New beardie!

[jaimemuffin]

Hey all! This little dude came home with me about a week ago. His name is Rollo (ala vikings and outlander) and he is great! We think he is maybe ~4 months old. He currently has slate tile and turf on the bottom of his tank, and lots of vines that he likes to hang out in most of the time (both on the hot and cool side, he usually sleeps in the top on the cool side). He eats about 6-10 large crickets and a couple waxworms with calcium every day, but i am offering him more crickets each day. He refuses to eat them outside of his tank. One day he did but i think he was just extra hungry, now he just ignores the crickets in there, but will eat them once i put them into the tank. He loves his salad (this week its green bell pepper, dandelion greens, and collard greens). He is a really awesome little dude.

Tips on getting him to eat in a separate container?
How many crickets should i aim for daily?
Is our age assumption correct?
Are the uvb/uva combo lights worth it?
Anything else you wish you knew in the beginning?

Thanks everyone! Here are some pics! The first he appears lighter/fancy, but hes just a regular- i think the color in the pic are just wonky.

 

[PatsyB]

He's real cute! Be careful with the size of the feeders, you want to make sure that they are no bigger than the space between the dragons eyes. I never had any luck feeding mine in a separate container. So what I normally do is give them bugs one at a time so I can monitor how many get eaten and they don't get lost in the tank. You salad sounds real good. It's hard to tell how old he is since size depends on how it was feed and if it got the proper lighting.

Speaking of lighting, I see two dome lights up there what are you using for UVB?

There is a link to some helpful information at the bottom of my post, check it out if you haven't already

 

[jaimemuffin]

One of them is a intense basking light, the other is a uvb, but I think it is running out of juice (I have those testing sensors) and am in the market for a new one. Any input on which are best?

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[PatsyB]

Coil and compact UVB bulbs are no good for bearded dragons, they don't put out enough UVB. Most people use a tube style UVB bulb. Reptisun 10.0 HO is the best and the Arcadia bulbs are even better. They come in 2 different sizes a T8 or a T5, I've found that the T5 bulbs are much better and last longer.

 

[jaimemuffin]

Coil and compact UVB bulbs are no good for bearded dragons, they don't put out enough UVB. Most people use a tube style UVB bulb. Reptisun 10.0 HO is the best and the Arcadia bulbs are even better. They come in 2 different sizes a T8 or a T5, I've found that the T5 bulbs are much better and last longer.

So im looking at this one- http://www.amazon.com/Zilla-Tropica...s=uvb strip&qid=1463618084&ref_=sr_1_5&sr=8-5

but there are a couple different options. Should i go with the tropical or desert one?

 

[jaimemuffin]

or this one http://www.amazon.com/Reptile-Sliml...s=uvb strip&qid=1463618084&ref_=sr_1_4&sr=8-4

 

[PatsyB]

If you use a Zilla bulb you want to use the desert one. The zilla brand is good but the Reptisun is better. You can use the Zilla fixture with a Reptisun bulb.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=15468

 

[Hdrydr31]

I've found that the T5 HO 10.0 reptisun bulbs are able to penetrate thru the mesh really well and last a long time, I think they give off a really nice light throughout the tank...Petmountain.com has good sales and prices. What size is your tank? In time you may need to get a bigger one. Yes be careful on the size of the crickets even if they are softbellied. Mine won't eat outside of their tank either, just make sure you get any crickets that have escaped being eaten as they can bite sleeping dragons..

 

[jaimemuffin]

I seem to only able to find t8 lights... Also, petmountain doesn't ship to Alaska. Amazon is my best bet.

He is in a 29, so he should be alright for a bit before I upgrade.

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[Elders]

I seem to only able to find t8 lights... Also, petmountain doesn't ship to Alaska. Amazon is my best bet.

He is in a 29, so he should be alright for a bit before I upgrade.

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What I use; and their links to amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Repti...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00

http://www.amazon.com/Reptisun-10-0...199_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=16K66B8CTJ49YAQN4P6A