I am brand new to the bearded dragon's .our new baby just arrived today I was told that its about a week and a half old . Is it normal for it to sleep a lot ? When my daughter is holding it it lays in her hand with its eyes closed . Like I said we are new and want to make sure nothing is wrong with it . It did eat some small crickets what else should we be feeding it . Thanks for any help
-
Hello guest! Are you a Bearded Dragon enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Beardie enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your dragons and enclosures and have a great time with other Bearded Dragon enthusiasts. Sign up today!
New dragon - Sleeping a lot
- Thread starter Jeb33
- Start date
- Messages
- 774
You should not handle your new dragon for 10-14 days until it gets used to his surrounding. Just as little as possible.
- Messages
- 1,122
- Location
- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
WELCOME TO THE BDF COMMUNITY!!
HERE ARE SOME VERY HELPFUL LINKS TO GET YOU STARTED
Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start
Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library
Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart
Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?
How To Sex A Bearded Dragon
After you have read through the info if you have any other questions please dont be shy about asking them. The BDF Community is slam-packed with experienced and
enthusiastic "Beardie Folk" that are eager to help you and your dragon have a long, healthy and happy life together
Here are a few vitally important basic tips:
-Your new baby dragon will require a minimum enclosure size of at least a 20 gallon Long tank. This is the minimum for a baby or juvenile dragon and you will need to plan on purchasing a minimum 40 gallon Breeder tank for him to live in as an adult.
-Your baby dragon needs a basking spot temperature of 110 degrees and a cool side temperature between 80-85 degrees during the day. These temps have to be maintained accurately for him to do well. You will need to purchase two(2) digital thermometers with remote probes to make sure the temps are right. (They cost about 9 dollars each at PetSmart..look in the Aquarium section to find them because the same thermometers in the reptile section cost more) One of the probes has to be attached directly on the basking spot and the other at the coolest spot in his enclosure.
-He will need a basking light bulb of sufficient wattage to get his basking temperature correct. He will also need a 10.0 or 10% UV light. These come in coil and tube type. The tube bulbs work the best. You will need to position both his basking bulb and his UV bulb so that they both shine down on his basking spot because your dragon will spend the majority of his time there and it will allow him to get the most of the UV that he needs. If you will be placing the fixtures on top of his screen and you decide to use the coil type UV bulbs then make sure that you only use the 26 watt bulbs..they come in 13 and 26 watts...the screen top will cut up to 50% of the UV output so you will need the higher wattage ones.
-At nite your dragon doesnt need any additional lights or heat unless the ambient temps in your home drops below 65 degrees. Night lites of any colour will only disturb his sleep so it is best not to use them. If additional heat is required it should be from a CHE ceramic heat emmiter. They radiate heat from above without light so will not interrupt your dragon's rest.
It takes 10 or more days for dragons to acclimate to new surroundings. They are very sensitive to sometimes even the slightest change in the "norm" of their environment. Stress is one of the biggest causes for dragons of any age becoming sick and going down. During the acclimation period it is extrememly important that your new dragon be handled a little as possible and be allowed to adjust in peace to his new surroundings. Handling during this period will stress him and make the acclimation period longer.
After he adjusts and settles in there will be plenty of time for handling him. This time is especially important with such a young dragon and his closing his eyes when your daughter is holding him is a sign of stress.
- To begin with you need to set up his enclosure with only the very basic things he requires which is a suitable basking perch, a single shallow food dish and perhaps a stone to naturally keep his claws filed down. That is all he needs. Do not use any particulate substrates when he is a baby because they have a high risk of him ingesting them and him getting impacted. There are plenty of safe substrate choices such as slate tiles, non adhesive vinyl tiles or non adhesive shelf paper or even paper towels to name a few.
-Your baby dragon does not need a water dish or bowl...most dragons do not recognize standing water as something they can drink so they wont drink from it and a water bowl inside his enclosure will only serve to raise the humidity in his home. These are dry climate creatures and do not need or want high humidity. He will get his moisture and hydration from the "salad" and live prey you feed him and from the soaks and misting that you will be giving him.
-Keep things simple and very basic and he will do better..clutter will lead to stress and also make it harder for your baby to find and get his feeder prey. Once he gets older you can decorate his house as fancy as you like.
Okay those are just a few of the basics...there is much more in the links I provided for you so please read through the info in them.
Again Welcome to the BDF...We are here to help in anyway we can
Enjoy!!
Mungi's Buddha
HERE ARE SOME VERY HELPFUL LINKS TO GET YOU STARTED
Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start
Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library
Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart
Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?
How To Sex A Bearded Dragon
After you have read through the info if you have any other questions please dont be shy about asking them. The BDF Community is slam-packed with experienced and
enthusiastic "Beardie Folk" that are eager to help you and your dragon have a long, healthy and happy life together
Here are a few vitally important basic tips:
-Your new baby dragon will require a minimum enclosure size of at least a 20 gallon Long tank. This is the minimum for a baby or juvenile dragon and you will need to plan on purchasing a minimum 40 gallon Breeder tank for him to live in as an adult.
-Your baby dragon needs a basking spot temperature of 110 degrees and a cool side temperature between 80-85 degrees during the day. These temps have to be maintained accurately for him to do well. You will need to purchase two(2) digital thermometers with remote probes to make sure the temps are right. (They cost about 9 dollars each at PetSmart..look in the Aquarium section to find them because the same thermometers in the reptile section cost more) One of the probes has to be attached directly on the basking spot and the other at the coolest spot in his enclosure.
-He will need a basking light bulb of sufficient wattage to get his basking temperature correct. He will also need a 10.0 or 10% UV light. These come in coil and tube type. The tube bulbs work the best. You will need to position both his basking bulb and his UV bulb so that they both shine down on his basking spot because your dragon will spend the majority of his time there and it will allow him to get the most of the UV that he needs. If you will be placing the fixtures on top of his screen and you decide to use the coil type UV bulbs then make sure that you only use the 26 watt bulbs..they come in 13 and 26 watts...the screen top will cut up to 50% of the UV output so you will need the higher wattage ones.
-At nite your dragon doesnt need any additional lights or heat unless the ambient temps in your home drops below 65 degrees. Night lites of any colour will only disturb his sleep so it is best not to use them. If additional heat is required it should be from a CHE ceramic heat emmiter. They radiate heat from above without light so will not interrupt your dragon's rest.
It takes 10 or more days for dragons to acclimate to new surroundings. They are very sensitive to sometimes even the slightest change in the "norm" of their environment. Stress is one of the biggest causes for dragons of any age becoming sick and going down. During the acclimation period it is extrememly important that your new dragon be handled a little as possible and be allowed to adjust in peace to his new surroundings. Handling during this period will stress him and make the acclimation period longer.
After he adjusts and settles in there will be plenty of time for handling him. This time is especially important with such a young dragon and his closing his eyes when your daughter is holding him is a sign of stress.
- To begin with you need to set up his enclosure with only the very basic things he requires which is a suitable basking perch, a single shallow food dish and perhaps a stone to naturally keep his claws filed down. That is all he needs. Do not use any particulate substrates when he is a baby because they have a high risk of him ingesting them and him getting impacted. There are plenty of safe substrate choices such as slate tiles, non adhesive vinyl tiles or non adhesive shelf paper or even paper towels to name a few.
-Your baby dragon does not need a water dish or bowl...most dragons do not recognize standing water as something they can drink so they wont drink from it and a water bowl inside his enclosure will only serve to raise the humidity in his home. These are dry climate creatures and do not need or want high humidity. He will get his moisture and hydration from the "salad" and live prey you feed him and from the soaks and misting that you will be giving him.
-Keep things simple and very basic and he will do better..clutter will lead to stress and also make it harder for your baby to find and get his feeder prey. Once he gets older you can decorate his house as fancy as you like.
Okay those are just a few of the basics...there is much more in the links I provided for you so please read through the info in them.
Again Welcome to the BDF...We are here to help in anyway we can
Enjoy!!
Mungi's Buddha
- Messages
- 1,122
- Location
- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
Anytime, Jeb33...It's what we are all here for!
Chris Baez Jr.
Juvenile Dragon
- Messages
- 317
- Location
- Lakeland, FL.
Welcome to BDF.
