Enclosure #2 Finished!

[woodson28]

Hey everybody! I finished our new enclosure & wanted you guys to check it out & see if I missed anything.. I'm getting the temps dialed in right now. The stork brings our new arrival on Tuesday!


Slate tile seems to make the tank a little cooler so I'm coming down with the light til I find the the sweet spot.. I found that cool piece of wood last night, it makes a perfect 1.5ft tunnel for her to explore & I have a zilla basking ramp coming in the mail that will go on the far right side against the glass & that's it! What do you think?

 

[Germ]

It looks very nice ... I know you said that you feed Iggy in separate bin, but feel that it would be very stressful on a new BD to catch & change it's environment 2-3 times a day for feeding. I would suggest simplifying the enclosure to start with for the first few weeks, so the feeders don't have so many places to hide & feed in the enclosure until it is well acclimated to it's new home.

I also feel that there are too many nooks & 'Tunnels' for the BD itself to be shielded from the lighting. The K.I.S.S. method is always the Best for these guys.

 

[woodson28]

Ooh.. ya, hadn't thought about that.. ok ill go to plan B & take some stuff out... Germ what do you think about the UVB, its 24 inches.. Iggy is in the same size tank with an 18 inch UVB, should I get him a longer one for more coverage?

 

[Germ]

An 18" tube 10.0 will do the job very well when setup properly, the basking area is what needs to be covered. There should be areas in the enclosure that are UVB free so the BD can get out of it, when & if it feels the need, in the shade, so to speak. Generally the cool side. Of my 4 enclosures, only one has a 24", the rest are all 18". Mine happen to be larger enclosures than what you are using & this works very well for me.

 

[woodson28]

Thanks Germ

 

[Spikeleebd]

i really agree with the nooks and slate tiles all over the place. beardies are known for running back and fourth in their enclosures and if you don't want to find your bd squished then i would recommend moving taking that down.

 

[Chris Baez Jr.]

I know you said that you feed Iggy in separate bin, but feel that it would be very stressful on a new BD to catch & change it's environment 2-3 times a day for feeding.

The idea of feeding the BDs in a separate enclosure or bin, has come up here at the site a couple of times. I agree with Germ that it would be very stressful, not only for the Beardie, but for any animal you keep to be going back and forth. For pete's sake, if the creature could talk it would say: "It's OK, I'm not hungry today."

In defense of those who have adapted this idea, let me say this: I did see a video a couple of weeks ago, where two BD 'experts' were talking about the keeping and care of Bearded Dragons and one of them suggested that the BD will get stressed chasing crickets and/or roaches around in its own enclosure. So they suggested taking the BD out and feeding it in a smaller enclosure and then put it back in its own enclosure. If I find this 'video' I will post it here, but not for anybody to follow those instructions, but just as an eye opener - do not believe everything you hear. This forum, BDF, has plenty of experts and very knowledgeable BD keepers to give you the right hands on and first hand experience info.

"When in doubt, ask here."

 

[bouncer36]

I have been feeding Jessie for a year ever since he was little in a seperate container and it not been stressful on him at all he eats and then he goes back in his tank I can't take all his stuff out of his encloser to hunt his crickets down when he is done that would be stressful too. That's my opinion
And I didn't come up with the idea a year ago someone on here told me to feed in another container when I got Jessie

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

I'm not a big fan of the seperate feeding tank idea as I agree with the statement that it puts undo stress on the creature. And in my experience when I have done that they seem to get disoriented and be more concerned about where they are than chasing down their crickets in a strange enclosure.
I've seen this in all our lizards...our firebellies think about nothing but food no matter where or when so they are a bit different...lol
And after all I generally prefer to eat in the comfort of my house too..right in my comfy chair in front of the tv most times..lol..why should I treat them different,right?
They only exception I would say would be if you are feeding snakes as it is generally best not to feed them in their enclosure because it will keep them from striking everytime the door is open if you feed them in a seperate tank.

 

[Pat B]

I have been feeding Jessie for a year ever since he was little in a seperate container and it not been stressful on him at all he eats and then he goes back in his tank I can't take all his stuff out of his encloser to hunt his crickets down when he is done that would be stressful too. That's my opinion
And I didn't come up with the idea a year ago someone on here told me to feed in another container when I got Jessie

If that works for your Jessie then do it. That is all he knows so I would keep on 'truckin'!

 

[bouncer36]

I don't remember who on here told me to feed in a separate container. I do feed his veg and if I feed him any type of worms I feed them in his enclosure. And do the same with little one when he gets adjusted to his surrounding of course just got him/her this last wesday

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@Pat....Agreed and I certainly didnt mean to imply that if it works for Jessie that it should be stopped. The main thing is he's eating and that is a good thing all around. My personal preference is to feed ours in their home but truth be know if it wasnt working and in order to ensure them.eating I had to stand on my head and sing yankee doodle.dandy then I would...lol

 

[bouncer36]

Oh and I didnt mean to sound defensive. I was just saying that what work for
Mine

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@bouncer...you didnt sound defensive at all....no need to worry even if you had tho cause you are among friends and its all good

 

[bouncer36]

That why I like this forums.
This only forum
I go to

 

[Chris Baez Jr.]

@bouncer36 - Yeah, I'll join the other voices. If it has worked for you for a year without stressing Jessie and the little one, keep going. Only you know what bothers your little friends, and what doesn't.

I found the video, BTW. It was only having to do with feeding crickets to little ones and juveniles, due to the fact that crickets are very quick to get out of the way. They also mention about removing the leftover crickets being easier. The two men in the video do sound like they know a thing or two about what they are talking about, not that I agree with everything. They also have a couple of other videos on you tube that are very informative.

The way I started feeding my BD, Patricia, I would put three or four crixs in there, if she ate them, I'd put a few more and so on. Now I know about how many to feed. If she doesn't eat two or three right off, then I know she'll get them before lights out. I keep a porcelain dish in the enclosure for worms and veggies. The worms stay there until eaten, and the veggies stay until mid-afternoon. I spray the veggies with fresh water after being in the dish for a few hours, so they can stay fresh. Oh, no, not worms and veggies at the same time. If I have worms, then I remove whatever veggies are not eaten, clean the dish and deposit the worms in there. Fruits and veggies are every morning.

 

[Germ]

Feeding outside of the enclosure is not a bad thing. Depends very much on the circumstances. My comment

feel that it would be very stressful on a new BD to catch & change it's environment 2-3 times a day for feeding.

was more about a new BD in a new environment.

If possible, I think it better to keep the enclosures simple so as not to provide many hiding spots for any age BD, feed inside the enclosure & be able to leave a few uneaten feeders in the enclosure, between feedings for opportunist snacks during the day.

That being said, when my dragons are on sand, I do feed in a separate enclosure, because I feed roaches. If not pretty much immediately eaten, they will burrow into the sand to get out of the light & gone, so I have to feed them in an enclosure without a particle substrate.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@Germ..Good point to know about the roaches. We haven't made the jump to feeding them yet and still use crickets but have been seriously researching and planning to go to roaches in the near future. That said at that time I will definitely have to rethink the seperate tank feeding position I took since they burrow.
I.definitely agree with the K.I.S.S. strategy in setting up the enclosure for the youngsters in particular so to eliminate inaccessable hides for the prey and making things as easy as possible for the dragons to be able to catch them. I do believe personally that a little bit of hunt and catch is a good thing too though and helps the creature stay stimulated physically and mentally.
I used to work with the Jackson Zoo in Mississippi and one of the things they were big on was their "Animal Enhancement and Enrichment Program" in which they constantly looked for and implemented ways to keep the animals stimulated physically and mentally in ways that were as stress-free as possible. Things as simple as empty refrigerator boxes placed inside Big Cat or Primate enclosures to give them something new to explore or perhaps to shred into a million.pieces..lol...or elaborate set ups to simulate "the hunt" that in the wild the animals would be required to do.
The program was not limited to predator animals but was extended to all creatures in the belief that keeping them.stimulated physically and mentally equates to a happier and healthier creature and a longer lifespan.
After having worked with that and seeing the positive and most times quick results of its implementation I have since tried to put it into practice with all of my own creatures. Hence my preference for feeding them in their "home territory" as they would do in the wild.
We are still in agreement especially with the youngsters and again I was not trying to imply that seperate tank feeding is wrong nor a bad idea by any means. Both methods work and if properly set up both methods result in successfully getting the creatures we care for the nutrition they need to thrive which is the most important thing afterall

 

[Germ]

I also do a fair amount of hand feeding while on sand, when time permits, which I & they enjoy. Haven't done this yet with the youngsters, mainly because they are not yet on sand & the size roaches that I can feed are not easily handle-able. Another reason I am not doing it is so as not to hand feed spoil them. Both methods are shown in the vids on my website.

 

[woodson28]

When I got Iggy he was 4months old already & I had seen videos on bonding by hand feeding & I was excited to get home from work & interact with him, so I began taking him out & feeding him, going to walk the dog with Iggy on my shoulder, & it became our routine.. & he seems to be receptive to it, even running up to the glass to greet me..
In getting the new tank set up for our new baby I completely overlooked the fact that our new dragon will be a lot younger than Iggy was when he came home.. but I took out all the excess stones/slate & its pretty basic now.. I feed dubias & try to avoid ctickets as much as i can.. but I will definitely feed her in her tank & avoid handling her until she gets adjusted. I do prefer the interaction of feeding time that Iggy & I have developed & I will probably begin to feed her outside her tank as well once she is bigger..