Questions from a newbie!

[BrandiH]

I’ve had my baby Charlie for going on four weeks now. You all have been great helping with set up. Lighting is perfect and temps are also perfect. No issues there. I do have a couple more questions. First if all, is it normal for them to be so darn picky?? Charlie loves dubia roaches and initially refused to eat his BSFL, but now he eats them, but only the dark colored ones...(insert eye roll here). And I have to hand feed him or he won’t eat them at all. Also...his tail is a completely different color than his body. Is this normal? He’s been like that ever since we brought him home. I’ll attach pics. And can someone tell me what he would be classified as far as color goes? Is he a morph? Sorry for all the questions! Haha. I’m a new, curious beardie owner.

 

[Broly]

Aww, he is very cute! His tail looks like it’s due a shed, 4 weeks that way is kinda long though, you can help encourage the shed by bathing him every couple of days, or at least a few times a week. Make sure the bath is very shallow and you keep your eye on him the whole time He may drink from the bath which is ok, but don’t allow him to drink too much (they could ‘aspirate’ - you can Google a little more about that).
They can be pretty fussy, but keep trying, try to offer the wriggly BSFL on top of the salads and see if he’ll take any interest. And keep offering the salads even if he pays no interest to them yet.
In regards to the morph, maybe a citrus hypo? I’m not entirely sure though, I’m not a long-term beardie owner!
x

 

[BrandiH]

Aww, he is very cute! His tail looks like it’s due a shed, 4 weeks that way is kinda long though, you can help encourage the shed by bathing him every couple of days, or at least a few times a week. Make sure the bath is very shallow and you keep your eye on him the whole time He may drink from the bath which is ok, but don’t allow him to drink too much (they could ‘aspirate’ - you can Google a little more about that).
They can be pretty fussy, but keep trying, try to offer the wriggly BSFL on top of the salads and see if he’ll take any interest. And keep offering the salads even if he pays no interest to them yet.
In regards to the morph, maybe a citrus hypo? I’m not entirely sure though, I’m not a long-term beardie owner!
x

Thank you for your reply! Ooohhhh okay! I bet he does need to shed his tail. He had his first shed just last week, and I assumed his tail had shed too...there was pieces of skin everywhere in his enclosure. Ha. His tail has always been a tad lighter but after the shed, it’s super pale now. Ill
try the bath tonight! Thanks again!

 

[Skybug]

Hes very cute definitely very yellow, it’ll be interesting to see what his adult colors will be, yes his tail looks like it’s shedding as jj already told you , he looks big how long is he ? Have you tried hornworms yet? My beardy went crazy for them as a baby and still does, may i ask what kind of lighting he has ? Its very important to have the right lights , some lights can even hurt ur baby (coil bulbs) , does he get vitamins? D3 in particular is important, but it is good to have a couple different supplements, dust ur bugs lightly and do it about every other day . Does he have a blanket or one of your shirts in his tank(beardies love soft things) its nice to offer as many different textures in your tank as you can , If you have any questions please do ask there’s no such thing as a silly question, its nice to have feedback , beardies do lots of strange things.

 

[BrandiH]

Hes very cute definitely very yellow, it’ll be interesting to see what his adult colors will be, yes his tail looks like it’s shedding as jj already told you , he looks big how long is he ? Have you tried hornworms yet? My beardy went crazy for them as a baby and still does, may i ask what kind of lighting he has ? Its very important to have the right lights , some lights can even hurt ur baby (coil bulbs) , does he get vitamins? D3 in particular is important, but it is good to have a couple different supplements, dust ur bugs lightly and do it about every other day . Does he have a blanket or one of your shirts in his tank(beardies love soft things) its nice to offer as many different textures in your tank as you can , If you have any questions please do ask there’s no such thing as a silly question, its nice to have feedback , beardies do lots of strange things.

Thank you Skybug! I can’t wait to see his colors when he gets older either! His orange stripes are really popping the older he gets. He is nine inches long, so I’m assuming he is around 4ish months? I am using a powersun 100 w mvb (no screen) 11” from basking rock with variations on the “hot” side with a supplemental 18” T8 reptisun 10.0 in the center of the enclosure sitting on the screen. And nothing over the “cool” side. Temps using multiple thermometer probes are running between 100-109 on the basking rock and 75-80 on the cool side of enclosure. It is a 65 gallon slide front enclosure. I give him flukers calcium with D3 on his roaches but I don’t dust the BSFL because someone told me not to? I do gutload the larvae zucchini and squash. Hope that is alright..I also have a flukers multivitamin that he takes from a dropper. I give him a drop a couple times a week. I worry about him not getting enough calcium...since he doesn’t get roaches every day, but he does get the larvae every day. I didn’t know about the soft blankie thing! I will try it! I never knew reptiles could be so darn adorable! I love to go in and check on him at night....his little sleeping positions crack me up!

 

[Skybug]

thats good you have different vitamins and your lights are good , lizards dont need to eat every day so if he refuses that’s okay (my beardy will look at bugs then up at me with a “look” when shes not interested) but it’s nice to have veggies in the tank always .

 

[BrandiH]

thats good you have different vitamins and your lights are good , lizards dont need to eat every day so if he refuses that’s okay (my beardy will look at bugs then up at me with a “look” when shes not interested) but it’s nice to have veggies in the tank always .

Okay! Good to know. I do put fresh collared greens, zucchini or yellow squash, and sometimes sweet peppers or tiny shreds of carrot in every morning. Even though he has very little interest...I’ve caught him take a bite or two but he doesn’t eat it hardly at all. What are your thoughts on carrots and peppers? I’ve seen so many conflicting things, it’s kinda confusing.

 

[Broly]

Thank you Skybug! I can’t wait to see his colors when he gets older either! His orange stripes are really popping the older he gets. He is nine inches long, so I’m assuming he is around 4ish months? I am using a powersun 100 w mvb (no screen) 11” from basking rock with variations on the “hot” side with a supplemental 18” T8 reptisun 10.0 in the center of the enclosure sitting on the screen. And nothing over the “cool” side. Temps using multiple thermometer probes are running between 100-109 on the basking rock and 75-80 on the cool side of enclosure. It is a 65 gallon slide front enclosure. I give him flukers calcium with D3 on his roaches but I don’t dust the BSFL because someone told me not to? I do gutload the larvae zucchini and squash. Hope that is alright..I also have a flukers multivitamin that he takes from a dropper. I give him a drop a couple times a week. I worry about him not getting enough calcium...since he doesn’t get roaches every day, but he does get the larvae every day. I didn’t know about the soft blankie thing! I will try it! I never knew reptiles could be so darn adorable! I love to go in and check on him at night....his little sleeping positions crack me up!

That’s correct, you don’t need to dust BSFL with calcium as they contain sufficient amounts. Your baby beardie should be getting calcium once a day 4-5 times a week (this obvs includes the feeds of BSFL). And then multivitamin once a day on the other 2-3 days that you’re not giving calcium. I personally found this a little confusing when feeding BSFL as a staple but I still provide them most days, I just dust the Dubia’s at the weekend with multivitamin (which I includes D3 too). I don’t know about drop feeding or flukers as my multivitamin is powder form.

It’s advised to feed baby beardies up to three times a day, personally I’d say no less than twice a day (plus their fresh daily salads as well). Others may have a slightly diff schedule but I think this is the general consensus - x

 

[Broly]

Okay! Good to know. I do put fresh collared greens, zucchini or yellow squash, and sometimes sweet peppers or tiny shreds of carrot in every morning. Even though he has very little interest...I’ve caught him take a bite or two but he doesn’t eat it hardly at all. What are your thoughts on carrots and peppers? I’ve seen so many conflicting things, it’s kinda confusing.

I think both carrots and peppers are ok occasionally but not as a staple. I grate my carrot so it’s very thin and I slice the red peppers small and kinda slice the outer skin off too. Apparently beardies like red so peppers and strawberries can entice them to their salads but mine doesn’t take much interest in anything red or anything fruity and prefers standards greens. It’s very normal for a 4 month old to be taking little interest in salads but keep providing and eventually they’ll take more interest. They can be quite fussy creatures and change their mind on stuff often!

 

[BrandiH]

That’s correct, you don’t need to dust BSFL with calcium as they contain sufficient amounts. Your baby beardie should be getting calcium once a day 4-5 times a week (this obvs includes the feeds of BSFL). And then multivitamin once a day on the other 2-3 days that you’re not giving calcium. I personally found this a little confusing when feeding BSFL as a staple but I still provide them most days, I just dust the Dubia’s at the weekend with multivitamin (which I includes D3 too). I don’t know about drop feeding or flukers as my multivitamin is powder form.

It’s advised to feed baby beardies up to three times a day, personally I’d say no less than twice a day (plus their fresh daily salads as well). Others may have a slightly diff schedule but I think this is the general consensus - x

Thank you JJ! It does get confusing with so many conflicting things. Ha. I try and feed him the BSFL at least twice a day, but sometimes he acts like he just isn’t hungry...I always worry...and then he seems to “catch up” the next day..for instance, today, he ate 25 in the morning, and then ate ANOTHER 30 around 2:00pm and just ate 15 more. He pigged out today.

 

[BrandiH]

I think both carrots and peppers are ok occasionally but not as a staple. I grate my carrot so it’s very thin and I slice the red peppers small and kinda slice the outer skin off too. Apparently beardies like red so peppers and strawberries can entice them to their salads but mine doesn’t take much interest in anything red or anything fruity and prefers standards greens. It’s very normal for a 4 month old to be taking little interest in salads but keep providing and eventually they’ll take more interest. They can be quite fussy creatures and change their mind on stuff often!

Uh oh...I didn’t take the skin off the peppers...I will from now on! Thank you!

 

[Broly]

Uh oh...I didn’t take the skin off the peppers...I will from now on! Thank you!

I’m not actually sure if others advise to take the skin off peppers but I just kinda got in the habit of doing so incase it was hard to digest, same if ever feeding cucumber and apple etc.

And yes, some days they deffo pig out more than others. They sometimes lose their appetite a bit during a shedding sesh too. But it’s great to offer twice or three times a day. You may know already but if not, remember not to feed too close to lights out. Allow a couple of hours with lights on after eating so they have time to digest x

 

[BrandiH]

I’m not actually sure if others advise to take the skin off peppers but I just kinda got in the habit of doing so incase it was hard to digest, same if ever feeding cucumber and apple etc.

And yes, some days they deffo pig out more than others. They sometimes lose their appetite a bit during a shedding sesh too. But it’s great to offer twice or three times a day. You may know already but if not, remember not to feed too close to lights out. Allow a couple of hours with lights on after eating so they have time to digest x

Okay...I actually did not know this...I feel like a bad mom! Oops...looks like he will be having a late night party tonight...ha. Thank you....again. So many rules. . I’m learning...

 

[Broly]

Okay...I actually did not know this...I feel like a bad mom! Oops...looks like he will be having a late night party tonight...ha. Thank you....again. So many rules. . I’m learning...

So many rules! Once you get the hang of it all and get a routine it’s a lot less overwhelming. I ended up just coming on here every single day, reading every query people submitted and trying to learn gradually from all the answers and going straight to Google and researching things that popped up myself so I could feel a little more prepared! And I’m far from a know-it-all, I’m still learning new things each day myself!

If your beardies lights go out around 8pm, offer last ‘meal’ no later than 5ish I’d say. If you don’t have your lights on a timer it would be so handy for you to do so, makes things a lot easier for you and gives them a more stable routine x

 

[BrandiH]

So many rules! Once you get the hang of it all and get a routine it’s a lot less overwhelming. I ended up just coming on here every single day, reading every query people submitted and trying to learn gradually from all the answers and going straight to Google and researching things that popped up myself so I could feel a little more prepared! And I’m far from a know-it-all, I’m still learning new things each day myself!

If your beardies lights go out around 8pm, offer last ‘meal’ no later than 5ish I’d say. If you don’t have your lights on a timer it would be so handy for you to do so, makes things a lot easier for you and gives them a more stable routine x

I too, find myself on here ALOT. It has become my new Facebook...haha...and confession time...I have my lights plugged into a timer thingy that I got when I purchased everything, but my youngest human child destroyed the instruction manual and I haven’t figured it out yet. Bahahaha! It’s on my to do list to get online and figure it out.

 

[Broly]

I too, find myself on here ALOT. It has become my new Facebook...haha...and confession time...I have my lights plugged into a timer thingy that I got when I purchased everything, but my youngest human child destroyed the instruction manual and I haven’t figured it out yet. Bahahaha! It’s on my to do list to get online and figure it out.

Haha, I had to YouTube how to work my timers. Since I figured it out though, there have been no issues with it since and it made life a lot easier! Get onto it 2mo and it turning on and off will be one less thing you have to remember!

 

[Skybug]

Okay! Good to know. I do put fresh collared greens, zucchini or yellow squash, and sometimes sweet peppers or tiny shreds of carrot in every morning. Even though he has very little interest...I’ve caught him take a bite or two but he doesn’t eat it hardly at all. What are your thoughts on carrots and peppers? I’ve seen so many conflicting things, it’s kinda confusing.

My beardie likes bell peppers only the red one though! , and u can take off the skin if you want, ive never seen the skin come back out so i think they can digest it fine? Carrots are good just make shure they’re small , i still dont know how timers work v.v i just make my sister set it up for me lol,.... and this website is a really good sounding board theres lots of people here with excellent advice, ive found it best to do everything in moderation, food especially ( try not to keep anything as a staple longer than 2 months) it helps keeping them from getting bored of things.