• Hello guest! Are you a Bearded Dragon enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Beardie enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your dragons and enclosures and have a great time with other Bearded Dragon enthusiasts. Sign up today!

Adopted senior bearded dragon.total newbie.freaking out.help pls

BeardieBooBoo

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
1
Hello all!
I've been researching lizard care all night and finally thought...why don't I check with some experts?
I am a new owner of an old beardie. Larry is 15 years old. Summary of why and how: Science teacher moving+email w/ header "Lizards Up For Grabs"+ impulsive mom + 4th grader with lizard-love at first sight=no turning back now.
So today my daughter and father in law picked up Larry and his vivarium and lights & worms& vitamin powder & spritzer bottle & sand & cage cleaner and...no...instructions!
I am mostly worried about the lights and the temp. I have a white light and a red light and I don't know when to put them on (always?) and I have a bad thermostat that I think is broken. I've ordered a new one, but I'm worried about the temp thru the night tonight. What do I do????
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9009.JPG
    IMG_9009.JPG
    813.7 KB · Views: 23

BeardedHippy

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Messages
672
Location
Scarborough UK
Hi and welcome, you will find all the help you need here, they are a helpful bunch. Congrats on your new adoptee, he looks great. You will find that most here will tell you to ditch the sand as it can cause impaction, but its obviously what he's been used to and at 15 (wow, thats a good age) I'd say its not worth changing unless you want to. The thermostat regulates the temps both day and night so if you needn't worry about that if you have a new one. All the info you need is here.
 

puffthedragon

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
43
Location
Texas
Wow! 15! Thats awesome!
The sand its AWFUL to deal with. It gets everywhere, on everything, it stains your beardie. BUT, he is 15, and thats what he has had, and it may not be worth the stress of changing him from it.
http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-setup.php
This is pretty helpful. One thing I would suggest is to cover 3 sides of his tank(the back and sides), if its not already. They get stressed out easily over reflections.
 

Hdrydr31

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Staff member
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
5,574
Hello all!
I've been researching lizard care all night and finally thought...why don't I check with some experts?
I am a new owner of an old beardie. Larry is 15 years old. Summary of why and how: Science teacher moving+email w/ header "Lizards Up For Grabs"+ impulsive mom + 4th grader with lizard-love at first sight=no turning back now.
So today my daughter and father in law picked up Larry and his vivarium and lights & worms& vitamin powder & spritzer bottle & sand & cage cleaner and...no...instructions!
I am mostly worried about the lights and the temp. I have a white light and a red light and I don't know when to put them on (always?) and I have a bad thermostat that I think is broken. I've ordered a new one, but I'm worried about the temp thru the night tonight. What do I do????
Welcome to the forum!! Awesome of you to take him in... 15 is amazing
Take a look at the links below several of our comments as we have put together all the info you could possibly need to care for him.. It is right below the dotted line in my signature line For new comers..
Sand isn't a really good substrate it can cause alot of issues..You don't need the red light and it actually keeps them from sleeping well as they have a 3rd eye or their parietal eye and that senses shadows and light and will keep him alert...As long as your nighttime temps don't drop below 65F you don't need heat and they actually need the cool down for their bodies.. If it drops below 65F then get a CHE ceramic heating element this gives off heat but NO light..In the link we have the temps that they need..they need a basking light AND a UVB light many of us use the Reptisun T5 HO 10.0 this is a long tube style UVB these 2 lights need to overlap a bit as they need the heat and the UVB to properly digest and convert supplements and nutrition properly..

like I said the links are right below this sentence in my signature line these do not show up if your using taptalk...
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
1,000+ Post Club
Beardie Club
Messages
9,390
Location
Chicago
15 is a great age and not an age to be messing with what he's used to. Sand is okay as long as the beardie is well hydrated and you are meticulous with your cleaning. It is messy and gets all over the place, it also can harbor bacteria if it's not kept cleaned and changed out once in awhile.

Even though I think you shouldn't mess with what he's used to, I would get rid of the red light at night. Like mentioned, you only need heat at night if your tank temp drops below 65 degrees at night. I think at 15, he would relish a good nights sleep for a change!

Temp should be around 95 for basking and you should have a UVB bulb that covers at least 2/3'rds of your tank.

Like Hdrydr31 said, we have some great information under our posts that can help you get him set up. There is also a link to the most nutritious greens and bugs.
 

Mom of blazey

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
309
Welcome and thank you for taking in this senior citizen☺
Mine are 10yrs and 7 yrs old.
I'm just basically reiterating the above posts. Lighting is so important to your guy, basking between 90-95F uvb is of vital importance. The red light is no good, you can toss that☺ I personally don't like sand, I have repti carpet in some and paper towels in the other, I have 8 dragons and 6 enclosures. Has he ever had any greens(collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens )? He'll love them! Check out the sub forums within this forum good info there, I hope you'll share his /your journey with us.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G850A using Tapatalk
 
Top