Should I take in a Bearded Dragon?

[rangosclan]

carpet is good. the felt kind should be fine, you can also use the astro turf kind, but the crickets like to hide in that kind. as far as for the felt carpet, just make sure the edges are flat otherwise the crickets will hide underneath. Our older male was on crushed walnut (i know i know, that's why he's on tile now) when we got him and to make the transition we bought him one of those green hammocks and he LOVES it! Wrap him up in his blankie and lay him on the hammock and he will go right to sleep. On the blankie note, my fiancee says that I spoil our beardies more than he does, but he cut up one of his polo style tshirts and made blankies for both our beardies LOL. It has his smell on it and both beardies have to be under the blankie before they will sleep. LOL. we also got our big beardie a "lovee" turtle that some days he loves all over it, and sometimes he will knock it over and stand over top of it like "I AM THE WINNER!!!" So maybe look into a blankie (small towel or wash cloth would work great and maybe look into a hammock :mrgreen: let us know how he's doing! it sounds like you are making him comfy and spoiled, which is what seems to always happen when someone loves their beardie! best wishes, can't wait to see more pics!!! :headbang:

 

[lauraj1055]

What kind of UVB light did you get? Did you remove the sand? Also an adult beardie doesn't need a basking temp of 105 -110, that's for babies and juvies. And adults basking temp should be between 98 - 102, 105 tops.

Beardies are great! I just bought one for my daughter in December for Christmas, but I became quite attached to him, and then I got one for my birthday... Now I want another!!! They are addicting!

 

[tiffany8579]

The UVB bulb i bought is a 10 bulb that screws into a clamp lamp. its spiral bulb that looks like the energy saving light bulbs. for the reptile carpet i bought him Zilla green terrarium liner that looks sort of like a felt but feels a bit rougher. I have been taking him out everyday for a little while just to get him used to the idea and hes so curious! I realized he doesnt want to necessarily get away from me, he just wants to explore. he runs around licking everything and sometimes decides to take something along with him if he really likes it. i let him run around on my lanolium floor and he slips around a little and has a blast lol. every few feet he has to stop and touch his tongue to the floor or to whatever else may be next to him which is cute! now when i go to pick him up he doesnt freak out. today he didnt move at all and i put him on my chest and he just laid there for a bit. when i tried the bath idea again he didnt try to jump out as long as i left my hand in there with him and dripped the water on his back to make sure it got wet. i fell in love with the little guy I took this pic a couple night ago when i was getting ready to go to sleep and i just thought he looked adorable. hes been sleeping on his log ever since i got the sand out. im definitly gonna look into getting him a hammock if it will help him sleep better without his sand. thanks :mrgreen:

 

[lauraj1055]

The UVB light that you got him is not a good UVB light at all. It's been known to cause eye problems in A LOT of beardies. I would return it ASAP. The best one to get is the reptisun 10.0. They sell them for $25.00 at beardeddragon.co along with the fixtures that you need for them. I would definately get rid of the coil bulb ASAP. You don't want to run into problems with his eyes.

Are you using a red heat light for night? The red light is not good for them as it will disturb their sleep. If you need heat for night, get a ceremic heat emitter (CHE). Even though as long as the temps don't drop below 65, you don't need a night heater at all. They need to drop their temperatures at night and should not be kept warm.

Please don't take any of this as criticism. I know what it's like to be a first time beardie owner, and I have learned so much myself over the past few months. We just want our beardies to be as healthy as they can.

 

[JaysDragons]

Bearded Dragons are the new house pet You wouldn't believe how many people have them nowa days

 

[SunnyDragon7]

He's a lucky boy to have wound up with you. Doesn't sound like his old owners cared for him properly & you are doing all the research to make sure you take care of him right. The fact that you are concerned with proper care means that you will be a great beardie parent in my opinion as alot of people who get pets never take the time to learn how to care for them properly 8)

 

[tiffany8579]

thanks sunny, i do love him so much now because he makes me laugh and smile. its nice to have a pet that i can interact with. last night he was giving me THE look because i didnt take him out of his cage for as long as i usually do and i think he was mad at me lol. i took him out again right before bed time and he did his usual sliding around on the floor and licking everything and he went into my closet and found a rubbery plastic storage bag in there that he thought was comfy. he laid down on it and when hes trying to get comfy he nuzzles his chin against whatever hes laying on so i knew he was getting ready to sleep there lol. i took him out and held him against my shoulder and nestled him against my neck and pet him. he did the chin nuzzle against my shoulder and was beginning to fall asleep. I felt so bad when i had to put him back in his cage cuz he was so comfy.

As for the UVB bulb, i dont have a credit or debit card (which is embarrassing) so i cant really order stuff online unless someone can let me use their credit or debit card. the pet store i usually go to had the bulb their for $40 and i dont think they had the fixtures that go with it. Ill ask my aunt if she can order one for me and that way i can get it for alot cheaper. thanks for the tip. I definitly dont want him to lose his eyesight. i will start turning off the red light at night. i have been getting different information about using the red lamp at night. it seems to me that more people think its best to turn it off so i will. I just got an indoor/outdoor thermometer yesterday so im going to set that up with i get home to make sure hes getting the right basking temps. if his temps are too low which bulb should i replace? should i replace both the red and regular bulbs?

I dont take anything as criticism so u dont have to worry about that. i appreciate all the replies and tips on beardie care because i dont want him to be unhappy. im starting to spoil him with his food. i bought a couple squash at the store and i add a little water and put them in the micro so they get soft and make sure they cool down a bit before i give them to him and he loved it!!!! i also give him collard greens, escarole, and fresh green beans. sometimes i give him purple/red cabbage because i know hes not supposed to have that everyday and he really likes that too. ive been feeding him his calcium/d3 cricket everyday with a few others that are regular flavored :lol: . im still looking for the little hammock for him to sleep in.

thanks again

 

[lauraj1055]

Just and FYI, most of the online stores here for bearded dragons such as www.beardeddragon.co take paypal. With paypal, you can set it up to debit directly out of you checking account, no credit card is needed....

 

[tiffany8579]

Hello again I just thought i should check in to let you all know how my little monster is doing. He is actually getting bigger and i know for sure now that hes a male lol. I also found out that his former owners NEVER took him out of his cage to run around and RARELY took him out to hold him. He never had any rocks in his cage either so his claws were VERY overgrown. His claw problem can be solved with regular exercise outside of his cage and adding a few rocks to his terrarium as he will walk over them. He likes having the rocks in there so I left them. I have tried to find a care article or sheet saying that the coil UVB bulb will hurt his eyes and havent been able to. They say that you dont even really need the UVB bulb if you are giving him the calcium/d3 supplement but i still use one just in case and i have downgraded to a lower number. a 10 is actually a bit of overkill for an adult beardie that is getting a daily supplement. I also give him the multivitamin once a week which also contains some of its own d3. the red night light is really not needed if the temps are fine and i have been shutting it off. He seems much more comfortable now at night without the red light and during the day with the less intense UVB light. When i got him he had never had a UVB light at all so i knew it would take some getting used to but a 10 is still not really needed.

When i let him run around on my floor during the later hours he looks for a cool dark area and curls up so now i make sure i turn all 3 lights off before i want him to sleep just so he can get comfy. When winter comes back around im sure ill have to start using it again. I also realized that the "basking" light he came with wasnt really a basking light at all. I found one that is made for basking that has the mirror on the back to catch the escaping light/heat that is actually a much smaller bulb and the basking area easily reaches 100F so now im wondering if i even need the red light during the day. He has his little pool of water on the other end that he never really seems to just go into to sit there. I dont know if he ever uses it but its there if he wants or needs it. Im glad i got him since his former owners saw the little guy as more of a decoration than a pet which is so sad because he really is a sweet heart. I enjoy letting him hang out with me on my shoulder and watching him run around and be a lizard. They had him for 2 years and didnt even name him so that says alot. One of them even told me that he only poops once a week so that shows you how often they went into his cage to clean and maintain it.

I will never quite understand how people can go out and bring a pet home and then treat it as though its not even really a living thing. His gecko housemate went to my sister and she had some issues of her own over there lol. I guess he came with some kind of tree that was FULL of poo and it took her quite a while to clean it thoroughly. If you are going to put the effort into buying a pet why would you just let it not be taken care of properly. This is a living breathing creature that has needs. how would they like it if someone shoved them into a closet with a single light bulb and only came in to throw it a cricket and clean their poop once a week? it just makes me sick.

 

[lauraj1055]

We need more pictures!!!

 

[Denduran87]

Ah he's gorgeous, congratulations. Your set up looks great but can i make a couple of suggestions? replace the sand with tile or reptile carpet- sand can cause impaction, don't use the night light as it disturbs their sleep and you may want to get a digital thermometer with probe for more accurate readings as the ones you have can be out + or - 20 degrees. As long as temps stay around 70 (no lower than 60) at night he'll be fine- if in doubt you can get a ceramic heat emitter linked to a thermostat . Also i don't see a UVB bulb- this is vital, the reptisun 10 tube is the best. Have fun with your new beardie.

I second this post, ask and you shall recieve the knowledge of these wise members!!

 

[tiffany8579]

I see that people were requesting more pictures so i got some. some of these are of him showing off his beard lol. i dont know if its because he sees his reflection in the side of the cage that hes looking at and he feels the need to assert his dominance or if he just likes to watch himself. maybe he just wants to show off. since the last time i posted i have really grown attached to my little monster and i take him outside with me all the time. hes kind of scared to walk around in the grass by himself so alot of the time he just stays on my shoulder and if he gets scared he nestles himself under my chin, against my neck. hes so adorable when i watch him walk around in the grass because hes not used to walking through it and it looks like the way humans do when they are walking through deep snow and they have to lift their legs up high to take another step. hes loving life now and hes really gotten used to the fact that his owner will pick him up out of this cage and show him love. at first he was scared and kept trying to get away from me and he would flatten out to try and get me to let go of him but now hes happy when i pick him up. he likes to lick me and he rubs his nose against my face which i think is his way of returning a kiss because i give him kisses alot. he knows i love him to death and that i will protect him. he LOVES apples. I get an apple, peel it and cut a piece of it up really small and that is his favorite treat. he also loves the fresh green beans that i pick from the garden. i cut them up small and he eats them right out of my hand lol. sometimes i make him squash. i cut it up really small and put it in a bowl with some water and microwave it until its nice and soft and let it cool and he loves that too. the only problem is that when stuff is really wet like that he has trouble getting it to stick to his tongue so he has learned to pick it up with his mouth instead :lol: . I felt horrible when i realized that this cute little guy wasnt shown any kind of love or affection and never got taken out of his cage. poor thing. so without further ado here is our new pics of mister koosh the monster.

 

[lauraj1055]

I love when they do that with their beard... it's like beardie stretches.. He is super cute. How could anyone not love him? So glad you took him in! I love taking mine out with me. Phred had a long day of being on the boat today!

 

[catUK]

awwwww i love the beard shot- i am yet to witness mine with a full on beard but think she's too lazy to make the full effort- i've only ever seen a half beard :shock:

 

[NCSUCarrie]

awww what a great update That's so awesome that's mister koosh has settled in and seems to love coming out for snuggles and kisses ! Also sounds like he's getting used to being outside and getting snuggles at the same time- sometimes that's the best way !! It's always fun to start spoiling these guys and watch how much they respond
The pictures are great ! He's showing off that handsome beard just so you'll know who's the sexy rascal in the room ! He's looking great and so handsome.
Thanks for the update and I'm thrilled he's doing so well for you and turning into a snuggle dragons