A Few Startup Questions

[Fishoutofwater]

Thanks so much for your time with ym questions. The only issue I have now, is the cool side of his cage stays around 75 degrees. I was hoping for warmer. Is this acceptable? If not what can I do to add some heat to that side? Another low watt basking light?

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Here are a few pictures.

 

[jarich]

Thanks so much for your time with ym questions. The only issue I have now, is the cool side of his cage stays around 75 degrees. I was hoping for warmer. Is this acceptable? If not what can I do to add some heat to that side? Another low watt basking light?

That temperature on the cool side is fine, yes. If you want you could add another low watt light to the other side, but its not really necessary.

 

[river-7]

Yes, Jarich; is right the temp is right on for the cool side 75-85-cool side is great.and don't forget they need no lights at night. I think your tank looks nice but a lot of places for feeders to hide in. no offence but it appears to have too much in it. No place for bearded to run round ect; but other then that your temp on cool side is fine.Now you just need the beardie and a name for him/her and your good to go. Nice- a lot of time and work but nice.Good Job FOOW;-river-7

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Thanks river. Oh ok great then The temps are: Hovering around 90 for the warm side. 75 for the cool side and 110 under the basking lamp which I read was good for younger beardies. And yes I have the lights on a timer; 12 hours on 12 hours off.

As far as names go. If it's a male then it's Raptor. If it's a female then Zilla(half of Godzilla) Is there a way to tell in young beardies whether it's a male or female? And are they like most other animals where the males usually have more color?

 

[river-7]

Yes, there is a section I believe on Beautiful dragons .org. that explains how to sex them it has a video. Young ones are very hard. Sometimes a female will have a smaller head but that don't always applyI had a big red girl and the breeder had sexed her and she turned out to be a male-So it is hard.But check out that and maybe a few breeders will step up-as far as sexing goe's I am no good at it . I don't believe colouring has anything to do with their sex.river-7

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Whew my eyes are burning from reading about feeding and supplementing juvenille's. From everything I've gathered it is a nice salad variety(collard greens, mustard greens, etc) daily and crickets daily sprinkled with Calcium powder containing vitamin D3. But I haven't seen HOW OFTEN a day I should be feeding them their crickets and salad and how much salad...

Also throw in a multi-vitamin once a week and don't feed them any crickets larger than the space between their eyes, did I miss anything?

 

[river-7]

ok, lets clear this up for you.. Salad you can give once a day until you see what kind of eater h/s-is. Some beardies like it if you just throw it in the tank and some like a dish-any dish will do and he probably won't eat it right away so not too much until you see him eat it but still give it every day.A lot of them eat it by accident cricket goes in and they eat the crix; and taste the salad.2-3-times a day for crix; and calcium I personally don't sprinkle their salad-What I do is d-3- 5-days a week and vitiamins 2-days a week -3-times a day but you will have to adjust to what you feel the best for your beardie. I feel that works for me as I have a very young baby.and everybody doe's things different.No multi-vitamin that I know of you use beardie vitiamins repti-vite there are lots of them just read the info on them before you buy.River-7

 

[river-7]

And- FOOW; You have to do some research as we all do things differently[sp] .What I did when I joined I started reading the forum frontwards and then backwards we can tell you a lot but reading really helps you as well and anything you don't understand ask away and we will try and set you straight.It is very confusing at first but it gets easier. Beardies are not just an easy animal until you get them all set up[ha ha] Then they are easy and only then. And a big expense then it doe's slow down. But just to comment on your tank I really like it you done a great job on it. in a short amount of time.If you have a printer go to beautiful dragons and print out the safe salad foods for your baby and put on your fridge as some veggs are not safe and some flowers, and herbs are not safe so a lot to do yet. Research is good for both of you.When are you getting the baby. And we need pics of him in the tank. It will also take 10-days or more for your baby to get use to his house[tank] How old and how long is he/she?? again I forget as I have been doing a lot of reading.River-7

 

[river-7]

ps; Did you read about gut loading your crix; ?? should be gut loaded for at least 24-36-hours before feeding.river-7

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Yes I read about gut loading as well. I was reading how more and more people aren't feeding their beardies crickets because of parasites and what not unless they're from a trusted source. Is there a way to safely get around not feeding juvenille's crickets?

Also, I have some mopani wood in his tank. Is this safe wood? About a half inch is resting in his water bowl, would this harm the water at all for drinking? I suppose it's good my local store won't get any new beardies in for another week, so I can make sure he comes home to a wonderful well rounded home haha.

 

[river-7]

Yes I read about gut loading as well. I was reading how more and more people aren't feeding their beardies crickets because of parasites and what not unless they're from a trusted source. Is there a way to safely get around not feeding juvenille's crickets?

Also, I have some mopani wood in his tank. Is this safe wood? About a half inch is resting in his water bowl, would this harm the water at all for drinking? I suppose it's good my local store won't get any new beardies in for another week, so I can make sure he comes home to a wonderful well rounded home haha.

no, they need the protein, the mopania wood is safe but it has to be washed and dried in the oven just to make sure there are no bugs ect;.for a couple of hours. If you're living in an area where they have dubia roaches they seem to be pretty safe. And crix; gut load them and stay the same supplier or better yet grow your own.You can breed your own crix;river-7

 

[PatsyB]

Mopani wood is fine but I would take it out of the water because it will get mold.

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Well here's my pickle. There is no way I'm going to convince my wife to get a tank to raise or even hold crickets. Was hard enough convincing her to have a reptile in the house. Is there anything wrong with buying crickets from, say, Petsmart and feeding him those sprinkled with calcium and vitamin D3?

Could I safely store crickets in my garage? If so, is there an article or something I could research on how to keep healthy ones?

 

[river-7]

Yes, you can store them in garage,weather permitting. and it is not necessary to load them with d-3 you just put them in a bag and shake before you feed.with calcium as too much calcium will kill the crix.On the front page of our forum under diet there is good info on keeping them alive and safe.Here's what I do-. I use egg crates as they stay in the broken up crates and I use bran cereal for them to bed on and they eat it as well. And I use a 5-gal; aquarium with a screen top on it.I feed the crix;fresh veggs that I want the dragon to have and I buy the crix; at b/ales we have around here so I buy 500-little crix; 1/4 inch ones as they are tiny. And I keep them in a spare storage room. As crix; don't like the heat and will die.and I feed the crix; and water them every 2-days.And give them fresh egg cartons to hide in as they crap in them and it will begin to smell bad if not cleaned regular.by egg crates you can break them into separate little parts for them hide in and change them every couple of days. you can put toilet paper rolls in with them and just take out and feed into your tank.They will go into the tubes to hide.That way your making sure your crix; are clean and safe for your dragon. Sometimes they will look dead but they are shedding their old skin so watch for that and I think that is where your breeding comes into play.what I mean by shake them with calcium just prior to feeding your dragon.so your making sure you are making crix; safe. And I buy from the same place all the time. I don't buy crix; by the little container-I find out from the owner when new crix; come in and I go and buy them and gut-load then for a couple of days -so I always have crix; ready for the baby to eat and they are safe.the little containers you are paying a lot for and most will be dead anyway. So find a good store and buy your crix; in quanity, once you see how much he eats.Hope this helps you some-River-7-ps. That's why it's important to feed your dragon and clean him good. Especially crix; as they do carry disease.In the meantime if you buy a small amount of crix; make sure to check them good and make sure they are all alive. Because petsmart will carry ones that are dead as well so just look and make sure they are all moving.If you ask them if they are gutloaded they will say yes-but in truth they have just given them a patatoe and a piece of carrot and that just keeps the crix; alive.And crix; will walk threw crap that your dragon has just done and that's where your disease come in, and of course your dragon will eat the crix; That is just the nature of the beast. So just practice good husbandry with your dragon and crix; and you will be fine.

 

[river-7]

FOOW; Are you going to be keeping your dragon in the garage?? River-7

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Ok I got a cheap critter cage from Petsmart and have the egg carton, food and water cubes for them. Seems to be going swell so far.

This morning was the first time I fed my little guy(got him last night). He ate about 12 crickets really fast. I then made some finely chopped up collard greens and put them in his dish and a few pieces by where he was basking. He didn't touch the greens and when I went to feed him more crickets this evening he wanted nothing to do with at all. He basically sat on top of his rock all day other than the couple times I took him out just to hold him and pet him. Is this normal behavior for a baby in a new environment? Petsmart did say they only feed their beardies once a day in the morning so maybe he's just used to eating only once? Just want to make sure he's doing ok so far. Thanks.

 

[river-7]

Probably, only fed once a day as most are in shops. He will have to get use to eating properly-river-7

 

[Andyurgay]

it is completely normal for a baby beardie to over look the salads. They require mostly insects until about 3-4 inches long. After that point, they should take more interest in salads. It also helps to move the salad around with your finger, since beardies get attracted to the movement and it can help train them to eat it. But it does depend on the dragon. Some take to salads right away, like mine. Some don't for a while. It just depends, but don't worry, your baby will take to it eventually.

as far as the baby not eating crickets more than once a day, that's also normal. It can take almost two weeks for them to get into the new routine. As he/she gets a bit bigger, they will eat more and more. Just feed what they will eat and don't worry too much. As long as they look healthy, act healthy, and eat well, they will be fine. Mine was only 2 1/2 inches when I brought him home from PETsMART, and I worked at that store so I knew him well. Soon enough he was eating like a maniac. Just give the little guy some time to adjust and he will come around.

 

[river-7]

FOOW; How is he today? It will take time for him to settle in and get use to eating properly and don't worry about salads just keep offering sooner or later he will eat them. My baby took right to them as the shop only fed salad and bugs once a day. they at a young age should have more bugs then salad so don't worry lol-just keep offering and you can try a worm in the salad he might just get a taste of it that way. Or a little fruit that he might like. River-7