So my wife surprised me a couple days ago with this little guy. His or her name is Draco, we have a Harry Potter theme with our animals, and I've had him/her for about 3 days. Not sure of the sex but we think it's a female. I've been doing some homework for the past couple of weeks on beardies. I was wanting to wait before getting one but like I said earlier my wife surprised me. She hasn't really eaten a whole lot but has nibbled on some of the collard greens and bell peppers. My wife had gotten mealworms because the lady at the pet store told her that we would need these. Fortunately she hasn't eaten any of them. She has eaten a couple of house flies that wander in. From what I've researched this behavior is normal so I'm not stressing too bad. I'll be bringing her to the vet in a couple of weeks for her first visit. The thing I'm concerned with right now is the stress marks have not gone away. I'm assuming that just like her eating habit that this is normal because of being in a new surrounding. Am I right to think this?
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1st time beardie owner
- Thread starter IScarred
- Start date
So my wife surprised me a couple days ago with this little guy. His or her name is Draco, we have a Harry Potter theme with our animals, and I've had him/her for about 3 days. Not sure of the sex but we think it's a female. I've been doing some homework for the past couple of weeks on beardies. I was wanting to wait before getting one but like I said earlier my wife surprised me. She hasn't really eaten a whole lot but has nibbled on some of the collard greens and bell peppers. My wife had gotten mealworms because the lady at the pet store told her that we would need these. Fortunately she hasn't eaten any of them. She has eaten a couple of house flies that wander in. From what I've researched this behavior is normal so I'm not stressing too bad. I'll be bringing her to the vet in a couple of weeks for her first visit. The thing I'm concerned with right now is the stress marks have not gone away. I'm assuming that just like her eating habit that this is normal because of being in a new surrounding. Am I right to think this?
Yes but you must have the correct lighting - she will go thru relocation stress and eating will be off but she should not quit eating- and to do that you must have correct basking temps taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- no stick ons they are inaccurate- no colored bulbs no heat rocks or mats- no coil uvbs - you need a long tube fixture-- like a Zoo Med or sunblaster nano or Arcadia pro T 5- 24" fixture for a 40+ gallon tank- please no meal worms for now-- she needs a good staple feeder like crickets or dubia roaches or bsfl- let her acclimate to her tank and surroundings- make sure your dusting her star feeder w/ calcium d3 5 x per week ONCE per feeding lightly coated- vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week ONCE per feeding lightly coated- but she MUST have correct basking temps and correct uvb- I can help you w/ your lighting please tell me what your using- please do not listen to the pet store people they often give bad advice
Yeah I take what the workers at PetSmart say with a grain of salt. Very seldom do you come across someone who is knowledgeable with what they are selling. Right now I'm using what came with the kit. 1 75 watt basking light and 1 uvb light. I'm going to switch out the 75 watt for something a little stronger. I don't have a proper digital thermometer so I am using the stick on for the moment. Going off of that, the temp at the basking light ranges from 90 - 100 and the temp at the other end is right at 80, pretty much stays there. I am running a ceramic heater at night and both reading are between 80 and 85. This is a 20 gallon tank by the way, I'm planning on building her a 4x2 enclosure hopefully before she's 6 months. That being said I'm gonna use what I have for now the best I can. It's not going to be used permanently but I should be able to get by with it for a short time. It was a wonderful surprise when I came home the other day and saw that my wife went ahead and got her, however I wanted to have things planned out and ready before getting my first dragon. In the meantime I'm gonna feed off of other people's experiences, advice, failures and successes, and still do my research before doing anything too drastic.
Also like I mentioned in my first post, she hasn't eaten any of the mealworms they sold us. I am aware that they can cause issues especially with juveniles so I am avoiding to feeding her the mealworms.
Before switching out the basking bulb make sure you get a temp w/ a digital probe thermometer they are the most accurate when I had Blaze in the 20 gallon the 75 was plenty - smaller tanks are hard to keep temps accurate - the UVB if your using a coil I would not wait -- they are NO good and the basking temps and UVB are the two MOST important things in that tank -- they control the over all health and behavior of the dragon - if improper UVB is used it will cause MBD to start developing - getting a 24" fixture now will go right into your 4x2x2 tank later -- think of it as a investment money wise along w/ the health of your dragon
It is a coil bulb, will be looking at getting a t5 and digital thermometer this weekend. On the subject of lighting, the book I've got said to give 16 hours of light but I've heard that 12 hours will suffice. I am approaching this with the mentality of when I had a fish tank. I started changing the time yesterday, I gave her 15 hours instead of 16. If this is something I should do then I feel that gradually making changes like this will keep stress to a minimum. One more thing, the calcium powder my wife got is flavored with bananas and strawberries. Is flavored powders good to use or should I stay away from it? It's a flukers brand with d3. Thank you for your advice
Your dragon may or may not like the flavored try it if she's not eating the insects w/ it change to regular- zoo med will work best for fixture use the 5.0 bulb for the 20 gallon when you go to the bigger tank get the 10.0 - 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off I don't think you need to do it gradually
Forgot to tell you distance for the 5.0 bulb should be unobstructed and 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor
Ok good- please don't leave them in the tank they will come out at night and bite her