New dragon

[willwak90]

hi there I am a new bearded dragon owner and have recently (yesterday) purchased my first beardie. I have just today got him out of his viv. Straight away his bearded turned black he wasn't aggressive however this did startle me. What should I do? I was told by his previous owner he is due to shed could this have anything to do with it.

 

[river-7]

He should settle into his home first before you try handling.It takes a beardie a week to 10-days to settle into his home. How old is he and what size tank do you have him in and what temps is he at.and the lighting he has. Please answer all questions as it will help us to help you and your baby-Welcome to BDF.He could be upset to have a black beard or most of all he may be cold depending o0n your lighting. Please don't listen to pet shops most don't know too much about these gentle giants.no questions are stupid as we all had to learn, again welcome to BDF-River-7

 

[willwak90]

Hi there his temp is kept between 31-38 degrees C humidity 30-35% I been told he is around 6-8 months old he has a uvb strip light a day time basking light and also a night time one. The tank is just over 3ft wide by 2ft by 2.5ft high. Sorry if my terminology is t correct lol. His beard soon went to normal after about a minute or so.

 

[river-7]

At 6-8 months old he's still a baby and his temp should be 110-f at his basking point. Beardies are like we are they need no lights at night and that is so they can tell daytime from nightime. And they thermo regulate at this time.31-38% sorry most of us go by F.Yeah; He was probably cold and just warming up. I had 1-that used to black-beard every morning and once he got warm he went to normal.what type is your UVB t-5 or t-8??

 

[river-7]

Sorry had to go out for a minute.Lighting is very important. And placement of his basking and his UVB; If you could answer we can try to help.river-7

 

[river-7]

You should also have a diginal [sp] thermometer to measure his temps on the hot side105-110 and cold side the should be 75-85 for a baby or juvenile
-the prob should be on the highest point of his basking area and the other on the cold side where he needs to cool off. If you can provide a pic we could help a little more and see your set up-what are you using to line the ground of your tank with?? a lot of us use paper towels, carpet, or slate tiles it helps to keep the gentle giant clean-easier clean up for you.Can't think of any thing else right now but someone else will chime in with different things to say.And welcome to BDF again-river-7