Just want to make sure i have everything right...

[damics6]

I picked up a Hype orange bearded dragon yesterday and he is about 6 months old. I have him in a 30 gallon tank right now. I am currently using paper towels as a substrate but plan to get a reptile mat soon. For decorations i put a piece of drift wood from the pet store in, a little cove type rock, a reptile hammock, and a few small fake plants. For lighting i have a repti-sun 10.0 and a 75watt basking bulb. I also have a regular house light on the cool side of his enclosure. His temps range from 95°F for basking and about 85°F on the cooler side, at night i turned the lights off and it drops to around 75°F. For feeding I will attach a picture of the food the tank came with. I also plan to feed small crickets and hornworms. How much/often do they eat? I will also give fruits/vegetables once again how much should i give him? For water I have a shallow dish in there with R/O water instead of tap. Should i mist him? I have read many things about misting and cant find a good answer. If I am missing anything please let me know, I do not have any prior experience with beardies but i have 2 chameleons so I know how to care for reptiles. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[mxw0rld]

Hi and welcome! Sounds like you are off to a great start! Kudos!!! [emoji4]

Bearded dragons do not absorb water thru their skin however some of us will drop water on their lips/nose. Some people do mist theirs. I however do not as both of mine drink from the dropper/dripper. They also do not see standing water as drinking water. They will walk thru it and make a mess! Lol [emoji6]

I personally do not have water dishes in my viv's as it brings up humidity. I bath mine every other day but both of mine are younger than yours. They will absorb water thru their vent. That's how they stay hydrated. Plus the moisture from the greens.

There is no set amount that you have to feed them. What I do is put the greens in - in the morning and let them eat on it thru out the day. I feed mine 3 times a day as they are still babies, well… Wally is almost 5 months old but Lacey will only be 6 weeks old on Monday!! I personally would not feed my beardie's that store pellet food as it will dehydrate them and it has NO nutritional value. Sorry got off track here. When feeding them insects - you let them eat as much as they can in 10-15 minutes. Like I said above I still do 3 times a day. You might be able to do 2 times a day at that age. I guess it just depends on how hungry he is! Lol and if you have the time to do 3 feedings.

Your temps are great and night time can go as low as 65F so if you think this winter it might get cooler than that you can always get a CHE, to keep him warm. But right now you are doing a fantastic job!! [emoji18] I'm impressed!!

 

[damics6]

Hi and welcome! Sounds like you are off to a great start! Kudos!!! [emoji4]

Bearded dragons do not absorb water thru their skin however some of us will drop water on their lips/nose. Some people do mist theirs. I however do not as both of mine drink from the dropper/dripper. They also do not see standing water as drinking water. They will walk thru it and make a mess! Lol [emoji6]

I personally do not have water dishes in my viv's as it brings up humidity. I bath mine every other day but both of mine are younger than yours. They will absorb water thru their vent. That's how they stay hydrated. Plus the moisture from the greens.

There is no set amount that you have to feed them. What I do is put the greens in - in the morning and let them eat on it thru out the day. I feed mine 3 times a day as they are still babies, well… Wally is almost 5 months old but Lacey will only be 6 weeks old on Monday!! I personally would not feed my beardie's that store pellet food as it will dehydrate them and it has NO nutritional value. Sorry got off track here. When feeding them insects - you let them eat as much as they can in 10-15 minutes. Like I said above I still do 3 times a day. You might be able to do 2 times a day at that age. I guess it just depends on how hungry he is! Lol and if you have the time to do 3 feedings.

Your temps are great and night time can go as low as 65F so if you think this winter it might get cooler than that you can always get a CHE, to keep him warm. But right now you are doing a fantastic job!! [emoji18] I'm impressed!!

Well it is good to hear that im doing good so far! Do you use a "little dripper"? Where does the water drip to in your set up?

 

[mxw0rld]

As far as the little dripper, I have a glass eye dropper, like you find at the pharmacy. I drip a drop of water at a time onto their nose/lips and they drink it (if they are thirsty) otherwise it just rolls down their chin.


Bobbi in Cincinnati - with my 13 hermit crabs, 1 bearded dragon - Sir Wallace and 5 rescue cats!!

 

[Eavlynn]

Your set up is great. I love that you mounted the UVB fixture inside the tank!

I feed my little guy 2 to 3 times a day, as mush as he'll eat in 10 minutes. Veggies/greens in the morning, like mxw0rld, and roaches after he eats his veggies, around lunch time if I'm home, and in the evenings. I stay away from the processed pellet food. It's junk in my opinion. Veggies and insects are the way to go. Roaches are the best insect if you can get them, crickets are okay, but I don't use them personally. Horn worms are great for hydration. If you can get silkworms, they are a good staple to toss into the mix, too. And BSFL (black soldier fly larvae) are good for calcium.

I don't give my guy a water dish since he won't touch standing water, but I will drop water in his nose so that he can lick it off. It's the only way he'll drink. Then I do baths for added hydration.

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[Eavlynn]

Just to reiterate, you're doing a fantastic job, especially with this being your first dragon. It looks like someone did their research thanks for being an awesome beardie parent, and for seeking out additional info, insight, and ideas!

Do you intend to post your chameleons? We all love photos and seeing other member's kiddos!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[damics6]

Just to reiterate, you're doing a fantastic job, especially with this being your first dragon. It looks like someone did their research thanks for being an awesome beardie parent, and for seeking out additional info, insight, and ideas!

Do you intend to post your chameleons? We all love photos and seeing other member's kiddos!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I will attach some pics of my chams. First is my 1 year old blue bar ambilobe "Skittles" and the second pic is my 2.5 year old Nosy Be "Mr. Freeze"

 

[Eavlynn]

Wow, they are absolutely stunning!

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[PatsyB]

I would bump your basking temp up. 6 months old is still young so I would keep it between 100-105 degrees. 95 degrees is for a full adult dragon. Get rid of the freeze dried food it's like us eating chips, no nutrition at all. Live bugs and fresh greens are the best. Make sure you are also feeding your bugs with healthy greens. It's also a myth that the absorb water through their vent. They get all of their hydration through bugs and veggies. I need to find the article and put it here, but I recently read that their kidneys are so good that they are able to survive on very little water.

At the bottom of my post is a link to some general information that will help you out.

 

[PatsyB]

As far as the little dripper, I have a glass eye dropper, like you find at the pharmacy. I drip a drop of water at a time onto their nose/lips and they drink it (if they are thirsty) otherwise it just rolls down their chin.


Bobbi in Cincinnati - with my 13 hermit crabs, 1 bearded dragon - Sir Wallace and 5 rescue cats!!

Don't use a glass eyedropper, you never know when he is going to decide to take a bite out of the dropper and you don't want him getting glass in his mouth

 

[damics6]

I would bump your basking temp up. 6 months old is still young so I would keep it between 100-105 degrees. 95 degrees is for a full adult dragon. Get rid of the freeze dried food it's like us eating chips, no nutrition at all. Live bugs and fresh greens are the best. Make sure you are also feeding your bugs with healthy greens. It's also a myth that the absorb water through their vent. They get all of their hydration through bugs and veggies. I need to find the article and put it here, but I recently read that their kidneys are so good that they are able to survive on very little water.

At the bottom of my post is a link to some general information that will help you out.

I will bump up to a 100watt bulb. I have a 75watt in there now. We were actually thinking, how big are beardies normally at 6 months? We were told thats how old he is but he is around 8 inches (including tail) and we thought maybe he is 6 weeks.

 

[PatsyB]

It's hard to tell age. He could be 6 months but be stunted because he wasn't cared for properly before you got him. UVB, basking temps and how much food they are fed while growing all factor in to how fast it's going to grow. Mine were probably 2 months old when they were 8".

At 8" I would just treat it like it was a baby. Basking temp 107 degrees and feed 3x a day if possible.

 

[damics6]

It's hard to tell age. He could be 6 months but be stunted because he wasn't cared for properly before you got him. UVB, basking temps and how much food they are fed while growing all factor in to how fast it's going to grow. Mine were probably 2 months old when they were 8".

At 8" I would just treat it like it was a baby. Basking temp 107 degrees and feed 3x a day if possible.

We just contacted the pet store to confirm his age. He is 6 weeks- 2 months

 

[mxw0rld]

We just contacted the pet store to confirm his age. He is 6 weeks- 2 months

If he is that young then you need to bring those temps up to 100-107F and make sure he's getting fed insects 3 times a day.

Other then that all looks good! [emoji4]

 

[damics6]

If he is that young then you need to bring those temps up to 100-107F and make sure he's getting fed insects 3 times a day.

Other then that all looks good! [emoji4]

We will bump up the temps and increase feeding. I have the calcium powder but is that all he needs? My chameleons have i think 5 different supplements but for beardies is it just calcium everyday?

 

[mxw0rld]

We will bump up the temps and increase feeding. I have the calcium powder but is that all he needs? My chameleons have i think 5 different supplements but for beardies is it just calcium everyday?

That really depends on you. I do vitamins, bee pollen, probiotics, electrolytes, prebiotics, color, dandelion, Alfa, etc.

There are also supplements you can get to add to your feeder chow, and to the water which I do both.

You can go to beardeddragon.co I think that's where I got most of mine. I got a small salt and pepper shaker set at Walmart, there are 8 in the box. They are small but hold a lot and you really don't need a lot of powder. I labeled them Monday thru Sunday and just use a different one each day. You can also get the calcium with D3 and without the D3. You would be amazed at all the supplements and first aid stuff I've got on hand but again this is just how I do things, not everyone does ask this and their BD is just fine. I just want to be prepared if anything should ever happen.

Sorry for the long answer. I hope I didn't confuse you too bad. Lol

 

[Hdrydr31]

I will attach some pics of my chams. First is my 1 year old blue bar ambilobe "Skittles" and the second pic is my 2.5 year old Nosy Be "Mr. Freeze"

love your cams! I just love their colors!

 

[Hdrydr31]

I would bump your basking temp up. 6 months old is still young so I would keep it between 100-105 degrees. 95 degrees is for a full adult dragon. Get rid of the freeze dried food it's like us eating chips, no nutrition at all. Live bugs and fresh greens are the best. Make sure you are also feeding your bugs with healthy greens. It's also a myth that the absorb water through their vent. They get all of their hydration through bugs and veggies. I need to find the article and put it here, but I recently read that their kidneys are so good that they are able to survive on very little water.

At the bottom of my post is a link to some general information that will help you out.

Yep temps are such a vital part and sometimes you have to just play around with wattages and how high/low the light is from their basking spot. Watching how they are acting, where they are in relation to the basking spot, what your seeing in their poop, just being observant will tell you alot. I agree with PatsyB bugs, veggies and bath time or misting is how they hydrate. And it's known that their gi tract and kidneys are incredibly efficient and work and re work all foods until every bit of hydration is absorbed prior to pooping hence why it's white. Remembering that they are from arid environment we can take them from the wild but we can't change how their bodies work

 

[Hdrydr31]

We will bump up the temps and increase feeding. I have the calcium powder but is that all he needs? My chameleons have i think 5 different supplements but for beardies is it just calcium everyday?

That really does come down to you.. Personally this is what I have on hand and I change it up each day making sure that calcium is in there 2-3 times a week..
I have: probiotics, calcium with D3, calcium without D3, multi vit, bee pollen, dandelion powder, alfalfa powder, superveggie powder

If you check the links below several of our comments we have put together info and in there we've added supplement info in there.

 

[damics6]

That really does come down to you.. Personally this is what I have on hand and I change it up each day making sure that calcium is in there 2-3 times a week..
I have: probiotics, calcium with D3, calcium without D3, multi vit, bee pollen, dandelion powder, alfalfa powder, superveggie powder

If you check the links below several of our comments we have put together info and in there we've added supplement info in there.

I have Miner-all, Calcium w/D3, Reptivite, Herptivite, Calcium w/no d3 all for my chameleons and they are on a schedule. Do you know if any of these are usable besides the calcium w/ no d3?