I adopted a bearded dragon and i'm not sure about his health.

[kira]

I adopt a beautiful bearded dragon about 5 days ago. He came in a tiny 10 gallon aquarium. He is 17 inches long. Nobody could tell me his age. They went back and forth between 1, 2, and 3 years. the light they used for him looks like a regular light bulb. its very faded and i cant read it so i'm not sure. I moved him to 30 gallon aquarium for right. i plan on changing out the sand to a reptile carpet. I haven't had bearded dragons since i was 11 so im not sure if this is normal. He wont eat vegetables, but i still offer fresh ones everyday. I tried strawberry with the seeds removed he licked them but wont eat them either. He eats crickets he will not go after them however he waits for them to come to him. He Sleep all night and most of the day. I haven't seen any poop since i got him. He doesn't really explore. he basically likes to stay where i put him. He can walk but he prefers not to. Hes tank runs 78 degrees. right now he has 75 w sun glo basking spot and and a 50w infrared heat bulb. I'm basically not sure what lights he should have and what to do for him. I'm also not sure if hes a girl or a boy. I was told hes a boy

 

[Aleena]

Congrats on your new acquisition! Such a pretty dragon.
I just have a few questions to ask so we can hopefully get your dragon feeling better. Keep in mind there will always be a 7-10 day acclimation period when introduced to a new environment.
What are your basking temps? A dragon that size should probably be in a 40 breeder, not a 30. Thank you for saving it from that 10 gallon! That must have been miserable for the poor guy! Can you post pics of the setup?
Basking temps should be about 110, cool side of the tank should be between 80-85, all in Fahrenheit of course the basking lights chosen will have to be adjusted until you can reach those optimal temperatures with a digital thermometer that you stick directly under the heat lamp, and one directly in the spot furthest away and closest to the ground of the heat lamp. You need a desert UVB 10.0 lamp, and the infrared light should go away. They do not need or want night time light, or colored light. If you find yourself in a position where the tank is dropping below mid to low 60's at night, you can use a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) to regulate the temperature. It emits no light so is recommended for BD use.
Give him some acclimation time on the veggies, be sure you're cutting them up small enough for him to be able to take it in in one bite. If after you have had him for a while he is still not eating the provided veggies, there can be other steps to take but it looks like you need to get him situated first.
If you want to know for sure if it's a boy or a girl we can help you with that as well. Let us know if there's anything else we can help you with, and good luck!


Here's a couple great links that will tell you most of what you need to know that I may have skipped over cuz it's way past bed time:
Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start

Beautiful Dragons Nutrition List

 

[Germ]

As an addition to Aleena's excellent advice. Here is a picture of a basic setup, showing recommended Basic Requirements in Red. The optional choices in Black are what happens to be in that particular setup. It will give you an idea of how a basic setup might look like, proper Temps & where they should be measured from.

To help figure out if you have a Boy or a Girl here is a good vid on sexing BDs. You may want to wait a week or so to let it settle in first though. As far as age, it is virtually impossible to tell on a BD that size & how it has been housed. I would also like to thank you for rescuing it from the horrible conditions that it was being kept in. With a little luck & lots of TLC you may be able to bring it back to good health.

Good Luck

 

[Germ]

Just about forgot