new beardie owner with a few questions!

[Chad_Timbers24]

hello everyone! this is my first post here and i chose this place to come to because of how experienced you all are and how nice the community is!

ok so i got a juvenile beardie 3 days ago. im currently using a 10 gallon tank, with a water bowl and food bowl, some stacking rocks, and 2 stick branches (from petsmart) for basking. i have a 5.5 inch basking lamp with a 75 watt bulb, and a uv fixture (long thing). basking spot gets to 100-110 and the cool side fluxuates from 70-83. how does that sound?

and heres a few questions.

1. Ninja (my beardie lol. got its name for the way he ate his 1st cricket) only relly seems to eat when hand fed. he gives up on chasing them. also, i never see him go to his veggie dish. any tips?
2.he seems to have those stress marking on his stomach, the kinda look like () and lines. i have no idea why he may be stressed. he is a perky little fella tho!
3. how does my tank set up sound? any adjustments? can someone send/post some pics on good ideas for tank set up?

Thank you all for your help!!

 

[zebraflavencs]

Hi there !
Welcome to the forum!
Now a few suggestions for you. Following up with some more questions.
10 gallon tanks may seem to be right for these little fellow, though if you were to say, use a 20l you will find it easier to regulate temps, last longer as a baby enclosure.
I see the temps, how are you measuring these ?
Once you share how those are measured, suggestions can be made further on your temps.
Those little wavy marks, are called stress lines.,. all dragons have them when they are moved, relocated from one enclosure to a new one, their current enclosure changed around, when they are startled and so on.. Nothing to concern yourself with, just know when you see a creamy white belly, your dragon is relaxed. This period may last initially for several weeks.

Onto the uvb. Which brand are you using, please ? And what rating is it? 5.0, 10.0, 12% that's what we are looking for.
The fact baby is not eating veggies is fine. Like in humans, babies tend to want, need more proteins than veggies.. Remember when your mom tried serving you brussel sprouts ? Same thing applies...
Also, with the relocation stress, you'll see baby not eating as well as you would like... Just keep in mind.. if you see poop.. he or she is eating. I had one, when he was 8-12 weeks old, refused to eat a whole lot of anything... then one day, he cleared everything I gave him.. and "asked" for more.. This is normal.
Water bowl.. there are differing thoughts on this, but I see no issues with one present, as long as you are cleaning it out daily (or when you see fecals in the water) and offering fresh water every day.
Now to help him catch those really fast crickets, you can place them in a porous container, into the deep freezer on your refrigerator, for around 4-5 minutes. This helps to sloooooooooow them down..
You can also, limit the amount you drop into his enclosure at a time, as too many may intimidate him. Try say, no more than 2-3 at a time, and just build on that number until he has his fill for that meal.

I would also like to suggest, you offer insect meals at least twice a day. Right after lights go on, in the morning (I use timers), I start out with a nice damp salad of collard (fresh from my organic garden, but then I'm funny about that), mustards, turnips as well as a variety of different squashes, you will find readily at your local grocers/farmers market.
It is only after those lights have been on for a few hours, and a nice basking temp is achieved, that I offer the first insects, using a calcium supplementation on the first "meal", 5 days a week. The remaining two days, I use vitamins.

Now, since we are on the subject of feeding, this is a really great guide to helping you choose a healthy diet for Ninja:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
It is color coded for ease of identifying the best, the snacks, as well as to be avoided foods.

Hope this all helps out !
Janie

 

[zebraflavencs]

Okay, you mentioned in your second thread, that you have a zilla fixture with tube.
If you can, try to take back that tube to petsmart, and get a reptiSun 10.0.
If you can't get it at petsmart, we have resources you can order from online, one is directly through this site.
You will also want to elevate the basking spot so the uvb is around 8" distance from the top of that spot.
Hope this helps out !
Janie

 

[Chad_Timbers24]

wow thanks for everything! I just worry easily lol. on the basking side, i have a temp. guage against the glass at about the level where ninja usually basks. on the cool side, i have a strip thermometer. do you any pics of a good setup for a tank? i have some stacking rocks layin around here and there. on the basking side, i have a few branches laying diagonal towards the wall where he basks. on the cool side, i have the 2 bowls, and a mini cactus tree thing. i need ideas on a good setup and decorations. my uv fixture is by zilla. a 15 watt desert 50. i dont see a percentage anywhere. my basking lamp also includes uv rays.

 

[Chad_Timbers24]

oh and one more thing! i found a deal on a 60 gallon tank. would that be to overwhelming for my ninja?

 

[li]

For temp gages the best are really digital ones or temp guns. The stick on or stick ones can be up to 20* off. If you get a digital thermometer, just put the probe directly on the basking spot. This way you can always see the temp.

Here is a pic of Spyro's tank and how I had it set up. You can see I have a digital probe on his basking spot tied on the left hand side up on the top limband the cool end in the right corner.

As for a 60 gallon tank...how old is your beardie. The 10 gallon definitely isn't big enough. You can get the ambient temps correct with that small of a tank, so if you don't have anything in between I would say go for the 60. What are the dimensions of it though.

 

[Chad_Timbers24]

wow sweet tank! i mite pass on that 60 tank cuz they guy selling it basically told me it was a turd. im not sure the age, but hes about 4 1/2 inches long. and where do you buy good decorations like that, cuz petsmart and petco r wack!! i guess i will look for a bigger tank asap!!! you put the digital thermometer inside, right? im afraid to give him a cage too big because of how much of a pain it will be to catch all those little crickets.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Chad, the 20L will be more than sufficent for this very young dragon. I would also urge you to seek out a herp vet for future health checks.
If you can share your general location, I am quite sure we can assist you in locating one.
Hope this helps out !
Janie

 

[Chad_Timbers24]

im in glen burnie, maryland. so a 20 Gal breeder tank would be good? and for how long?

 

[zebraflavencs]

2 months give or take.
Hold on.. let me see what I can generate for vets near you.
Janie

 

[zebraflavencs]

Need a Zip code, Chad , please.
Janie

 

[zebraflavencs]

Got one for you:
http://www.glenburnieanimalhospital.com/
try them.. they do have reptile (agama) services listed.
Hope this helps !
Janie

 

[staylor]

Chad, what you can do so you don't have to buy more then one tank is get the 40 breeder, this will last his whole life and you can put up a partition until the baby gets bigger. I put my little one in the 40 breeder when he was only 7 inches and the little pooper had no problem catching his food. I would also chase the crix to the "corner of doom", if he was having too much trouble catching them. You can also put your crix in the freezer for about 4 minuets and this will slow them down and make it easier for the baby to catch.

 

[Pogie]

Hi,

Here are pics of the 3 setups I've had... 1st to last

When I got her...(Dont have a pic... sorry) but basically there was only a basking rock and the log....


Later....Just added some plants, rocks and water bowl....

NOW