New fussy baby

[Valiant]

Hi. I just got a baby beardy two weeks ago. I've wanted one for a long time, and am very excited to raise him. For the first week he had no issue with me holding him. But now he is doing his best to run away and hissing and biting me. He's mainly eating crickets and veggies. I'm wondering if his fear of me may be linked to his tank. It's about 80 degrees in there and he has an electric heating rock. Husband won't let me purchase new lights for him so Im stuck with what we have tell he gets big enough for a new tank. Could his aggression be caused by the low heat or because he's a baby and is just scared?

 

[Valiant]

Here is the set up we have. It's a 12X12 tank. Label on the tank said it was designed for bearded dragons

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

I can't answer your question but you should remove/unplug that heat rock IMMEDIATELY. Heat rocks don't have any sort of controls, and get VERY VERY HOT. They can easily burn your bearded dragon.

I will also say this; if you can't give him what he needs because someone else won't let you, you shouldn't be owning him. The low temperatures will stunt his growth and it will take even longer for him to get big enough for a new tank. And yes that might be why he is so cranky. When an animals environment isn't right they get very unhappy.

Rehome him to someone who can take proper care of him.

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

I agree he NEEDS lights and UVB bulbs or he is not going to grow
The heat rock will hurt him so take that out right away
Baby beardies are not cheap they eat a lot of food and you need to be prepared to spend money on him, if you can't do that he needs to go to someone who can

 

[Valiant]

Thanks for the advice, but I've already gotten him into a new tank with the correct lights and no electric heat rock. Hopefully the new environment will make him feel better. And u don't have to be so snappy. I know tone is lost in text but that felt very hostil. I'm a beginner with dragons and learning as I go. We don't all start knowing everything.

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

I'm sorry if that sounded rude that was not my intention
But i am very glad you got the correct parts, and welcome to the forum

 

[Hdrydr31]

It's all ok everyone we all start somewhere and this is a place to come and learn.. We all want our babies to be happy and thrive and that's the goal here... All is good, lots to learn.

 

[Valiant]

My husband bought the dragon, and I'm taking away the care of it from him as he does not have the time to properly care for it. That's why we did not have the proper set up or knowledge before hand. I would of done research before purchase and gotten all the correct supplies at the start if I had known about the surprise pet. But like with all pets and children we learn and adapt as we go along. Now, as he won't eat super worms I'm looking into getting him some other worm. I heard phenox worms where very good for baby's but I have only been able to find some on Amazon. Is there any supplier that y'all feel that is good and fair price? Or should I try a different worm?

 

[Hdrydr31]

My husband bought the dragon, and I'm taking away the care of it from him as he does not have the time to properly care for it. That's why we did not have the proper set up or knowledge before hand. I would of done research before purchase and gotten all the correct supplies at the start if I had known about the surprise pet. But like with all pets and children we learn and adapt as we go along. Now, as he won't eat super worms I'm looking into getting him some other worm. I heard phenox worms where very good for baby's but I have only been able to find some on Amazon. Is there any supplier that y'all feel that is good and fair price? Or should I try a different worm?

Dragon's can be somewhat picky at times at what they want to eat... I vary Izzy's diet to give her choice.. I feed primarily Dubia roaches (depending on your state some like FL can't have them) but they are super nutritious, they have long gi tracts so you can really gut load them, 1=5 crickets, and they are edible their entire lifespan. If you feed them they are expensive so keeping your own colony is best. (trust me they still creep me out BUT Izzy loves them and they can't survive outside their set ups). I also feed supers, on occasion butterworms and waxworms...
What i've found is look into local small chain pet shops that have reptiles they often have bugs of all sorts at fair prices. I get good healthy waxworms from them.. Some use Josh's frogs, I used Armstrong crickets for crickets and super's, some members on this forum sell dubia's so look in the for sale section.
I'm glad to hear that you've taken over the care of your critter they will thrive with attention they do bond with us (like right now I'm looking at Izzy in her tank and she's giving me that I want out mom look

 

[Valiant]

Thanks. . We don't have any small stores around here. Sadly Petco drove them all out of business. So I'll have to order. I'm unsure about the roaches. Cause well, yucky. Only thing I won't touch is a roach. But I'll research their care and may go ahead and get some to try.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Thanks. . We don't have any small stores around here. Sadly Petco drove them all out of business. So I'll have to order. I'm unsure about the roaches. Cause well, yucky. Only thing I won't touch is a roach. But I'll research their care and may go ahead and get some to try.

I understand the feeling I still have to resist the urge to fling them across the room BUT they don't bite, they don't fly, they live a long time, they are good breeders, very meaty and juicy for our dragons, and super easy to maintain! no cleaning like crickets just fresh oranges, water crystals, and a good dry food (I make my own in big batches) and heat oh and they can't survive and reproduce outside their tub.
My honey is always amazed that when he looks at them he's surprised that I have them being a chick that hates bugs lol

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

You could try flukerfarms.com they have bugs you can order and I normally get 250 for a little over 10 bucks

 

[PatsyB]

There are some places online that you can get phoenix worms, butter worms, silk worms and butter worms as well as crickets. I like Joshs' frogs for my crickets, Great Lakes hornworms for my supers and hornworms. I've ordered from Linda's Gone Buggie for butterworms (I also ordered silk worms from her but they died pretty fast). I just placed an order with CNS Feeders. I have yet to get my order of hornworms and silk worms, supposed to come tomorrow, so I'll know more then about the quality but the whole transaction was very easy.

There's a link in hdrydr31's signature that we are working on that has great basic info for getting started.

We all have to remember that we all started somewhere. I had a heat rock when I got Dexter and I did do some research when I got her. So we all make mistakes and hey, that's how we learn.