HeatherO
Bearded Dragon Egg
- Messages
- 2
Hey everyone! I’m Heather and my little guy is Oscar. He’s about 3 1/2 years old, but I’ve only had him since May. Previously he belonged to a coworker’s son and was named Spike.
When my coworker brought him over, his setup was pretty bare bones. He had a hide that he barely fit in, a small plant, and food/water dishes. The terrarium was a decent size, maybe 30 or 40 gal, but there was no cover so his heat lamp was clipped to the top edge and sort’ve pointed down into the tank. It didn’t do a lot for him so he had a couple heat pads on the underside. The “UV” light was a CFL UV blacklight bulb—basically just a party light, and the substrate was sand. He also wasn’t getting a lot of variety in his diet. I didn’t know what I was doing but I knew he needed a much better home than that.
In my quest to upgrade his living situation, I turned to BDF many times because this site frequently popped up in my Google searches with answers to questions I had. His current home is a 50 gal tank with a proper basking light, a UVB bar, a hide he can actually “hide” in, homemade salads on the daily, and generally living like a spoiled king! I decided it was finally time to just join and be part of the community since you all helped so much without even knowing! But I’m definitely not an expert, so it’s nice to have a variety of knowledge and information available to see what other people’s experiences have been, what works, what doesn’t, get some advice, etc. I look forward to being a part of it! Thanks for reading!
When my coworker brought him over, his setup was pretty bare bones. He had a hide that he barely fit in, a small plant, and food/water dishes. The terrarium was a decent size, maybe 30 or 40 gal, but there was no cover so his heat lamp was clipped to the top edge and sort’ve pointed down into the tank. It didn’t do a lot for him so he had a couple heat pads on the underside. The “UV” light was a CFL UV blacklight bulb—basically just a party light, and the substrate was sand. He also wasn’t getting a lot of variety in his diet. I didn’t know what I was doing but I knew he needed a much better home than that.
In my quest to upgrade his living situation, I turned to BDF many times because this site frequently popped up in my Google searches with answers to questions I had. His current home is a 50 gal tank with a proper basking light, a UVB bar, a hide he can actually “hide” in, homemade salads on the daily, and generally living like a spoiled king! I decided it was finally time to just join and be part of the community since you all helped so much without even knowing! But I’m definitely not an expert, so it’s nice to have a variety of knowledge and information available to see what other people’s experiences have been, what works, what doesn’t, get some advice, etc. I look forward to being a part of it! Thanks for reading!
Glad to hear that you now have Oscar as it sounds like things are way better for the fella.. Sounds like you have corrected items in his enclosure that is no good for him..You say he is now in a 50gal is that a fish tank or a reptile tank? I ask because typically fish tanks are narrow and they need more floor space than height..How big is he? what kind of live prey do you feed? Have you had him vetted to make sure he is good and healthy? Since he didn't have the proper UVB light and likely no supplements you may want to have some bloodwork done to check his calcium levels and if he has any MBD going on due to previous husbandry. 
Only time I’ve seen his beard go black was when I walked in to see my cat, Charlie, laying on top of the tank above him shortly after I got the cat. I think Charlie just liked the warmth because he seemed to not be bothered with Oscar at all, but Oscar was having none of it. I got Charlie a heating pad so he’s never gotten up there again. I also have a dog named Shasta. She likes to watch Oscar running around in his tank and Oscar doesn’t seem to mind the audience. I’ll try to link a couple pics, hopefully it works! 
