New Beardie owner

[shehzain]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum, as well as bearded dragons. I bought my first one yesterday, a Sandfire/ German Giant cross named Altair. I'm feeling pretty bad right now because even though he seems healthy, he does have a few issues (the gagging thing, and his one poop has been smelly), and my cage isn't the best. I'm going to correct this a.s.a.p., but I really wish I'd done more research beforehand. I think my main problem is all the conflicting sources out there, which only serve to confuse and frustrate me! Right now my main resource is this forum and "Your Happy Healthy Pet- Bearded Dragon 2nd edition" by Steve Grenard. I've also found the beautifuldragons food chart to be extremely useful!

If anyone else can point me to valuable sources, please let me know!

About me...I'm a full time college student majoring in biology, and I'll be graduating in the winter of this year. I want to go on to pursue a master's degree as well. I've always loved reptiles and I'm also the proud adoptee of a 13 year old rosy boa named Rosie. (I named her when I was 8...what can I say!) I do realize however that their care is very different from a BD, and they're much more low maintenance. But Rosie is my baby and I love her with all my heart, as I do with Altair now...I just hope he'll thrive.

Anyway...look forward to any more advice and photos, vids, and stories of peoples beardies!

 

[Germ]

 

[Aleena]

Welcome, Shehzain! We look forward to seeing many more photos of your baby! Please feel free to ask if you have any questions and we will do our best to answer you to the best of our knowledge.

 

[Jp]

Hello & Welcome 2 the Forum.

 

[ThDude]

pictures of your set up or a list of products, and sizes will help us understand your cage and segest products or things u need. first i do assume you have a UVA and UBA light for him as well as a basking spot with temps in the 100-110F range?

 

[Aleena]

pictures of your set up or a list of products, and sizes will help us understand your cage and segest products or things u need. first i do assume you have a UVA and UBA light for him as well as a basking spot with temps in the 100-110F range?

Most of that was covered under a different topic:

Gagging Beardie?

 

[ThDude]

Most of that was covered under a different topic:

Gagging Beardie?

ahh nvm then. dont mind me <.<

 

[Pat B]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum, as well as bearded dragons. I bought my first one yesterday, a Sandfire/ German Giant cross named Altair. I'm feeling pretty bad right now because even though he seems healthy, he does have a few issues (the gagging thing, and his one poop has been smelly), and my cage isn't the best. I'm going to correct this a.s.a.p., but I really wish I'd done more research beforehand. I think my main problem is all the conflicting sources out there, which only serve to confuse and frustrate me! Right now my main resource is this forum and "Your Happy Healthy Pet- Bearded Dragon 2nd edition" by Steve Grenard. I've also found the beautifuldragons food chart to be extremely useful!

If anyone else can point me to valuable sources, please let me know!

About me...I'm a full time college student majoring in biology, and I'll be graduating in the winter of this year. I want to go on to pursue a master's degree as well. I've always loved reptiles and I'm also the proud adoptee of a 13 year old rosy boa named Rosie. (I named her when I was 8...what can I say!) I do realize however that their care is very different from a BD, and they're much more low maintenance. But Rosie is my baby and I love her with all my heart, as I do with Altair now...I just hope he'll thrive.

Anyway...look forward to any more advice and photos, vids, and stories of peoples beardies!

This is a good forum. I don't belong to any other. There is so much information out there about beardies....it is a little mind boggling. I have found the information on this forum to be very helpful. Good luck with your beardie!

 

[shehzain]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone!

@ThDude: The photos are in that thread, but I've made some changes which are in my last reply. Heating is a 50 watt red heat light (which I will change the dark purple Zilla one as soon as I can to help him sleep), and the UVA/ UBA Repti-sun light that fits that size of a cage. I realize the 10 gallon is too small so we'll be getting a 20 or a 30 gallon within a week or two. Right now the substrate is repti-carpet, but I want to change it to newspaper for it to be easier to clean. I have a heating pad also, but I have not used it yet. I also dust the dubia roaches I feed him with Rep-cal multivitamin that has 4.5% calcium carbonate. I asked my vet if he needed a calcium supplement in addition to this, and the vet said no because it could cause problems for him. I usually dust the roaches only at one feeding a day. And they're not completely covered with it because some usually falls off...

 

[Germ]

Many 'Herp' vets are not species specific knowledgeable in their care & generalize all reptiles when it comes to husbandry. It has been my experience that all feeders with the exception of Pheonix worms (Soldier Fly Maggots), should be dusted with 100% phosphorous free Calcium Carbonate. You could use the multi-vitamin weekly, are you using RepCal Herptivite? The feeders commonly used have a very low Calcium\Phosphourus ratio & must be brought into balance this way. What you are using, 4.5% calcium, simply will not do the job alone. It would possibly suffice for a mature adult, but definitely not a young juvenile.

 

[shehzain]

Yes, that is what I am using. The feeders (roaches and crickets) are also being fed the Fluker's calcium water gel, and I'm trying to figure out what else they could eat right now. Is this still not enough? I'll sprinkle calcium on them, too, then, if need be.

 

[Germ]

It has been my experience that all feeders with the exception of Pheonix worms (Soldier Fly Maggots), should be dusted with 100% phosphorous free Calcium Carbonate. You could use the multi-vitamin weekly, are you using RepCal Herptivite? The feeders commonly used have a very low Calcium\Phosphourus ratio & must be brought into balance this way. What you are using, 4.5% calcium, simply will not do the job alone. It would possibly suffice for a mature adult, but definitely not a young juvenile.

'It Need Be' - Surely that is not all you are feeding your feeders is the water gel? The same nutritional greens that you would safely feed your BD can\should be fed to them. I also throw in some RepCal Bearded Dragon Food, slightly moistened in a dish as gutload also. There are many methods & choices to provide gutload to feeders.

 

[shehzain]

The roaches were eating squash, but the crickets didn't really eat it I don't think. Neither ate the dry cat food. I've heard tropical fish flakes are good so I'll be using that for my feeders too. Or, I might get the BD pellets instead. Maybe Altair might like them, too. =P I'll also try various fruits and veggies from now on to see which ones they like.

I'll be getting the calcium supplement ASAP. Thank you so much! You're right, a lot of vets aren't specialized in one reptile, so he probably was just generalizing. Good thing I came here and looked at all my other sources which said to sprinkle calcium also. I've heard that they should be dusted 5 times weekly at one feeding per day, is that about right? I guess I can lessen up on the multivitamin, then, although the prey is usually only lightly coated with it. Maybe lessen the sprinkling to two or three feedings a week? (For the Repcal multivitamin.)

P.S. I also turned off the red heat light at night, and it worked great! Temp did not fall below 68 F. He stayed in the same position when he awoke as he did going to sleep. Ate 7 small crickets this morning. (I'm staying away from the medium sized ones at Petco because they still looked pretty big for him... )

 

[Germ]

This is what I suggest in my care sheet. Meaning dusting all Feeders, each feeding, on each day.

General feeding/supplementation schedule:
For hatchlings and young juveniles (up to 2 months): Fresh greens/veg. 1-2 times daily - Live prey 2-3 times per day
Dusted: Five days per week with phosphorus free calcium – One day per week calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

For juveniles and sub-adults (2 months to sexual maturity): Fresh greens/veg 1-2 times daily - Live prey 1-2 times per day
Dusted: Five days per week with phosphorus free calcium – One day per week with calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

For adults (generally 1+ year): Fresh greens/veg 1- 2 times daily - Live prey every 2-3 days.
Dusting: Every other feeding with phosphorus free calcium - Twice per month with calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

As there are different circumstances that may arise, this schedule is recommended only as a general guide and may be altered to accommodate individual situations. Using a tracking method of when you dust prevents unnecessary use of product and more importantly, potential harm to your dragon! With proper and effective UVB lighting, supplementation with vitamin D3 is not imperative but should provided in small amounts. Excessive levels of oral vitamin D3 can potentially lead to the excessive absorption and utilization of calcium and/or toxicity as can the excessive use of supplements containing high levels of vitamin A. Over use of any supplement can have the potential to cause serious health problems, stick to an appropriate supplementation schedule.

Read more: http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/basic-bd-care-sheet-a-place-to-start.5177/#ixzz1sVEi0cew​

 

[Germ]

If you choose to feed Pellets to the BD, never feed them dry. Moisten them with water prior to feeding. If fed dry (any Pellets), it draws much too much of the BDs bodily fluids in the digestion process & can very quickly lead to dehydration. All my BDs like the RepCal BD Food (Pellets) & when moistened, they are an excellent source of hydration, as they will suck up a lot of water. My BDs prefer them to greens & will pick through the greens to get to them. I have heard from other keepers that their BDs will not take to them. Some of mine will only eat the green ones & leave the brown & red ones behind. There is always more green than the other 2 colors, but I keep an eye open for when the containers are really predominantly green, then stock up & use the red & brown pellets as gutload for the feeders & they get them anyway .

 

[Germ]

P.S. I also turned off the red heat light at night, and it worked great! Temp did not fall below 68 F. He stayed in the same position when he awoke as he did going to sleep.

See, we are not as think as you dumb we are .

 

[shehzain]

I never said you were dumb, but okay. I guess it's my turn to prove you wrong, because I had him in that 10 gallon terrarium for about a month, and he did just fine. I moved him into a 40 gallon terrarium about a month ago, and he is thriving. He has a Powersun 100 watt UVB lamp, two small UVB lights on the other sides of the terrarium, newspaper bedding, a large log/ stump for perching, a food and water dish, the temp gauge near the basking spot, and a few decorations (fake plant, a stick, a rock, and that log from his old cage, which is a little small now but he still sleeps in it). His color looks fantastic, and he's eating with gusto.

What's funny is that he used to eat only the red pellets, and not very often, but now he loves the pellets. He primarily eats the red and green ones, but I think he has eaten the brown ones before. He doesn't seem to like his veggies as much anymore: sometimes he eats summer squash and kale from his bowl, but not very often. The only veggie he's really gone for is basil, and I know that should be fed occasionally, not all the time. I'm sad because he used to eat out of my hand all the time, but he no longer does.

Despite being a little snippy there with that first sentence, I honestly do appreciate your knowledge, and your advice has certainly helped Altair thrive!

I'll post photos soon, so you can see how much he's grown. I'm not especially happy with how the lighting is set up, so perhaps you can give some advice on that (it's easier to explain in pictures than words).

Edit: Forgot to say, yes, I always feed the pellets moist, and sometimes they even get kind of soggy, but Altair loves them anyway, haha.

 

[sircactuscat]

Hello, welcome to the BD forum.

 

[Germ]

I don't see how I could have made it any clearer that I was Funnin' about the 'Dumb' thing.

I fail to see how you proved anything, because you may have gotten lucky. Because it didn't get visually ill or die in a months time proves nothing. Issues are not always visually apparent, could & will possibly affect future things like growth & overall expected lifespan. The first several months of their lives are their formative ones & affect them for their lifetime.

 

[Josh]

Now now... Did we shake hands on this and agree to get along?