First Dragon

[Solucki]

I finally got my first BD today. I want to share some pics. More to come.

Haven't decided on the name yet.

 

[Solucki]

After a little shower. Looks different under the UV light.

 

[Solucki]

Overall, he's adjusting very well. He's been eating. The first night he ate 2 adult Dubia, but no veggies. He puked them up tho. Then tonight, he ate 10 adult crickets, 4 super worms. Again, no veggies. Decided to check on him tonight. He was sleeping and there was a cricket chewing on his tail. I guess it was a rouge from feeding time earlier. I went in and picked it out. Has this happened to anyone else? How serious is it if I didn't take care of it?

Im just giving greens like grapes, cherry tomatoes, apples, spring mix. Where can I get the stuff like dandelion greens? And other good BD staple foods?
Again, all this is completely new to me so forgive the noob questions. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Germ]

Try health food stores if your Supermarkets have a poor selections. We are fortunate here, Sobey's (Huge Grocery Store) invariably has a good supply of healthy Dandelion, Collard, Mustard & Turnip Greens. Tomatoes are quite acidic, I wouldn't recommend feeding them. Spring Mix generally consists of young lettuces, very little nutrition. Fruits should be more as periodic treats, rather than a staple food.

Yes, uneaten crix left in the enclosure will come out at night & nibble on your BD, bother it's sleep & in extreme cases can cause sores\lesions. Uneaten crickets\feeders should always be removed 1-2 hours prior to lights out, so having ingested anything, the BD has the chance to get some heat to start the digestion process before the overnight cool down.

Good Luck

 

[Solucki]

Thanks germ. Another thing, I'm not sure the name i picked fits him very well. I want something unique but not too obscure, any ideas?

 

[Germ]

I have a tough time choosing names for mine also, hopefully some of the other members will come up with some good choices that you may find suitable.

 

[Solucki]

Ok, we're still getting used to each other. He seemed to be adjusting pretty well, so I thought a quick bath would be alright. I warmed the water to 100 degrees and set him in gently. He flattened out and seemed pretty calm so I sprayed him a little. He seemed calm for about 5 minutes, then suddenly he darts out and off to the opposite corner of the tank and flashes a black beard at me. He's been a little more nervous today. I've been checking temps and things. 100-105 hot/75-80 cool. I plan on leaving him in there a few more days to adjust. I covered 3 sides of the tank to help him feel more secure. I'm still not sure what spooked him.

 

[Pat B]

He is still adjusting to his new home. It is recommended leaving a beardie to adjust for about week - 10 days. If he is tiny, I would raise the temp to about 110 and about 85 on the cool side. Good luck!!

 

[Solucki]

He's not tiny, he's 6 months and almost half grown. What is his idea operating body temp. I'm measuring him with a infrared gun at about 100F-105F

 

[Germ]

His body temp will vary with where he is in his enclosure, they are cold blooded so their body temp changes with the immediate surrounding ambient temps. It is unnecessary to measure his body temp. The basking temp should be measured directly at the basking spot, the closest, hottest, accessible area to the basking bulb, not the animal & should be in the vicinity of 110F for a juvenile such as yours, he will find it, if setup properly, with a heat gradient to 80-85F at the cool side.

Example of a Basic Setup: Showing the recommended Basic requirements, proper Temperatures & the points at which they should be measured from, in Red & the optional choices that are actually used in this particular example enclosure, in Black.

Read More: http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/basic-bd-care-sheet-a-place-to-start.5177/

Does your enclosure have a full screen top that you have to lift & move the lighting to get into? If it does, temp guns are useless & will not give you accurate readings because the lights have to be moved to get in to take the temp. Please check out the following thread, regardless, some good info on the use of a Temp Gun.

Infrared Thermometers - Temp Guns

Good Luck

 

[Solucki]

Thanks again for all the great info. I have a Milwaukee 40:1 gun I use for work and a sliding screen top where I don't move the bulb(mercury vapor). It gets cold at night so I have an additional heater going to keep it around 70F at night. I also have a temp probe on the basking spot that reads 105F at 6" when he's not covering it. Should I move the light closer?

 

[Germ]

6" is too close, posing possible burn risk. I suggest a hotter bulb further from the basking spot or drop the basking spot & supplement the heat on that end with another white or clear bulb. What size is the enclosure? At 6 months his temps should be in the 110F vicinity at the basking spot. What do you mean by an additional heater at night, that could be many possibilities?

 

[Solucki]

I have a 29 gallon for now, I think(3'x1'x16" height) with 100W MV bulb. Additional heater is just a space heater i have aimed at the side of the tank. He's been roosting on the bottom branch lately. And it's actually more like 8 inches from bulb to basking spot. 6-7 from bulb to dragon.

 

[Solucki]

Ok I'm moved the basking spot a little and got numbers in range. I'm happy, he's Still adjusting but eating properly.