My first beardie

[Dak52]

Earlier this week I picked up my first beardie. I've been doing lots of research and was excited to get a beardie. My girlfriend has had them before but this is a first for me.

We got "Lizzy" from someone off of craigslist(we will be renaming her once we learn her personality a little more). She was in 75 gallon tank. But only had a infrared heat lamp on her cage. No UVB or UVA at all. Her cage was really cold, no thermometers. she was freezing to the touch. She was very lethargic and didn't hardly move.

We brought her home and added better day and night basking lights as well as a 24" 10.0 UVB light. We also added a UTH to the tank to raise the temperature a little. The temperature in her cage is much better now. It has helped perk her up alot.

She is eatting lots of insects but hardly touching fruits and veggies. we were told she is about 2 years old, so I know she needs to be eatting more greens. Any tips on getting her to eat green?

I'm worried about her Vit D3 and calcium since she has lived most of her life without UVB light. So I got some D3 and calcium powder to help boost her D3 also.

This turned out to be more of a rescue than just getting a dragon. But it's been rewarding to see her getting more energy and being more active. I feel we have given her a much more suitable habitat than she has had probably most of her life. I'm still new and learning about beardies and appreciate any tips, concerns and comments.

Thanks,
Dakota

 

[PatsyB]

What a sweetie! When they come in to a new home they go through a sort of relocation stress where they may not eat much. Once she settles in she should be just fine. Under the tank heaters aren't the greatest because beardies don't really sense heat well on their belly and could burn themselves. If your basking spot isn't getting to where it needs to be I would get a higher wattage bulb.

Since she is a rescue and she wasn't taken care of. Even though they told you she is 2, I would keep the basking spot nice and warm, around 105 or a bit higher. I would dust all her bugs with calcium with D3 to give her a boost. Bee pollen is also a good addition, sprinkle it on her food like calcium, in fact you can sprinkle it on her greens and she may eat them. Get her to drink some water. Put her in a warm bath just up to her shoulders and dribble a little water on her nose to get her to lick it off or run your fingers through the water to get her attention and she may drink that way. Here is a link to a good food site that gives you veggie and fruit ideas http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Along with your calcium w/D3 you should also get a multivitamin and use that a few times a week. Given the fact that she was neglected, I wouldn't worry about her not eating salad and I would let her eat as many bugs as she wants at the moment. You want to fatten her up

Do you have any other pictures of her? Like her body just to get an idea of her size and see if she has anything else going on. I just rescued a beardie myself she was abandoned in an apartment and the landlord brought her to petco. She SMELLED so bad! I gave her baths everyday and finally bought bearded dragon shampoo, it took 2 weeks but we finally got her smelling better. Surprisingly other than the smell she doesn't seem to have any other issues.

 

[Dak52]

I've been happy with her appetite with the insects and I am going to start dusting them with d3 and calcium supplement that I got yesterday. I just took her out and took a few more pictures. Not the greatest pics they're from my cell phone but hope they help.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Welcome!! Very glad to hear that she now has a better home!! She is a cutie. By her size she doesn't look 2 but maybe once she gains some weight she'll look 2

Yep I wouldn't use the UTH in case of burning herself. Basking spot like PatsyB 105F+ a bit, UVB area 80-95F, cool area down to the low 70'sF I would get rid of the night basking lights as they don't need them. As long as her tank doesn't get below 65F the light will only keep her from being able to sleep as they have what's called their 3rd eye ontop of their head a gland that senses shadows from above. So no light is best during the night time hours. If her cool side is getting too cold get a CHE (ceramic heat element) that will give off heat but no light to raise the temp.

I would let her eat as many insects as she wants right now as she looks pretty skinny, I don't see any fat pads behind her head or on her legs poor gal... she needs some good meaty bugs, stay away from mealworms because of their shell containing chiltlin its hard to digest. but superworms, butterworms, waxworms, crickets, dubia roaches (very nutritious meaty goodness, edible at all stages of life 1=5 crickets) hornworms. I think once she gains some weight and eats good I think as long as you offer her greens she will start nibbling on them.. Sometimes people put some supers in the salad bowl and the movement gets their dragon's attention.. Be careful of too much fruits as they are high in sugar content.. Make sure that her last meal of the day is a couple hours prior to it getting dark out as they need the heat/light to digest so you don't want the food in her belly just sitting...

Some nice warm soaks to help hydrate her, helps get them moving (mine only likes to poo during her bath time) Will also help her scales as now that she's eating and getting good light she may shed and the water will help with that, just don't pull her shed off it can damage her scales underneath. I drip some water Izzy's nose and she will either lick it off or it soaks into her scales..

Congratulations and keep us posted on how she's doing!! Feel free to ask any questions!

 

[PatsyB]

She's a cutie! Physically the only thing I see is that she is too skinny and needs to fatten up. She's got all her limbs, no stuck shed no deformities. That's great considering where she came from.

 

[Dak52]

She went a couple days with lack of appetite and just wanting to sleep all day. So I did some research about brumation and decided to leave her lights off for a day to let her rest.

Today we kicked her lights back on and she was much more active. She got a nice warm bath this morning and cleared her pipes. After going back to her tank she chased down a stray cricket faster than I've ever seen her do since we took her in. So I decided to try feeding her some superworms. She refused the supers the last few days so I was worried she may not eat them. But today she had 5 large supers for breakfast! Her energy levels are much better today!

 

[Hdrydr31]

Glad to hear that she has perked up, it should increase as she's getting what she needs now. As long as you give her hides on the warm and cool side if she wants to sleep she can and you can keep her lights on a timer to come on/off at a set time every day. As for as long as she is eating she has to have the heat and UVB to digest and absorb the vit and nutrients.

 

[Dak52]

Just an update on us and "Lizzy"...

First off she has acquired a new name, I've been calling her "Turbo" as she likes to run! Whenever I take her out to spend time with me she wants to run around and explore. She is very curious and very fast! The girlfriend gives me crap that "Turbo" is a boy name. So she calls her "Turbie".

She has perked up an insane amount, it's a night and day difference from day one. I have also learned a ton about her and her personality.

She has been on a high superworm diet, trying to fatten her up. The amount she eats has been increasing every day. Today she ate 12 large superworms! I'm learning that when she perks up and starts roaming her cage that she is hungry. And she has also learned the sound that the superworm bin makes when I open it. She comes running to her basking spot up top where I drop the worms in ready to feast!

All in all she is doing well and I'm learning and adapting each day to fulfill her needs.

 

[PatsyB]

She's looking good