Sleeping up against the glass?

[KristineM]

Hi! I'm new here and I have 3 1/2 week old beardie. I know he's very young and shouldn't have been sent home with us so soon. It was a situation where the owner just couldn't keep him. Anyway, his name is Batman (my children named him/her) and I've gone over every check list following every detail to ensure that he is happy/healthy. He is going through his first shed (only his tail so far since Saturday). My question is: through all of the research I have done, I have read that "glass surfing" is a sign of stress. The last two nights as soon as his lights went out he has crawled up the glass on the front left side of his enclosure. Then he falls asleep with one hand up against the glass. He's normal and active and eating. This is the only strange behavior I have noticed and I'm wondering if its a sign of a problem?

Any information would be helpful. I (shockingly) have fallen head over heals in love with this little guy and I absolutely want to provide the very best care for him that I can.

 

[w0554096]

Beardies find really odd places and positions to sleep in, nothing to worry about.
Glass dancing is not always caused by stress. Mine glass dance when they're hungry, want to come out, there's a poop in the tank, etc.

 

[Esther19]

Batman is behaving normally.

 

[KristineM]

Thank you so much for the feedback. I have spent the last 7 of my 10 days as Batman's mom lurking every forum I could find. Everyone here seems to give the most straight forward and honest information. I'm truly grateful to have found you!

I'm not sure if I can ask another question in the same thread or of I need to go somewhere else but: how long does the first shed take? He has shed his entire tail but the rest of his body is looking rather grey. I know I worry a lot but like I said before, I didn't expect him to steal my heart so quickly! I'd never imagined becoming attached to any pet other than a cat! It's all new to me.

Thanks again for your help!!

 

[w0554096]

No worries, we all go through the new beardie parent stage.
You can ask as many questions as you want in this thread, it helps keep the clutter down.

Sheds are hard to approximate. Since he just shed his tail and his body is gray, it should only be a couple days to a week.
Some dragons take longer than others, and others seemingly explode out of their shed all at once, which is pretty cool to see.

 

[KristineM]

Again...I can't thank you enough! I just made my husband register here too!! Haha! It's so comforting to be able to get quick KNOWLEDGABLE responses!

 

[KristineM]

If I could...I have a lighting question now...my husband is at a "pet store" and they are trying to get him to purchase the 100W Powersun UV bulb instead of the Reptisun 10.0 - Advice please? He is in a 10 gallon tank as he is only 3.5 weeks old and we have a 20 gallon ready to go if needed...husband is building a larger one for when Batman grows up I just need to know exactly what UVB light we need right now and if it replaces the second light we have or if we keep all three. I wish there wasn't SO much conflicting information out there....

 

[w0554096]

Hi there,
I'd reccomend going with the Reptisun 10.0 for now.
Since the Powersun is a UVB/basking bulb all in one, they can easily be too hot for small tanks (10, 20 gallon), and the bulb is reccomended to be at least 12 inches away.
Once you build your new viv, if you want to try an MVB bulb, it'll be much easier to get a proper temp gradiant.

For right now though (and forever if you want) the reptisun is the way to go.

 

[KristineM]

Great! That's exactly what we went with! We still keep the white basking light on the warm side of the tank right? We were told to swap out the basking light with the "red light" for night time heat but I'm reading that we should have lights out completely at night. Should we buy the ceramic hearing bulb for overnight since he is so young?

 

[w0554096]

Yeah, you should still keep the white basking bulb on the warm side. You want to mount the UVB as close to his basking light, as this is where they spend most of their time so you want him to get good exposure. Make sure to mount your UVB inside of the tank 6-8 inches away from his basking spot.

If his temperatures stay above 65 at night, he doesn't need anything for heat. You can get a ceramic heat emitter, they are always good to have on hand just in case. The red bulb will interupt his sleep at nighttime, so if your temps do drop below 65, you'll need the CHE. Anything above 65 is good.

Hope that helps.

 

[KristineM]

I'll pick one up just in case. Our home is generally warm as we have two young children. I'll stop using the red light altogether. Wow...in less than 24 hours I've had all of my questions answered and feel completely confident that Batman has everything he needs! Thank you all so much!!

 

[w0554096]

This forum is very active and it does not usually take long to get a response, no matter what the questions are. Remember though...We really like pictures.

 

[KristineM]

I have tons of pics!!! I just didn't realize it was done through photo bucket I just got my account set up today and I will introduce my little man!! Just like the rest of you I personally believe he's just the cutest darn thing

 

[w0554096]

Lol yeah, they're all so cute, especially the little wee babies.
When you get them uploaded, you should post in the Introductions category so everyone can welcome you.

 

[KristineM]

I'm just going to practice one here since I don't know how to post pictures: