me and my story

[CHIVVY]

Hi, I'm Dave and I'm new to keeping beardies.
I don't think I need any specific help yet, just here to browse the forums but I thought I would tell you my situation and someone can tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.
Sorry it's a bit long.

1st me: while I have no experience with dragons, I have plenty of animal experience. i had snakes when I was a teenager, I also keep fish (tropical community and bettas), rats and cats.

The dragons: I have had Haiku and Tzu for just over 1 month, They were extremely neglected, my mum saved them and asked me to give them a loving home (and I do love them).
They've always shared a viv and get on well so I decided not change that.
Here's the thing. They were being starved by the previous owner who "rescued" them as babies. They're are nearly 4 years old and were only about 12inches when I got them about 1month ago. As you would expect from neglected animals they're not as tame as they should be (not unfriendly just a little nervous)
Due to their size and starvation
I decided to begin with at least I would feed them whatever they want. So there is always crickets loose in the tank for them to hunt and a constant supply of salad (mostly kale) and vitamin dusted mealworms every few days.
As I understand it they should be more or less fully grown by this point but they've grown about 2inches in the month I've had them and one appears to have some orange colouring coming through. I'm assuming delayed development due to the lack of food?

The setup: 4" x 1" x 1.5" viv.
Heat lamp (24h)
Basking lamp
UVB lamp
Ambient temp, day: 34-36c. night: 24-25c.
Multiple height basking spots
Multiple hides
Repti-sand

Ok I think that's it. Lemme know if I've missed anything.
And please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong (i already know I'm doing a few things different from the norm)

Thanks

 

[mish13]

Hi Dave , welcome. Its great that you took these guys in and are giving them a good home. I hope they thrive and are happy and healthy beardies. Im no expert and im sure the mod's will help you out soon. Just a couple of suggestions tho, I would get rid of the repti-sand and go with washed children's play sand its much safer . The other thing is i would strongly recommend separating your dragons, if you dont they could hurt each other or even worse kill each other. Search the forum for care sheets and im sure you'll find a lot of helpful info. There is a great food chart on http://www.beautifuldragons.com/. Congrats on your new dragons and good luck.

 

[CHIVVY]

Replace the sand because it clumps in their stomach right? Only using repti-sand cos it was given to me with them but New sand is on the list. Separating them isn't really an option right now, at least until I can find a home for one. But after 4 years together they get on very well, no dominant behaviour from either, but I do understand the risk and I'm keeping an eye out for it! Luckily due the work patterns of me and my housemates the only time they're left alone is when they sleep. I have set up a camera to record what they do at night though, just in case. thanks for the advice

 

[CHIVVY]

 

[CHIVVY]

1st pic:
Haiku. The runt of the litter, scarred on her back where she got stuck to the egg at birth and no toes on her left hind foot due to siblings. Also the more social of the 2 with people.

2nd pic:
Tzu. Bigger and more colourful I guess due to a stronger start in life. but still one toe missing again due to siblings.

 

[Noella]

Hi, Dave. Welcome to BDF! The greatest place to talk about dragons and get info and insight. The people here are nice and offer great advice.

Their beautiful and I'm glad you rescued them. Poor babies. There are so many out there that need help and some of them aren't given the right nutrition, lights, and misinformation out there. Pet stores included.

Pet stores try to sell you things you don't really need like calcium sand and tell you it's okay for them when it's not. I had a pet store try to sell me a 90 gallon aquarium and told me to use calci-sand as substrate. I use paper towels or newspaper for my Allie. I also have playsand and she doesn't like it much. Tries to get out whenever I put her in her tank with the playsand. So I stayed with paper towels.

Pet stores are only after money. They don't give good information and I can prove it. All you have to do is take a look at their brochures. They give you false information about bearded dragons or any reptile. Like feeding, for instance. And a sales clerk argued with me about supplementation. Calcium, Calcium with D3 and Herptivite Vitamins.

Do you leave the crickets in the tank at night? If so, they'll munch on your beardies so it's a good idea to remove them or feed the beardies in separate containers.

Cohabitation's not a good idea either. Germ had a video on here that shows the consequences of housing beardies together. They may get along now, but when you're not there, they'll fight or harm each other further. It's even more stressful for a female to be housed with a male. They both aren't 'socialable' and 'friendly to each other.' The piling up you see in petstores is a fight for dominance. The ones on the top of the bunch is getting the best sunlight, the best heat, while the ones on the bottom aren't getting that essential heat or UVB.

 

[Noella]

http://us.gnbdragons.com/