Beardiebri
Member
Hi, I'm new to the forum but i've been reading many topics with everything to do with bearded dragons. Well I have a few questions of my own. Nov 20th of 2011, i went to Repticon and bought my first beardie from a breeder who was there at the show. I think my beadie was 1 month old. I research a ton before the show and got all my supplies, but after I got my beardie I continued to research because there is SOO much to know. During my research I realized everybody does different things regarding their beardie. Some say doing this is great and okay for a beardie, and others say it's fatal or dangerous. Sometimes I just don't know what to believe. Well anyway this is my beardie.
My beardie is about 6 months old, 9 1/2 inches long (head to tip of tail)
He or she doesn't have a name, I didn't want to name it before I knew it was a male or female. I looked online and they told me to look under the tail but I have no idea what im looking at. :|
I dont know if you can tell from that pic, but if you can.. is it a male or female??
My beardie is housed in a 40 gal terrium. I use reptile carpet. I have a heat lamp in a reflective dome and a UVB strip bulb accross the tank. I have his lights on a timer. 9 am to 9 pm.
I use a digital thermoeter which records the temp and humitity.
The basking side is on average each day 110-113 degrees F. Humitity is between 8 - 14 %.
The cool side is betwen 84- 87 degrees F. The humitity is between 35 - 40 %
I don't use a water dish because I read that it is unnessary and not recommended. I do mist him outside his tank 1-2 a day. I give him a warm bath 1-2 a week.
Here is him in his terrium
Well my first question is on his eating. Since I got him, he never showed much interest in crickets. He would catch one here and there, but unless I put them in the freezer to stun them and pull off their legs, he would not eat many at all. He is very alert, and very active but when it came to crickets he showed no interest! I read online about people's baby beardies eating 20 - 60 a day! I would be lucky if I got even close to 15 a day with my guy. So instead of torturing myself and worrying that he wasn't getting enough to eat and wouldn't grow properly, I switched to phoenix worms. I read that they are a great stable food, don't need to be dusted or gut-loaded, don't stink or jump, are soft-bodied and small. Well I put in his salad dish about 30 phoneix worms, and he ran over to the dish and gobbled them all up within ten minutes! So I was happy, cause I HATE crickets, and he loved these worms but the only problem was I had to order them and wait a week for them to deliver cause none of the aquairum or bait stores sold them and they were pricey. But I fed him phoenix worms and his daily salad for about 2 months. Well just a few days ago I had to switch back to crickets because I ran out of phoneix worms and money is really tight right now, and I can't afford to pay for such expensive feeders. To make my life easier I made him a feeding tank for the crickets so I don't have to chase after them at night when they hide everywhere in his terrium. Here it is
I put a heat lamp over the tank so he doesn't get cold. I had to cover the sides and floor cause he just stares at himself through the glass if I don't. I took about 5 medium crickets, dusted them and put one in the tank. It took him about 3 mins to eat it. So I dumped the other 4 in. It took him over 10 mins to eat them, and I had to keep pushing them toward him cause he would just stare at them jumping around and wouldn't go after them unless they were near him. At times he would just stand there letting the crickets walk all around him. He knows they are there cause sometimes, he swats at them with his legs or tail or sometimes he turns his head and eyes them, but does nothing else.
Like this ( see the cricket under his belly?)
It is really annoying, cause I read online that people's beardie will chase them around the tank and gobble 20-60 of them like crazy within 10 mins. It took me 30 minutes to get him to eat 15 crickets! And I had to keep pushing him towards the crickets or the crickets towards him otherwise he just sat there. I really can't spend 30 mins waiting for him to eat 15 freaking crickets. Has this happened to anyone before? Any ideas to help?
Question two:
By looking at my beardie do you think he is too small for 6 months? I see him and handle him everyday so I really don't realize how much he's growing. He is 9 1/2 inches but I thought they were supposed to be like 12 inches at 6 months?
Question three:
I know sand is not good for any beardie that is not fully grown, but I read in all different places sand is bad for ALL beardies and then somewhere else that is it fine for adults. Well my beardie always trys digging in his terrium but it's carpet so he doesn't get anywhere but I heard some people use 'digging bowls'? But what substance do you use for that? or is sand okay for an adult beardie? Like play sand?
Question four:
Now that my beardie is 6 months should I change how much live feeders he gets? If so to how many? Also when is he considered an "adult" and how many live feeders do an adult dragon get fed?
Sorry for it being sooo long, but I really appreicate those of you who took the time to read and respond. Thanks a million!!
My beardie is about 6 months old, 9 1/2 inches long (head to tip of tail)
He or she doesn't have a name, I didn't want to name it before I knew it was a male or female. I looked online and they told me to look under the tail but I have no idea what im looking at. :|
I dont know if you can tell from that pic, but if you can.. is it a male or female??
My beardie is housed in a 40 gal terrium. I use reptile carpet. I have a heat lamp in a reflective dome and a UVB strip bulb accross the tank. I have his lights on a timer. 9 am to 9 pm.
I use a digital thermoeter which records the temp and humitity.
The basking side is on average each day 110-113 degrees F. Humitity is between 8 - 14 %.
The cool side is betwen 84- 87 degrees F. The humitity is between 35 - 40 %
I don't use a water dish because I read that it is unnessary and not recommended. I do mist him outside his tank 1-2 a day. I give him a warm bath 1-2 a week.
Here is him in his terrium
Well my first question is on his eating. Since I got him, he never showed much interest in crickets. He would catch one here and there, but unless I put them in the freezer to stun them and pull off their legs, he would not eat many at all. He is very alert, and very active but when it came to crickets he showed no interest! I read online about people's baby beardies eating 20 - 60 a day! I would be lucky if I got even close to 15 a day with my guy. So instead of torturing myself and worrying that he wasn't getting enough to eat and wouldn't grow properly, I switched to phoenix worms. I read that they are a great stable food, don't need to be dusted or gut-loaded, don't stink or jump, are soft-bodied and small. Well I put in his salad dish about 30 phoneix worms, and he ran over to the dish and gobbled them all up within ten minutes! So I was happy, cause I HATE crickets, and he loved these worms but the only problem was I had to order them and wait a week for them to deliver cause none of the aquairum or bait stores sold them and they were pricey. But I fed him phoenix worms and his daily salad for about 2 months. Well just a few days ago I had to switch back to crickets because I ran out of phoneix worms and money is really tight right now, and I can't afford to pay for such expensive feeders. To make my life easier I made him a feeding tank for the crickets so I don't have to chase after them at night when they hide everywhere in his terrium. Here it is
I put a heat lamp over the tank so he doesn't get cold. I had to cover the sides and floor cause he just stares at himself through the glass if I don't. I took about 5 medium crickets, dusted them and put one in the tank. It took him about 3 mins to eat it. So I dumped the other 4 in. It took him over 10 mins to eat them, and I had to keep pushing them toward him cause he would just stare at them jumping around and wouldn't go after them unless they were near him. At times he would just stand there letting the crickets walk all around him. He knows they are there cause sometimes, he swats at them with his legs or tail or sometimes he turns his head and eyes them, but does nothing else.
Like this ( see the cricket under his belly?)
It is really annoying, cause I read online that people's beardie will chase them around the tank and gobble 20-60 of them like crazy within 10 mins. It took me 30 minutes to get him to eat 15 crickets! And I had to keep pushing him towards the crickets or the crickets towards him otherwise he just sat there. I really can't spend 30 mins waiting for him to eat 15 freaking crickets. Has this happened to anyone before? Any ideas to help?
Question two:
By looking at my beardie do you think he is too small for 6 months? I see him and handle him everyday so I really don't realize how much he's growing. He is 9 1/2 inches but I thought they were supposed to be like 12 inches at 6 months?
Question three:
I know sand is not good for any beardie that is not fully grown, but I read in all different places sand is bad for ALL beardies and then somewhere else that is it fine for adults. Well my beardie always trys digging in his terrium but it's carpet so he doesn't get anywhere but I heard some people use 'digging bowls'? But what substance do you use for that? or is sand okay for an adult beardie? Like play sand?
Question four:
Now that my beardie is 6 months should I change how much live feeders he gets? If so to how many? Also when is he considered an "adult" and how many live feeders do an adult dragon get fed?
Sorry for it being sooo long, but I really appreicate those of you who took the time to read and respond. Thanks a million!!
