Hi!
Since I've already posted once, I thought I'd come over here and introduce myself and my beardie.
Three weeks ago I had no plans on adopting a bearded dragon. However, a family member told me that she had one that she couldn't keep and asked me if I would take it. I love reptiles, so I did some research and ultimately decided I would.
Upon bringing him to me, however, I discovered that she was underfeeding him and feeding him the wrong thing (she was only giving him a couple of mealworms a day and she'd give him large superworms twice a week, when I cleaned out his tank I found five living superworms in there). I learned that his setup was also wrong (coil UVB and this substrate that had glued on rocks that could easily come loose/be ingested). She was also using a red light for him at night. So I quickly worked to get nearly everything replaced. Now he gets to eat crickets (though I'm transitioning away from those), dubias, and very soon calicworms too. I give him the very occasional small piece of waxworm as a treat, too (I cut them up). I dust once a day. He has a reptisun uvb tube, the correct temps in his basking spot, tile substrate, and fresh veggies every day.
He had a little stress after his two moves (to my house, and then to his new viv), but he's now officially eating around 60 bugs a day! I had to order more dubia. I also bought a colony but they aren't breeding fast enough, haha.
He was only 6" when she gave him to me, not sure if it's because he was very young when she bought him, or because he was underfed, or both. I know he's grown over the past two weeks, though, but I haven't had a chance to measure him again yet. He takes food from my hand, but he won't climb on my hand on his own just yet, and occasionally he'll still puff up at me when I approach, but I can tell he's getting more accustomed to my handling.
My favorite activity is giving him water with a dropper...it took him two tries to learn what that was, and now he opens his mouth every time I offer it to him. It's cute.
Here are a couple of pictures...
Sleeping in his original tank:
On our way to his first bath:
Caught eating veggies for the first time:
Fat tummy after his first big meal:
Since I've already posted once, I thought I'd come over here and introduce myself and my beardie.
Three weeks ago I had no plans on adopting a bearded dragon. However, a family member told me that she had one that she couldn't keep and asked me if I would take it. I love reptiles, so I did some research and ultimately decided I would.
Upon bringing him to me, however, I discovered that she was underfeeding him and feeding him the wrong thing (she was only giving him a couple of mealworms a day and she'd give him large superworms twice a week, when I cleaned out his tank I found five living superworms in there). I learned that his setup was also wrong (coil UVB and this substrate that had glued on rocks that could easily come loose/be ingested). She was also using a red light for him at night. So I quickly worked to get nearly everything replaced. Now he gets to eat crickets (though I'm transitioning away from those), dubias, and very soon calicworms too. I give him the very occasional small piece of waxworm as a treat, too (I cut them up). I dust once a day. He has a reptisun uvb tube, the correct temps in his basking spot, tile substrate, and fresh veggies every day.
He had a little stress after his two moves (to my house, and then to his new viv), but he's now officially eating around 60 bugs a day! I had to order more dubia. I also bought a colony but they aren't breeding fast enough, haha.
He was only 6" when she gave him to me, not sure if it's because he was very young when she bought him, or because he was underfed, or both. I know he's grown over the past two weeks, though, but I haven't had a chance to measure him again yet. He takes food from my hand, but he won't climb on my hand on his own just yet, and occasionally he'll still puff up at me when I approach, but I can tell he's getting more accustomed to my handling.
My favorite activity is giving him water with a dropper...it took him two tries to learn what that was, and now he opens his mouth every time I offer it to him. It's cute.
Here are a couple of pictures...
Sleeping in his original tank:
On our way to his first bath:
Caught eating veggies for the first time:
Fat tummy after his first big meal:
