Want to make sure I am doing it right

[Jaker89]

Well I have been a member for a few weeks and have been a beardie owner for a little over a year. Her name is synn and I fell in love with her the day I seen her at the pet store.

She is currently in a 75 gallon tank, screen top, basking log that she also sleeps on/under/beside/around and a turtle dock that she loves to sit on in the middle of her tank and eyeball her surroundings.

The substrate that I use it the green repti carpet. I clean it once a week in the shower with hot water and a few cleaners that my local exotic vet recommended me. I also change it out for a new one every 3-4 months since they aren't that expensive.

Lighting and heat wise. I use a repti sun 10.0 coil bulb(I know it's not the best but I got 3 of them for free from a friend so I want to use them before I switch to the tube) as well a CHE above her basking spot.

Food wise. She gets crickets once a week and Phoenix worms twice a week for meat. And for veggies she has collard greens and kale always in her tank(change out what she doesn't eat every morning). For treats she gets freeze dried meal worms every other week and a single pinkie mouse every 2 weeks.

She loves drinking water so she has a water dish which I change for fresh water and clean every 2 days and always has food pellets available to her as well.

I give her baths once a week and she LOVES swimming around in the tub for 10-15 minutes at a time.

I have a few pics I can post , but not a ton on my phone currently. If I am missing anything let me know. She is for sure my baby and she lays on my bed with me at night and we watch tv.

Thanks
Jake

 

[Jaker89]

So should I take no response as a yes?

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Hi Jaker89... Sorry it tok awhile to respond but from what I can see and what you read I don't believe you have any major things that you are doing incorrect. Read through the material in these links I'm giving you here and compare your setup and stuff. I think you will find that some minor tweaking might improve what you are already doing. She looks healthy and alert so those are good signs that something is being done good.

Basic BD Care Sheet- A Place Too Start

Beautiful Dragons Nutritional Chart

On a personal note I'm not really a fan of freeze-dried feeder insects of any kind and would suggest not using them. And feeding pinkie mice should really be kept to once a month if that often or at all.
I personally am not a fan of the reptile carpets either mainly because there are plenty of better choices for substrates for all ages of dragons and in my experience I have always had issues where the reptile's claws get snagged in it easily as well as feeder insects being able to hide under it.

I do not recommend using a water dish in their enclosure period. If yours will drink from it it is a rare thing as most dragons don'trecognize standing water as something to drink. Either way if your feeders and greens are well hydrated then she will be getting plenty of hydration from those as well as absorbing water when you soak her. The water dish in the enclosure raises the ambient humidity inside her house which is not a good thing for a dry climate creature and the combination of moisture and heat promote the growth of molds, fungi and bacteria as well. All of which are not good for your dragon.

You also mentioned what bulbs you are using but didn't tell what your basking and gradient is in her tank or how you are measuring those and I couldn't see any digital thermometer with probes in the pics. You should have two of those one with the probe mounted directly to her basking spot and another mounted at the coolest spot in her house.

Read through the info in those links and let me know if you have any other questions...alsoIf you could post some better pictures of your tank where your lighting arrangement can be seen and how you have the furnishings placed it would also make it easier for us to tell if there is anything that needs adjusting.

Hope this helps
Enjoy!!

 

[Jaker89]

I will change the mice to once a month and I only feed the freeze dried meal worms as a treat dusted with calcium only.

She seems to love the carpet, but when I build her new Viv I will look into something else for the bottom.

As for the water dish, she actually drinks out of it daily and is on the cool end of the tank which is a decent way away from the heat so I'm not overly worried about it evaporating enough to cause much harm.

I check the temps daily with my $85 snap on laser temp gun. The basking spot is between 102-105 depending on room temp, the floor level is between 95-98, and the cool end is between 85-88. All are based on room temps. Some may vary between if the room is hot or cold. I have done tons of reading into the probe temp gauges and I honestly don't trust them at all. I picked up 2 different pairs and they all read different from each other. I do have a temp gauge that I use occasional to check to make sure my temp gun is accurate.

 

[Jaker89]

The big dome is the uv light and the small one is the heat lamp. I put them right above her basking spot which she loves to hang around even if move it. She can climb right up to the light almost if she gets cold or she can go under the log if she gets to hot.

At night I do move the Che to the middle of the tank as to provide the slight temp change for sleep.

 

[gilliesexotics]

Hi, your kid looks awesome
If i could offer some personal opinions. The bath water should be no more than about 2 inches. I wouldnt put anything in the tub so the dragon can climb out of the water either. You want your dragon to soak when in the tub. I would also recommend placing your basking log more inline with the two domes so he is getting the use of both bulbs. Again this is just my opinion.
Is that a water dish?

 

[Jaker89]

I put that thing in so she can take a break cuz she loves to swim around then get on that then swim again.

Yes that's a water dish. She loves it. I took it out today to clean it and she walked down there and just stood there looking for it.

 

[Jaker89]

I moved the log over a little bit and tried to put the basking light and CHE both right above it(both closest to evenly on her as possible).

Feeding her crickets for the next few days apparently as I didn't realize it, but ran out of Phoenix worms this morning so I will have to order another 2k of them.