The adventures of Ares

I was wondering, is it safe to give new dragons kids pedialyte to rehydrate them? I want keep my dragon has heathy as i can when I get him, and he is a juvenile, like 4.5 to 5 inches. thanks.

 

[brittani299]

Hello I am not sire about that. But I do know that if a snake is dehydrated you can give it a bath in Gatorade.

 

[wilddragons16]

Yeah, I heard the snake thing, and some people said it was safe. when I get him, im gonna feed crix and a FEW waxworms, just so he eats and he can put on weight. i cut a hole in my screen cover so the uvb could get through.. the light is 16 in away. is that too far? he can get like 14 in away, and it is a reptisun 10 48 in bulb.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Reptisun bulb? I'm not aware they have bulbs. Or do you mean tube? If it's a tube, then 6 to 8" is recommended. So if you have a tube, best you put it inside the tank. And if you're getting a baby, what size tank do you have?

As for pedialyte, only use that if your dragon is really dehydrated & skinny. Otherwise, regular water & electrolytes in a bottle (you can order them from http://www.bearddragon.co or http://www.bug-de-lite.com) are what you'd give a baby. Pedialyte isn't necessary for a new baby.

Daily baths in warm water for 20 min is what's necessary to keep a baby hydrated. What's also important is the temp on the basking spot, so get a digital therm with probe (accurate is a good brand) to make sure you get proper temp readings, should be 105-110F for a baby.

There is a good care sheet on here that you should read, it incorporates everything you need to know about bearded dragon care. I helped bring it more up to date, so read it through.

Good luck with your new dragon!

 

[wilddragons16]

its a tube. i have a infrared themometer, so that pretty acccurate, and a themometer with probe. its a 40 gallon breeder. i just found a website with really cheap repti-worms, so im gonna put that into my feeding menu. i have been reaserching beardies for about a month, so this is not an out of the blue pet. i am going to get an 150 watt bulb tomorrow, and i have a 60 watt che for night. all of it is on a timer, 12 hr per cycle. i have herptivite, calcium w/o d3, calcium with d3. calcium with d3 6 times per week, calcium w/o d3 once per week, herptivite twice per week. :study: im a geek when it comes too new pets. i get him this saturday! reptile carpet, NO SAND! with logs and a reptile hammock and a sunning rock.

 

[wilddragons16]

And man you have a TUN of dragons! cheers to you!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I do, love them all So for calcium, it's with Vit d3 5 feedings a week & 2 feeding with vit/min. The tube doesn't give off any Vit D3 so you need it for all calcium dusting. Repti-worms are full of calcium, so no need to dust them at all. Silkworms and hornworms are the same, full of calcium, so no dusting. Crickets, though, need dusting as noted above. The Reptisun 10.0 is great, but the 40 gallon tank is only 36" long, not 48" so you might want to recheck your measurements. You can take the calcium without D3 back, you won't need it.

And no heat rocks either. You'll need a basking platform, I use one of these, which is great, as it's a hide, too. This is Gabriel, he's 3 1/2 yrs old, I rescued him in Apr/12.


A log will do, too, just so wherever your little one basks, it's got the right temp going.

I'm so glad you're doing your research, as it's very important that they have the right UVB and basking temps to grow with strong bones. Did you read the article on here? It's tried and true and from a lot of experienced keepers, so check it out.

Here's a great nutrition list that I've used for the 7 years I've had beardies http://www.beautifuldragons.com. check it out, it's very thorough.

 

[wilddragons16]

yes, i went to the store expecting to get a 55 gallon, but it was too thin to comfortably
house him and i had already ordered the 48 inch tube, so I got a 40 gallon breeder instead. i thought the extra couldn't hurt. and he has a rock, not a hot rock, just a rock i got from outside and boiled and baked to clean it. he also has a a grape vine on which he can get very close to the light. he also has a tall log that he can sit on. its like 7 in tall. the logs are securely placed so they can't fall on him (ouch). I was thinking of feeding like one waxworm every other day. I know they're fatty, but he will eat them, and that isn't the only bug I'll be feeding.

 

[wilddragons16]

I always thought that they could make vite d3 when they were exposed to uvb light? :?: maybe I was wrong.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Only under real sunlight, from what I understand. And no wax worms at all. They're completely fat and will cause fatty liver disease, which is fatal. Your little one will do fine on repti-worms, crickets, also baby silkworms and hornworms. But no wax worms. They are for other types of lizards, like frilled lizards. Dragons have trouble digesting them.

So return the 48" and get a 24", you don't need the UVB to cover the whole tank, just 2/3 of it. Logs are great and so are grapevines. Rubio, who's my biggest dragon at 800g and 22" long is on a grapevine and really likes it.

 

[wilddragons16]

Yeah. I'm leaning toward crix, silkworms :?: hard to find a place with reasonable shipping, u know? And repti-worms.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Where do you live? You could try http://www.mulberryfarms.com; http://www.lindagonebuggy. Those are two that I know a lot of people get their bugs from. If I hear of any other places, I'll let you know.

 

[wilddragons16]

Yes, mulberry farms has 12 dollar shipping, kinda steep

 

[wilddragons16]

West coast roaches has good prices, as does red earthworms

 

[wilddragons16]

thinking of feeding collard greens and kale, good mix? mixed with veggies. for a baby.