Noob: Food, Temp, Lighting questions

[barbrej]

We got my son a Bearded Dragon for an early Xmas present. The more I read the more I am confused.

40 gallon tank (36x18)
Lamp: 160 watts. Basking and UVB light Combo
UTH Matt on bottom left side of tank. Same side as basking light.

Basking side thermometer says 90-95
Cool side stays at 80

We bought him last night and he didn’t eat any meal worms, this morning he did eat 1. Will give him crickets in the morning. We are dusting protein every time we feed.

Questions:
Leave food in till it’s gone, or remove after 10-15 min?
Should I worry about lack of eating yet?
How much veggie should we give daily?
Temps ok? Seems like basking should be good, but don’t have a thermal gun to check.
Light: is the multi bulb ok, everything seems to only mention T5s or T8s UVBs.
Tank setup/adds: what else does he need...these will be Xmas presents

I appreciate any guidance you care to offer.

John

 

[barbrej]

Thank you very much. Lot to process, but I have ordered 1/2” roaches, BSFL, and will get the gun/strips tomorrow. Gave him greens and veg this morning before crickets.

do I still need to add crickets with roaches and bsfl?

The heat pad wasn’t cheap, does it hurt anything if I leave it in? It doesn’t seem to drop below 80 with or without it.

Blaze’s tank is legit!

 

[barbrej]

The heat pad really isnt any good -- and if your tank isnt getting below 80 at nite that is too hot -- it needs to be down to 70 or so 65 is the lowest--- a varied diet of BSFL which is a staple is really good but I use it as a enticement to bowl along w/ the super worms 3 - wax worms 3 tops they are like candy to them - hornworms are great too but they have a lot of water so you dont want to feed alot to them as it can cause diarrhea-- also silk worms are really good but are spendy and sometimes hard to find-- crickets or dubias are usually peoples main staple some use the BSFL as the main staple-- Please no strips for tank temps -- digital probe and infrared heat gun I use a dial but only for ambient temps and to give me an idea of what they are running in the tank - I use the heat gun and digital for accurate temps -- I use the roaches as my staple feeder its easier to see how many hes eating and only add the BSFL as a supplement --- Blaze is eating like a horse --- You can use all 3 for the feeders if you like --- I would kinda get him on a regiment of one crickets or dubias or BSFL which ever is easier and add the other 2 as a treat once in awhile -- they will get burned out on eating the same thing all the time --- his greens do need to be fed every day once a day and the bugs 2 times if he will eat them at the second feeding - its up to you on what feeder you want to feed as a staple - you actually can let him pick --- he will let you know what he likes - my older dragon wont touch super worms or crickets - but likes butter worms and loves horn worms the thing w/ horn worms is they grow really fast but they are a good hydrating worm --- speaking of hydration you can wash your greens before serving to your dragon that way the moisture is there - you will be able to tell when he poops it should be formed dark and moist -- same w/ the urate formed white and moist no chalky or dry looking --- make sure your feeding you staple feeder good - crickets eat about anything carrots for hydration - I dont feed my dragons carrots as they are getting it thru the staple feeder --- roaches the same carrots no greens tho they dont like greens I also feed them squash and I have dubia food I feed them--- I dont do crickets -- they stink and are too loud --- so mine are getting strictly BSFL and dubias and different worms NO meal worms - I dont feed them those either - --- so w/ all this info you should be good --- I hope it has helped --- remember to not feed your dragon something bigger than him --- thus no bigger than the space between his eyes--- impaction risk-- I should of mentioned roaches are more filling than crickets and you can see how many he will eat in a 10 minute time frame -- if he eats more roaches than the 6-8 I mentioned thats ok---- it depends on the size of the roach --- crickets it could be 20 or more or so in 10 minute time frame

Thanks again.

He is eating crickets and roaches. He seems to prefer the crickets over roaches. The damn roaches run out of the bowl and get under the mat before he eats them. Didnt notice till I cleaned his tank and found 20 roaches huddled together (need to trim excess mat). Bought bunch of BSFL's thinking they would help him eat greens, but I never have seen him eat one and they are always still in the bottom of the food dish when I clean and feed the next time.

Greens question. Been giving him greens everyday and take them out after work, but there is never really any gone except once he ate a ton raddish greens and sunflower sprouts (daughter grows them on top her fish tank). But mainly been giving arugula lettice and leafy letticewith squash, carrots, or cucumber a couple of times. Is there a worry about not eating much greens?

Will change the combo lamp when he gets the new t5 lamp/hood for christmas.

He never goes in the water bowl from what I can tell but his poop has the black with white stuff at the end and doesnt look hard when its fresh so I am not too worried.

He moves around great when I feed him crickets, but thats really the only time I see him move. The only other time we see him move is when we put him back in the cage after hanging out, he will move around a bit till he finds a good spot to hangout. Is that ok?

Temp is 115 in the hottest spot middle of the hammock that is mounted on a diagnal, but two spots where he hangs out it he most its 95 and 110. ( will use smaller heat lamp when we install the t5 fixture on christmas).

Any dramatic changes need to me made? Anything worrisome? My feeling swont be hurt if I am doing something dumb I would rather know straight up instead of causing him problems.

Thanks for your help.