First Time Beardie Owner

[sonja]

Hi, my 10 year old son has been dying to get his own bearded dragon for some time now. He finally got one for his birthday last week. We already have a bunny, dog, cat, fish, and leopard gekko. Our (it's my son's but I don't put the responsibility solely on him) beardie is about 8 weeks old and is doing amazingly well. She/he adjusted to its new habitat very well. We have it in a 55 gallon aquarium. It's quite tall so we built a basking spot for it that's about 8 inches high. There are stairs leading to it...he/she loves it! We are using reptile carpet as a substrate. For heating/lighting we have a 100 watt basking bulb above its basking spot. The temp there is on average 110 degrees. As for UVB lighting, we decided to go with a Repti Sun 10.0 36" tube light. We have been feeding it mainly dubia roaches (I ordered 400 online). We've been offering veggies twice a day, but it's only taken to it a couple of times. It's quite tiny still, and only eats about 3 dubia roaches at a feeding. I feed it 3 times a day. If anyone has any additional information, or comments please let me know. I have done extensive research on these guys and will do anything to make his/her life better than it already is. Though, so far, he/she seems to be thriving and doing very well. He/she just had it's first molt since we brought it home a week ago.

 

[Aleena]

Welcome, Sonja! Sounds like you have done your research quite well! Is there any way we could get a pic of your environment and beardie? We always love to see babies and it's great to get a feel for the environment as well, rather then just hearing about it, I don't know if I could offer any suggestions without seeing.

 

[sonja]

I'm trying to upload a pic of him/her as my avatar. I will take a picture of it's home tomorrow and put it on here as well.

 

[Jp]

Hey, Sonja. Welcome to the Forum. You've definitely done your research & sounds like you're providing a perfect environment for the little one to grow up healthy & happy.

 

[Aleena]

I'm trying to upload a pic of him/her as my avatar. I will take a picture of it's home tomorrow and put it on here as well.

Such a cute lil guy!!! Love it!

 

[sonja]

I have a question. How long will it take before he stops squirming to get out of my hands. I know he's still young and new, and I only hold him for a few minutes a day, but I don't want to have to force him to be held either. He seems to like it ok, but then suddenly he will start squirming. I see all these pictures of beardies sitting calmly on their owners arm or shoulder. Our beardie would definitely make a run for it! His/her name is Thistle, by the way. Is there a good way to sex a beardie when they're this young? Thanks for any insight!

 

[Jp]

Babies do spook easily & will need a little time to adjust & get familiar with new surroundings.

 

[Aleena]

I have a question. How long will it take before he stops squirming to get out of my hands. I know he's still young and new, and I only hold him for a few minutes a day, but I don't want to have to force him to be held either. He seems to like it ok, but then suddenly he will start squirming. I see all these pictures of beardies sitting calmly on their owners arm or shoulder. Our beardie would definitely make a run for it! His/her name is Thistle, by the way. Is there a good way to sex a beardie when they're this young? Thanks for any insight!

They'll calm down more as they age. There's also like a week acclimation period that you're not suppose to handle your beardie almost at all in, except for general maintenance. Love the name Thistle!!! It's awesome! You gotta lift their tail almost at a 90 degree angle... lemme see if I can find that video...

If that link doesn't work, then try looking in the Basic BD Care sheet under general bearded dragon discussion topics.

 

[sonja]

Thank you! This does help,but my baby will hate me if I man handle him/her like that. Lol. I'll give it a try tomorrow. I'm just curious so if I can't get a good 'reading' I'll wait a couple of weeks.

 

[sonja]

I haven't been handling him just because. I take him out at feeding time and once for a bath. I don't feel it is comfortable enough yet where I can hold her for the fun of it. Though I hold her for a couple of minutes before putting her in her feeder container. When she wriggles I know she's had enough.

 

[Aleena]

Thank you! This does help,but my baby will hate me if I man handle him/her like that. Lol. I'll give it a try tomorrow. I'm just curious so if I can't get a good 'reading' I'll wait a couple of weeks.

I wouldn't try til they're older... but they hate it at any age. It's easier to get a clearer picture when they're older in my opinion.

 

[Germ]

 

[I.heart.my.bd]

welcome! This forum was very helpful to me as a first time beardie owner and I hope you find it just as helpful!

 

[sonja]

Well, I figured I would try to sex it. If it didn't work, or if it didn't seem to like it, I wouldn't push it. HE cooperated very well and we easily saw...it's a BOY! I took a picture of his home, I'll try to upload it.

 

[Aleena]

Well, I figured I would try to sex it. If it didn't work, or if it didn't seem to like it, I wouldn't push it. HE cooperated very well and we easily saw...it's a BOY! I took a picture of his home, I'll try to upload it.

Woohoo! Congrats on the awesome little man! You keeping Thistle?

 

[sonja]

Woohoo! Congrats on the awesome little man! You keeping Thistle?

Yeah, it's a bit girlie, but my son really likes the name and it's sort of unisex...just not rough and tough.

 

[sonja]

 

[sonja]

 

[Aleena]

View attachment 1491

Oh, my gosh! I'm dying over your setup! It is so pretty! Lucky little Thistle. Such a pretty boy .

 

[sonja]

Thanks! It was really easy. As you can see, I don't have a lot of "furmniture" in there. We made the basking platform out of styrofoam insulation. It's just layered together, held in place with hot glue, then plastered with grout. Then we spray painted it with brown spraypaint with sand mixed in. Found everything at Home Depot. Cost maybe $10. For the sticks, the kids and I took a good old fashioned walk on the woods. Then I baked them in a 200 degree oven for an hour (to get rid of any living things that might be hiding out in the branches). There are a couple of fake plants in there that I was weary about using but he doesn't seem to be interested in eating them. He climbs them or hids under them sometimes. He seems to really love his home. One great tip I found is instead of just setting the heat lamp on the screen (it can be a pain if you need to remove the screen to get to your beardie) I hooked a plant hanger to the wall and the lamp hangs perfectly over his spot. It's hanging with wire so its adjustable, too!