Dragon newbie !He ate part of a paper towel!

[Donovan199]

I am not sure if this is in the right place so feel free to move if needed. I just got my first bearded dragon, I have several geckos, snakes, and turtles. He is 3 years old and looks great but I have a couple of questions. He was on pine bedding in his old home but I put him on paper towels to avoid impaction (plus pine is nasty) and sure enough he was going after a cricket and tore off a one inch square of paper towel and swallowed it before I could get it away. Like I said I have geckos and they don't eat paper towels, do I need to get him to the vet or just keep an eye on him until it passes?

Another question, can I give him a vitamin supplement with D3 or do I need to get another type? I got the little guy a Repti-sun 10.0 UVB tube and beardies produce D3 with that and I don't want him to get too much, but I would like to use the same stuff I use for my other reps if possible.

Last question, he won't go to sleep at night unless I hold him, do I need to worry? Most other herps I have ever had merely put up with handling. I have a couple of leopard geckos that enjoy limited attention, but when I bring a new little guy home I don't even mess with them for a couple of weeks to reduce stress. The beardie refuses to hide in either the cool or the hot hide. every time I open the cage he tries to climb my arm, and he wont sleep at night if I am not holding him (he has roamed his cage for almost 2 hours until I caved). I know they are supposed to be friendly but do I need to be worried about this behavior? Is he stressed?

The vet check came out good but my vet is out of town until next week. Any help is appreciated.

 

[renich]

HI and welcome. Congrats on the new addition.

1. How much paper towel did he eat? I'm going to assume a little bit. I don't think that will be an issue, but keep an eye on him. You may want to try frequent baths to help him digest.

2. Yes, you can give a vitamin supp with D3. It is recommended for beardies.

3. Spoiled little boy. Do you turn the lights off at night? Most dragons get comfy right away. If yours needs to be held, enjoy it. A lot of dragons like interacting with their humans. It could be a touch of relo stress. he should come around. What is your viv setup like? What are the hot and cool side temps? What do you use to measure the temps? What size viv do you have?

 

[Donovan199]

1. He ate about a one inch square (1" by 1"). Smaller than his head but big enough to make me worry. Been about 12 hours and he seems fine so I will try soaking.

2. Good, I had heard that if you give them D3 it can cause bone overgrowth.

3. I turn off the lights after about 14 hours with them on, so it is almost pitch black in the room at night. I use an under tank heater to keep it warm at night about 85-90 degrees. He is in a 40 gal tank, it came with him. I have paper towels as substrate, water bowl (I have yet to see him drink from it but he likes to take baths), salad bowl with mustard greens apple and banana at the moment, climbing log and a cool and hot side hide. I have a reptisun 10.0 florescent tube 12-15 inches from him depending on where he is, and a 100 watt heat lite. Heat pad for the evenings. Day temps are 85 cool side and 97 hot side with a 108 hot spot. Night it is 85-90. I use an indoor/outdoor digital thermometer for ambient temperatures and a probe for the hot spot. He spends lots of time out of the cage so I keep a heat pad with me. First thing in the morning when I change out his water he climbs up to my shoulder and comes with me while I take care of all the other herps, birds, and dogs. Then he sits with me at my desk(on the heat pad) while I work until he warms up then he runs around the office for a while. He goes in his cage for lunch time so I can eat and he gets new veggies. He comes back out between 5 and 6 for a bit to get live food and free time then goes back in his cage to heat back up till bed time then he sits with me or my daughter until he goes to sleep. Vet said he looks good no parasites. I'm just worried about stress, never had a herp that needed this much attention. He acts more like one of my birds.

 

[renich]

1. Ok, keep an eye on him.

2. Yep, give it to him 2-3 times per week. You are right that you don't want to overdue it. You can also add a multivitamin to his diet weekly.

3. Wow, he sounds very high maintenance. Couple of thoughts -
night temps can fall to 65F. Be careful with the heat pad. Beardies cannot detect heat on their bellies and may get burned. You can place the heat mat on the side of the viv or try a heat emitter. But I doubt you need it now.

Most beradies don't drink from their water bowls. Weekly baths and spraying along with their salad keeps them hydrated.

Just be careful of not getting enough UV light. Beardies need about 10 hours per day to thrive and properly digest their foods.

Offer the fruits weekly and not daily. Here's a link to our basic caresheet. It lists some more veggies and greens you can alternate in his salad:
Bearded Dragon Care

 

[Donovan199]

Thanks I will keep an eye on the heat pad. I use them with my geckos because they are nocturnal and have not had a problem in 5 years. I will turn it down to keep the evenings cooler, but my house stays at 73-75 so I cant get it to 65. I have several screw in UVB bulbs for my snakes so I will use one on my office desk fro him. I'll cut down on the fruit. I hand feed birds so in term of maintenance he is low by comparison. Honestly it is fun to have a lizard that likes me, I just don't want to screw him up, he is very different than my other critters. I'll keep you updated on the paper towel situation.

 

[renich]

Sounds good. I'm just leery of the snake UV lights. I've never had snake before, so I don't know what their lights are. Dragons need proper temps and a high level of UV to properly digest their food. If you can, make it a ReptiSun 10.0 tube or MVB (that way you get heat too) in your office. It is awesome that he wants to spend so much time with you. Enjoy it!

 

[Donovan199]

He defecated, is moving around fine, and has an appetite. No difference in behavior so I think I just overreacted. Thanks for the help!

 

[renich]

Great news! Poop is always a good thing.
You can never worry too much with these little ones. Enjoy him!

 

[grimm]

2. Yep, give it to him 2-3 times per week. You are right that you don't want to overdue it. You can also add a multivitamin to his diet weekly.


Bearded Dragon Care

im dusting my crickets i feed him 1 a day, it says on mine that its supposed to be used every day, am i doing something wrong? http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...cleaners/-/t-rex-bearded-dragon-calcium-plus/ is what im using

 

[zebraflavencs]

Well, Mine get calcium 3 times a week... Ages range from almost 2 years old to just over a year in age. Vitamins 1 day a week.

For dragons under 12 months in age, I highly suggest cal 5 times a week, and the vitamins 1-2 times a week...
Hope that helps !

 

[renich]

Yep, his dragon is 3 years old.

 

[grimm]

ah ok just wanted to make sure. thanks

 

[Donovan199]

Another update:

Our dragon is doing fine, continuing to poop and eating 30-50 bugs a day. He doesn't much care for plain greens without the fruit, so I have been putting his bugs in the food bowl so he picks up greens with him. He doesn't like to be misted, but he still gets in his water daily, and seems to really like warm baths. Clingy as ever but he doesn't seem stressed, he even climbed up on my lab and went to sleep. I'll post some picks in the new comer section in a while, I am curious what coloration he is. Mostly yellow with an orange beard and a little brown on the top of his head. I will say I avoid forums like the plague but this one has been very nice, thanks. Oh and we decided to name him Spike, only took us a week and a half.

 

[renich]

That is great news! And great trick with putting some bugs in the greens.

Did you get a pic of Spike sleeping on your lab? That sounds adorable. Looking forward to seeing the little one.

Glad this forum worked out for you. We're looking forward to hearing about your adventures with Spike.