Beardie Newbie

[Hailie]

Hello all!

My husband and I just bought a baby beardie yesterday and we're first timers. Black Friday this year was spent at PetSmart instead of Best Buy! Our beardie still hasn't got a name yet because we haven't quite decided what suits the little guy . I'm anxious to learn a lot so I can raise a happy healthy dragon!
Thanks in advance for advice and support! I'm looking forward to being a part of it all!

- Hailie

 

[Hdrydr31]

Hello all!

My husband and I just bought a baby beardie yesterday and we're first timers. Black Friday this year was spent at PetSmart instead of Best Buy! Our beardie still hasn't got a name yet because we haven't quite decided what suits the little guy . I'm anxious to learn a lot so I can raise a happy healthy dragon!
Thanks in advance for advice and support! I'm looking forward to being a part of it all!

- Hailie

Welcome to the forum!! And a big Welcome to the wonderful and addicting world of Beardies There is alot of info in this forum from members that have had their beardies for a long time. Would love to know what your little one's set up is like: tank size, lighting you are using, temps, what you are feeding that kind of stuff as that will give us an idea on what if anything needs to be adjusted.. Are there any specific areas that you are needing of more info?? Oh and we love pictures!!

 

[PatsyB]

Welcome to the forum! We got our girl from Petsmart 3 years ago and took advantage of those Black Friday sales on her tanks and lights and we went back a week later and got brought her home.

 

[Hailie]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! This site has been helpful so far and the threads have answered a lot of questions I've had.

I'm most concerned about feeding at the moment because he's not eating many crickets all at once. They're small and he'll eat them eventually throughout the day but I read something about letting them eat as many as they can in 15 minutes but he won't eat that quickly. I've never actually seen him eat anything, I just notice the crickets disappearing one by one. It seems like he needs time to adjust based on the posts I've read but I can't help but be a little worried.

Here is the tank setup so far. I need to get something to keep the reptile carpet down flat. I'm second guessing the fake plant though. I'm not sure how useful that is! I'd love any feedback. Thanks!

 

[Hdrydr31]

Sorry for the late reply to this I've been out all day. Don't be too worried yet about the eating as most likely s/he is going thru a settling phase getting used to it's new digs And getting used to seeing you both..
It also may come down to just figuring out what s/he prefers to eat out of. Like mine she will not eat/hunt them in her enclosure unless they (dubias and supers) from a clear glass dish, she will also not eat in a separate container...
Make sure your temps are good

 

[Hdrydr31]

Welcome to the forum! We got our girl from Petsmart 3 years ago and took advantage of those Black Friday sales on her tanks and lights and we went back a week later and got brought her home.

Yep mine came from Petco

 

[Hailie]

Thanks for your feedback Hdrydr31. Regarding temps, the thermometer is between 95-100ish most the time but I think it's actually warmer than that because of the location of the lamp and the thermometer. Based on the photo, do you think I should move it? So that's the hot side and the warm side is usually about 80 but goes up to 90 if the window in the room is open. Is this an issue? I'm wondering if I should keep the blinds closed during the day.

As for food, he doesn't seem too keen on veggies. He ignored the collard greens. I noticed though at the PetSmart I got him from they had some kind of dry food but I went to a different PetSmart today and their babies had veggies and they were bigger too. He pooped for the first time but it was a little wet. It had form but wasn't as firm as it should be. Oddly enough, after he pooped he jumped in his water bowl. I thought it was the other way around!

Also, his cage had an upgrade. I think this is working so far for him though I'm worried the crickets found hiding places in the logs

 

[Hdrydr31]

As far as the temp you may want to get digital therm it's on a wire with a probe at the end you put that where s/he basks that will give you a more accurate temp as that gauge is only giving you the temp of the glass You may need to monitor that heat coming in from the window as they really do need a gradient hot to cool. basking spot that gets to 110 degrees (little more is okay) and a cool side that is 75-80 degrees. At night the whole tank can drop to 65 degrees with no problem. When getting your light think about how big of a tank he's going to end up in. You want the UVB light to cover at least 2/3ds of the tank.
Feeding: offering a variety of bugs is always a good thing to do. As babies and up to young juvies they should be eating 80% bugs for protein and 20% salads of greens/veggies/fruit..Once sub adults and up that will switch to 80% salads and 20% bugs. This may vary from dragon to dragon.. There are alot of good resources on diets if you would like to check out. the space between their eyes is what they can typically fit in their mouths..
http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
Crickets, dubia roaches, superworms, butterworms, waxworms, silkworms, hornworms are all good, some are treats as they are high in fats...
You may want to feed from a bowl that the insects can't get out of, while they are small the are ok, but when crickets get bigger they can and will bite/chew on a sleeping dragon causing wounds.. you can leave some greens in the enclosure in hopes that they chow on those and not the dragon..

 

[Hailie]

Duly noted! Thanks again for your help

 

[Hdrydr31]

Duly noted! Thanks again for your help

Your very welcome that's what we are here for

 

[Tessa]

Welcome! My little guy is just a baby too. It took him a while to start eating. Now he only really eats every other day but when he eats, HE EATS! He really likes a mix of cucumber and green pepper. Just keep trying different foods!

 

[Hdrydr31]

Yep take a look at those diet links you will get a ton of info on what all you can offer them

 

[PatsyB]

What are you using for UVB?

 

[Hailie]

What are you using for UVB?

I'm using the bulb which came with the kit, it's a 26W high-output bulb. In the pic, it's the one on the right side. Should I use something else? I turn off both lights at night per some information I read but I also read somewhere else to keep the UVB light on all the time.

Also, today he slept all day. Is that normal? He pooped again (a decent one this time though the white tip was still yellowish) but hasn't been eating veggies. That's one of my main concerns now. He seems to be eating crickets though we never see it happen, they just disappear, but he won't eat collard greens or carrots and even had no interest in a strawberry. I was worried he's dehydrated so I manually gave him water by letting him drink drops from a paper towel.

 

[Hdrydr31]

he still may be adjusting. Yes they don't need any light at night as long as the temps don't drop below 65. Babies eat mostly insects 80% of the time and only 20% of the time veggies so don't worry about him not eating the salads yet he will. Keep offering them to him. He should be getting enough moisture from the insects but bathing him in warm water (like you would do a baby) only up to his elbows and supervise him.. mine will sometimes drink from her bath water and I will put some on her nose..

 

[PatsyB]

Think of the UVB as the sun...all lights should go off at night. Those small UVB lights don't really help too much. That's the problem with getting kits..they include a lot of things that you don't really need. Although, I know the kit was a real good deal this weekend so it was worth it just for the tank. You want your UVB to cover at least 2/3rds of the tank so something like a tube style UVB bulb is the easiest.You could also get a mercury vapor bulb, but those are for more experienced keepers I think.

 

[Hailie]

Welcome! My little guy is just a baby too. It took him a while to start eating. Now he only really eats every other day but when he eats, HE EATS! He really likes a mix of cucumber and green pepper. Just keep trying different foods!

How long did it take him to start eating? I'll try cucumbers and green peppers. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Hailie]

Think of the UVB as the sun...all lights should go off at night. Those small UVB lights don't really help too much. That's the problem with getting kits..they include a lot of things that you don't really need. Although, I know the kit was a real good deal this weekend so it was worth it just for the tank. You want your UVB to cover at least 2/3rds of the tank so something like a tube style UVB bulb is the easiest.You could also get a mercury vapor bulb, but those are for more experienced keepers I think.

I will try the tube bulb. Is the UVB directly related to his energy level? He still seems a bit sluggish.

 

[PatsyB]

Yes it is.

When I first started I used the Reptisun 10.0 T8 HO bulbs and it's recommended if you have it sitting on mesh to change it every 6 months. Both of my beardies would start to get real sluggish around the 5 month mark. Once I changed the bulbs they perked right up. I didn't want to change the bulbs that frequent any more especially with 2 tanks, so I changed out to the Reptisun 10.0 T5 HO. The fixture is reflective and it penetrates the mesh better and can be changed every 12 months.

 

[Tessa]

It took him about 3-4 days to eat. What I do is I put a paper towel under his food in his dish so he can see the contrast in color. That seems to help