New dragons, is there something wrong?

[Christopher]

My name is Chris. I have never had reptiles before. We bought two dragons about a week ago. Puff (I thought I was being creative when I named him) and Mushu. Sellers stated they were approximately a month old and they seem to be as they are right under 5 inches. No scale yet so weight is unknown. We have a 20g tank, reptisun 5.0 ~24inch, 75w basking lamp, a couple logs to sit on, artificial plant to hide under, food and water bowl. We usually feed them outside of their terrarium. Warm side sits around 94, cool side around 80 and basking spot at 105. I understand I've made some mistakes in the setup and am working to correct them (larger separate tanks, 10.0 UVB). Basking light sites approximately 8 inches from basking spot, UVB sits 12 inches from bottom. I keep reading that they should be eating 10-20 crickets a couple times a day. Mine eat maybe 5 during a feeding and 10 all day. I dust with calcium half of them. They eat greens minimally. No other food. We soak them once every other day for maybe 10 minutes. They poop 1-2 times daily, black and white. One glass dances on the rear wall and the other I haven't witnessed glass dancing at all. They seem to be a little less active than when they were at the pet store but I was more concerned about the amount of crickets they were eating. Am I panicking for no reason?

(My apologies for the long first post)
Christopher

 

[Sqooky]

They may be stressed because they are in the same tank. Your setup sounds fine for a juvi dragon but they will need larger, separate tanks pretty soon. If you are already feeding in a separate tank I would try feeding one at a time. Leave the greens in the main tank so they have access to them all the time and maybe put a seperate bowl in the feeding tank. If you put the crickets in the bowl with the greens, this way they get a taste for it and you should have a leaf eateri n no time. Hope this helps

 

[Christopher]

Ok, hadn't thought about putting the cricks with the greens. They are being fed one at a time. I'm planning on getting a pair for 40g tanks, if that would be sufficient for them as adults. I appreciate the input. Hopefully they start eating more soon.

 

[Jp]

Hey Chris. Welcome 2 the forum & congrats on your 1st dragons. If u can get those 40's set up with 10.0 tubes u should b good 2 go. They really should be separated ASAP, with there being 2 dragons in 1 enclosure they are more likely 2 stress eachother out, fight over food or the "dominant position" of the enclosure. Another member unfortunately lost a dragon recently & we don't know if it was due to fighting or a weakened immune system due 2 stress. However, it sounds like uv done your research & ur making the necessary changes. Have a chill day.

 

[Christopher]

Much appreciated Jeff, and thanks for the welcome. I've been doing quite a bit of research on these guys in the last week and any advice is greatly appreciated. Regarding the tanks, I'm working on making that happen. I have noticed that mine as assumed the position as the dominant dragon in our tank. I just posted in the habitat section about tanks so if you have a second and an opinion I'd appreciate your input. And once more thing. What is the deal with the glass dancing on the rear of the tank. I hope he doesn't dislike me! Thanks again to you and Spooky as well. Sorry about the loss of the dragon.

 

[Jp]

I'm not sure if glass dancing is them trying 2 get out or them playing with their reflection.

 

[Dragonsx6]

when you say you got your tank lights etc was this on the recommendation form the shop - somewhere like petco etc??? If so i really WISH they would do their research and sell the correct setups for these guys!
Let them eat what they can in a 5-10 min period rather than say an exact amount. Each mealtime they will eat different amounts depending on how hungrey they are. with the greens as babies they ave to learn to like different things so keep up with it as 1 day they might eat them another day they may turn thier noses up.
If your tank is all glass try putting some background on the other 3 sides to stop them seeing their reflection, will help with thier stress levels

Totally agree there Lizardlover. Makes me so angry when places like petco or here in the uk Pets at Home sell these animals and the people who are selling them dont know what they are talking about. I could rant all day about them.

 

[Dragonsx6]

haha Dragons did that once on a UK forum many yrs ago and PaH found out and asked for it to be removed lol!

ha ha . Serves them right tho, they shocking!!

 

[Dragonsx6]

selling Reps should be left to people that really know what they are talking about like specialist reptile shops, but cos these places sell them it puts the small business man out of pocket as they can often get supplies cheaper as the companies buy in BIG bulk specialist shops can only buy is small quantities when it comes to lights substrates furniture tanks etc we woudl buy say 1/2 dozen bulbs a week ( UV's) and sell them at RRP prices but shops can afford to buy big and do discounts

That is so true Lizard, but you know what I would rather pay that little bit extra and get my stuff from my small local shop where I know the guys on a first name basis, and I'm 100% happy in the knowledge that they know what they are talking about andwhat they are doing. The guy who's shop I use has over 30 years reptile keeping experience and is part of a local reptile club here, they were doing a talk in our local Pets at home store when the guys working there were trying to tell him what he should have been doing - everything they said was wrong, and this is the type of people they have selling these animals. A friend of mine also went in once for crix, they asked her what she was buying them for, when she told them it was for dragons they told her that you never feed them crix, the only thing you shud feed them is mealworm!! I mean really, 10 min on google tells them what they eat...

 

[Christopher]

Ok, so we changed over to 10.0 uv, separate tanks and smaller crickets. They are tearing up some crickets.

 

[Dragonsx6]

Ok, so we changed over to 10.0 uv, separate tanks and smaller crickets. They are tearing up some crickets.

Thats great, glad they doing well

 

[Brett]

Thats aewsome to hear glad things are looking up.