just making sure

[rugbychic07]

i just brought my beardie home sunday afternoon he is about 1 1/2 i think and his/her name is spike ( i didnt name it i swear) anyway he was bought from somebody else so he is in his same cage setup a bit different but it now has more room since we took out to ugly decor. my question is the entire day he was so actice and rambuctious i never thought they were that way its fine no big deal i loved it but he/she (havent figured that out yet) kept trying to claw his way out of the tank almost like a dog scratching the door to go outside it was cute but i got nervous thinking maybe it was too hot inside for him its alot cooler on the opposite side so he could have went there but i dont know i was wondering if this is normal behavour anybody else notice there beardie doing this. and also he fell asleep last night basically standing upright on his to hind feet and his from to up on the glass i thought it a bit strange he was fine this morning and he ate great last night well anyway if anybody is able to figure this behavior out let me know thanks

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Welcome to the forum, what you witnessed was called glass dancing, it is very common and is probably due to the changing surroundings, and the removal of some famiiur surroundings. Your dragon will also fall asleep in the wierdest places so dont worry about that. Take pictures and post em. We loveeeeee pictures.

Tom

 

[crypticdragons]

yes dont fret over glass dancing it is not a big deal. they do this because the want out due to not knowing their surroundings. do not fuel this by taking your beardie out everytim this behavior occurs. that is rewarding for bad behavior. just ignore it and everything will work out fine. eventually your beardie will figure out that this behavior gains no reward.

 

[rugbychic07]

oh that makes me feel so much better now that i know this it makes me love him even more yay i will take as many pictures as i can i only get to see him on the weekend though :-[ i miss him already thanks for the info

 

[renich]

Yes, you will find that they fall asleep in the most interesting positions. One would think they get soar, but they appear to be happy.

Anyway, Spike is probably going through a little bit of relocation stress. It happens to the best of them. Since you took some things out of his viv and his surroundings outside the viv have changed, he just needs to get used to it.

Since you are new to all of this, I do want to ask a couple of basic questions that are essential to your beardie's well being:
1. What are your hot and cold side temps?
2. What do you use to measure your temps?
3. What substrate are you using?
4. What uvb/uva lighting do you have, i.e. the make and manufacturer?
5. What salad are you feeding him?
6. What proteins (bugs) are you feeding and how many?
7. How often are you bathing him?

Thanks! And welcome aboard. You may want to introduce yourself in the introduction section. As Tom said, we love pics!

 

[rugbychic07]

Hello again the question that were asked are answered below.
last night i read the temps in the cage to be hot 112 and cold 87 i have a digital thermometer on both sides the hot and cold the substrate looks to be rabbit foo haha i know its not but i dont know the name however i dont like the look so i went out and bought crushed walnut shell i was told its better than sand and NOT to use sand expecially if he isnt used to it by now the strip light came with him when i bought him and the seller refered to it as uvb/uva bulb just put it in when we pick him up and said to change it every 6 months dont know for 100% but i think something like reptisun is what the box said that it came out of no veggies at this time we wanted to make sure what was good and what was bad so right now we fed him approximatly 7 large crickets and there is some dry bearded dragon food blend in a bowl he was eating it a bit until he saw the crickets and the bathing we havent done yet we just got him on sunday we will most likely do it next sunday but i want again to make sure i knew how to do it and he is pretty active so im nervous to take him how for to long and have him get away i cant chase him i have a broken leg at the time haha well anyway i think that was all the questions thank you again to everybody for the quick repsonses and the great info

 

[renich]

Ouch. Sorry about your leg. Yes, keep Spike in his viv for now.

As far as walnut shells, I am not a supporter of them. It has been known that they are sharp for bearded dragons and can cut them, toes and tongue included. Another bad thing about walnut shells is the bacteria that can form.

An affordable way to go is papertowels. Another easy solution is tile. You can get it pretty cheap at the hardware stores. Lay a layer of papertowels under the tile. This helps with cleaning.

Salad should be offered daily. Babies don't always eat their salad, but offering it daily will prepare him for adulthood when proteins are offered less frequently. Here's a link for good greens and veggies - go to the feeding section:
Bearded Dragon Care

Careful with the crickets. All food should be no bigger than the space between his eyes. He may be too young for large crickets. A baby will anywhere from 25-50 small crickets daily.

Bathing is easy. For beardies under 1 year old, soak them daily for 15 - 20 minutes. It helps hydrate them and makes the shedding process more comfortable. Water should be lukewarm, like baby bath water (~95F).

Let us know if you have any other questions.

 

[rugbychic07]

well he isnt a small he is approximatly i dont know like 11 inches thats just a guess though he ate the large no problem gobbeled them in lie 2 secs the person we got him from had him for a year and i can only assume he didnt buy him from birth so i figure a year and 2-3 months

 

[renich]

Got it. Sorry, I figured he was a baby.

 

[crypticdragons]

if he is only 11 inches and over a year old then he probably had horrible care. at over a year old he should be upwards of 16 inches (my male was 21 inches at 9 months of age). it is possible that the age has been mistaken could you post a picture of him and get us a weight if possible.

also, walnut shells are actually worse for bearded dragons then calci sand. with walnut shells they have extremly sharp edges and when ingested not only cause impaction but also cause ruptures in their intestines and are far more likely to result in death than sand. your best bet for substrates are paper towels, newspaper, reptile carpet, sifted and washed playsand, or (my personal favorite) slate or ceramic tile.

wether they eat it or not you should always offer some mixed greens (such as collards, mustard greens, parsley, etc). eventually they will start eating it.
And with crickets you have to make certain that the body size of the cricket (not including the probe at their hind end) is no longer than the space between their eyes. if the feeders are too large it can cause impaction or choking (this size rule does not apply to soft bodied worms but does apply to mealworms, superworms, crix and roaches).

with your temps you said the hot side is 112 is that the basking site or the general temp of that side of the tank. that is a fine temp for a basking site but if the air temp is 112 your temps are too high. also see if you can get your cool side down to around 79-84 degrees as 87 is a bit on the high side. make certain your beardie is able to get within 6 inches of the reptisun 10.0 when you get it for proper uv.

as i think this is a sick dragon (considering size from previous owner) you need to make certain you are supplementing correctly. he will need calcium duste crickets 4-5 times a week until his growth starts catching up as well as a multivitamin dusted meal 1-2 times a week.

also he needs to be soaked every 3-4 days (i prefer 3) to ensure proper hydration.

if you have any other questions please feel free to post them here.

 

[rugbychic07]

i was thinking the same thing i'm glad i got him away from the old owner obviously i dont have much knowledge about beardies but what every has been done at this point im willing to do my best to fix it he was a rich kid who wanted a beardie mommy and daddy got him one and probably a month later lost interest when we picked him up he was in the basement nothing else down there so i assumed he hardly ever saw people only to be fed and we were told he was fed 25 large crickets a week im sure was never bathed and also told that he wont get any bigger than what he is now i know that they get to be upwards of 2 feet long so i knew that wasnt true and with the 11 inches i could be wrong with that number he is pretty long but its mostly tail however his belly look like skin really all the other beardies i see around the same size have a belly that goes with the length but spike is alittle on the skinny side it kind of looks like nothing is inside of him i cant really explain it too good when he turns around in the tank it looks like his skin is folding over i dont know and now im upset about the calcisand thats what we wanted to get and we were told that thats what causes compaction but the walnut shells dont that if eaten would end up pooping it out oh god i guess thats what i get for going to a chain pet store i should have known

 

[crypticdragons]

no dont get me wrong calci sand is bad as well but walnut shells are worse. your best bet is tiles they are cheap, easy to clean, and keep their nales trim.

how big is his enclosure?

if it is 40 gallons or bigger my suggestion to you would be to get a T-Rex MVB (mercury vapor bulb) they are a bit expensive (50 or so online) but are the closest thing you can get in captivity to the sun. these are the best for aiding in bone growth.

 

[rugbychic07]

this is the best picture i got of him so far, weight i couldnt even guess i know even if i tried i would be way off ill take more pictures as soon as i can but i wont see him until this sunday :-[

 

[crypticdragons]

who takes care of him during the week?

 

[rugbychic07]

ok well hes in a 55 terranium right now do you think it was the care he recieved prior to or maybe the tank is to small? we had plans on a bigger one but this tank and spike came together for 100 dollars i figured it was a steal after seeing some of the prices for baby beardies

 

[rugbychic07]

he lives in jersey at my fiances house its bigger there until we move into our place

 

[crypticdragons]

55 gallon is large enough for now. the thing i do not like about the 55 is the width if you can find a 40gallon breeder tank there is actually more floor space available in that i would suggest a 50 gallon breeder of a 60 gallon. the 55 gallon is large enough for a mvb as well if you want to try that. just make certain that while using the MVB you do not use calcium that has D3 in it. as the mvb is so strong your dragon will be able to produce ample D3 on his own.

 

[rugbychic07]

well i will go ahead and look for that as soon as i can i had to have so many questions but i do apprieciate all the help so far its frustrating now that i know he might be sick

 

[renich]

It is sad, but true. So many times the pet stores give incorrect information. The workers are not trained properly.

Can you take a peak at the UVB bulb? It should have the make on it. If it is reptisun 10.0, you're fine. If it isn't we'll talk about it. Most people favor the ReptiSun 10.0 or the Mercury Vapor bulbs.

One thing to remember, there are varying opinions when it comes to bearded dragons. That is one of the reasons my husband and I founded our web site. It was our notebook to weed out the bad info and jot down the good info. Once you have the basics, you'll find how easy it is to care for these little guys and gals!

 

[renich]

And please, keep asking your questions. We are here to help you.