Spike and Sunny <3

[Heather85]

Hello everyone!! i am fairly new to this sight... i use to have an adult bearded dragon way back in the day before i had kids and just recently bought 2 baby beardies due to my 5 yr old daughter falling in love with them as well .... so here are our babies Sunny and Spike i hope you guys enjoy!!

 

[Heather85]

 

[Heather85]

And here are my other babies

and my son Damian (7) and my daughter Payton (5)

 

[daner923]

Hi there and welcome! I highly suggest you review your set up, as I can see three potentially dangerous things just from those pictures (red light, loose substrate, and living together). Cohabitation is one of the most dangerous situations for beardies - they are solitary animals. I just read and posted on a thread where two dragons were living together, and one attacked the other, which now has permanent brain damage. Sorry to start your welcome here with a horror story, but we feel very strongly about two beardies sharing a tank around here!

 

[Heather85]

Hi there and welcome! I highly suggest you review your set up, as I can see three potentially dangerous things just from those pictures (red light, loose substrate, and living together). Cohabitation is one of the most dangerous situations for beardies - they are solitary animals. I just read and posted on a thread where two dragons were living together, and one attacked the other, which now has permanent brain damage. Sorry to start your welcome here with a horror story, but we feel very strongly about two beardies sharing a tank around here!

oh I know I read a bunch of blogs on here and I already have a list of stuff I have to do tomorrow and 2 of the 3 of your suggestions are on it ... the only one I don't understand is the red light... whats wrong with it?

 

[daner923]

Awesome! Okay, so red light. Beardies are from a very bright environment. It is hot, and sunny. Contrary to what researchers used to believe, they actually can see red light, and it looks like twilight to them. So there are two problems - during the day it hurts their eyes, as it seems dim all the time. Think about how your strain to see in the evening as twilight approaches. The other issue is that at night, it will keep them awake. What you want is a bright white light during the day and no light at night. As long as it stays above 65F at night, you don't need any heat source (by the way, don't use a heat pad or heat rock as they can be burned by them). If it gets below 65F, you will need a ceramic heat emitter for night time.

Make sure appropriate thermometers (digital with probe or temp gun) and appropriate UVB (ReptiSun 10.0 TUBE UVB only) are also on your list!

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Andrew

 

[Heather85]

Awesome! Okay, so red light. Beardies are from a very bright environment. It is hot, and sunny. Contrary to what researchers used to believe, they actually can see red light, and it looks like twilight to them. So there are two problems - during the day it hurts their eyes, as it seems dim all the time. Think about how your strain to see in the evening as twilight approaches. The other issue is that at night, it will keep them awake. What you want is a bright white light during the day and no light at night. As long as it stays above 65F at night, you don't need any heat source (by the way, don't use a heat pad or heat rock as they can be burned by them). If it gets below 65F, you will need a ceramic heat emitter for night time.

Make sure appropriate thermometers (digital with probe or temp gun) and appropriate UVB (ReptiSun 10.0 TUBE UVB only) are also on your list!

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Andrew

thank you for the info! and I have a have a heat pad but its on the outside of the tank on the bottom is that ok?

 

[daner923]

No, heat pads are not a good idea. Although less dangerous than heat rocks, they still have the potential to cause serious burns suddenly. The problem is that beardies do not feel heat from below well at all.

 

[Heather85]

No, heat pads are not a good idea. Although less dangerous than heat rocks, they still have the potential to cause serious burns suddenly. The problem is that beardies do not feel heat from below well at all.

ok thank you.... its been so long since I had my bearded dragon ( about 13yrs ago) that I basically just got everything the guy at the pet store told me to.... obviously he wasn't the brightest and just made me spend a lot more then needed :/ well you live, learn, and find this website! :study:

 

[daner923]

Yes, unfortunately most pet stores tell you a lot of wrong stuff about beardie care. Please ask any more questions you may have!

 

[Heather85]

Yes, unfortunately most pet stores tell you a lot of wrong stuff about beardie care. Please ask any more questions you may have!

instead of the red light which im getting rid of what can I replace it with? and at night when I turn the lights off what should I do if it gets too cold in the viv?

 

[daner923]

Ok so you want a bright white light for day time. This could be a reptile basking light from a pet store or a normal clear household light bulb. Wattage doesn't matter as much as temp - you want the temperature to be 105-110F for babies on the basking spot. I would think if they are each in a 40 gallon tank (which is minimum size for adults, FYI), they would each need a 75 W reptile basking light, or a 100W household bulb. If it is a 20 gallon tank for now, you can use a 50W basking light, or less.

As long as it stays above 65F you don't need anything at night. If it is below that, you will want a ceramic heat emitter.

 

[Heather85]

Ok so you want a bright white light for day time. This could be a reptile basking light from a pet store or a normal clear household light bulb. Wattage doesn't matter as much as temp - you want the temperature to be 105-110F for babies on the basking spot. I would think if they are each in a 40 gallon tank (which is minimum size for adults, FYI), they would each need a 75 W reptile basking light, or a 100W household bulb. If it is a 20 gallon tank for now, you can use a 50W basking light, or less.

As long as it stays above 65F you don't need anything at night. If it is below that, you will want a ceramic heat emitter.

well I live in Chicago so our wheather is always "wonderful" lol but I do have children so having the heat on in the house at a comfortable temp is a must so I think they should be ok I was just curious

 

[daner923]

Sounds good. And I know that Chicago weather - lived there for four years myself.

 

[Heather85]

Sounds good. And I know that Chicago weather - lived there for four years myself.

I love it here but the weather sux!