New dragon owners to be

[rbcb]

Hello to all. My 10 year old son and I will be getting our first bearded dragon on November 16th (Repticon in Atlanta). We have been doing a lot of research and reading for many months now, have ordered an enclosure, and are now in the process of buying necessary items: temp guns, vitamins, items for the enclosure, etc.. There is one thing I am curious about and would like to solicit some opinions. I would like to have slate tile cut for the enclosure in removable pieces. However, I realize that you have to be careful not to let crickets get in the cracks between the tile. Therefore, it seems to make sense to do the daily cricket feedings in a seperate container. I have also been reading that you should minimize contact for the first couple of weeks. Would it make more sense to use paper towels or reptile carpet as the substrate for a couple of weeks and feed completely in the cage until our new BD settles in?

 

[Bushmaster11B]

I would like to have slate tile cut for the enclosure in removable pieces. However, I realize that you have to be careful not to let crickets get in the cracks between the tile. Therefore, it seems to make sense to do the daily cricket feedings in a seperate container. I have also been reading that you should minimize contact for the first couple of weeks. Would it make more sense to use paper towels or reptile carpet as the substrate for a couple of weeks and feed completely in the cage until our new BD settles in?

Slate Is an excellent idea and you can get it cut to match up perfectly in your enclosure. This is part of my enclosure with tile (we will talk about what the paper is for in this discussion too):

Notice there is no gaps in my flooring? The Pyrex bowl is for my feeder Dubia Roaches…. they can climb out of it. On the temporary substrate though, I would use paper towels until you bought tile. My enclosure is 48" x 20" x 20" dimensions and I bought 2 packs of tile (10, 12" x 12" pieces) at $14 at Home Depot. Then I took it to a tile cutting store and they charged me $10 to cut them (it was about .70 cents per cut). The key is making sure your measurements are spot on. I had to squeezed these tiles in. And last but not least, Acclimation. See the whit paper in my enclosure (I left it there); cover all sides of your enclosure with white printing paper so your BD can not see out. Minimize traffic and noise around your BD and only remove 1 sheet of paper per 5 days. Also, minimize handling down to maintenance only (moving him for baths and cleaning the cage). Hand feed your little one. I use tweezers to feed my BD live bugs. This will create a bond between owner (human) and BD. Allow your BD to acclimate for about 10-15 days at least. And watch for stress marks. Stress marks are jagged black spots or blurs on their throats and belly. It is a color pigment that actually changes the color of the scales temporary. I hope all this helps and Welcome to BDF. You are family now.

 

[gunkle]

Slate is a great choice. I handled mine multiple times per day right off the bat. Depends on you're BD mine had little stress but I was the exception. I tried to feed in a separate container but he just sat there and watched them.

 

[gunkle]

Try the recommended tried and trusted approaches first. But remember each BD is different. I ended up with the one that doesn't seem to like most of the suggested ways. It was a bit of trial and error to figure out what works. the stress marks show up pretty quick if something is wrong. As a new owner I would highly recommend checking out Dubia Roaches they are way better then cricket and the sooner you start a colony the sooner you can feed off of it (takes months to get to that point). Once you get past the "You want me to bring roaches INTO my house" they are a great choice.