New to beardies, would like some questions answered, please

[Vertria]

The beardie that I rescued was from a pet store. He had had "yellow fever" and had successfully been treated for it. My understanding of it, however, is that it can and often does just go into remission. I hope that it never comes back.

Anywho, on to my questions.

First and foremost, why has my beardie been running back and forth in his tank, clawing at the walls? He's done that all day today up until it seemed like he got tired after he had dinner.

Which is where my second question comes into play. He was sitting on top of his basking stone (it isn't a heat rock, simply something he can perch on) and after a while, he had shut his eyes while laying on top of the rock. I'm guessing he's tired 'cause shortly after that he curled up in a corner in his tank.

The point to the above: Is he tired? Was he really just trying to sleep? If so, should I turn his basking light off and let him sleep? He was given dinner about three hours or so ago. I'd hate for him to get constipated because that light isn't on.

Which is something else I wanna know. How does a beardie's digestive track work? I did my research on what would be good for him and also included foods to avoid, but I'm more interested in the actual process itself.

Last question: Did I feed him a tad too much tonight? I gave him a few crickets and some greens, but his belly seems to be a tad bit bloated. If I did, what should I do tomorrow? Feed him like normal, or less, or more (though I don't know how this would be helpful)?

Edit: I'm new to owning and raising a beardie. In the past I have caught geckos and stuff (I live in Arizona) that looked like they were too small or what have you to live. I would take them put them in a fish tank, then wait till they were healthy (or larger in size) and release them again.

 

[Germ]

Welcome to the BD Community

The tank pacing,wall climbing & glass dancing are very normal periodic BD behavior.

Bds will often close their eyes while basking, appearing to sleep. Keep your lighting on a specific, consistent schedule, most of us have found 12 hours on, 12 hours off to work the best. The Day/Night schedule needs to be consistent, On/Off at the same time of the day, everyday. An inexpensive electronic timer is an invaluable tool for this, takes care of the lighting when we can not be there, sleep in or are just plain forgetful. No you should not turn the lights out, just because he appears to be sleeping during the daylight hours, with the exception of Brumation.

BDs need heat to enable the digestion process & is why a basking spot kept at the required temps is required.

Please read over the info in the following links, it will give you a much better understanding of your new pet & it's proper care.

Basic Bearded Dragon Care Guide - A Place To Start
UVB Setup
Temp Guns
Bearded Dragon - Exclusive Care Info Library
Is Bearded Dragon Cohabitation A Good Plan?
What's Good & Not So Good To Feed - Beautiful Dragon's Nutrition Guide

Good Luck

 

[Vertria]

Here's a little bit more things to consider.

To the best of my knowledge he is between six to seven months old.

The setup I have is a 30 gallon glass fish tank. It is a foot wide, three feet long, and 17 inches tall.

I have a dish in a corner that is made to be stuck in corners that I typically put his food in. A few inches from there is another dish that has water in it. I read all over that they get most of their water from their food, but can't hurt to have a backup.

There is one medium sized fake rock that he climbs on and his basking bulb is directly above that. I unfortunately do not have the money just yet to get his UVB fixture or bulb, but here in a couple weeks (if not much sooner) that problem will be resolved. I hear not having UVB is quite a bad thing.

Obviously the food/water is on the other side of the tank from the lamp.

I feed him live crickets, mustard greens, and collard greens. We tried to give him acorn squash, but he ate around that for the most part and ignored the squash. It was recommended to me by the pet store that I get this... well, pink stuff that is supposed to be rich in nutrients. That is being mentioned because he does the same thing with it as the squash.

If you need any more details, I'll provide them to the best of my ability.

 

[Vertria]

Advice

I did go through all but two of the guides you suggested prior to joining this here forum. It just makes me more comfortable with somebody whom I can directly ask questions instead of just reading it on a generalized guide, no matter how good it is or isn't. There's just that "human factor" that I desire. It's better to not assume a guide is right, so even if folks are just echoing what the guide says then that sounds reasonable enough.

On top of that, I want to try my absolute best to provide the best home my beardie needs. That involves asking very specific questions and waiting on the answer. As I said, echoing a guide is fine to me, but it helps to know that there's someone on the other end of a conversation.

 

[Germ]

In a few short months you will have increase the size of it's enclosure to a minimum 40 gal breeder tank or something similar with at least 4 square feet of floor area. This is the minimum recommended size for an adult BD.

Water dishes are unnecessary. Very few BDs will recognize standing water, so if they are not being used, they only raise the humidity in the enclosure, something that the majority of us have issues keeping down because of our climates.

UVB is an integral part of BD husbandry & needs to be provided ASAP ...

I understand about reading articles compared to Forum talk ... But seeing as how I wrote 4 of the articles above, based on my experience & research with these beautiful creatures over the last 12 years, to more illustrate what has to be repeatedly voiced here on the forums over & over, I am not going to do it all again here .

 

[Vertria]

More advice

It's understandable that you've no desire to go through all of it again. Those things were what were on my mind.

I'm hoping to get a 40-50 gallon tank sometime in the next few months, but we'll have to wait and see.

Water dishes will raise the humidity, hm? Well, most excellent in my case. I live in Arizona; humidity is hard to keep high here.

I know I gotta get the UVB ASAP and I will.

In the end, it's all about making him happy and healthy. I love the little guy and am just trying to give him the best.

Given you wrote those guides, you didn't even have to respond to further inquiry. As such, I thank you for doing so anyway. =3 Friendly, helpful folks are quite hard to come by.

 

[Germ]

Water dishes will raise the humidity, hm? Well, most excellent in my case. I live in Arizona; humidity is hard to keep high here.

Keep in mind that you do not want high humidity, ideally, the Relative Humidity should be kept in the 10%-30% range if the climate allows it. But sounds like that may not be an issue where you live.

Good Luck

 

[Red007]

Germ is there a link or a easy way to find the links you have listed. It would be helpful. I'm going to bookmark them.

 

[Germ]

Germ is there a link or a easy way to find the links you have listed. It would be helpful. I'm going to bookmark them.

Click on my signature area or go to: http://www.beardeddragonforum.com - all the info listed is there