The environment

[packerfannate]

I recently purchased a bearded dragon from a boy that was about 14 years old. I don't think he was cared for very well.

The cage (about 40-50 gallons) at the time of purchase:

2 x 20 watt light bulbs (plain halogen bulbs)
1 x colored bulb (purple)
lined with artificial turf
large cave
3 pieces of drift wood
food bowl type thing
very small water dish
flat rock

Since then I have purchased some items for him.

I got rid of the drift wood as I could not get them to stay up. He liked laying on them but they kept falling over. I purchased a tree formation thing at the pet store that he really seems to like. The warmest I could get his cage with the existing lights was 75-80 degrees. I learned through my research that a temperature of around 100 degrees is preferred for basking. I purchased a 100 watt basking bulb from the pet store and was able to achieve this temperature. I also purchased a larger structure for water and re really likes soaking in it. My primary concern is that I believe he has been fed a diet of crickets exclusively. That is all he will eat. I have tried feeding him apples and kale and he won't touch them. I bought some pellets from the store and wet them to make kind of a mush and he ate that once but hasn't since. I have started gut loading the crickets to try to get him more nutrients.

Here are my questions:

- Are there any long term side effects of eating only crickets?
- Is there anything more I can do to help him eat better (more greens and fruits)?
- Is there anything more I can do to improve his cage environment?

All things said he seems healthy. He is very active and loves to be held. I have 6 kids and they love holding him. He has beautiful color with orange on his back and yellow stripes on his tail. We named him Phoenix because his colors reminded us of Arizona deserts.

Thanks in advance for your consideration and assistance.

 

[brittani299]

Hello . It is ok that he is eating crickets. I would try feeding him other feeders and see how he reacts to them. Try Phoenix worms, butter worms, silk worms, or if he is big enough supers. Not every beardie will eat greens righted away. Try putting the greens on top of the feeders and he might grab a green with a feeder.

 

[packerfannate]

Thanks for the advice. I will try that. He is an adult dragon, about 4 years old, and about 14-15 inches long. He is very active and appears happy.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. If you haven't already get rid of the purple light. Also do you have a uvb light? Don't forget to dust his feeders with calcium and vitamins.

 

[sweetiepie9]

UVB lighting is his sunshine and very important to his health. If he's never had one, that explains why he's so little for his age. So that would be important for you to get. It should cover 2/3 at least of his tank and be near the basking light. Reptisun 10.0 tubes are the best to get and you should also make sure it's inside his tank, so he can get at least 8" away from it. You'll find that it will help him maintain good health. If you live in Arizona, get him in the sunshine outside as soon as it's about 70F outside for real sunshine, that will also help him stay healthy. There is a good Care Sheet on here that you should read.

Calcium is essential for his internal health & digestion and to keep his bones strong, so make sure his bugs are dusted 3 feedings a week. Multi-vitamins/min are also important, so 1 feeding dusted a week for that.

You don't need water in his tank unless your humidity is under 30% in the tank. Being in a dry area, having that in his tank might be what he needs. You'd be best to get a digital temp with probe that also shows humidity levels. Don't use the round thermometers, as they aren't accurate.

Otherwise he sounds in good health, congrats on your new baby, even if he is an adult!

For his greens, use this guide. Kale is bad for dragons as it attaches to calcium and rids his body of it. This is the best nutrition guide I've ever seen in all 7 years of having dragons (I rescue them and have 5 males and 1 females, also 2 geckos). www.beautifuldragons.com under Nutrition. It's very complete and explains why some greens are better than others.

 

[Some87]

Here is a great care sheet that will tell you everything you need to know.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=202873&start=15

 

[packerfannate]

Thanks for the advice and I will definitely get him some UVB lighting soon. I have run into another little problem. The cage he is in is only 20 gallons. I have read that he needs at least a 40 gallon cage. I am dusting the crickets with calcium powder. According to the comments and my research, here is what I need. As for the water dish, it is actually a larger one and he seems to like to soak in it. He has done this twice now. Do you think I need to take it out? I live in Utah and the climate is very dry, even in winter.

- 40 gallon tank
- UVB light

Is there anything that I am missing. The more I look into this the more I believe he wasn't taken care of very well.

 

[Some87]

If you hurry petco is doing a $1 per gallon sale till the 26th and the screen top should be around $25.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I Love the Petco $1/gallon sales, so get there as he does need the larger tank.

He also need vitamin/mineral powder for 1 dusting a week, so make sure you have that. If you check in the garden section of Lowe's or Walmart, Walgreen, any big store, you'll find the digial therm with probe that also has the humidity. So if the humidity in his tank is 20% or less, then leave the water dish in his tank & it should be on the cool side. So temps in the tank should be 100-102F on the basking side and then 75-80F on the cool side.

If you've followed everything on the care sheet & what we've sent to you, he'll do fine. If you have a chance, see if you can post a pic on here of your boy. Check the Photo Expression forum and there's a demo on how to post pics on here.

 

[packerfannate]

update -

- it looks like 2 of the lights I received are UVB bulbs. There was no basking bulb. I do have vitamin powder as well as calcium powder.
- I have replaced the night light (purple) bulb with a basking bulb. I can now get his basking area up to around 100 degrees (I do not as of yet have a decent thermometer)
- tomorrow I will buy a bigger cage, a better thermometer, substrate for his new cage as the existing substrate will be too small

This little guy is getting expensive. The kids love him though and he seems to be happy so far considering all the change he is going through.

What should I expect when I move him to his new home?

 

[Some87]

I would say go to lowes or Home Depot and see which one will cut tile and use slate tile so it helps keep his nails trimmed.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Another substrate that I've used for 7 years is newspaper. I get them free, so they're good for me & I cut my dragons nails without an issue, got it all done yesterday. The great thing about newspaper is how easy it is to clean after a poop, I put lots of layers in, so just remove the few layers that it's soaked into & voila, clean tank. It's also soft to sit on, and they can dig it up, too, if they want.

If you get a lampstand you can use the UVB lights, they're mercury vapour lights and are probably still usable. But if you want a tube, then Reptisun 10.0 are the bests choice. And yes, dragons do get expensive for set up, it's the lights that are expensive. Once you get the 40 gallon, that will be the last time you get a tank for him, so there won't be any more expense that way. But the lights will have to changed regularly, it's just necessary and dragons need sunlight for bone growth and digestion.

 

[packerfannate]

Update

I purchased a 40 gallon tank today at Petco. Thanks for the tip! Saved me a bunch of money. He seems to love his new home. I bought a digital thermometer but the battery was missing. I dusted his crickets tonight with vitamin and calcium powder. I don't think he has been getting the vitamin powder as I was given any by the young man that sold him to me. He still won't eat any greens or fruits but I keep offering.

Oh, and here's a pic.

 

[sweetiepie9]

He's got very unusual colouring, you'll have to take more pics, he's beautiful.

I'm so glad you got the tank at a good price, Petco is great with their sales.

So the calcium is still 3 feedings a week & vit/min 1 feeding a week, but not together if possible.

So you'll get a battery, that will give you a much more accurate reading for the basking spot.

If you decide to get a Reptisun 10.0 tube, you can get an "under the counter" fixture for it and then put it inside the 40 gallon, check the Enclosures topic to check on how to do that. I have mercury vapour bulbs called Power Suns, so that's heat & UVB in one light. So I don't have a separate basking light. I use a lampstand & deep dome and use tops on my tanks, so they get full UVB & heat all in the same spot.

He's got a good tail base, so he's been digesting his food, for sure.

 

[AHBD]

Hey guys, that there is an imposter....it's a beardie look a like. Not an actual bearded dragon, but a painted [ or clown ] agama. Very pretty animal for sure , but it's not a beardie!