. He's about 5.5 inches long.

I checked him over to see if he was healthy and he looked perfect. He was running around the tank the whole time we were looking at him, peering through the glass at us and putting his feet up on the side trying to climb up, just very happily playing. He was in a tank that was fairly well set up, for a pet store. Water dish, had lights on him, had moss on the bottom maybe? I can't remember for sure. I asked them to feed him, and the guy said he hadn't been eating a lot, but he did eat at least one cricket while we were there.

I brought him home, and last night he was pretty quiet, just sitting on his basking rock. He licked some grape and some carrot out of my hand and ate another cricket.

Today he's much more active- he's been running around, I discovered he loves water and just laps it up, he's ate two crickets today as far as I know (could be as many as 5, and I know not eating a lot is fairly common in the first few days of being in a new environment). He'll wander over to the cool side of his tank and play in the water and then walk back to the hot side and bask for a while. He's also been (as he's doing right now) just standing on his basking rock peering through the glass.

He seems perfectly fine, but as I hear these horror stories of people buying from large pet stores, I get more and more worried. Petsmart only has a 14 day guarantee.

Would he appear sick now, if he was indeed sick? Or would I not know it for a while? Would it be worth it to return him and buy from another place (my brother got one recently too, from a place that was very knowledgeable, had very healthy babies, and has a full guarantee)? I really like him, he's a total sweetheart and loves attention, but the thought of him dying in a month or being seriously ill makes me sick to my stomach.

What to do?

 

[Phalanges]

It depends on the individual store. My Petsmart is absolutely wonderful and - dare I say it - near perfect. My only qualm would be that their bearded dragon stock is a miniscule 5", which I think is much too small for the beginning herp keeper to care for easily. Since you have a baby around that size, he will need a little specialized care.

First off, are the crickets smaller than the space between his eyes? This is probably one of the major sources of health problems in small beardies. Large feeders can become impacted in a dragon's stomach and lead to death if it's not passed or otherwise removed.

It seems like yours is very active, which is a great sign! Can we get more information on your set-up, though? What's your current cage size? What's your substrate? The basking spot temperature? The cool side temperature? The hot side? Are you using a UVB light/what brand of UVB light? Are you using calcium and multi-vitamin powders? If so, how often?

 

[GOOTZ]

i got my bd at pet co and she is doing fine. she did the same thing, looking through the glass and climbing it. its pretty funny :lol:

 

[ananas]

First off, are the crickets smaller than the space between his eyes? This is probably one of the major sources of health problems in small beardies.

Yup, they're tiny little guys, the smallest size the Petsmart had.

It seems like yours is very active, which is a great sign! Can we get more information on your set-up, though? What's your current cage size? What's your substrate? The basking spot temperature? The cool side temperature? The hot side? Are you using a UVB light/what brand of UVB light? Are you using calcium and multi-vitamin powders? If so, how often?

The cage is 36 inches long, 10.5 inches wide, and 17.5 inches tall. It's temporary (at most a few months) while I have a large, custom habitat built. It's about perfect for him right now.

I'm using paper towels at the moment. The hot side has been around 92 degrees all day, and the cool side has been around 76-84 (it's varied a bit throughout the day). I'm using a Reptisun, I believe, and it's a 10.0 uvb light. I also have a basking light from the same brand.

I haven't been using powders, I completely forgot to buy them. I need to go to the pet store tomorrow anyway so I'll be picking some up.

Thanks!

 

[brittany]

Your basking temp is too low. Try to bring the bulb closer to the basking spot or get a higher watt bulb. It should be 100-110.

 

[Phalanges]

Your basking temp is too low. Try to bring the bulb closer to the basking spot or get a higher watt bulb. It should be 100-110.

Yup.

Otherwise, you have everything down great. I'm actually really impressed. :lol: Are you going to get a fecal check done to rule out parasites? This is more important if he was housed with other bearded dragons at the store, but it's always good to have him checked even if he wasn't. Fecal checks run about $20 most places and all you need to do is bag the poo and stick it in the fridge if your appointment isn't for a few days.

 

[brittany]

Your basking temp is too low. Try to bring the bulb closer to the basking spot or get a higher watt bulb. It should be 100-110.

Yup.

Otherwise, you have everything down great. I'm actually really impressed. :lol: Are you going to get a fecal check done to rule out parasites? This is more important if he was housed with other bearded dragons at the store, but it's always good to have him checked even if he wasn't. Fecal checks run about $20 most places and all you need to do is bag the poo and stick it in the fridge if your appointment isn't for a few days.

Fecals are really really important. I didn't suspect Kira at all. She was active, ate like a pig (130 crickets a day), and was very social but low and behold she has coccidia and pinworms. It's good to know what's going on with them.

 

[Phalanges]

Fecals are really really important. I didn't suspect Kira at all. She was active, ate like a pig (130 crickets a day), and was very social but low and behold she has coccidia and pinworms. It's good to know what's going on with them.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that crickets are a potential carrier of pinworms and it's generally good to get your dragon checked twice a year if you use them as a main feeder. I dropped crickets after a month and started breeding dubia roaches and superworms. Not necessary, perhaps, but...I love bugs and crawly things.

 

[diamc]

ananas, congrats on your little baby. Brittany is right, the basking temp is too low and should be 100 to 110 for a baby, but no higher than that. I'll bet the petstore sold you a type of stick on thermometer though and they can be as much as 20 deg off either way, so I WOULDN'T raise the temps until you get either a digital therm with probe or a temp gun so you can get an accurate reading. Babies can become dehydrated very quickly, so it's a must to have a good thermometer.

Also, it's recommended that you wait about 2 wks before you have a fecal test as their coccidia level raises from the stress of a new move.

Be careful of the water dish in his tank because babies can drown in the smallest amt of water. I suggest you especially remove it at night as well as any uneaten crickets as they will chew on your beardie.

Good luck with your baby and we're here if/when you need us. :wink:

(Moved from General to Introductions)

 

[redn3ckkittycat]

I got my beardie from a local petstore (In New Braunfels and San Antonio) And the guy who works there bred these, and sold to one of our local PetSmart...i really just think it dpends on the store *shrugs*

 

[ananas]

ananas, congrats on your little baby. Brittany is right, the basking temp is too low and should be 100 to 110 for a baby, but no higher than that. I'll bet the petstore sold you a type of stick on thermometer though and they can be as much as 20 deg off either way, so I WOULDN'T raise the temps until you get either a digital therm with probe or a temp gun so you can get an accurate reading.

Nope, I actually have a very good thermometer that's quite accurate. I'll look into higher wattage bulbs tomorrow, when I'll be going to the pet store. Thanks!

Be careful of the water dish in his tank because babies can drown in the smallest amt of water. I suggest you especially remove it at night as well as any uneaten crickets as they will chew on your beardie.

The water is only in there in the daytime, and he eats in a separate tank. Thanks!

 

[diamc]

Glad to hear that you're using either a digital with probe or temp gun. A higher wattage bulb should make a difference. Did you know that you can use an ordinary household lightbulb for the basking bulb? A lot of us use these and saves lots of money.

That's good to hear that the water dish is removed at night & he eats in a separate tank so no crickets to hide. :wink:

Good luck with the little one.

Oh, I forgot to mention that all 4 of ours came from a petstore. We had them all since they were 3 & 4 wks old and Judas, the oldest will be 5 yrs in Oct.