New to reptiles.

[dhall79]

Never had reptiles before. 12 year old son just got a baby bd. Must say this thing is a very well mannered lizard.

Pet store told me one or two small crickets a day. I accidentally dumped ten in the tank and the bd ate them all in seconds. It seems I have some learning to do. We bought 30 sm crickets thinking if would last a while. Seems I may have been wrong.

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[ashley7988]

Hi there! Welcome to the beardie community! Beautiful baby you got there!

1 to 2 crickets a day is definitely not enough. Baby beardies eat 80% live prey and 20% greens. When they are adults those percentages are switched. When I first got my baby beardie he was eating upwards of 60 crickets, however they were very small crickets.. Once I got the appropriate size (they can handle food as big as the space between their eyes, you don't want to feed prey bigger than that for risk of impaction) he would eat fewer crickets, maybe around 30. You're supposed to give them as much live prey as they can eat in 10-15 minutes. Be sure to remove any uneaten prey 2 hours before lights out, otherwise crickets can disturb your beardies sleep.

One other thing I saw in the picture is to make a change with your lights, I'm assuming one side is the heat lamp and the other is the UVB light. They should be moved to one side of the tank and you need to have a digital thermometer at the peak of the basking area, you should keep the basking temperature around 110 degrees at this age. The cool side of the tank should be around 85 degrees. I will attach a photo of my setup to give you a better idea.

I'm sure Germ will come on here and give you some helpful links to look through and give you important information on how to properly care for your new beardie! I just wanted to give a few tips Enjoy! They're awesome little critters!

**Edited to include picture**

 

[ashley7988]

You can't see where I have the probe for the thermometer but it is on the other side of the branch close to the top where he basks.

 

[Germ]

TOO LITTLE? TOO MUCH? --- FOOD

A few more good links to help get you started ...

Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start

Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library

Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart

UVB Bulb Types & Setup

Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?

How to sex a Bearded Dragon
How To Sex A Bearded Dragon

You have 2 bowls, I am going to go out on a limb here & guess that one is a water bowl. These are desert/scrubland creatures, very few ponds or puddles in the desert to romp in. Very few BDs will ever drink from standing water. These guys get all the hydration they need from well hydrated feeders, their greens & regular mistings & warm soaks. Water bowls will raise the humidity in the enclosure, something that the majority of us have difficulty in keeping down because of the natural RH of our climate. Feeders will drown in it. The majority of seasoned keepers do not provide one.

I agree that the placement of your lighting & Basking Spot should be adjusted, please see the links pertaining to this above.

The thermometers that you are using are not suited to this application. Analog thermometers are notorious for their inaccuracy and are not mounted any where near where your temps need to be measured. Your BD will never climb to the top of the back wall, so why measure the temps there. These stick on thermometers will give you more the temp of the Glass, which is affected as much by the outside ambient room temps, as by the inside enclosure environment, so provides highly inaccurate readings. Basking Temps need to be measured directly at the Basking Spot & should be very near or at 110F for a young BD with a heat gradient to 80-85F on the cool side. Digital thermometers with sensors/probes are what are needed to do this, as the sensors can be placed/mounted directly on/to the basking spot & give proper readings.

The K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid) method is always the best for any age BD. Having a lot of clutter in an enclosure, particularly for a young BD, offer the feeders many hiding places, making it difficult for the BD to hunt & feed. All that is really needed for furnishings is a Basking Spot at the proper temp, UVB at a distance from the Basking Spot close enough to be effective, proper heat Gradient throughout the enclosure, a rock to act as an emery board as they climb on it to help keep their claws in check, a food dish, a full screen to keep them contained & substrate that they can get some traction on. Anything else is for the keepers benefit & eye candy, not for the benefit of the BD.

You will find that Pet Stores are generally one of the worst sources of care info around.

Pretty Baby, Congrats & Good Luck

 

[dhall79]

Thanks for all your help. I have made some adjustments to my sons setup.

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[dhall79]

The temp probe is from my freezer. Should work for now till I can get one ordered. It does room temp and probe temp. Showing about 100 in basking spot, 80 on the cool side.

Also, both lights are on a timer now, not just the uv. 7am-9pm 14 hours on.

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[Germ]

The new arrangement is a vast improvement. The thermometer should work nicely until you can get another one. I used to always use digital Indoor/Outdoor thermometers for mine, which worked very well, main unit & sensor setup similar to the way yours is setup now.

But some tweaking appears to still be necessary ...

Having the Fixture raised on one end, as it is, will cause much of the heat & UVB to be reflected off the screen & not into the enclosure. Placed flat on the screen will trap the UVB & heat, forcing as much as possible to be radiated & reflected into the enclosure.

You really need to raise the Basking Temp 10 degrees F or so to 110F. Juvenile BDs need this higher heat to enable them to digest their food. This can be achieved by lowering the heat bulb, raising the basking spot or using a Higher wattage bulb. If they don't have high enough heat, they can't digest their food efficiently & properly, if they can't digest their food, they can't eat proper amounts, if they can't eat the needed amounts of nutritious food, they can't grow as they should & often will get ill. 100F is fine for an adult, juveniles need higher basking temps, as they eat more & need to digest it faster in order to grow.

I notice that you are using what appears to be RepCal Bearded Dragon Food, I also use this as part of all my BDs staple diet throughout their lives. But ... in your pic it appears that the pellets are dry . If fed Pellets of any kind, at all, the pellets should always be pre-soaked to moisten them just enough to be spongy, not soggy, prior to feeding. Feeding dry can very quickly lead to dehydration, as dry, they will put a very serious strain on a BDs hydration stores to hydrate the pellets during the digestive process. Pre-soaking the pellets, is a very good source of Hydration for your BD also.

Most of us have found 14 hrs to be a long day for our BDs & that 12On/12Off to work the best for them.

Good Luck

 

[dhall79]

We bought my son the Bearded Dragon 40 kit. The food came with it. We haven't really tried it much yet. He has been eating romaine lettuce and about 5 crix a day.

As for the crix, we have a lot die. About 50% . Our petstore had a near dead shipment , we had a hard time getting 24 living small crix. Over half died next day.

I am exploring food ootions now. Thinking of ordering crix online. Or roaches. Bit scared of roaches as it seems they breed easily. My 12 year old son will be doing most of the feedings, worried that if a couple get loose that they might breed in my house. Might be hard to kill if infested.

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[mahaffeys' exotic pets]

Hello,

I was scared of the same thing for a couple of years but these roaches if they do get out typically can't breed as the house stays to cold and dry for them to breed.

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[dhall79]

What are some of your favorite web sites for supplies. Favorite products. Looking to buy some thermometers more appropriate for my setup. Any suggestions on what I should use? I would prefer to buy what is right for this little guy. I dropped a ton of money at Petsmart, and it seems that I will be replacing a good portion of it soon, so that I have what is actually needed to properly care for BDs. $440 invested so far. I am starting to think that maybe I should have joined a forum, asked for advice, then purchase everything separately. Can't complain too much, I have much more invested into most of my hobbies. I am just glad that it seems to be a great pet for my son, and he really likes it. Got to admit that I like it too. I've kind of taken over. But my son is young, and will need help. Someone in the house should have some knowledge on the subject. I should probably have him use this forum as well. I can be a bit of a forum junkie. Better than TV for me.

 

[dhall79]

What do you guys do for your BDs when you go on vacation? Short trips, long trips.

 

[ashley7988]

I order crickets from Ghann's Cricket Farm. I order 500 and they last me a while and VERY little die off... The most I've had die is 4 crickets. If you do that you'll need to get a tote, I got a big grey one, have some egg cartons so they can hide, and cricket food, and I use the gut-load food from petsmart for their hydration. I'm not bold enough to try roaches... I'm terrified of them so I stick with crickets.

I bought a 40 gallon breeder kit from Petsmart as well and I ended up replacing all the lights and using a totally different UVB setup. It was still worth it though even though we had to drop a few more bucks. Luckily my Husband was a sport and knew how bad I wanted a beardie

 

[Germ]

What do you guys do for your BDs when you go on vacation? Short trips, long trips.

I have a trusted friend/acquaintance come in to poop scoop & feed as needed for the age of BD/s.

 

[PatsyB]

Welcome to the forum! Bearded dragons are awesome creatures to have! Does your little one have a name yet?

As Ashley does, I also order crickets from Ghann's cricket farm. Very little die off. I was ordering 1000 at a time (I also have frogs to feed) but cut down to 500 because my beardie doesn't eat as much as she used to. I also started ordering tiny crickets for my frogs, from Josh's frogs. They are reasonably priced and they ship next day air. Anyway, for my bigger crickets I keep them in a 20 gallon breeder tank with a metal top on it with lot's of toilet paper tubes or egg crate for them to hide. I leave a dry cricket meal in there for them to eat along with Fluker's cricket quencher. I also feed them whatever I feed Dexter. You should check out the site beautifuldragons.com there is a great nutritional chart there that lists the fruits/veggies/flowers that are safe and nutritious. Your basic lettuce group romain/iceberg/redleaf/greenleaf doesn't provide much nutrition. You need to go with things like, dandelion leaves, kale, mustard greens and collard greens. I've also learned that the color of the veggie could be a big deal too so try to mix things up!

 

[dhall79]

My son named him toothless. From the movie How to train your Dragon.

He did not like my idea of Horny Mike. From Counting Cars.

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[Bushmaster11B]

LOL @ your name.... too funny! Welcome to the forum dhall, listen and ask many questions. I'm on day 3 of a new baby BD's and Germ plus a few others saved me from having a heart attack from worrying about my babies health. They helped me setup the right enclosure correctly and saved me money. You can't find a better community when it comes to BD's. Plus there is a section for casual everyday off-topic stuff here too. I like to consider these people as my "Dragon Family", LOL.

 

[ravenwolf]

hello and welcome, he looks great, can't wait to find out more about him

 

[Abby Cuccia]

Hi there and welcome! I was having the cricket issue as well. I found that when you put a piece of egg carton in the container with the crickets it makes a huge difference. The pet stores often give you a small piece without you asking so if you ask they will surely comply. About a week and a half ago I jumped from 50ish at a time - which was about 2 days' worth at the time - to 500. It really is more economical. There was a reptile convention in my area so I was able to buy a modified Rubbermaid container with a lot of cricket keeping supplies for very cheap as well as the crickets. I will try the same cricket online carrier as was mentioned when I need replenishing. Best of luck to you. I have a small water dish in my enclosure and my dragon sometimes runs through it and I have even seen it drink (lick) the water on occasion. I haven't removed it because of this reason. Best of luck to you and toothless!

 

[Ron G]

Seems like we all have the same story. We bought our baby Bearded Dragon for our 11 year old son and I have turned into the primary caregiver. Not that I mind however. We also purchased a 20 gallon starter kit and after only a few months pretty much replaced everything including the tank. I also agree not to trust anything employees at the pet stores say. My worst experience with that has been Petsmart who insisted that Mealworms should be a staple for any Bearded Dragon and that Bearded Dragons come from a tropical environment and need humidity. Good thing I started right away getting informed from Bearded Dragon Forums on what to do correctly. I hated dealing with the crickets and stopped after a few months. I switched to Phoenix Worms and Silkworms. Once my Bearded Dragon Troy was big enough I started giving him Hornworms as a treat. Silkworms, Phoenix Worms and Hornworms are more expensive than crickets but way more healthy and don't have to be supplemented with vitamins or calcium. These worms also do not carry parasites which can be found in crickets. Troy is about 9 months old and about 16 inches. I did read that taking care of a Bearded Dragon can be an expensive hobby and they were right. I spend more on Troy a month than I do for our 3 dogs combined excluding vet visits.

 

[Bushmaster11B]

I can see "how" expensive it would be without crickets being a staple diet like you Ron. My BD eats about 65% Crickets and 35% Phoenix Worms for his live food. I feed him about 12 mealworms per week for treats. Man he LOVES his meal worms. Plus he eat collard greens. So let's do my math for my BD just to give a financial perspective:

700 crickets per month; online (growing phase/juvenile)- $30 shipped
200 phoenix worms; online (10% usually die off)- $16 shipped
12 mealworms (local store)- $1.37
Bundle of Collard Greens/Organic (per month)- $0.99

Grand approx. total- $48.36 per month to feed 1 BD. And that's just feeding the BD.

However, if you want one or willing to take care of one... then you can make it part of your budget if you access your situation. Me, I stopped drinking Soda. This alone saves me $40 a month. Then I picked up an E-Cigarette/ Liquid Cigarette, because 1, smoking is bad for your health and for your BD's health if you smoke inside. 2. It saves me $250+ a month (Liquid Cigarette cost $50, $10 average monthly refills). I would budget your son's BD into your life. They are worth it.