winking... is this weird?

[Mads]

Hi, I've had my first BD for less than 24 hours and I've noticed that when he seems relaxed he seems to close one eye, it's not the same eye all the time, but I was wondering if this is normal behaviour. I'm a paranoid new keeper and want to know that everything is okay. sorry if this seems like a lame query, but if there's a kind soul that can put my mind at rest or give me a heads-up I'd appreciate it. (I've been doing reading on the board, we don't have these mercury vapor bulbs people seem to be worried about...)

 

[spurlee01]

It's normal. It's a way for them to relax while still keeping watch. If you would like me to go over your setup, I can post a list of questions. Just let me know.
Sara

 

[zebraflavencs]

Mads, what kind of lighting do you have ? Just curious, I know you have been doing a whole lot of research, so I just wanted to make sure you had the right kind of UVB, not one of the questionable ones.
Also, dragons do wink sorta when they are getting ready to shed the area around the eyes.
You aren't paranoid, you are just being a new parent ! We have all gone through this ! Relax, honest, what ever comes up, we can handle it, and so can you !
Hugs,
Janie.

 

[dolcedragon]

Sometimes beardies will hold one eye shut if a bit of dirt has gotten into it, but if there is no real swelling it should just work itself out. Sometimes they shut their eyes if they have incorrect lighting- this can cause serious eye injury. And lastly, they will shut one eye simply to be silly and worry their owner. I'm betting on the latter.

 

[Mads]

Thanks everyone, I think it's just relaxing, and as Sara said, keeping an eye on things. I don't think it's got dirt in it's eye, there's no dirt in the tank! (pretty sparse)..

Sara, if you could give me a list of the questions that'd be great! I appreciate your time I'll fill them in as best as I can.

Janie, I've got a reptiglo 5.0 2' fluoro, It was suggested that the 8.0/10.0 would be too strong as the viv is only 18" tall. I used to keep a 10.0 on my snake, but he was in a 36" tall enclosure, and it was shining through mesh.

 

[Mads]

oh yeah, and it could be molting, When I put a deposit on it on Wed, it was losing a bunch of flakes around it's hind legs, and when I got it home yesterday it shed one of it's front legs...

(I'll be glad when it's old enough to sex, I hate having to call it 'it' :roll: )

-BTW, how old do they have to be to be able to determine the sex, I've seen the photos, but Dolarhyde's bum kinda looks androgynous. They said at the shop that D. was about 6 months.

Blah, more ??s, sorry guys, should I start a new thread?

 

[spurlee01]

Okay, here's the list!
How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

Length is more important than age for determining sex, but at 6 months you should be able to tell. If you want to post pics we can try to let you know what sex your little one is.
Sara

 

[Mads]

How old is your dragon? pet shop said about 6 months
How long have you had your dragon? 2 days
How long is your dragon? 7.5-8inches, it doesn't like my ruler!
What is the sex of your dragon? unsure, will post you guys some pics of its vent
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 36"x18"x18"
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? paper towel, thinking about slate
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? fluoro
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptiglo 5.0
How old is your UVB bulb? 2 days
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? about 6 inches (minus height of dragon, so like 5.5-5inches)
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? yes, ceramic 150w
What are the basking temps? 40-45degC
What is the cool side temp? 24-30degC
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? IR gun
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? I'm aiming the gun at the branches I've got set up under the heat lamp
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. I plan on crix dusted with reptical 5 days, I've got herpavite that I'll dust the crix twice a week. I fed it about 10-15 'medium' crix at each feed in the last two days, and after about 15 mins there were still a couple crawling round the tank that it didn't seem interested in, they weren't there the next day so I figure they either escaped, or it got them while I wasn't watching. As for salad, I'm trying endive, carrot, sweet potato, turnip root (we didn't get the leaves unfortunately they chop them off in our local supermarket) celery.. I tried it on peas and it seemed to like them, but I don't know if I should be feeding peas every day.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I gave it salad in the morning after lights on, and then crix in the arvo
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Depends where I source the crix from, in the past for my frogs I just get one container (approx 50) and if they come with a product called 'gutload' (high protein, multivit powder) I'll feed that to the crix the night before I feed the whole box out, some brands don't supply their own so I just feed them out when I get them, I usually keep some carrot or zucchini in there to keep them from dying. I'm still working out a new system with the crix, I'm considering breeding my own, but I was waiting to see how many crix my new addition gets through.. blah. sorry this is turning into an essay.
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? I've got reptical(aristopet) I plan on weekdays, and herptivite with beta carotene (rep-cal), I plan on weekends.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? seems to be pooping okay so far! :roll:
Do you bath your dragon? How often? yes, I've bathed it both days I've had it,
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? no, didn't plan to
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? no, and have yet to find a herp vet in my area....

What do you think?

 

[spurlee01]

Overall everything looks great. The reptisun 5.0 is an okay bulb, but in 6 months when it's time to change it you might want to get a reptisun 10.0. Here is an article with pics about sexing beardies: http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/sexing/. Hope this helps,
Sara

 

[Mads]

So you reckon the reptisun 10.0 isn't going to be too strong for my little one? -cool, in that case I'll replace it with that next time round...

Darn re age. I was really wanting one that was about 6 months, but I hadn't found any charts of length per age when I was looking, my little one was the biggest they had in the shop (man, you should have seen the tiny little ones they had!) poop, I remeasured it, and by the chart it's more like 8-9 weeks. -So I guess I'm not going to be sexing my little one for a while then. I got like the WORST shop assistant ever. Apart from suggesting that my BD was about 6months, he was suggesting reptibark as the "best" substrate :shock: -even I knew that was a crock. I would have thought that they'd at least know the approx age of their stock.

I need a ceramic heating bulb as we've have the viv in our bedroom. Is it essential that the basking area needs to be well lit as it's still situated quite close to the uv tube? and I hate to sound pedantic, I'm one of those annoying sciency types who likes to know, but if it's essential, why? I really can't afford to have a light coming on periodically in our bedroom at night, -it will cost me my marriage! :lol:

 

[spurlee01]

Reptisun 10.0 is the #1 recommended UVB bulb. It's what I use with my girl. I forgot to mention that since your dragon is actually a baby, you will need to be feeding live feeders at least 2 if not 3 times a day. Feed as many as he/she wants in 10-15 minutes. Be aware that some may eat up to 100 per day. Bright white light stimulates their appetite actually. Also, just UVB light without a basking light is too hard on their eyes. If your temps do not drop below 65*F per night, you don't need any supplemental heat. If it does, that is when you want to use your ceramic heat emitter, but during the day you need a bright white basking light. I just have my lights on a timer, so they come on at 7:30 am.
Sara

 

[Mads]

Thanks for your help. I'll see what I can do about the light, we do need a ceramic at night, our house is cold and it's the middle of winter here, it's getting to below 40dF at night, and our flat doesn't have heating in the bedroom.

 

[spurlee01]

I was in Australia two summers ago (it was winter for you all) and man it was a shock to my system. I had left Hawaii which was 85* and sunny all day and was shocked at how cold Sydney was. I thought Australia was always warm and sunny! Anyway, I think most people just swap out the bulbs when it's time for bed, but I know that's a pain in the rear.
Sara

 

[Mads]

lol, yes, australia does seem to have a rep for being an arid hot country, and most of the central parts of it is, but it's deceiving, it's such a big continent, and spans quite a bit of longitude, I'm in Melbourne which is about another 600 miles south of Sydney, although it rarely snows in the CBD/surrounding suburbs we do have snowfields a couple of hours drive from town.

I'm going to see how easy it is to separate the two light fixture from each other, so they can be put on separate timers, I am lucky to have the two fixtures in there I guess, but it might come to ripping one of the fixtures out and adding another separate one. Since BDs seem to be relatively high maintenance I want to make the viv as easy as poss.

-Madeleine.

 

[spurlee01]

Yup, always go for easy! Until you can get that done, though, I would recommend swapping the bulbs so she has what she needs at an appropriate time.
Sara