Improving enclosure rescued beardie

[LizzyLizard]

Hello everyone,

I have a 2 year old female beardie that I got from poeple that didn't have enough time to take good care of her. They rescued her from a junkie who only gave her lettuce and worms . I'm giving her a variety of veggies and dusted and gutloaded crickets now.

The enclosure is about 68 gallons and only had a 150w heatbulb and no UVB lighting. The day after I got her I quickly went to the reptile shop and got ReptiSun 10.0 compact lamp.

They are both in the middle of the enclosure, but I want to place them above the stone in the picture ( which I put in there too). The temp under the lamp is a bit too hot now, so I think that a 100 or 75w lamp directly above the stone will give a good hot and cold side? I'm looking for advice in this area.

This is my first beardie and I really want her to get everything she needs because she hasn't had a good youth as you see. She also misses a part of her tail and a few toes from a rear leg, and is too small, but she is super friendly and pretty lively!

Also any other tips for improving the enclosure are welcome!

Thanks in advance!

 

[PatsyB]

Welcome to the forum. Good for you for rescuing this little girl. My recommendation off the bat would be to get rid of the compact bulb. You want the UV to cover about 2/3'ds of the tank. With the compact bulbs you are only concentrating the UV in that small particular area. I would get a Reptisun 10.0 T5 or T8 fixture. Since it seems like you can mount it inside the tank, the T8 size should be just fine. Also, what are you using to measure your temps? Basking spot for an adult should be 95-100degrees. Cool side of the tank should be around 80.

I like the basic setup. Simple is better sometimes and with a rescue that is missing part of it's tail and some toes, it's best he's not climbing too high. The only thing I am going to bring up is the sand. I'm not going to say it's bad but I'm going to bring up the risks. The first risk is impaction but if you make sure that she is well hydrated, impaction shouldn't be a problem. The second risk is sand dust getting into her eyes and causing an eye infection or her inhaling it and it getting into her lungs. The other risk is bacteria, she is going to poop in there a lot and you may not always scoop out all of the poop matter. The other thing too is food matter. I used sand before and I was constantly finding fruits and veggie hidden in the the sand from when Dexter knocked it all over. The last thing about sand, the best kind to use is children's washed playsand that you would get a hardware store. The calcium sand that the stores sell is the worst sand to use. Imagine spending your day on crushed Tums!

I would also give some nice fat juicy worms to help fatten her up. Hornworms, silk worms are both good choices and the occasional wax worm. Here's a good food list.
http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf

 

[LizzyLizard]

Thank you very much for your broad response! I'm going to get her a T5 light, this one was just because my pet store doesn't have much choice really, and I wanted to get her UVB as fast as possible. Do you think that wood chips are a suitable substrate? Or should I just go for something like a tile?
And about fatting her up, can you see from the pictures if she's underweight or not?

 

[PatsyB]

I hate that pet stores don't have a bigger selection of reptile stuff. I tend to buy online and stock up on things just in case I run out. As far as the substrate goes I like the tile idea if you can get the tile sized to fit in your tank. Tile is very easy to clean if done right. I had tile in the past and it wasn't sized for the tank so we ended up with bits and pieces of food and stuff in between and under the tile and it became a pain to take it all out and clean under it. We use Repti-carpet for both of ours. We have a few on hand so we swap them out each week to clean them real good. I would also suggest getting a soft bristled toothbrush, like a baby toothbrush, and give her a good warm soak and gently brush her feet and tail (and probably belly) to get that discoloration from the sand off of her. The gentle scrubbing also helps to get the stuck shed to start coming off.

 

[jarich]

Welcome to the forum and thank you for taking this reptile from the poor conditions it was kept in.

For now, just as a temporary fix, Id take that top you have and move it over to the right so the lights are directly above the rock. That will leave the left side of the enclosure open, but if you take the plant out of the corner you wont have to worry about it getting out. What that will do though is allow you to have a good temperature gradient from right to left, and also get your dragon closer to the UVB light. Those compacts are better than nothing, youre right, but almost useless unless you get the dragon within about 4 inches. Because of the height of the enclosure though, youll probably want to get a high output T5 fluorescent tube when you have the funds to do so.

 

[Candybugs]

LLL REPTILE SUPPLY they have everything and the prices are great and it's 6 bucks for shipping. We got our reptisun lights there. They have large selections of everything.

 

[LizzyLizard]

LLL REPTILE SUPPLY they have everything and the prices are great and it's 6 bucks for shipping. We got our reptisun lights there. They have large selections of everything.

I already ordered the recommended UV light. And I'm from the Netherlands, so shipping wil be a little bit more expensive I guess

 

[LizzyLizard]

SHE ATE SOME GREENS TODAY!!!!! So happy right now! It wasn't much but we have to start somewhere.

 

[Candybugs]

Yay my Hef loves mustard greens

 

[PatsyB]

Love that feeling when you catch them eating their greens!

 

[Candybugs]

Hef is our first beardie and I feel like we're lucky because he eats like a beast and his salads are serious business he goes at his salads every morning and over and over during the day. All the stories from other owners about won't eat won't poop scare me . Even minion is a good eater and he's been sick. Super blessed. Hef and I have been discussing this brumation deal and we don't want to participate in that. What will it be like to cuddle with a rag dragon?

 

[PatsyB]

Hef is our first beardie and I feel like we're lucky because he eats like a beast and his salads are serious business he goes at his salads every morning and over and over during the day. All the stories from other owners about won't eat won't poop scare me . Even minion is a good eater and he's been sick. Super blessed. Hef and I have been discussing this brumation deal and we don't want to participate in that. What will it be like to cuddle with a rag dragon?

I've had Dexter for almost 3 years and Luci almost 2, neither of them have gone into a true brumation. They get a little bit of seasonal disorder when it gets cold outside but never truly hide and go to sleep. In fact it's been fall like in Chicago this week and Luci has been so sad, not moving around in his tank and sleepy eyes, he's eating fine though. I gave him a few hides but he refuses to go in them.

 

[Candybugs]

We've had our frogs (2) for 3 years 1 chameleon a male thank God and 2 dragons Hef is 6 mos and Minion is really small I think he was a hatchling . I can't wait till they get big. I'll worry about Minion for a while. He's gonna be a different little guy when he gets back cuz he was sick the whole time I've had him. Mrs Bighead swallowing rocks got alot of attention back to the frogs.

 

[lazer]

Thank you ever so much for rescuing her. Every time I read about individuals like you, saving these innocent, beautiful animals, it pulls on my heart strings.

And it shows that you have a good and caring heart.

Wishing you many long, good, and healthy years continuing your kind acts.