what to do?help please!!

[Edwtampa]

i'm a very inexperianced beardie owner.i'm going to attempt my third beardie,the first two having died.i've gotten a feeding and bathing schedule,and i have a decent tank and will be getting better lights sooner.my last concern is...what do i do when i get the lil one?!!i keep hearing you should leave it alone a few days after you get it,and i'm not sure if this is like...THE rule.i'm scared if i don't handle my beardie for a long time,it'll grow to be an adult that hasn't learned to trust humans.but i figure if i handle him too much,he won't like it and won't trust humans anyway!i really need some help and/or advice on what to do when i get my baby beardie...which may be around two to four weeks old.depending on how long the breeder i buy from will be willing to hold onto one for me.

 

[giffelse]

First of all, do you trust this breeder? That really makes a difference sometimes in the beardie itself. There are SO many reputable breeders online that its almost not worth taking the risk. And there are SO many affordable priced beardies, no matter what color you like.
You really should only purchase a beardie if its 6 weeks or older. That just puts a lot less stress on you. Most breeders on here only sell that young. No younger.
Once you have your beardie, give he or she a few days to adjust to their new tank. Maybe even a week if you're concerned about that. But after that, you should be set in terms of handling.
What kind of lights are you getting? For the UVB, EVERYONE on here recommends the reptisun 10.0 tube bulb and I do too. All of my beardies are under that one and there are no health problems. Believe me when I say lights are one of the most important things. MAKE sure you have temps right in your tank. Make sure you get your UVB as soon as you can and make sure your beardie is on a good, consistent sleep schedule. (12 hours on 12 hours off)

I wish you the best of luck with your new beardie and I hope this helps!!!

 

[Edwtampa]

this breeder seems good.she had three full grown beardies of her own and she's in my home town.the babies and adults seemed well cared for and were perfectly alert.i even held one of the adult and he was as mellow as you please.but i will ask if she'd be willing to hold onto one for me til it's six weeks old...although i really wish i could pick it out myself to make it more mine.i could if i had to because she's only a ten minute or so drive away from me.i just don't want to cause hassle for her cause she seems like a sweet girl.

 

[Nasubi77]

Since you are rather inexperienced, and especially since you have had bad luck in the past, I would NOT recommend getting a 2-4 week old beardie. Reputable breeders won't even think of letting them go until they are at least 6 weeks old AND at least 6 inches long. If a breeder won't "hold" one until that age and size, then you shouldn't be dealing with that breeder, IMO.

A baby is going to be skittish. You can let him be for a few days without handling, but still put your hands in his enclosure for feeding and cleaning etc. Then, hold him for short periods of time with your hands still in his enclosure. When he (and you) get used to this, try holding him outside of his enclosure. Be prepared for him to bolt at any sound or movement, so it is best if you can hold him while sitting on the floor so he doesn't have far to fall if that happens.

They tend to get mellower with age, whether or not they have been handled a lot, so as long as he sees your hands every day and you attempt to pick him up every day or even every few days, he'll most likely be a calm, chillin' adult when the time comes.

Before you get him, please give us details about your setup and feeding habits so we can make sure everything is just right and rule out any problems that may have caused the death of your other two beardies.

 

[DoubleJ]

Have you thought about getting an older beardie? Some breeders have holdbacks for sale so you would still be getting a healthy beardie. Little ones take a lot more time and energy (and expense) than slightly older ones.

Just a thought

 

[Edwtampa]

i've got a tank that i'm not sure how many gallons it is.i do know it's two feet across the front,so two feet long.i measured because i wanted to see if it'd hold an adult beardie and when i realized he would be a little cramped,i decided to get my dad to build a new bigger enclosure,three foot and then some inches across.but in the tank i've got newspaper for substrate,a little shallow rock bowl from the petstore for water which i'm concidering taking out,a little wooden arch and a smooth rock i lay on it's flatside against the side of the glass so it won't fall,rock or move around.that's really it.i did put one of my well worn shirts in with the second beardie,and at the end i wanted him to have a toy so i put in one of those plastic easter eggs. for lighting i had just a..i guess a basking lamp bulb i got from the pet store when i had my first beardie so it's really old..but still seems to give out pretty good heat and was pretty bright.the bulb is kind of clear.

 

[Nasubi77]

i've got a tank that i'm not sure how many gallons it is.i do know it's two feet across the front,so two feet long.i measured because i wanted to see if it'd hold an adult beardie and when i realized he would be a little cramped,i decided to get my dad to build a new bigger enclosure,three foot and then some inches across.but in the tank i've got newspaper for substrate,a little shallow rock bowl from the petstore for water which i'm concidering taking out,a little wooden arch and a smooth rock i lay on it's flatside against the side of the glass so it won't fall,rock or move around.that's really it.i did put one of my well worn shirts in with the second beardie,and at the end i wanted him to have a toy so i put in one of those plastic easter eggs. for lighting i had just a..i guess a basking lamp bulb i got from the pet store when i had my first beardie so it's really old..but still seems to give out pretty good heat and was pretty bright.the bulb is kind of clear.

Your basking bulb should still be fine. But it is important to measure your temps so you know exactly what they are. They only way to do this accurately is with a temp gun or digital thermometer with a probe on a wire. The probe goes directly on the basking spot and this temp should be 100-110 - the higher part of the range for a baby and the lower part of that range for an adult.

Temps are very important. Too cold, and he won't be able to digest his food. Too hot, and he can, well...bake... so it's very important you get the right kind of thermometer.

It is also important to have a good quality UVB bulb, and unfortunately there is only ONE good quality bulb on the market right now. The Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent tube (not the compact coil!). You should position this bulb so that your beardie can get within 6-8" while he is basking.

You didn't address diet, but this is also important and where many beginners make mistakes (especially if they listen to pet store advice). A baby needs live bugs 2-3 times a day, as many as he can eat in about 10-15 minutes each feeding. Use roaches, crickets, or soft-bodied worms like silkworms, hornworms, phoenix worms. Do not use mealworms because they have a hard exoskeleton that is hard for some babies to digest and can cause impaction. Make sure crickets are no bigger than the space between his eyes. If you end up getting an adult, he can eat bugs every other or even every 3rd day, but still needs a salad every day.

He should also have a salad of dark, leafy greens (never lettuce) and other fresh veggies available every day. Here is a good list to show you which veggies are good and which ones are not:
Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart

You also want to get some calcium WITH d3 supplements to dust his bugs for one feeding, 5x a week. You can also get multivitamins to dust one feeding 2x a week. IMO, if you feed a good variety of veggies from the Beautiful Dragons list and he eats those veggies, the multivites aren't really necessary, but the calcium is extremely important, so don't skip that. Or if he doesn't eat veggies, the multivites are important, too.

Newspaper is good as the substrate. You can keep that or use paper towels, non-adhesive shelf liner or tiles. Just don't switch to sand or any other substrate that has loose particles.

Overall, besides lack of calcium and UVB, I don't see anything alarming about your setup. Do you mind describing the circumstances under which your previous beardies died? How old were they? How long had you had them? I don't want to make you re-live those tragedies, but I do want to make sure you can give a new beardie a perfectly happy and healthy home.

 

[Edwtampa]

my first one Yamori lived maybe...two months?i can't remember,i had it back in middle school and i just graduated high school.i had Warlock for three weeks.yamori i KNOW died from impaction..i woke up and he was laying dead,some spittle kind of bubbles from his mouth mixed with sand.i did use sand as substrate then.warlock...i don't know i had him since he was two weeks old,and kept him three weeks.towards the end he was acting funny.very lethargic and wouldn't eat.came back to alertness in the bath but went to how he was before.then the day he died,i decided to try and get him some nutrients from the sun.it was around five or six oclock.i sat in the sun and after a minute,he began gaping his mouth open.i remember thinking about people online saying dragons do that when hot.then suddenly he rolled over and began...shaking and twitching.i think it was a seizure.i took him in the shade but he kept opening his mouth,kind of a gasping motion.i called the breeder i got him from and she said he may be impacted and to put him in warm water.that worked for a little while then suddenly i noticed his back toes...viberating.and then his tail.his head slipped off the edge of the tupperware lid i was using to hold the water for him,and i picked him up,i could feel his whole body kind of viberating.i set him down,scared he'd have another seizure then put him back in the water.the last bit i rememer before he died was his head twitching and tilting to the side.then he was dead.i fed him maybe three crickets three times a week...maybe more towards the end but still the same days and i'd cut the bigger one in sections and feed each section to him.gave him lettuce for his salad,he seemed to enjoy it and gulped it down as soon as he saw it.the temp in his tank was...around 80 something in the cool part,dunno about the hot part.

 

[xmikeyx1026]

I would buy from tnddragons or bloodbankdragons both have great dragons and great people. I buy coldblooded tanks they are alot of money but my beardies love them. Just get the lizard set up but a basking light and a uvb bulb in there and then just get some rocks and hides for the dragon.

 

[Nasubi77]

my first one Yamori lived maybe...two months?i can't remember,i had it back in middle school and i just graduated high school.i had Warlock for three weeks.yamori i KNOW died from impaction..i woke up and he was laying dead,some spittle kind of bubbles from his mouth mixed with sand.i did use sand as substrate then.warlock...i don't know i had him since he was two weeks old,and kept him three weeks.towards the end he was acting funny.very lethargic and wouldn't eat.came back to alertness in the bath but went to how he was before.then the day he died,i decided to try and get him some nutrients from the sun.it was around five or six oclock.i sat in the sun and after a minute,he began gaping his mouth open.i remember thinking about people online saying dragons do that when hot.then suddenly he rolled over and began...shaking and twitching.i think it was a seizure.i took him in the shade but he kept opening his mouth,kind of a gasping motion.i called the breeder i got him from and she said he may be impacted and to put him in warm water.that worked for a little while then suddenly i noticed his back toes...viberating.and then his tail.his head slipped off the edge of the tupperware lid i was using to hold the water for him,and i picked him up,i could feel his whole body kind of viberating.i set him down,scared he'd have another seizure then put him back in the water.the last bit i rememer before he died was his head twitching and tilting to the side.then he was dead.i fed him maybe three crickets three times a week...maybe more towards the end but still the same days and i'd cut the bigger one in sections and feed each section to him.gave him lettuce for his salad,he seemed to enjoy it and gulped it down as soon as he saw it.the temp in his tank was...around 80 something in the cool part,dunno about the hot part.

I'm so sorry to make you re-live that, but it does shed some light. Yamori did likely die from impaction, and so did Warlock. Even though you chopped the crickets into pieces, the exoskeleton of a large cricket is much harder than that of a young cricket, so even though the pieces were small, the bug was still just too hard to digest for a tiny beardie. Another issue is that the was just too young. If living conditions are not absolutely perfect for a tiny baby like that, they can decline very rapidly and it is harder to get a little one back on track. That's why breeders should not (and will not in most cases) sell them until they are at least 6 weeks old.

A couple other issues: 3 crix 3x a week is not nearly enough food, and lettuce is basically just crunchy water and provides no nutrition at all. A young beardie - any under 18 months - need daily protein to thrive, so needs to be fed every day, 2 or 3x a day for a baby. Once a day for an older juvie or sub-adult. And they need a salad every day, no matter what age. I do suggest you try to get a juvie that is about 5 or 6 months old. At that age, they are still young enough so you can feel as if you raised him from a young'in, but already an established eater, a little more tolerant of husbandry mistakes and probably less skittish than a tiny baby as well.

I am sure you will be a great beardie parent now that you are armed with the right information. I can tell you care a lot about your critters and want to do the best for them, and now you can!

Best of luck!