Lots of health questions about new beardie

[Tessa]

I got a little beardie yesterday from repticon. He's fairly small, about 3 inches with tail included. I gave him so crickets that are about a quarter of an inch. He has a water bowl and a good bowl with Apple chunks in it. He has places to sit up on and places to hide. Of course, he also has a heat lamp. Now I read online that bearded dragons, especially small ones, sleep often and deeply. Is this true? My dragon barely looks like he's breathing but I read that's normal when they sleep? I don't think he's eaten any crickets yet... I just want to take care of him and make sure he's happy. Any advice would really help.

 

[Tessa]

Also he pooped once.

 

[Hdrydr31]

I got a little beardie yesterday from repticon. He's fairly small, about 3 inches with tail included. I gave him so crickets that are about a quarter of an inch. He has a water bowl and a good bowl with Apple chunks in it. He has places to sit up on and places to hide. Of course, he also has a heat lamp. Now I read online that bearded dragons, especially small ones, sleep often and deeply. Is this true? My dragon barely looks like he's breathing but I read that's normal when they sleep? I don't think he's eaten any crickets yet... I just want to take care of him and make sure he's happy. Any advice would really help.

Welcome to the forum!! Now that's a tiny tiny baby!! What size enclosure? What type of substrate? Beardies thermoregulate They need a basking spot temps 100-110F then next to that UVB temps 80-90F then they need a cool side that is 70's no lower than 65F if it gets cooler than that a CHE fixture should be added for the heat at night. Sounds like your little one needs super small (above pinhead) size crickets. They should eat 3 times a day as much as they will eat in 15 min. Although they will eat mostly bugs as they are growing you need to offer greens as well, as once they are adult they will eat more greens than bugs. Keeping records of weight to make sure it's growing, keep making sure it's hydrated misting him, doing soaks (just up to his elbows and don't leave him unattended). They do sleep super super hard sometimes you can move them without them even waking I can move my Izzy from my chest into her tank without her waking up..
There is alot of info on this forum about caring for these wonderful creatures...I'm always learning from reading posts here..

 

[Tessa]

Thank you so much. I have him in a 20 gallon tank with a screen top. I bought a rock type flat sheet substrate that the man who sold him to me recommended. I know sand is not something you want the little ones on! Where can I get those small crickets? Petsmart only has the sort of small ones but they are not pinsized for sure. And by soaks you mean putting him maybe in a little bowl? And then when he gets older the tub? Thank you for your help!

 

[Tessa]

Here's his set up. I don't have a heating pad or anything under the tank yet so what do you suggest about the light being on and off?

 

[Hdrydr31]

A 20gal is not going to be good need much larger, doesn't allow proper temps...will get back tomorrow gotta go....

 

[Tessa]

Oh darn okay! I look forward to hearing from you.

 

[SixofWandsTattoo]

My girlfriend and I have kept our Freck in a 36"x18"x18" ExoTerra (40gal?) since he was a baby. No under-tank heater or substrate. Just plain, cheap Astroturf (fake grass carpet) from Home Depot.
When it comes to UVBs, we sprung for a self-ballasting 100W Mercury Vapor bulb from ZooMed in a ceramic dome fixture along with a 24" 15W 10.0/UVB Repti-Sun fluorescent tube fixture (also from ZooMed). The fluorescent runs across the full length of his enclosure and provides ambient UVB while the Mercury Vapor is used as a basking spot. All our lights are plugged into a power strip that's plugged into a timer that's set to 14hrsON/10hrsOFF.

I would skip out on investing in any under-tank heaters (UTH). They're unnecessary for beardies and could even be harmful. Adding a UTH to a basking spot could cause your enclosure to get too hot during your daytime cycle. Even if you're only using the UTH at night, your beardie would be likely to lay on it all night which would keep the dragon's body from cooling down during the night cycle like its supposed to. Under-tank heaters are mainly used for nocturnal critters like leopard geckos that don't rely on basking in daylight to metabolize their food like dragons do.

As long as your basking lights pop on at sunrise; the night-time temps can safely drop into the mid-70's all night long and be fine.

Other than diet, I would say that LIGHTING is the most important part of a dragon's habitat. Without proper lighting, even the best diets can be rendered indigestible to a dragon which will lead to impaction, hind leg paralysis and MBD which is a nightmare to cure and usually does permanent damage, if not entirely fatal. I've also read that colored (red/blue) night-time lamps can mess with their eyesight. So we play it safe and just do without them.
Always go for the Mercury Vapor bulb for basking. They're expensive, but they're the closest thing to natural sunlight, are loaded with UVB radiation, put off more than enough heat (eliminating the need for an extra basking lamp) and are highly recommended by herpetologists. In other words, Mercury Vapors are the best!
The Repti-Sun tubes and coils are "Okay" for ambient daylight UVBs. But in my opinion, they don't put out enough UVB radiation by themselves to justify relying on them solely. Plus the fluorescent tubes do next-to-nothing as far as heat goes leaving you with no choice but to buy an extra bulb anyways, so may as well get the best one available. We just bought our florescent as an extra safety measure against metabolic bone disease.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Oh darn okay! I look forward to hearing from you.

I promise I will get back to you on this, my friend is having surgery this am so while I'm waiting I will post, there are lots of great info online if you look up basic care guides on dragons to start with for you to look into.. from the pictures it looks like your dragon is hiding from the red lights as they should be up and about instead of hiding especially during the day.. If this is nighttime he's trying to hide from the red lights as it disturbs their sleep..
If you look around on this forum there are lighting threads and care threads to check into in the meantime.

 

[Tessa]

Okay yes! I didn't even know that I had to turn the light off at night. I feel so bad but the guy that sold him to me didn't even give me any tips. I feel so so bad for my little Sosa. I moved the light to the side of the tank so that he can move to the other side if he gets to hot. I will look into getting a mercury vapor light. The one I have now was sold to me from the repticon convention and it is red. I recently read the the red bulb is not the best. I hope your friend is okay!

 

[Hdrydr31]

Okay yes! I didn't even know that I had to turn the light off at night. I feel so bad but the guy that sold him to me didn't even give me any tips. I feel so so bad for my little Sosa. I moved the light to the side of the tank so that he can move to the other side if he gets to hot. I will look into getting a mercury vapor light. The one I have now was sold to me from the repticon convention and it is red. I recently read the the red bulb is not the best. I hope your friend is okay!

Ok. I'm back. That sucks that the guy that sold you him didn't tell you more. There is a lighting thread on this forum I suggest you read, sorry I'm on my tablet so I can't link it. The sooner you can get him in a bigger tank the better min I would do is a 40 length is key as they can get up to 24" long. They can thermo regulate so he will move around to where he needs to be. Lighting is very important they need a basking spot that gets up to 115F. Then next to that the warm area 80-90 ish UVB, cool side where they will sleep in the low 70's. No lights at night, they have what called "their 3rd eye" its a little sensor on top of their head that keeps preditors from above from getting them. As long as the tank doesn't get below 65 he should be fine. Baby baby dragons can be warmer as they are so tiny. UVB lights give them the vits that they need and help with digestion. Stop feeding them a couple hours prior to them going to sleep so the food doesn't go bad in their belly. Crickets are soft shelled but get the smallest you can get, the space between their eyes is a good measure of what they can eat. No mealworms. Give greens collard, kale, mustard greens there are great resources here on what you should feed. As a baby and juv they eat 80% bugs 20% greens/fruits. Then adults its the opposite. He will shed a lot and not all at once could be a leg or 2 here tail there and so on. Don't peel it off you can damage the scales, instead must or soak in you sink baby warm water up to his elbows. Don't worry he may eat it and that's ok.
Ok that a good start

 

[Hdrydr31]

http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-Health/Habitats-Care/Reptile-Lighting-Information/

There found the lighting link looking for the food ones

 

[Hdrydr31]

http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf

 

[Hdrydr31]

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[Hdrydr31]

Lol that should give you plenty of reading material also lots of great people on here that love our scaled critters. Food variety is important no spinach too much calcium. But doing calcium dusting to the bugs, multi vit are also needed

I dust Izzys bugs daily with calcium without d3, dust with multi vit 2 times a week. Now that she is eating more greens and some fruits I know shes getting more of what she needs right from the foods.

 

[SixofWandsTattoo]

http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-Health/Habitats-Care/Reptile-Lighting-Information/

There found the lighting link looking for the food ones

Now this is an incredibly well put together article on proper lighting! Someone who really loves reptiles did their homework writing this one! It seems to cover everything you need to know about lighting and then some. I just learned more than I thought I knew about how to provide the widest light spectrum for a 'hot-spot' as one possibly can for any basking reptile. I could study this one for days! Wow! Thanks!

 

[Hdrydr31]

Now this is an incredibly well put together article on proper lighting! Someone who really loves reptiles did their homework writing this one! It seems to cover everything you need to know about lighting and then some. I just learned more than I thought I knew about how to provide the widest light spectrum for a 'hot-spot' as one possibly can for any basking reptile. I could study this one for days! Wow! Thanks!

I know huh!! lol it's alot to soak in that's for sure!!! trust me I still don't understand it all lol

 

[ObiThaGod]

question.... when referring to lighting.....ive seen mention of using flood lights. are they referring to flood lights that you would buy from home depot for like $5-10?! or do they mean floodlight style bulbs?!

 

[SixofWandsTattoo]

question.... when referring to lighting.....ive seen mention of using flood lights. are they referring to flood lights that you would buy from home depot for like $5-10?! or do they mean floodlight style bulbs?!

Flood lights are typically used in exterior household applications i.e., security lights. Most of them are nothing more than halogens or incandescent and as such, are not going to provide UVBs or infrareds. I would stay away from Home Depot's lights unless they specify being MH or MV.

This is why standard floodlights are so cheap. They don't mimic sunlight in the least which is precisely what you're after when shopping for reptile bulbs. Regular floods are in no way intended for reptiles unless you're only looking for heat, which I also don't recommend because most are too high wattage for a terrarium anyways. Heat is good, don't get me wrong. But Metal Halides and Mercury Vapor bulbs are FAR superior and safer for the reptile's long term health by providing ample heat as well as the correct spectrums these animals need to survive in captivity.

Not to sound like a jerk, but if you go the $5-10 route when buying lights, you're dragon is almost certainly going to pay for this with it's long term health. Leaving you with paying vet bills; if not leaving you with a dead dragon, or both!

Beardies are awesome pets. They deserve the best you can afford to give them. Not to mention, their needs are so incredibly complex and challenging for their owners that if you dare to cut corners in any area !!especially with lighting!!, you run the risk of losing your pet entirely or doing irreversible damage to them.

Hope this helps

 

[ObiThaGod]

i dont think anything u said sounded like you were being a jerk. i appreciate the information as ive only been a beardie owner for about a month however i did tons of research then ive noticed ppl mention flood lights but i get they just mean the style bulb....thanks!!

Flood lights are typically used in exterior household applications i.e., security lights. Most of them are nothing more than halogens or incandescent and as such, are not going to provide UVBs or infrareds. I would stay away from Home Depot's lights unless they specify being MH or MV.

This is why standard floodlights are so cheap. They don't mimic sunlight in the least which is precisely what you're after when shopping for reptile bulbs. Regular floods are in no way intended for reptiles unless you're only looking for heat, which I also don't recommend because most are too high wattage for a terrarium anyways. Heat is good, don't get me wrong. But Metal Halides and Mercury Vapor bulbs are FAR superior and safer for the reptile's long term health by providing ample heat as well as the correct spectrums these animals need to survive in captivity.

Not to sound like a jerk, but if you go the $5-10 route when buying lights, you're dragon is almost certainly going to pay for this with it's long term health. Leaving you with paying vet bills; if not leaving you with a dead dragon, or both!

Beardies are awesome pets. They deserve the best you can afford to give them. Not to mention, their needs are so incredibly complex and challenging for their owners that if you dare to cut corners in any area !!especially with lighting!!, you run the risk of losing your pet entirely or doing irreversible damage to them.

Hope this helps