These are my kids' dragons. Swear.

[SouthernDragons]

Hi!

My kids (6 and 4) did the impossible, which was to work their butts off to earn the money to buy two bearded dragons.

I did not anticipate MY attachment... but alas, here we are. I hear "mom, you know they're our lizards, right?" every day.

We started out with reptile sand (now very much gone) and the smallest, Hiccup, ate it, combined with relocation stress AND too-big crickets. I didn't think he was going to make it. My husband went out of town and the kids went to camp, and I spent a week ignoring everything else to parent two baby dragons (also how I found this forum!).

Really-- they aren't mine. Cough.

Anyway, I'm glad for the info here-- for the tiny one it's been a literal life saver.

Hiccup eating homemade, organic kale puree. Because, yeah.

I bent over to put down the cricket cage and BAM-- here's an unrepentant Oscar.

They share a space right now. *So far* both are eating the same number of crickets; they've both had a first shed; and aren't pissing in each other's cornflakes.

 

[zandi202]

Welcome to the forum! For you and your not-your-beardies :lol: which are so cute

I would still separate them as soon as you can. Petco is currently having the $1 per gallon sale so that's a thought.

Also, kale isn't a good staple green. It blocks calcium, I believe. It should be fed 1x a week at most. Mind if I ask you some questions?

1. How old is your dragon?

2. How long have you had your dragon?

3. How long is your dragon?

4. What is the sex of your dragon?

5. What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?

6. What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?

7. Do you use UVB lights?

8. If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?

9. What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?

10. How old is your UVB bulb?

11. How close can your dragon get to the UVB?

12. Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?

13. What are the basking temps?

14. What is the cool side temp?

15. Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?

16. Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?

17. Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?

18. What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.

19. How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?

20. Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?

21. Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?

22. Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?

23. Do you bath your dragon? How often?

24. Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?

25. Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

26. Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

Again, welcome!

 

[SouthernDragons]

Oh- they're going to be separated-- We're building their terrarium, and those projects take...longer...with two small people. If they start to get pissy with each other I can temporarily kick the tree frog into a smaller tank.

1. How old is your dragon?
5 months old

2. How long have you had your dragon?
2.5 weeks

3. How long is your dragon?
one is about 4.5 inches, the other closer to 5

4. What is the sex of your dragon?
undetermined

5. What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
they are currently in a 20 gallon tank, they are "moving up" to an enclosure that is 5 ft long and 4 feet tall (an old store display case--- free). Even after separating them, the individual tanks will be sized down as is age-appropriate.

6. What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
reptile carpet on the high-heat side and newspaper sheets on the other side.

7. Do you use UVB lights?
of course. though it's totally the wrong kind.

8. If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
It's a coil, but now I know those are the worst thing ever, so the tube is on the way.

9. What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
Uh.

10. How old is your UVB bulb?
2.5 weeks.

11. How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Right now, not close at all, because I turned it off. Typically ~ 9 inches.

12. Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
yes to separate basking bulb. White basking light, and some artfully aimed incandescent lights from the lamp.

13. What are the basking temps?
fluctuates between 105-108

14. What is the cool side temp?
86ish

15. Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
wire and probe

16. Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
smack in the middle of the basking rock

17. Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
nope

18. What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
crickets, endive lettuce, sweet potato and squash baby food. And that one time kale (they didn't like it much, and after tasting it I agreed with 'em).

19. How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Dude, they eat like newborns. They get breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. With vegetables available all the time. After they both finished the shed they got a morning snack in there, too. They don't leave any strays.

20. Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Yup.

21. Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Yes to both. 4times for vitamins and once per day for the calcium. Ghost crickets are funny.

22. Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Yup.

23. Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Usually once per day.

24. Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
I don't mist *them* often at all. I usually spray the wall next to them and they lick the drips. They lick water from hands when they come out for playtime.

25. Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Nope.

26. Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
For now.

 

[zandi202]

5. How wide is the display case? Are you building it so one cage on bottom and one on top? Because 4' is too tall for a beardie cage. 2' at most.

8. Are the tubes ReptiSun 10.0 or Arcadia 12%? Because those are the two you'd want to get. You'll also want to mount them in the cage because the screen filters out 50% of the UVB. You can get an under the counter fixture at Walmart and 3M command hooks to hang it up.

11. You'll want them to get no more than 6"-8" away and no closer.

18. Go to beautifuldragon.com's nutritional page. Everything you need to know food wise is there. As babies its 80% live feeder 20% greens and visa versa at a year old.

21. Calcium ahould be 5x a week and vitamins 2x a week and at only one feeding.

24. I would stop misting because that can raise humidity and cause URI

 

[zandi202]

Hope that helps!

 

[Spikeshuman]

Those sizes sound more like 1 month old dragons than 5 month old dragons.

 

[patron17]

I agree with spikeshuman

My pet store did the same thing and said he was three months old when in fact he was probably five weeks old.

 

[Esther19]

Hey! How are Oscar and his little sibling? I'm sorry I can't make out the name. They sure are little cuties, even if they are your kids' dragons. :wink: