New beardie owner, help?

[SilkyTree101]

Hello! Im 15, my guardians went down to visit my uncle for an over night trip, and returned with a 9 month old Bearded Dragon named Pancake, as an early Christmas present for me. Of course, i am very happy with her, i think beardies are cute, though i am worried. My guardians did little to no real research on beardies before getting her for me, all they know is what the previous owners told them. I liked them, but i never did real research on them because i didnt plan on getting one any time soon, i am very experienced with rats and planned to get those. I have a job, and $500 currently available to spend. The owners provided a 55 gallon tank with a food and water dish, a hammock, and a den along with a fake branch. There is a daytime light and night-time light, not sure what watts. They gave us a heating pad that they put under the right side of her cage. I have read that beardies cannot feel heat in their stomachs so they may burn themselves. Is the heating pad a no-go? They also provided us with 2 containers of mealworms. I know superworms and crickets are better, at lwast from what I've seen. We have a container of powder calcium, and a bag of dried omnivore mix. That being said, i have no clue what im doing. I hage soent the past 2 days trying to look uo as much as i can but its proving difficult, because what one website says may be good, another website will say otherwise. Any advice on how to take care of her would be amazing, as i am a complete beginner. I am mostly looking for what a good feeding schedule would be (i.e. how much she should eat, how often, what things to feed her, etc,,) and other thubgs that can help her feel more comfortable in her new home. So far i dont think she has shown any signs of distress, she snuggles up to me and closes her eyes, so i think thats good. Thank you so much for the help!! I really need it, i am NOT trying to take any risks. If you need any extra info, please let me know <3 and here is a picture i took once i got her :]

 

[Sadie]

Hello! Im 15, my guardians went down to visit my uncle for an over night trip, and returned with a 9 month old Bearded Dragon named Pancake, as an early Christmas present for me. Of course, i am very happy with her, i think beardies are cute, though i am worried. My guardians did little to no real research on beardies before getting her for me, all they know is what the previous owners told them. I liked them, but i never did real research on them because i didnt plan on getting one any time soon, i am very experienced with rats and planned to get those. I have a job, and $500 currently available to spend. The owners provided a 55 gallon tank with a food and water dish, a hammock, and a den along with a fake branch. There is a daytime light and night-time light, not sure what watts. They gave us a heating pad that they put under the right side of her cage. I have read that beardies cannot feel heat in their stomachs so they may burn themselves. Is the heating pad a no-go? They also provided us with 2 containers of mealworms. I know superworms and crickets are better, at lwast from what I've seen. We have a container of powder calcium, and a bag of dried omnivore mix. That being said, i have no clue what im doing. I hage soent the past 2 days trying to look uo as much as i can but its proving difficult, because what one website says may be good, another website will say otherwise. Any advice on how to take care of her would be amazing, as i am a complete beginner. I am mostly looking for what a good feeding schedule would be (i.e. how much she should eat, how often, what things to feed her, etc,,) and other thubgs that can help her feel more comfortable in her new home. So far i dont think she has shown any signs of distress, she snuggles up to me and closes her eyes, so i think thats good. Thank you so much for the help!! I really need it, i am NOT trying to take any risks. If you need any extra info, please let me know <3 and here is a picture i took once i got her :]

Welcome to the forum --- not all info is incorrect on websites but its good you came here to confirm ---- the most important thing to remember is the UVB correct UVB NO coils please and good basking temps taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- NO stick ons --- basking temps should be 95-100 probe placed on the spot where she / he sits to bask --- please get rid of the heat mat and the colored bulb --- dragons heat from the backs and colored bulbs distort their eyesight and will / can cause long term eye damage - dragons have a 3rd eye on top of their head for predators and disturbs the sleep -- they like it cool and dark temps at nite 65-75 and a stick on can be used for that -- you need a long tube fixture for a UVB 24" for a 40 + gallon tank like a Zoo Med or a Arcadia Pro T 5 12% bulb or a Sunblaster Nano Tech those are all really good fixtures -- the Zoo Med will come w/a 5.0 bulb you would need to get the 22" Reptisun 10.0 T 5 bulb -- they have certain placement and distance so if you need to get one please do so ASAP and I will help you get it placed in the tank -- if you need websites to get a fixture let me know I will post them for you ---
Diet he /she should be fed salads every day -- ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
So w / a 9 month old he /she should still be getting insects every day dusted w/ calcium D3 ONCE per feeding 5 x per week and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week ONCE per feeding -- lightly dusted ---- make sure you are rinsing the salads before serving that is where they get most of their moisture / hydration and gut loading the insects --- I recommend you get a 10 gallon tank set up find a used one on Craigslist or FB marketplace order some dubia roaches from here www.dubiaroaches.com -- feed him / her insects NO bigger than the space between his eyes length wise --- look at the chart on the website --- order him / her some large super worms feed those as treats 2-3 times per week --- lets hope your dragon is a salad eater a lot of them are not --- feeding the roaches w/ dubia food along w/ some dubia dew will keep them hydrated for the dragon remember what you feed your the roaches your dragon will eat --- most dont like greens but they will eat fruit squash sweet potato --- please do not rely on the pet stores for insectsm or advice for the dragon most people do not know what they are talking about and often give bad advice --- they are also expensive and run out a lot on insects --- crickets are a dirty feeder roaches are more nutritious -- they are not escape artist so dont worry about them getting out they cannot climb glass ------------- she will go thru relocation stress so her / his eating may be off for a week or so but you need that good UVB and the basking temps like I told you at the beginning of the post -- please ask more questions and I will help you as much as I can

 

[Sadie]

Welcome to the forum --- not all info is incorrect on websites but its good you came here to confirm ---- the most important thing to remember is the UVB correct UVB NO coils please and good basking temps taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- NO stick ons --- basking temps should be 95-100 probe placed on the spot where she / he sits to bask --- please get rid of the heat mat and the colored bulb --- dragons heat from the backs and colored bulbs distort their eyesight and will / can cause long term eye damage - dragons have a 3rd eye on top of their head for predators and disturbs the sleep -- they like it cool and dark temps at nite 65-75 and a stick on can be used for that -- you need a long tube fixture for a UVB 24" for a 40 + gallon tank like a Zoo Med or a Arcadia Pro T 5 12% bulb or a Sunblaster Nano Tech those are all really good fixtures -- the Zoo Med will come w/a 5.0 bulb you would need to get the 22" Reptisun 10.0 T 5 bulb -- they have certain placement and distance so if you need to get one please do so ASAP and I will help you get it placed in the tank -- if you need websites to get a fixture let me know I will post them for you ---
Diet he /she should be fed salads every day -- ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
So w / a 9 month old he /she should still be getting insects every day dusted w/ calcium D3 ONCE per feeding 5 x per week and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week ONCE per feeding -- lightly dusted ---- make sure you are rinsing the salads before serving that is where they get most of their moisture / hydration and gut loading the insects --- I recommend you get a 10 gallon tank set up find a used one on Craigslist or FB marketplace order some dubia roaches from here www.dubiaroaches.com -- feed him / her insects NO bigger than the space between his eyes length wise --- look at the chart on the website --- order him / her some large super worms feed those as treats 2-3 times per week --- lets hope your dragon is a salad eater a lot of them are not --- feeding the roaches w/ dubia food along w/ some dubia dew will keep them hydrated for the dragon remember what you feed your the roaches your dragon will eat --- most dont like greens but they will eat fruit squash sweet potato --- please do not rely on the pet stores for insectsm or advice for the dragon most people do not know what they are talking about and often give bad advice --- they are also expensive and run out a lot on insects --- crickets are a dirty feeder roaches are more nutritious -- they are not escape artist so dont worry about them getting out they cannot climb glass ------------- she will go thru relocation stress so her / his eating may be off for a week or so but you need that good UVB and the basking temps like I told you at the beginning of the post -- please ask more questions and I will help you as much as I can

I dont know the size of the tank but I would start w/ a 100 watt basking bulb it needs to be a bright white bulb NO day time bulbs example of what I am talking about for basking is a Exo Terra Intense basking bulb -- Arcadia makes good basking bulbs as well it must be a bright white No daytime Neodymium bulbs they have a coating on them that is not good for the dragon -- here is some info on those bulbs

the neodymium coating which is a rare earth mineral, decreases the CRI or Color Rendering Index which affects the overall brightness. It does this by cutting the yellow color range out to make it appear brighter but since reptiles are very sensitive to light & can see more of the spectrum than we can it is best to use a bright white light for basking instead.

 

[Bailey]

Make sure your husbandry is spot on, first things first. You'll need everything from proper heating and UVB lighting, to an enclosure that is no smaller than 75 gallons (I keep mine in a 120 gallon). @Sadie is really good with helping people get their husbandry spot on, I recommend responding to her as she will walk you through it.

Diet is also something that will need to be kept in mind. If an adult, your dragon should be eating 75% salads and 25% insects. There are plenty of youtube videos and forum threads to help you out with what foods are safe and what foods are not.

There is a lot that goes into beardie care so I recommend you keep doing a lot of research on a daily basis, as it is nearly impossible for us to give you all of the information in one or two replies.