Beardie Newbie

[Dmccormick91]

Hey everyone so I just got a beardie a week ago and I'm in love! I do have a few questions though, how do I tell what kind of dragon I have and what age would I be able to tell. Also how do I get him or her to eat it's greens? Any other suggestions would be great as well.

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[Jack Reeman]

Hey!

I'm not entirely sure what "type" of bearded dragon you have, as blue is a slightly unusual colour for a beardie. However, you certainly have a Pagona Vitticeps, or Central Australian Beardie.

The key thing to remember is that this species enjoys climbing.. A LOT. So add some more logs and stuff.

I would recommend using a wood based Vivarium once you have a bit of cash behind you, perhaps when your beardie reaches roughly 10-11 inches, give or take. This is so the Viv can regulate it's heat much easier, it's harder to do in a glass based Viv.

It's also difficult to find a salad that your beardie likes, they change their mind like the wind. So keep switching it up and try different combinations of salad and fruit/veg. Add supplements like Calcium powder to this, as I find its much easier then adding it to the live food.

Young beardies will eat predominantly live food until they reach a year old, then they will go mad for a bit of salad and use the live food as more of enrichment. So do not worry if your beardie is only eating a bit over a week or two.

I would recommend using locust as live food, as they are fast enough to give your beardie a run around for a while, but slow enough for them to be caught. If you can get hold of dubia roaches, mix it up from day to day. Studies show that dubia roaches are essentially super food for beardies, your beardie will get much larger if you feed a regular amount of roaches.

Make sure all food fed to your beardie is no larger then the space between its eyes.


Don't worry, it's very much a trial and error process, and fortunately beardies are hardy enough to allow room for mistakes. You will get it eventually.

It's also worth noting that the setup you have now is ideal for a young to "teenage" beardie.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to drop me a message and I will be glad to help you!

Good luck




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[Jack Reeman]

Oh, forgot to add. Do you have a dimming thermostat in there?

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[PatsyB]

Without seeing them hatch it's hard to tell how old they are. My guess is maybe 2-3 months old. Babies need about 80% bugs and 20% greens and they won't always take to greens right away and that's okay. Still offer them though.

Just a couple things that I noticed about your tank. Those analog temp/humidity gauges are very inaccurate. You need to measure the temps right at the basking spot and you aren't getting that with those. An analog gauge will give you the temperature of the glass and at the glass, where your dragon is not sitting. Red lights are very bad for them. At night a red light can disrupt their sleep cycle because they can see it with their "3rd eye" on top of their head. They will see shadows and think that something is trying to get them. During the day a red light gives off good heat but it doesn't allow their pupils to dilate properly and can slowly damage their retinas. You want to mimic natural lighting during the day so a white colored light is the best to use.

Compact UVB lights are good to use in a temporary tank but in a permanent tank the best UVB light to use would be a tube style Reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia. The ReptiSun 10.0 UVB comes in two different sizes a T8 and a T5. The T8 bulb isn't as strong and should be mounted inside your tank above your dragons head so it's not shining in it's eyes. The T5 bulb is a stronger bulb and in a reflective fixture can be placed on top of the mesh of your tank. As a note, the T8 bulb is bigger than the T5 so they won't fit in the same fixture.

 

[Dmccormick91]

Thank yall for the responses. They have definitely gave me a better understanding of what I should be doing for this guy. I do have a few more things to ask though.
Where would I find locust or the dubia roaches? And is it absolutely necessary for them to have roaches because I'm not sure if I could make myself touch them haha.
No I do not have a dimming thermostat, I just leave the basking bulb on at night, although I was told yesterday that I didn't actually need heat in there at night. That where they come from it is really hot during the day and then gets cold at night. So I'm not sure on that one.
And as far as the uvb bulbs, I don't have a tube light, but I do have three 13watt compact Reptisun 10.0 bulbs on the tank. Wouldn't that be enough to give this guy what he needs?

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[Jack Reeman]

Thank yall for the responses. They have definitely gave me a better understanding of what I should be doing for this guy. I do have a few more things to ask though.
Where would I find locust or the dubia roaches? And is it absolutely necessary for them to have roaches because I'm not sure if I could make myself touch them haha.
No I do not have a dimming thermostat, I just leave the basking bulb on at night, although I was told yesterday that I didn't actually need heat in there at night. That where they come from it is really hot during the day and then gets cold at night. So I'm not sure on that one.
And as far as the uvb bulbs, I don't have a tube light, but I do have three 13watt compact Reptisun 10.0 bulbs on the tank. Wouldn't that be enough to give this guy what he needs?

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Can you PM me? I will give you the additional information if you need.


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[Hdrydr31]

As far as feeder bugs you give Dubia are by far one of the best depending on where you live ordering a small colony is the way to go as it will be very cost effective. If you live in a state that does not allow Dubia you can typically get ahold of Discoid roaches (very similar) superworms (if you get the little ones (not mealworms) until your little one gets a bit bigger) phoenix worms, silkworms, butter worms, wax worms, hornworms are all great feeders. Crickets are also a feeder but they can carry pinworm parasites.
Just keep trying different greens and in time they will..
Take a look at the links that a few of us have under our comments we have made a general info thread to help new comers..
They do need the temp drop at night so no light of any color is needed as long as it doesn't get below 65F if it does then get a CHE ceramic heat element it gives off heat only...
No the UVB bulb you have is only a temp source you really do need a tube style like PatsyB said. As babies they are going to grow VERY fast and you really need the proper UVB to give them the best vit they can get from the bulb...

 

[Hdrydr31]

Ask whatever questions you need as that is why we are all here to help and by posting them we can all add our help we've all started somewhere and you've got a ton of knowledge here to help

 

[Jack Reeman]

I forget that people may not be from the UK, so ordering certain live foods may be a pain!

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[Hdrydr31]

I forget that people may not be from the UK, so ordering certain live foods may be a pain!

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Yea I think we have a good mix of folks in the states, CA and UK

 

[Candybugs]

Get your proper lighting on him now . Your guy is young uvb and calcium is critical you must do this part right. They can get mbd if it's not. Very painful for them

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[Dmccormick91]

Hey everyone, so I have made a few changes to Gizzys tank. Today I went and got a 18in tube light, and will buy another when I get paid in a few days. I also added another piece of wood for him to climb on and replaced his basking bulb with a white light.

The issue I am running into now is that he is freaking out when he sees his reflection and he still does not like me getting close to him. Any ides on how to fix those issues?

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[Dmccormick91]

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[Candybugs]

I built walls to stop the reflection

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[Dmccormick91]

Yea I thought about doing a diy background, I just don't want to have to take him out of his tank for a couple days while I worked on it. I thought black would do the trick but I was definitely wrong. What did you use to make yourself and is it removable?

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[laswabbie]

I would bet you could just tape or hot glue some darkish material to the sides and back while you think of something more permanent or until the dragon feels more at home. I've done that numerous times with aquariums.

 

[Candybugs]

It is removable. I used the back of a mirror. It's like hard cardboard. Then I sliced branches into chips and glued them to the backing. I took apart a piece of lattice to fill in some of it and for variation .then I stained the chips with a few shades. Then clear coated it with a clear spray. After it was totally dry I washed it with soap and water. On the end one I cut like a mouse hole so his little heater could get in. He doesn't have a heater anymore.

I only made 2 walls just because of the placement in the room. When I put them in it was so dramatic and really looked good. I used stuff I had and discovered my arm has about a 200 cut limit with a jigsaw. I think he liked it he just looked around. He was a baby. They fit in there so good they support eachother like wedges. When you cut the backing fit them before you attach stuff to the front. One of the branches had termite damage inside and when I sliced it they were my favorite pieces. I used very dry been cut for a long time branches.

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[Candybugs]

He has the best room in the house.

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[Candybugs]

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[Dmccormick91]

That's a very nifty idea. I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years. I need to think of something soon to make him calm down some. I would like to make ledges for him to climb on so I have to do a little planning.

How can I tell of he is about to shed. His color is really dull compared to a week ago and I think I remember reading somewhere that it is one of the signs.

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