LilBeardie
Bearded Dragon Egg
- Messages
- 13
Hey guys, I would like to introduce myself to this community which has already helped me plenty! I've been an owner for 3 days now, I have been interested in getting a pet for a good while and a few weeks ago I started reading up on bearded dragons, something about them appealed to me. A few days ago I started just going around pet stores to see what they have and gather information.
When I visited a store, I saw my little man there in the back of the store, only bearded dragon there and when I asked about him, I was told that he had just arrived, the other owners had told the petstore owners that they had to take him in otherwise they would just throw him on the side of the road or something
anyways that really hit me and after we spoke for a few minutes, the little man was going to be a part of my family. I'm glad and excited to have the opportunity to provide him with a loving and comfortable home!
I've spent the last few days (since I got him) fairly stressed as the information online is so abundant, its hard to know what's good and what isn't but I've managed to get an idea of the basics and also spoke to a few people who own healthy beardies for some tips.
That's it for my introduction, I do also have a few questions (not sure if this is the right place for those) but if some of you come across this and don't mind.
The pet store gave me a fairly good all-in-one deal as the abandoning owner just gave them everything. I got a 40 gallon tank, a red day 75w basking bulb, a spiral uvb bulb & a night time blueish/purple 75w bulb along with decorations such as that branch you'll see in the picture, a big water bowl (almost like a small pool) and a fake plant that I usually have dripping water into his bowl. That and some crushed wallnut shells, food, calcium.
I went in there with the idea that loose substrates were a risk but the pet store owners managed to convince me otherwise (probably for the extra $) and convinced me to buy the crushed wallnut shells. I have re-read so much about it when I got home that I instantly ordered some reptile carpet to replace the loose substrate pronto. To you repti carpet users, my first question is how do you just clean the poop off of it? I understand you can just wipe it off but what's safe to sanitize it afterwards? I read about a few special reptile friendly cleaners.
I had him on the purple night light for the first 2 nights but have since then been told by many that since my house doesn't go under 70, that it would be better to just turn the night light off as it could be bad for his sleep, I did just that tonight and for the first time he actually is sleeping on his branch (instead of under laying in the sand). I also plan on ordering some ceramic heating bulbs incase I ever need them.
As for the lights, I read that the curly bulbs like he has are bad, I am planning on getting him something like the reptisun 10 high output fluorescent bulbs as they seem to be the most highly reputed. I am kind of unsure about which size I should get since the tank is 36" some say to have it as wide as the tank and some say to have it just cover 2/3rds. I also read that the terrarium hoods that come from the same brand only work in USA sockets and I am canadian so I am going to have to find information about where I could find a comparable hood. So I am thinking of using the reptisun to replace the curly uvb light they gave me (who knows how long its been used by them, it may not be full power) and either a clear basking light made for reptiles or a flood light as some have mentionned to use.
Sorry for the super lengthy post, I just want to get the whole situation out there and make sure that I am providing him with the best environment he can have as I want him to be happy. Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll get to talk to a few of you
When I visited a store, I saw my little man there in the back of the store, only bearded dragon there and when I asked about him, I was told that he had just arrived, the other owners had told the petstore owners that they had to take him in otherwise they would just throw him on the side of the road or something
anyways that really hit me and after we spoke for a few minutes, the little man was going to be a part of my family. I'm glad and excited to have the opportunity to provide him with a loving and comfortable home!I've spent the last few days (since I got him) fairly stressed as the information online is so abundant, its hard to know what's good and what isn't but I've managed to get an idea of the basics and also spoke to a few people who own healthy beardies for some tips.
That's it for my introduction, I do also have a few questions (not sure if this is the right place for those) but if some of you come across this and don't mind.
The pet store gave me a fairly good all-in-one deal as the abandoning owner just gave them everything. I got a 40 gallon tank, a red day 75w basking bulb, a spiral uvb bulb & a night time blueish/purple 75w bulb along with decorations such as that branch you'll see in the picture, a big water bowl (almost like a small pool) and a fake plant that I usually have dripping water into his bowl. That and some crushed wallnut shells, food, calcium.
I went in there with the idea that loose substrates were a risk but the pet store owners managed to convince me otherwise (probably for the extra $) and convinced me to buy the crushed wallnut shells. I have re-read so much about it when I got home that I instantly ordered some reptile carpet to replace the loose substrate pronto. To you repti carpet users, my first question is how do you just clean the poop off of it? I understand you can just wipe it off but what's safe to sanitize it afterwards? I read about a few special reptile friendly cleaners.
I had him on the purple night light for the first 2 nights but have since then been told by many that since my house doesn't go under 70, that it would be better to just turn the night light off as it could be bad for his sleep, I did just that tonight and for the first time he actually is sleeping on his branch (instead of under laying in the sand). I also plan on ordering some ceramic heating bulbs incase I ever need them.
As for the lights, I read that the curly bulbs like he has are bad, I am planning on getting him something like the reptisun 10 high output fluorescent bulbs as they seem to be the most highly reputed. I am kind of unsure about which size I should get since the tank is 36" some say to have it as wide as the tank and some say to have it just cover 2/3rds. I also read that the terrarium hoods that come from the same brand only work in USA sockets and I am canadian so I am going to have to find information about where I could find a comparable hood. So I am thinking of using the reptisun to replace the curly uvb light they gave me (who knows how long its been used by them, it may not be full power) and either a clear basking light made for reptiles or a flood light as some have mentionned to use.
Sorry for the super lengthy post, I just want to get the whole situation out there and make sure that I am providing him with the best environment he can have as I want him to be happy. Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll get to talk to a few of you
