Need a little help with my beardies..

[xbeckyx]

I have two bearded dragons, Max who is coming up to around 2 now. Ive had him since he is 8 weeks old. He is a citrus x german giant.
And I also have his dad, Reggie. Who is around 3+ but I cant be sure of that. Reggie is a german giant.

This is Reggie;

He is on...well the rather large side. He was that size when I got him. I got him from the major reptile shop in my area.

The prob is...well...he doesnt do anything. When I get him out the viv he runs round around the floor explores etc. But when inside he sleeps for about 22 hours a day :-\

He is in a 4 foot viv, with a 30W UVB and a ceramic heater. These are what came in the set up from the reptile shop. He gets about 12 hours of light a day and I turn the UVB off during the night. The temp in there is around 87-90.

He goes absolute crazy for meal worms and locusts. I know they shouldnt have mealworms but without these he doesnt seem to want to get up, the give him alot of energy.

He will only eat his green if I pick him up and put him in front of them. He has a varied green diet of kale, romain, watercress and others.

All im thinking is that its too hot in there? and maybe a change of enviroment in his tank to keep him occupied? as at the moment all he does is sleep in like a cave which is a bit of cork bark laying down.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[xbeckyx]

Also with Max..

he eats like a trooper, he can eat around 15-20 crickets/locuts a day. But with his greens unless they are leafy then he wont bother. Ive tried various things like carrot, mango etc but if he cant pick it up first time he gets turned off from it. I would like to have him with a vaired fruit and veggie diet but hes getting quite selective.

Even if they are quite shredded now he goes no where near them. Is it just something im going to have to deal with?

He is also in a 4 foot tank with a UVB and a ceramic. 87-90 temp in the basking area.

Im sure hes pretty healthy. From tip of his nose to the end of his tail he is just under 2 ft.

 

[crypticdragons]

He is in a 4 foot viv, with a 30W UVB and a ceramic heater.

Here is the first issue. Are you using a 30watt coil UV bulb or a 30 watt tube bulb? What brand and type is it? The bearded dragon is a desert animal and therefore requires high quality UV lighting. Never use a coil UV bulb or a compact. Best tube bulb on the market is the reptisun 10.0 tube bulb. more info on lighting is here on this sites main page http://mybeardie.com/Beardie-Lighting-Requirements.php

Also you said he has a ceramic heat emitter. Does he not have a actually bright light heat bulb? Dragons need bright light for the same reason of being a desert animal. I would suggest changing out the ceramic heat emitter with a birght white household bulb. Now it will take a few tries as you will have to find the right wattage for appropriate temps.

The temp in there is around 87-90

What are you measuring this temp with? You need a good digital probe thermometer or a temp gun which are ifrared temp gauges found at tempgun.com. They need a temperature gradient. Cool side should be in the low 80 range and the ambient temp (center of tank) should be in the low 90s. His basking site should be at 95-100 degrees. (the basking site will be a platform that the household bulb being used as a basking light points directly towards this should be the hottest point in the viv at the 95-100 f range). The 12 on 12 off time is ok i prefer a little longer light time of 14 on 10 off but thats just my preference.

If you make these changes im certain he will move around more. brighter light makes dragons much more active. This tied with making his temps correct will perk him right up. Also even though he is done growing at that age you still need to supplement his diet. he needs to have 2 feedings a week with calcium dust and 1 feeding a week with vitamins dust. Also, at his age he should be eating much more greens than protein (live feeders). At that age i like their diets to be about 70% greens and 30% live feeders.

Please let us know what other questions you have.


PS i will look at the pic later as im on a military computer and do not have the ability to view your picture but im sure he is a pretty fella.

 

[crypticdragons]

Also with Max..

he eats like a trooper, he can eat around 15-20 crickets/locuts a day. But with his greens unless they are leafy then he wont bother. Ive tried various things like carrot, mango etc but if he cant pick it up first time he gets turned off from it. I would like to have him with a vaired fruit and veggie diet but hes getting quite selective.

Even if they are quite shredded now he goes no where near them. Is it just something im going to have to deal with?

He is also in a 4 foot tank with a UVB and a ceramic. 87-90 temp in the basking area.

Im sure hes pretty healthy. From tip of his nose to the end of his tail he is just under 2 ft.

same thing as in my previous post on his temps
but to answer your question on his veg intake. what a lot of us have had to do once our beardies start turning their noses up at greens is to severely slack off on live feeders but continue to offer greens daily (some have had to with hold live feeders for a few days) but it will get your dragon eating the greens because he is hungry. It works everytime (as long as your beardies human slave doesnt cave in first lol)

 

[xbeckyx]

In reply to some of what you asked (Im not at home at the moment so I cant 100% check everything)

With Reggie, his UVB gives out the light. It is a "Exo Terra Repti Glo 10.0 Tubes Vivarium UVB Lamps-Exo Terra Repti Glo 10 Tube 30w - 36"x1" Vivarium Lamp".
The ceramic gives out the heat and above gives out the light. These are what the reptile shop set me up with.

The temp is being measured with a themostat (well to control the heat) and there are two themometers at either end for the basking and the cool end.

Im in the process of getting a new strip light in there. The Exo Terra is nearly a year old now so I feel changing it might make some difference.

I dust his diet 2-3 times a week for his calcuim so I think at least ive got that right.

And also with Max, ive tried the taking away the food so he can get used to the greens. But after about a week he still wasnt touching the greens and where he wasnt eating he wasnt moving around too much and was always sleeping. I think I may need to try this again as I may be spoiling him with the live.

Thanks alot for the help, really appreciated

 

[xbeckyx]

Okay this may sound like a really stupid question but ive never really been explained....

My beardies at night both sleep in the cool parts of there vivs, so as there already in the cool, so I not need to physically turn down the heat on the thermostat for the night?

I always thought as they were in the cool it didnt need to be done.

 

[crypticdragons]

the uv light alone is not enough light for them. when i say they like it bright they like it BRIGHT thats why you use both lights. the ceramic heat emitter is not good enough for basking heat. you need a directed light. ceramic heat emitters do just that "emit" heat it pulses out but not in a direct beam. trust me if you drop the heat emitter and change over to just a normal cheap white household bulb things will get much better.

now as far as the uv bulb the ReptiGlo has been shown to not be a very good buld in recent studies. The reptisun 10.0 is leaps and bounds ahead of the reptiglo. Since you need to replace them anyway i would highly suggest the reptisun. you can get them very cheap online at reptilesupply.com or petmountain.com. Also tube UV lights need to be replaced every 6 months after that the uv decay is so great that the bulb is almost useless.

I know it is what the pet store suggested to you but petstores at best have generalized knowledge of the reptiles they have in their care. we here are specializing in bearded dragons. i myself have been a breeder/keeper for around 8 years. This is the best way to do it.

With your termometers are the stick on thermometers? You need a thermometer that you can check the basking site itself not the area around the basking site that is why the tempgun is the best in my opinion as it pinpoints the site you want to check. Stick on therms can be off by as much as 20 degrees also.

 

[crypticdragons]

no heat is required at night so long as the temperature in your home doesnt drop belown 65 degrees.

 

[renich]

I just wanted to reiterate that heat is essential for the digestive system. Beardies will not eat if their body temp does not warm up. Once you get a digital probe thermometer (really cheap), you can determine a more accurate temp.

As far as their sleeping, beardies sleep in the strangest positions. It is quite comical. Since yours are older, I think you'll find that for a couple of weeks, they will sleep in the one area (cool side) and then they will switch it to somewhere else.

Regarding eating greens, no worries. The greens are what are so important for them. Veggies are often used to get the bearded dragon to eat the greens.

And as sad as it is, reptile stores often give out incorrect information.

As you pointed out, I would stop the mealworms. They are not good. Try phoenix worms. They are naturally loaded with calcium.

Here's a link to basic info on setting up your viv:

Bearded Dragon Care

 

[renich]

Also, here is a link to a forum post about fruit. It discusses other items to put in with your greens:

Bearded Dragon Diet - Salad

Something I forgot, the ReptiGlo 10.0 does not produce enough UVB for bearded dragons. If you go to their site, you will see a list of reptiles this bulb was made for. Bearded dragons are not in the list.

As Brian pointed out, the ReptiSun 10.0 is the best on the market. Here's a link to this product:
UVB Lighting

 

[xbeckyx]

Okay thanks for all the help! im stilll pretty confussed on the whole lighting/heat option.

If I post a pic of my two vivs, could someone tell me what to change? or even post pics of your vivs so I can see that way what I need to change.

Also if I get rid of the ceramic and have a other heat bulb in its place, the question i have about them are.
When they are on, when they reach there temp and the thermostat turns them on and off, do I have to do this all through the night as well? As that will be hard to deal with.
And also with all the turning on-turning off...wont this blow the bulb easily?

 

[renich]

A pic of your viv would be nice. You can get timers for bulbs to stay on and off. I personally like 14 on and 10 off. As long as the temp does not drop below 65F, you don't need to worry about heat at night.

Heatometers help, but you should still have a basking light. I've used them in the winter.

 

[crypticdragons]

you do not need to have a thermostat on your beardie. in their natural habitats their temps peak at a certain point during the day and gradually slack off which is the same thing that happens during the day in your home. The outside temps adjusts your inside temp the slightest bit. It is good for them. Best way to do it is have your lights on a timer. Find the correct wattage to give your tank (mainly your basking site) the correct temp (95-100 degrees) and leave it at that. The temp will fluctuate a bit during the day but that is normal and would be far more drastic in their natural habitat.
As has been said earlier the CHE (ceramic heat emitter) should only be used if the temps in your home drop below 65 degrees at night. Though i know very few people that keep their homes that cold im sure it could happen. lol

and no it wont blow the bulb that is what they are meant to do

 

[beardielover]

i've never heard of bulbs blowing. it's just like your own light. turn it on and turn it off. a basking area is very important. and having the right temps are needed for digestion.