hello....

[Fiona]

hi I am new to this in a way....my daughter was given a bearded dragon last November and about a month ago went to work out of town.....guess who gets to babysit Fiona.....

anyway I am not thinking we are taking care of her how she needs to be. daughter was told she is a mature healthy adult female by a vet she took her to see and get her nails trimmed.

The man we got her from said she eats crickets broccoli and zucchini. I have grated carrots and chopped kale for her also and she is not into eating any of these veggies. He said the temp in her tank should be kept at 70 to 80 at all times. but she just seems to want to sleep all the time. I was just wondering if she might be to cold so does not move around like she should to get hungry. How often do the eat?? am I just over reacting?

also daughter was told to spray her with water every few days and then I see pics of them in a sink of water...so how often to you let them in water like that??

please don't think I am one of those people that should not own a pet...I completely think if you are going to own a pet you need to know about them....and that is what I am trying to do...the mother in me just thinks smoething is missing with her.....or is she just very old.

thanks for any information

 

[Canicke]

The veggie choices are good - she's an adult the crickets may or may not be her choice. Super worms Phoenix worms and Dubia roaches are are good options. Her basking temps need to be up to about 100° That'll increase her activity level as well as her appetite. 70 to 80° in the tank is not bad overall but really get that basking temp up. Can you share a picture of her home?

There's a lot of good information on this site take a look around go to some of the other forums. There's a lot of good people here too if you have a question please ask and that's what you're doing snd thats a sign of a good mom.

Welcome

 

[Canicke]

here's some info Patsyb posted a while back:

Bearded dragons need a basking bulb and a UVB bulb and MAYBE a bulb called a CHE(ceramic heat emitter) for night time heat. The basking spot temperature for a juvenile bearded dragon should be between 105-110 degrees. The cool side of the tank during the day should be around 80-85 degrees. At night the temps can and should drop to mimic the natural environment. As long as your temps at night don't drop below 65 degrees there is no need for a CHE. Incandescent bulbs should not be used at night. Bearded dragons have a third eye on top of their head and they can sense the light over head and it will disrupt their sleep schedule.

As far as the UVB light, I find that the tube style fluorescent work good for me. I know there are other bulbs like Solar Glo that give off heat and UVB but I don't know how they work. Typically you want your UVB to cover 2/3's of the tank. Those 26Watt coil bulbs only concentrate your UVB to one small area of the tank.

You also want some sort of digital temperature measuring device on both the basking spot and on the cool side. A heat gun works good too. Analog temperature gauges that attach to the glass are not going to give you accurate readings were your bearded dragon is.

 

[PatsyB]

Welcome to the forum, Canicke took the words right out of my mouth!

We don't think you are a bad pet parent, it was your daughters lizard not yours and now you need to learn about it, we completely get it. You've come to the right place!

You didn't mention if you are currently using a UVB bulb but as soon as you get the UVB and basking temp straight I bet she starts to perk up and start eating and moving around. Here are some links to some great feeding charts that will help you find the fruits and veggies that offer the best nutrition.

This one is the standard that we all went by: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
This is a newer version of it that was just recently updated to add kale. Before kale was determined to be bad because it blocks the absorption of calcium but now they have found that it's not really that bad if used in conjunction with other greens: http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf

As far as the water goes, misting is okay. You want to watch that the humidity in the tank stays between 30-50%, so if misting or a water bowl is going to make the humidity too high don't to it. Baths are good because they help you build trust with your dragon (most don't like baths at first), and it also gives them a chance to drink water. They don't typically drink standing water so the bath is a great way to either run your fingers through it to entice them to drink or just drop water on the top of the nose to get them to lick it off.

Also, like Canicke said, if you have a photo we can help you figure out if you have thing set up right.

It's possible that Fiona is still trying to settle in with you too. Once she gets used to being in her new home she will come around. I love the name Fiona! One of my first frogs was Fiona, we had Fiona and Shrek.

 

[Fiona]

I posted a reply this morning and found it just now that it did not post...so I will try again......

THANKS so much.......my daughter lived here at the house with her so her place has not changed...we have only had her a few months and she was an adult when we got her, and we have been doing what previous owner told us to do....I feel bad that her whole life has been what it has been.....

anyway....this morning I closed off the AC vent in that bedroom she is in....and turned on her lights like I do every morning.....she had some crickets and then off we went to the city. closest pet store is over 100 miles looked at bigger tanks hers is 30x12x18 clerk said hers is big enough but we looked anyway...and are still thinking bigger tank or create one out of an old entertainment center etc. but we did buy some package food she said they seem to like and see if she likes it for a change. did our grocery shopping and brought home kale, apple, banana, and grapes...good thing I like fruits and veggies.

when we got home her tank temp was close to 100 on one end and 80ish on the other. when I got her out she was not a cold yucky poky feeling thing. and she was more active and not into me holding her then she had first bath....I was not sure if you have to worry about city water etc....we have well water that I refuse to drink..working in the oil field you never know...we buy water and a water center but it is city water.. again I don't drink but hubby said it don't taste chlorinated just different...so I used distilled water that I had. I have never seen her drink but after a bit she drank and drank. and now that I have seen her drink it is no wonder I have never seen her because the dish she has is to tall and she cant get her face down in it. more changes coming.

thanks again for the info and I am sure I will be around if how she was after her bath I can see why people can get into them...

 

[Fiona]

and yes I have a uvb bulb and a basking bulb in the same light fixture then in a single bulb fixture I have the red bulb for at night, I am note sure what it is called. but would it be ok to put the basking and the red light in the fixture together and the uvb bulb in the single fixture

I will try and get a picture loaded soon

thanks again

 

[PatsyB]

I would recommend not using distilled water, it's not even good for us to drink it. if you have a way to get city water you can further make it safe for your beardie by treating it with something like Repti-safe.

 

[Fiona]

I figured the best water to use will be buying a gallon of drinking water. I buy it for me but not in gallon size. and the dish in her tank only has bottled water in it then I know the crickets are drinking ok water too. I just did not figure she would drink the way she did....I figured she would be one mad girl putting her in a tub of water....but that was not the case.

I was going to ask you if you could post a pic of your beardies house so I can get different ideas. my lights sit on top of the screen lid of the tank and would like to some how not have them there....that is why I would like to build something with better lighting, seems I am always moving them to get in tank.

 

[PatsyB]

I actually have my lights sitting on top of the screen. I was always afraid they would climb all over the lights if they were inside the tank. I can still post a picture though.

She's probably dehydrated, it's good she drank so much. I think drinking water will be fine. You just want to make sure there is no chlorine or ammonia in the water. I take my city tap water and run it through a Brita filter and then treat it with Repti-safe. I store the water in old gallon water containers. I have frogs too so I go through a lot of water.

 

[PatsyB]

This is Dexter's tank, she's giving me serious stink eye for turning the light on! She has a T5 UVB strip in the back of the tank, the big light on the left is her basking and the small one on the right has a CHE. Her tank gets colder at night than Luci's. The red light is just a reflection from the frog tank. It only goes on when the temp drops to certain point.

Luci's tank is set up basically the same way.

 

[PatsyB]

and yes I have a uvb bulb and a basking bulb in the same light fixture then in a single bulb fixture I have the red bulb for at night, I am note sure what it is called. but would it be ok to put the basking and the red light in the fixture together and the uvb bulb in the single fixture

I will try and get a picture loaded soon

thanks again

I forgot to mention that you shouldn't be using a red light at all. During the day you just need the UVB and the basking bulb. You want to try to mimic the light they would naturally get and red isn't a natural color. At night time using a red light can disrupt their sleep cycle.

 

[Fiona]

so at night she don't need anything to keep warm...or is the hot rock enough??...she was never on it and I was going to take it out..but the other day I put it under the sand stuff and now she gets on it....I had another question for you but now I cant remember......it will come to me...lol

today we went outside.....I am so used to furry friends I am like it is to hot to take them out ( we live in south texas) but then I though oh yeah she can do it...put on her harness with a long piece of yarn and staked her out where she could get sun and shade and I could see her....she did not move for a long time. when I finished planting flowers I went and got her walked her, she ran...stop and taste...run more and then pooped....glad I was not holding her!!

but yes just being warmer has changed her.....

 

[Augie]

I too want to commend you for reaching out to our community. It's a sign of a caring owner! We get it because most of us are fanatics.

Sounds like your daughters dragon is coming back to life, which is fantastic! Nice work mom!

If there is a heat rock in there, take it out! Beardies don't benefit from them and it can burn them because they won't know when it's time to get off. Also be careful leaving a dragon outside. Predators like chicken Hawks, vultures, and owls (can you tell I also live in south Texas?) can and will make a quick meal of them. Dragons are prey, not predators, in their natural environment. That being said in a safe outdoor environment the sun is the best thing for them (just watch the temperature and don't leave them alone, because they can overheat and die quickly in our summer heat).

 

[Fiona]

thanks Augie

I thought of hawks and what not too....she watched the sky and so did I...and I did not have her out in the open. and we were not out there long. I don't need to worry about her over heating as I don't do well in the heat and don't venture out much. i am in the oil field west of San Antonio.....culture shock.....my daughter and the crew she works with are in Pecos area for now.

I wondered about the rock as she was never on it. I am to the point I am taking everything out and starting over. she had these pieces of drift wood in there but unless they were propped up well they fell over so we took it out and put in a larger one she could climb up but she was under it most of the time. so today I took it out also....went out to the rock pile and collected some rock....and started stacking it to make a rock formation so she can get up closer to her light. it did not work so well so now she has scattered rock in there until my husband gets home with more. but she is warm enough so I am not worried that she cant climb until later.

how often do you put yours in a bath...I have never seen her drink before I put her in the bath the other night....today I bought water and put her in another one she was drinking before I got her all the way into the sink!! so I need to find a water bowl she wants to drink out of...

anyway thanks for putting up with my babble I kind of feel like a new mom...lol

 

[PatsyB]

I give Dexter a bath a few times a week, she won't poop otherwise. Luci gets a bath once a week. I have Dexter on repti-carpet and actually have her trained to drink out of syringe. Once a day I drip water on her nose and she starts licking it off. She gets a little messy but the carpet is easy to dry.

 

[Augie]

I give mine a bath once every other week, and that's usually when she poops too.