First Timer

[LCfrogs]

Hi, I'm Lauren. I just bought my first bearded dragon. I work at a pet store, so I interact with these cuties on a daily basis. So I decided to get my own. I'm positive mine is a female, so I named her Sparta. I've held a lot of dragons, and did a ton of research before I bought one. I've started out with a 10 gallon as she is just a baby. But when I upgrade, I was thinking about skipping 20 gallons and just getting a 40 gallon. Would that be ok? Right now her tank is pretty simple. I'm saving up money for more stuff. I'll post a pic of her and her tank. Tell me what you think.

Oh, and right now she refuses to eat fruits/veggies. But she loves crickets. She eats about 5 per meal and then quits eating them. Is this enough? I mist her a lot too because I'm so worried about dehydration. I gave her a short bath tonight. She fell asleep on my chest so I put her to bed (back in her tank). I learned not to use infrared red light. So I just keep all lights off. Anyway, right now my crickets are chowing down on carrot and green bell pepper, because I've learned she can get the nutrients that way.

I also have a betta fish that is a male but looks like a girl so I decided she's transgender and named her Princess Kate. I also have seven fire belly toads in a 20 gallon. They don't have names. But it's definitely co-ed in there haha! Here is Sparta:

 

[Hdrydr31]

Welcome to the forum and to beardies!!
Take a look at the links that you will find under several of our comments as we have put together tons of info that will help you out.. yea you can skip the 20 and go to the 40gal breeder you just may want to add more hiding exploring spots.. I would mist her in another tub as you will really raise the humidity in the tank that way and that's dangerous for respiratory issues... Don't worry about not eating the greens/veggies yet as they will mostly eat bugs but continue to offer good staple greens collards, mustard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens... and yes feed the feeders to gut load.. babies should be fed 3x a day whatever they will eat in 15 min..

info links are right below this sentence... again welcome!

 

[LCfrogs]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I found this forum before I even got Sparta. I visited several sites, more than one forum, etc...to know everything I was getting into. The great perk of gaining all of this knowledge is now I'll really be able to help and inform customers at work. So now I've started researching all of the other animals and critters we sell there.

This forum has been the best one I've found so far. I've read through a lot of new and old posts. So I have some questions of my own. One question is: Sparta has a white spot above her eye. Does this mean she's getting ready to She's?

Also, you say as much as they'll eat in 15 minutes. I have a cricket cage that has two tubes on either side, which they crawl into so it makes it easy for me to get some. Anyway, so I've just been dumping some out back into the cricket cage if it looks like there's too many in there, and then dumping the rest in her tank. However, she only eats like 5 of them, and I suck at estimating how many are in the tube. Would you recommend just lightly tapping one or two crickets in there at a time? Because right now she always has 2-3 crickets leftover.

One thing I just want to mention is- I work at Petsmart and they take care of them sooo incorrectly now that I know what's actually required. First of all, there's two bearded dragon tanks, one of them labeled "fancy". But the fancies and the normal ones, well they all look normal to me. I don't see anything fancy about them! Really, what will happen is if one of them hasn't sold and is getting too big, they'll put him/her in the fancy cage. When they get too big, the discount it's price and the price is also up for negotiation. I've watched my managers negotiate with fish tanks even (So keep that in mind if you ever go to petsmart and want a lower price...they also do price matches).

Anyway, not only that, but all they ever get is crickets twice a day, always sprinkled with calcium D3. The bigger dragons tend to eat all the crickets. Other than that, they put out bearded dragon ball pellets that smell like fruity pebbles, or otherwise they put out dehydrated veggies and pour water on them so they'll expand. Or rather, I'M one of the ones doing this. Petsmart jobs are separated into store departments, and I work in the pet care department...meaning my job is to both take care of the animals and sell them to people. Cashiers are a different department, stocking, etc...But, another thing is we give them a dish with water. But I read on here that they won't drink out of a dish because they don't notice standing water. Which is why I made sure to buy a mister. They don't mist the bearded dragons. Only the frogs, tarantula, and anoles. I'm torn between taking care of them the petsmart way, and taking care of them the right way. Like I'm thinking about buying some fresh veggies for them.

Thanks for the tip on misting. I have a temperature gauge in my tank. What is the humidity % limit? And the minimum?
Also, for baths, could I buy a toothbrush to brush her with?
Lastly, I don't see the info links you mentioned. Can you try posting them again?

Here are some more pics

 

[Hdrydr31]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I found this forum before I even got Sparta. I visited several sites, more than one forum, etc...to know everything I was getting into. The great perk of gaining all of this knowledge is now I'll really be able to help and inform customers at work. So now I've started researching all of the other animals and critters we sell there.

This forum has been the best one I've found so far. I've read through a lot of new and old posts. So I have some questions of my own. One question is: Sparta has a white spot above her eye. Does this mean she's getting ready to She's?

Also, you say as much as they'll eat in 15 minutes. I have a cricket cage that has two tubes on either side, which they crawl into so it makes it easy for me to get some. Anyway, so I've just been dumping some out back into the cricket cage if it looks like there's too many in there, and then dumping the rest in her tank. However, she only eats like 5 of them, and I suck at estimating how many are in the tube. Would you recommend just lightly tapping one or two crickets in there at a time? Because right now she always has 2-3 crickets leftover.

One thing I just want to mention is- I work at Petsmart and they take care of them sooo incorrectly now that I know what's actually required. First of all, there's two bearded dragon tanks, one of them labeled "fancy". But the fancies and the normal ones, well they all look normal to me. I don't see anything fancy about them! Really, what will happen is if one of them hasn't sold and is getting too big, they'll put him/her in the fancy cage. When they get too big, the discount it's price and the price is also up for negotiation. I've watched my managers negotiate with fish tanks even (So keep that in mind if you ever go to petsmart and want a lower price...they also do price matches).

Anyway, not only that, but all they ever get is crickets twice a day, always sprinkled with calcium D3. The bigger dragons tend to eat all the crickets. Other than that, they put out bearded dragon ball pellets that smell like fruity pebbles, or otherwise they put out dehydrated veggies and pour water on them so they'll expand. Or rather, I'M one of the ones doing this. Petsmart jobs are separated into store departments, and I work in the pet care department...meaning my job is to both take care of the animals and sell them to people. Cashiers are a different department, stocking, etc...But, another thing is we give them a dish with water. But I read on here that they won't drink out of a dish because they don't notice standing water. Which is why I made sure to buy a mister. They don't mist the bearded dragons. Only the frogs, tarantula, and anoles. I'm torn between taking care of them the petsmart way, and taking care of them the right way. Like I'm thinking about buying some fresh veggies for them.

Thanks for the tip on misting. I have a temperature gauge in my tank. What is the humidity % limit? And the minimum?
Also, for baths, could I buy a toothbrush to brush her with?
Lastly, I don't see the info links you mentioned. Can you try posting them again?

Here are some more pics

Glad to hear that you like this forum!
The links should be below the line of my comments they are web links to the general bearded dragon discussion section. The info threads are at the very top of that section...they are part of my signature line.
Make sure that you take the un eaten crickets out as they can nibble on sleeping dragons causing wounds..
It's pretty rare that the stores have actual "fancy" ones those would be the leatherbacks and special color morphs, they are typically all normals.
and yea unfortunately the stores don't care for them correctly, which usually leads people to forums like this... I'm glad to see that you are wanting to learn the right way of caring for them as that will give them much better chances in being healthy... In those links there are links to the food lists that most of us go off of, it tells you what's to be fed daily as a staple and items that are occasionally, rarely and then never.. it also includes plants that are safe and unsafe.
Yea they don't typically recognize standing water but some do and will drink from the bowls.. In the wild they lick dew drops off plants and other items.. and get most of their water needs from the bugs and plants they eat. You can dribble water on their noses and they will typically start drinking..
Temp gauges: make sure you have a probe style and a IR temp gun. No gauges stuck to the glass as they don't measure the temp where the dragons are they only measure the temp on the glass.. and well most dragons don't hang on the gauge on the glass lol
Humidity levels since these guys are desert critters 30% is good.. nighttime the humidity does go up but the sun dries things off. so water dishes in the tanks increase the humidity.
I think the more people know about the right way to care for them is better for sure. I know the stores do things the way they do for a reason but it isn't always the best way... so that's awesome that you want to do things differently they will really benefit from you caring for them and educating people on these ways..
Bathing: yes a soft toothbrush is just fine and will help with the shedding process just no picking and pulling off of the shed so you don't damage the scales underneath if they are not ready. it's also great for keeping the males femoral pores clean when they get the waxy build up as they grow into maturity.

 

[Mom of blazey]

Sounds like you have a real love of the critters that are in your care. You'll be able to give potential owners good information. You're gonna love being a beardie mom, keep us posted on your beardie journey. You're off to a good start☺

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G850A using Tapatalk

 

[LCfrogs]

Glad to hear that you like this forum!
The links should be below the line of my comments they are web links to the general bearded dragon discussion section. The info threads are at the very top of that section...they are part of my signature line.
Make sure that you take the un eaten crickets out as they can nibble on sleeping dragons causing wounds..
It's pretty rare that the stores have actual "fancy" ones those would be the leatherbacks and special color morphs, they are typically all normals.
and yea unfortunately the stores don't care for them correctly, which usually leads people to forums like this... I'm glad to see that you are wanting to learn the right way of caring for them as that will give them much better chances in being healthy... In those links there are links to the food lists that most of us go off of, it tells you what's to be fed daily as a staple and items that are occasionally, rarely and then never.. it also includes plants that are safe and unsafe.
Yea they don't typically recognize standing water but some do and will drink from the bowls.. In the wild they lick dew drops off plants and other items.. and get most of their water needs from the bugs and plants they eat. You can dribble water on their noses and they will typically start drinking..
Temp gauges: make sure you have a probe style and a IR temp gun. No gauges stuck to the glass as they don't measure the temp where the dragons are they only measure the temp on the glass.. and well most dragons don't hang on the gauge on the glass lol
Humidity levels since these guys are desert critters 30% is good.. nighttime the humidity does go up but the sun dries things off. so water dishes in the tanks increase the humidity.
I think the more people know about the right way to care for them is better for sure. I know the stores do things the way they do for a reason but it isn't always the best way... so that's awesome that you want to do things differently they will really benefit from you caring for them and educating people on these ways..
Bathing: yes a soft toothbrush is just fine and will help with the shedding process just no picking and pulling off of the shed so you don't damage the scales underneath if they are not ready. it's also great for keeping the males femoral pores clean when they get the waxy build up as they grow into maturity.

I don't see any links and I don't see your signature. I'm not using Tapatalk.

 

[Hdrydr31]

I don't see any links and I don't see your signature. I'm not using Tapatalk.

the links are right below this sentence after the dotted line and before any other comments.

 

[LCfrogs]

the links are right below this sentence after the dotted line and before any other comments.

Yup still don't see anything lol

 

[LCfrogs]

the links are right below this sentence after the dotted line and before any other comments.

I'll try to get on my laptop instead of my phone.

 

[Hdrydr31]

I'll try to get on my laptop instead of my phone.

oh yea you got to look at the forum thru a web view.. but here are the links your looking for...
http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/general-info-set-up-1st-timers.13863/
http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/diseases.13956/
Food link:
http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf
Lighting Info:
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/An-In-Depth-Look-At-UV-Light-And-Its-Proper-Use-With-Reptiles/

 

[LCfrogs]

oh yea you got to look at the forum thru a web view.. but here are the links your looking for...
http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/general-info-set-up-1st-timers.13863/
http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/diseases.13956/
Food link:
http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf
Lighting Info:
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/An-In-Depth-Look-At-UV-Light-And-Its-Proper-Use-With-Reptiles/

Thank you!!!