New Baby Beardie!

[iris123]

You can swap out -- I would alternate 4 hrs for dragon then put back on anole-- but get them their own - I would not use the coil-- on either

ok and should i cook the yellow squash i know squash is pretty hard when its raw or can my bearded dragon chew it

 

[iris123]

No you don't need to cook it cut in strips then again so it's small cubes at least for a baby as they get older you can cut in long thin strips

oh ok i didn't think bearded dragons had that strong of teeth

 

[iris123]

No you don't need to cook it cut in strips then again so it's small cubes at least for a baby as they get older you can cut in long thin strips

why does my beardie eats so much so quick i'm afraid he might choke also i got him a live plant called elephant feed this is what it looks like.

 

[iris123]

i know the elephant bush is safe cause there was a few site that said it was ok including the bio dude
i feed him a large salad and 10 crickets a day now

 

[iris123]

As far as him eating so fast are you feeding him till hes full --- like as many insects as he can eat in 10-15 minutes ----- or are you limiting on the amount of food your feeding ? Remember he needs a salad in the morning before you feed insects --- and add a couple of small super worms on top to get him to the bowl to eat --- then feed him insects about an hr later or so and as many as he will eat --- usually around 20 crickets or so thats a guess

i know the elephant bush is safe cause there was a few site that said it was ok including the bio dude
i feed him a large salad and 10 crickets a day now

 

[iris123]

10 crickets is not enough you need to feed him as many as he will eat in a 10-15 minute time frame that is why he is eating so fast ----- he should be eating at least 20 at a time- I would put one cricket at a time in the tank or a couple so you can keep count on how many hes eating and keep feeding till he walks away -- then take whats in the tank out as they do bite --- I am going to check on that elephant plant for sure it should be listed some where it gives info on it I googled it and no where did I find it on a list for being safe ---

i only have 50 crickets i'm trying to get them to breed so i don't have to buy as much

 

[iris123]

Your dragon should be shedding and growing ------- I would get a weight on him from a kitchen scale and a length every week so you know hes gaining weight ---- it will tell you if your feeding him enough ---- mine has gained 4 oz in the 2 weeks I have had him as of today--- weigh in grams ----

yea but the proplem is he can't be held and wont stay still for that

 

[iris123]

Turn on scale set bowl on scale zero the scale out and set him in the bowl ---- you should be petting him in the tank - hand feeding him vegies to get him used to you ---- you should have your hand in the tank A LOT to get him used to you -- approach from side not from the top -- he will think your a predator - get a soft blanket or fleece they love soft things something w/ your smell on it so he gets used to you -- put it in his hide for him to sleep on-- his taming will take a while -- its gonna be your patience that pays off in the end --- I realize they are squirmy when young mine is as well -- just keep petting him in the tank approach nice and slow and eventually he will quit running -- but its gonna take patience --- but you need to feed him as much as he will eat

once i get him past the eating the fingers part and being scared he can be held for a little

 

[iris123]

Start feeding him more and he wont eat your fingers-- 10 crickets per day is NOT enough -- his main diet is protein at this point ----- it will be up till a year or maybe longer ---- I would suggest you start feeding him more or you will have a very unhealthy dragon ---- I just buried a rescue / supposed to be rehome dragon about a month ago----- she was starved to death by the time I got her she was past the point of NO return --- all her organs started to shut down from lack of food ---------------------- make sure your hydrating your dragon or he will stop eating all together as well ---------------- mist him or give him baths about once a week and make sure your hydrating those crickets ----- and feeding those crickets too ---- otherwise you wont be feeding your dragon nothing ----- if the crickets are hungry they wont have anything to give to your dragon

i feed the crickets kale and water crytals i feed my beardie kale also

 

[iris123]

Ellentomologist -- she is a biologist specializing in reptiles on the beardeddraong.org forum and responded to my post about elephant feed plant -- here is her response

Elephant Feed" has the scientific name of Portulacaria afra, a succulent commonly used in bio-active terrariums for bearded dragon and other desert reptiles. It does not require much watering, but is slightly needier of water than most succulents. They should be treated as a non-toxic decorative.

Guacamole has had some in his "garden" for the past 3 months and is doing great. He doesn't eat much of the elephant feed, though, preferring to eat his normal fresh chopped veggies.

All beardie-safe cacti/succulents may severely change the consistency or frequency of your dragon's poop. As such, when you begin offering elephant feed it is important to monitor your dragon's feces to make sure they are not suffering any issues.

Please be VERY careful using "other succulents". MANY succulents and cacti are poisonous. Safe ones include Elephant Feed (Portulacaria afra), as discussed, many verities of Jade (Crassula ovata), and spineless species of Opuntia cactus (in particular Opuntia Danicolor) are all beardie safe.
About me: Recent graduate working at a research laboratory. Keep many invertebrates, reptiles, and amphibians, but only one BD named Guacamole. Love getting and giving book recommendations.

i was only planing on using elephant feed

 

[iris123]

That is fine-- just wanted you to have more info on those plants

thanks

 

[iris123]

That is fine-- just wanted you to have more info on those plants

how do i breed crickets

 

[iris123]

Breeding Crickets
Step one: Preparing the habitat
You want to figure out what you want to keep your crickets in, I use a 20 gallon aquarium and some use larger opaque totes. To prepare the tank, I put paper towels in the bottom <makes cleaning easier for me> then 4-5 egg crates. The egg crates should be placed vertically in the tank and not laying down as crickets love to climb and have small places to hide. You will also need a heat source. I use an under tank heater attached to the side of the tank and keep the temperatures about 80 degrees. You will need a water source for your crickets. I use cotton balls saturated in water on a small dish but you can use commercially bought water crystals or saturated paper towels. You will need a food source for your crickets. I use the greens I feed my lizards and a commercially bought cricket food. Put the food on a small dish next to the water. Now you will need another small tub or something to put soil into that is easy for the females to climb in and out of. I use eco earth for my little tub. Fill this to the top with eco earth and wet it well. Pack it down but not to tightly You dont want it soggy but wet. Cut a small screen to fit over the top of this tub and place it in your adult tank.

Step two: Obtaining your crickets
You will want adult crickets. 15 to 20 females and 5-10 males. The easiest way to tell if a cricket is female is by observing an ovipositer. This is a swordlike tube up to three-quarters of an inch long that protrudes from the end of her abdomen, much like a stinger would. The tube is used exclusively for laying eggs deep in the soil. Both males and females have additional short prongs on each side of the abdomen.
Male crickets have shorter, sturdier wings with rough underside surfaces known as file. The top of the wing has a formation known as a scraper. To make his chirping song, the male rubs the scraper of one wing against the file on the underside of the other. The female hears with sound receptors situated on her front legs and responds if she likes the rhythm.
Put your crickets into the new habitat. The females should be ready to lay their eggs and will insert the ovipositer into the soil and use a gyrating like pushing motion to deposit her eggs into the prepared soil tub. The eggs will look like tiny white grains of rice. Once the eggs are deposited keep the soil wet as you dont want to lose your eggs, they will dry out quickly.

Step three: setting up the nursery
You will prepare a tank for a nursery the same way you did for your adult crickets. But without food and water for the time being. About 5-7 days after your females have laid thier eggs you will want to carefully transfer your soil filled tub to the nursery tub and put the lid on. It is important at this point to keep your egg filled tub moist. I use a spray bottle as the eggs are only about an inch below the surface of the soil. Dont wet the soil to much as you dont want the eggs to get fungus but just wet enough to keep them from drying out.

Step four:
prepare another soil filled tub in the same way you did before and place it in the adult cricket tank and take care of it the same way, You may have more females by now ready to lay for you. Each female can lay up to 200 eggs at a time.

Step five: keep an eye on your nursery tank as you should be able to see baby crickets <about 2 weeks> emerging from thier eggs. You will see tiny white dots moving about on the surface of the soil. Do not disturb the babies or touch them as they are delicate and easily killed. At this time put in a water source, food and egg crates. Babies will move to the crates as they are ready.

Step six: In about 2 weeks you should have good sized pinhead crickets ready to be moved to a third tank you have prepared for the babies. I would not suggest putting them in with the adults as they can be trampled or eaten by adult crickets. Carefully transfer the egg crates to the feeder tank and any babies you see on the floor of your nursery tank. You may lose a few during the transfer so be careful in transferring these. At this time clean your nursery tank and dispose of the soil in the egg tub. I do this outside so if any baby's are still in the soil they arent running around in my house. Clean the tub well with hot water and soap, rinse thoroughly so no residue is left. Refill it with wet soil. Take the one out of the adult tank and put it in the now clean nursery tank and place the clean soil in the adult tank. You should have females ready to lay eggs.

In breeding you will continue to rotate the soil filled tubs between the adult and nursery tanks. With proper care you should be able to easily breed crickets and keeping the tanks clean of old food, dead crickets and debris, your tanks should not smell although the crickets are noisey and after a while you can tune them out. There are some excellent videos on youtube also that can help in giving you information on breeding crickets. I have no problems breeding them doing it the way I have stated here. Hope this helps.

thank you for this

 

[iris123]

Breeding Crickets
Step one: Preparing the habitat
You want to figure out what you want to keep your crickets in, I use a 20 gallon aquarium and some use larger opaque totes. To prepare the tank, I put paper towels in the bottom <makes cleaning easier for me> then 4-5 egg crates. The egg crates should be placed vertically in the tank and not laying down as crickets love to climb and have small places to hide. You will also need a heat source. I use an under tank heater attached to the side of the tank and keep the temperatures about 80 degrees. You will need a water source for your crickets. I use cotton balls saturated in water on a small dish but you can use commercially bought water crystals or saturated paper towels. You will need a food source for your crickets. I use the greens I feed my lizards and a commercially bought cricket food. Put the food on a small dish next to the water. Now you will need another small tub or something to put soil into that is easy for the females to climb in and out of. I use eco earth for my little tub. Fill this to the top with eco earth and wet it well. Pack it down but not to tightly You dont want it soggy but wet. Cut a small screen to fit over the top of this tub and place it in your adult tank.

Step two: Obtaining your crickets
You will want adult crickets. 15 to 20 females and 5-10 males. The easiest way to tell if a cricket is female is by observing an ovipositer. This is a swordlike tube up to three-quarters of an inch long that protrudes from the end of her abdomen, much like a stinger would. The tube is used exclusively for laying eggs deep in the soil. Both males and females have additional short prongs on each side of the abdomen.
Male crickets have shorter, sturdier wings with rough underside surfaces known as file. The top of the wing has a formation known as a scraper. To make his chirping song, the male rubs the scraper of one wing against the file on the underside of the other. The female hears with sound receptors situated on her front legs and responds if she likes the rhythm.
Put your crickets into the new habitat. The females should be ready to lay their eggs and will insert the ovipositer into the soil and use a gyrating like pushing motion to deposit her eggs into the prepared soil tub. The eggs will look like tiny white grains of rice. Once the eggs are deposited keep the soil wet as you dont want to lose your eggs, they will dry out quickly.

Step three: setting up the nursery
You will prepare a tank for a nursery the same way you did for your adult crickets. But without food and water for the time being. About 5-7 days after your females have laid thier eggs you will want to carefully transfer your soil filled tub to the nursery tub and put the lid on. It is important at this point to keep your egg filled tub moist. I use a spray bottle as the eggs are only about an inch below the surface of the soil. Dont wet the soil to much as you dont want the eggs to get fungus but just wet enough to keep them from drying out.

Step four:
prepare another soil filled tub in the same way you did before and place it in the adult cricket tank and take care of it the same way, You may have more females by now ready to lay for you. Each female can lay up to 200 eggs at a time.

Step five: keep an eye on your nursery tank as you should be able to see baby crickets <about 2 weeks> emerging from thier eggs. You will see tiny white dots moving about on the surface of the soil. Do not disturb the babies or touch them as they are delicate and easily killed. At this time put in a water source, food and egg crates. Babies will move to the crates as they are ready.

Step six: In about 2 weeks you should have good sized pinhead crickets ready to be moved to a third tank you have prepared for the babies. I would not suggest putting them in with the adults as they can be trampled or eaten by adult crickets. Carefully transfer the egg crates to the feeder tank and any babies you see on the floor of your nursery tank. You may lose a few during the transfer so be careful in transferring these. At this time clean your nursery tank and dispose of the soil in the egg tub. I do this outside so if any baby's are still in the soil they arent running around in my house. Clean the tub well with hot water and soap, rinse thoroughly so no residue is left. Refill it with wet soil. Take the one out of the adult tank and put it in the now clean nursery tank and place the clean soil in the adult tank. You should have females ready to lay eggs.

In breeding you will continue to rotate the soil filled tubs between the adult and nursery tanks. With proper care you should be able to easily breed crickets and keeping the tanks clean of old food, dead crickets and debris, your tanks should not smell although the crickets are noisey and after a while you can tune them out. There are some excellent videos on youtube also that can help in giving you information on breeding crickets. I have no problems breeding them doing it the way I have stated here. Hope this helps.

okie so i feed my beardie 20 crickets now and kale everyday once every week i feed him blueberries or carrots i'm working on getting mustard greens and cabbage and endive and yellow squash but i have to get the money first

 

[iris123]

Fresh vegies are cheap he needs to be fed them EVERYDAY---- forget the cabbage its too hard on their stomach ---- here is a website for nutrition ---
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Go to walmart and get collards turnip greens ---- mustard greens dont last long-- you can get a bunch for like $1 38 ---- fruit is to be fed once in awhile --- it has too much sugar --- you need to feed greens every day - you can get squash zuchinni or yellow cheap too buy one and feed him every day it needs to be cut up small so he can eat it ------------------

okie i'll see if i can get the money early to get the stuff i'll get home collards and some yellow squash

 

[iris123]

could i feed him pumkin

 

[iris123]

Yes--- are you dusting his bugs w/ calcium D3 5 x per week and vitamins 2 x per week - this is very important for growing babies -- he needs this to ward off MBD--- w/that in mind what kind of lighting do you have in the tank ????? UVB brand and bulb please-----this is very important

yea i'm dusting the crickets every day repti-sun tube bulb and then zoo med basking spot lamp 75watt the basking spot is 110 and and warm area is 90 to 80 degrees depending on where the thermometer is its not digital

 

[iris123]

okie i'll get a digital today

 

[iris123]

So the UVB is inside the tank approx 6-8 inches from his basking spot????? You need to get a digital probe thermom if I am reading your post correctly--- you need an actual basking temp and stick ons are way off- the digitals you can get at Petco or Petsmart for around $5- please get one -- I have a feeling your basking spot temp is off -------------- that probe needs to be set on the spot he sits for around 10 minutes to get an accurate reading--- if your temps are off eventually his poops are going to start showing uindigested food--- same w/ the UVB -- placement of the bulb is key---------------- your cool side of tank should be around 80's --- and at nite around 70 or so not below 60 degrees ----

So the UVB where is it ???? And are you giving your baby water? Does he drink from a water dish? If not he should be misted w/ a spray bottle a few times a week and you can wash or rinse his vegies and serve them wet --- he needs hydration -- his poop will tell you if hes is hydrated -- it will have white urate w/ the poop that is pee and it should be soft and formed not chalky looking or dry

his white part of poop is moist i mist him every week twice

 

[iris123]

So the UVB where is it ???? And are you giving your baby water? Does he drink from a water dish? If not he should be misted w/ a spray bottle a few times a week and you can wash or rinse his vegies and serve them wet --- he needs hydration -- his poop will tell you if hes is hydrated -- it will have white urate w/ the poop that is pee and it should be soft and formed not chalky looking or dry

the pee is also formed