What a great community

[PaganDragons]

Hey all first I want to say what a great community you guys have here. So to start I guess I'll talk about how I came to be the daddy to 2 baby BD's. we recently re landscaped the backyard and we happen to catch a little gecko. My son put it in a bucket and was happy a a pig..... So I let him have his fun for the day but late that night I set the little guy free. the next day upon finding his prized lizard had escaped my son was devastated. That was on Friday, on Monday his Grandpa asked if he could pick up my son from school ( my children and their grand parents are really close) I said sure, and thought nothing of it as he picks Cole up from school regularly. I guess Cole had been putting the screws to old Gramps cause when they showed up at the house they had a 20 gallon (long) fish tank A light fixture a fake tree, a little box full of crickets and 2 baby dragons. I like reptiles so i thought it was cool...



So he gives me a quick rundown on how to take care of them as told to him by petsmart, and he is on his merry way LOL. So after 2 days I go to feed them per instructions i dump 10 crickets in the tank I see the one guy grab a few but the other guy wont eat. 3 days later I go to feed them and neither well eat> I think hmmm, so as the computer nerd that I am I hit the internet and after a quick Google search I find my way to this site. the only thing Petsmart got right was they set him home with reptile carpet instead of sand, other then that I am surprised they can tell bearded dragons apart from the other lizards. ( disclaimer If your an employee off petsmart and are reading this I sure there are some knowledgeable people that work for the company). they sent home a 1 UVA and 1 Red bulb. I was told to turn the UVA on during the day and the red one at night, feed them every 3 days and spray the tank with water 2 times a day.


After a little research I quickly realized the lighting and heat of the tank was completely inadequate. So I went and got a reptisun 10.0 compact another UVA bulb and after heat testing a heat lamp and shroud. then after some more reading I realized that compacts are really bad for your BD's and after seeing the short coming of the little light dome they sent home I ditched the whole set up. The one dragon was really not doing well so I returned him to the pet store bought another one from a different pet store when my son was at school so he didn't notice the switch. I felt bad I hope the pet store saved him.

I now have 1 mercury vapor bulb the basking area is around 108 and cool side is low 80's. They get a bath every other day, They are eating every time I offer them crickets. I give them greens but not to much interest in them yet. My little guys look to be doing well. I am already working on new Viv's for them as I know I cant keep them together and they well out grow this tank soon.

They are only eating a few crickets per feeding every 3 days. I was wondering if i should feed them everyday since they do not seam to be gorging themselves. I had two good looking poops today. I didn't see them do it but i am assuming that 1 poop = 1 dragon so both are craping and looks like quality poop. I only just got their tank really set up good yesterday so i am hoping after a few more days with good conditions that their appetite gets better because I want FAT big dragons. Sorry for the really long first post...


here is a Picture of my setup taken with my iphone so its low quality but you can see what i'm working with

 

[snowdrop]

Is it any wonder my fiance doesn't let me in petshop, very few of them have a clue what they are doing!!!!!

Any way that's that rant over! lol Baby beardies should really be eating at least twice a day! I say at least as ppl have different routines. They each should be able to gorge on at least 30 crix per time sometimes depending on your baby even more, as babies they do tend to eat far more live crix than veg but that will improve as they get older. Bathing a lot is good as babies can get dehydrated and they take water in through their vent (bum).

Make sure your crix are the correct size if they are to big it can hurt the babies, rule of thumb is live food should be no bigger that the distace between their eyes.

They will do better once you are able to seperate them.

So it's a big yes to being feed every day! you will see how much they can grow in the first year!

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Welcome aboard, Hi and Other stuff.

 

[babycham1983]

Hi, it was good to read about your "babies"! I hope they're doing well now. I too am confused about pet store advice!!!

 

[Twobeardieguy]

:wave:

 

[Livey]

hi,
You need to separate the 2 dragons, you say you returned one because it wasn't 2 well..
well you will just be doing the same with the new one, its dominance.
I suggest you think about getting another tank,

 

[PaganDragons]

hi,
You need to separate the 2 dragons, you say you returned one because it wasn't 2 well..
well you will just be doing the same with the new one, its dominance.
I suggest you think about getting another tank,

I think the other one was just to weak to survive my poor care.


But I agree the old guy is really dominate. I am going to be looking for another setup today....

 

[Livey]

yeah , you should notice the dominate one eating more and eventually stop the other one basking .. and then the little one will become ill...
So i would think about sorting that out soon as..

 

[PaganDragons]

Hey guys do you think my cool side has enough light? I still have the hood and the UVA lights...



Update found another tank. getting it tomorrow. As it happens its a left over from a BD that out grew it....

 

[PaganDragons]

I figured I'll just post in this thread rather then make new ones. I'm still working on the other viv I have the tank just waiting on the light. Smaug just as his name sake is a greedy dragon that watches over his hoard like a hawk, jealous of everyone lol. Both dragons are eating more each day. They have even been snacking on their salad...


I am thinking about starting a dubai colony But man I hate roaches....

 

[diamc]

Hi, it's great to have you here. Sounds like you have done a lot of reading.

I do have to agree with the others that each having their own tank is so much better for them and much less worry for you.

I wanted to ask, are you still using the 20 gallon tank, is that what you have the MVB on? If so, we recommend a MVB on a tank no smaller than a 40 gallon because of the strong UV rays and high heat that they produce. What distance do you have the UVB? What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps?

I do think the cool side looks a little too dark. If you have an extra fluorescent hood, you could pick up a fluorescent bulb (non-UVB) and use it on the cool side. That will give you more light but shouldn't affect the temps at all.

 

[PaganDragons]

Hi, it's great to have you here. Sounds like you have done a lot of reading.

I do have to agree with the others that each having their own tank is so much better for them and much less worry for you.

I wanted to ask, are you still using the 20 gallon tank, is that what you have the MVB on? If so, we recommend a MVB on a tank no smaller than a 40 gallon because of the strong UV rays and high heat that they produce. What distance do you have the UVB? What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps?

I do think the cool side looks a little too dark. If you have an extra fluorescent hood, you could pick up a fluorescent bulb (non-UVB) and use it on the cool side. That will give you more light but shouldn't affect the temps at all.

yeah its a 20 gallon but the MVB is not resting on the top of it i have is suspended from a chain that i can move up or down to adjust the temps. I am using a Inferred thermometer I got from an auto parts store to check temps. I was worried about its accuracy but I tested it on ice water and it was reading 33 degrees. I am having a problem with the MVB. I have to lower it to about 8" to raise the temps to around 108 at the recomanded 12" i am only getting around 101 degrees. not sure what to do.


Its a powersun 100w. its the only thing i could find at the pet store at the time..

 

[diamc]

I would recommend that you have it at least 12" from your beardie, not measured from the basking spot. Actually a distance of 14 to 16 inches would be much safer. If the temps don't get hot enough, you can use a lower wattage standard household light bulb alongside it. How is your beardie acting, any problem with the eyes at all? How is his activity level and appetite?

 

[PaganDragons]

I would recommend that you have it at least 12" from your beardie, not measured from the basking spot. Actually a distance of 14 to 16 inches would be much safer. If the temps don't get hot enough, you can use a lower wattage standard household light bulb alongside it. How is your beardie acting, any problem with the eyes at all? How is his activity level and appetite?

They are running all over the tank jumping from rock to tree ect ect. they do close their eye from time to time when under they light. are they supposed to have them open 100% of the time. they seem to be eating more each day since I got the tank set up better..

 

[TheDeac]

sounds like your doin a great job i dont know as much as these guys but i have a young beardy my first who is 9-11 weeks old from petsmart...i listen to them 1st wasted alot of money and came here to fix it...now when i go to buy my crix (just this weekend actually) i helped set up a bd viv for 2 guys getting 2 drags while i was there...the sales lady and i talk all the time and she trust me enough to listen to wat i have to say these guys on here know there stuff (i have mine in a 20 gal and have no probs with temp and uvb i just use a reptisun uvb florescent and a reg old house bulb and it keeps it set up nice) just out of curiosity what did u get from pets mart the "fancy" or the normals i only ask bc i got the normal and ended up with a nice "fancy" (oh to everyone worried the 20gal is a temp but most ya'll have read stubbs thread xD)