Newbie Baby Owner

[Violoso]

So, my oldest son (22yr) got my 2 youngest (4 and 7yr) a baby beardie for Christmas. So, he basically got me a beardie for Christmas. He was just over a month old when we got him from a well-known reptile breader/store here locally. He did very well at first until he started his first molt. He went from eating 10 or so small, but not tiny crickets per day to 1-3 a day with a few bites of greens and strawberries. He seems happy enough though. He's only in a 10 gallon tank right now, which I realize is smaller than recommended after doing some research. I did spritzes pretty much daily once he started his shed. Up until I started the spritzes, he did not want me to touch him at all. It was literally a game changer after that though. He let me pet him readily after that first spritz, which was when I tried again to pet him. Since then, like a week now I guess, he loves his spritz time, but is still not eating well. He will only actively go after 1-3 crickets and then jumps back to his hammock. So this past weekend, I bought a bigger water dish that he can actually fit in and a red light that was recommended for nighttime use to keep him warm since it is so cold here. Since then, my oldest has told me that red lights aren't recommended and I've seen it upheld both ways. He does have a rock that he can get under to be completely out of the light, yet still warm and seems happy enough. Keep in mind, it's only been 3 days now since I got the nightlight. I was using a space heater at 75 before that once my 7 yr old went to bed since he's in his room.

That all said (and please forgive for my off the wall commentary here as it is late (2am) and I just finally got approved to post), he seems happy and he especially loved his first bath I gave him last night in his water dish. He was so jumpy, I didn't dare take him out of his cage for his first bath. It was also the first time he let me hold him. He didn't even seem interested in being put down. I actually had to fight a bit tonight to get him out of my hand and to his rock. He seemed very happy being in my hand with me gently petting him.

My worry is how little he's eating. I know they slow on eating when they molt, but he is so tiny it worries me. Is there anything else I can do to help get him to eat more? I take everything out of his cage when I give him his crickets and he'll jump down and eat 1-3 but after that, he is done. I even took his hammock out to get him to explore more of his cage (which is only a 10 gallon atm) and even put him in his food dish where I keep his veggies.

I just don't want to do anything that will screw this up. He seems to have a very good personality and finally has taken to me and I know as he gets bigger he will take to the kids.

I am sure I can properly elaborate further tomorrow when I am a little more rested and not in such a hurry to type this up and get to bed for my little monsters to wake me up!

 

[PatsyB]

Sometimes they get a little stressed. They act fine when you first get them but then they realize they aren't going anywhere and this his there new home, and they kinda get a little cautious as they get used to things. You don't want to spritz him inside the tank because moisture will cause the humidity to go up too high. Moisture will also make bacteria buildup. They don't absorb water through their skin so the only thing its good for is if they are trying to shed. Also when you mist, you want to avoid the face because you don't want them to get a respiratory infection from inhaling the water.

Also take a look at your temps. Its very hard in a 10g to get a gradient but you need a basking spot of 107degrees and a cool spot of 75-80degrees. An infrared temp gun works best to measure temps or a digital probe thermometer. If the basking spot isn't warm enough, it could be why he's not eating.

As far as the lights, I can now fully explain this. They need a period of complete darkness and cool at night. So all lights should be on a cycle, most people do 12 on 12 off. During the day the UVB light provides D3 and the heat from the basking light helps process that into calcium. At night all of those lights need to go off because darkness is when the body further processes all the nutrients they'e eaten during the day and it balances out the calcium and D3 more.

The obvious bad thing about a red light at night is that they have a gland on top of their head that senses heat and sees shadows. This gland is also known as the third eye because they can see these things and feel these things even when their actual eyes are closed. What this means is at night, when their eyes are closed, if they have a red light on, something can create a shadow over their head and they will think they are being hunted. This will disrupt their sleep cycle to make for a sleepy cranky dragon during the day. Not sleeping, like us, will also disrupt their brain function. So it's best that they have complete darkness. Only if your tank dips below 65 degrees do you need to provide a little heat at night. A CHE (ceramic heat emitter) is best, it gives off heat with no light.

 

[Hdrydr31]

So, my oldest son (22yr) got my 2 youngest (4 and 7yr) a baby beardie for Christmas. So, he basically got me a beardie for Christmas. He was just over a month old when we got him from a well-known reptile breader/store here locally. He did very well at first until he started his first molt. He went from eating 10 or so small, but not tiny crickets per day to 1-3 a day with a few bites of greens and strawberries. He seems happy enough though. He's only in a 10 gallon tank right now, which I realize is smaller than recommended after doing some research. I did spritzes pretty much daily once he started his shed. Up until I started the spritzes, he did not want me to touch him at all. It was literally a game changer after that though. He let me pet him readily after that first spritz, which was when I tried again to pet him. Since then, like a week now I guess, he loves his spritz time, but is still not eating well. He will only actively go after 1-3 crickets and then jumps back to his hammock. So this past weekend, I bought a bigger water dish that he can actually fit in and a red light that was recommended for nighttime use to keep him warm since it is so cold here. Since then, my oldest has told me that red lights aren't recommended and I've seen it upheld both ways. He does have a rock that he can get under to be completely out of the light, yet still warm and seems happy enough. Keep in mind, it's only been 3 days now since I got the nightlight. I was using a space heater at 75 before that once my 7 yr old went to bed since he's in his room.

That all said (and please forgive for my off the wall commentary here as it is late (2am) and I just finally got approved to post), he seems happy and he especially loved his first bath I gave him last night in his water dish. He was so jumpy, I didn't dare take him out of his cage for his first bath. It was also the first time he let me hold him. He didn't even seem interested in being put down. I actually had to fight a bit tonight to get him out of my hand and to his rock. He seemed very happy being in my hand with me gently petting him.

My worry is how little he's eating. I know they slow on eating when they molt, but he is so tiny it worries me. Is there anything else I can do to help get him to eat more? I take everything out of his cage when I give him his crickets and he'll jump down and eat 1-3 but after that, he is done. I even took his hammock out to get him to explore more of his cage (which is only a 10 gallon atm) and even put him in his food dish where I keep his veggies.

I just don't want to do anything that will screw this up. He seems to have a very good personality and finally has taken to me and I know as he gets bigger he will take to the kids.

I am sure I can properly elaborate further tomorrow when I am a little more rested and not in such a hurry to type this up and get to bed for my little monsters to wake me up!

Welcome to the forum and to beardies!! They are great little critters!

So please take a look at the links that are below several of our comments (signature line) We have put together info for new comers we go over everything needed to care for these sweet critters..

Keep handling him/her this is important..they are very social critters that love to be included and love watching us/tv!

Patsy has beat me to things this am lol
we love pictures!!

 

[Violoso]

Well, so far I haven't dared take him out of his tank because he was so skittish and tiny, but I have a dual thermometer and humiity guage and the humidity goes pretty quickly. I keep one side of the tank basking temp worthy and the other cooler, but I don't know the exact temp on the cool side. Since getting the water dish in there, that's also what I put him into spritz so it doesn't get the carpet wet and cause mold. I am just now to the point with him that I think I might dare take him out of the tank because he's calmed down significantly. I was however, told that they do absorb small amounts of water through their skin, so I'm confused now. He seems much plumper since the spritzing and bathing has been moved to his dish. He doesn't seem very active though for his age. He seems too content to just lay around, even with food in his tank. The spritzing in the face part is a catch 22 with him. I don't spray him directly in the face, but over him and he seems to love it. It's also the best I can get him to drink. Is that ok, or should I avoid his head altogether?

I should also mention, that if he were to get loose in any part of this house I don't expect we'd find him. Between kids toys and 2 older cats, I am trying to make absolute sure that doesn't happen. That adds to my worry about taking him out of his tank just yet.

 

[Violoso]

Just to further elaborate. I got him on either the 26th or 27th of December.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Well, so far I haven't dared take him out of his tank because he was so skittish and tiny, but I have a dual thermometer and humiity guage and the humidity goes pretty quickly. I keep one side of the tank basking temp worthy and the other cooler, but I don't know the exact temp on the cool side. Since getting the water dish in there, that's also what I put him into spritz so it doesn't get the carpet wet and cause mold. I am just now to the point with him that I think I might dare take him out of the tank because he's calmed down significantly. I was however, told that they do absorb small amounts of water through their skin, so I'm confused now. He seems much plumper since the spritzing and bathing has been moved to his dish. He doesn't seem very active though for his age. He seems too content to just lay around, even with food in his tank. The spritzing in the face part is a catch 22 with him. I don't spray him directly in the face, but over him and he seems to love it. It's also the best I can get him to drink. Is that ok, or should I avoid his head altogether?

I should also mention, that if he were to get loose in any part of this house I don't expect we'd find him. Between kids toys and 2 older cats, I am trying to make absolute sure that doesn't happen. That adds to my worry about taking him out of his tank just yet.

They really don't absorb any thru their skin at least nothing that does them any good hydration wise..misting them when they are shedding is helpful to remove/help shed process. dribbling some on their nose in hopes that they lick some off is the goal..
dragons can be kinda slug like lol some can be quite active but they do spend most of their days basking..
Temps and lighting can have BIG effects on their activity as well..

 

[PatsyB]

There was a very gruesome study done a few years back that proved that they only get water orally. If the temp/humidity gauge you have is an analog and stuck to the side of the tank, you really need to get a new one. Analog gauges only measure the temp in the spot that they are, they don't give you an accurate reading of where your dragon is sitting. So if it is reading 107degrees on the glass, that most likely means that your basking spot is going to be way hotter than that because the basking spot is right under the light.

 

[Violoso]

I'll take some pics when I have a chance today to show what I have. I actually covered the back and sides last night just to eliminate any issues with him being spooked by his reflection. I keep his thermometer on the ground right under the light on the hot side of his tank. On the ground it reads right at 90 degrees and that's directly next to the basking spot. I have checked that spot before and if I recall correctly, it is just over 100 degrees, but will check again. My gauge can be put on the glass, but I didn't see that being useful and like to be able to move it around to check different areas.

 

[Violoso]

Ok, so over the course of the day I put my thermometer in different locations in Stitches tank. Turns out, the coolest area in his/her (I think her tbh) tank is still 90 degrees. No matter how far to one side I have the lamp, it's still a balmy 90 degrees at the far end. The very top of her basking rock is close to 115 degrees, but I've noticed she tends to stay a bit back from the light, thus I would assume, in a slightly cooler temperature. That said, I know she needs a bigger tank. Problem is, I simply cannot afford it right now. When my oldest (22 yr old) son asked if he could buy one for the kids and assured me he would get the gear needed, I don't think he realized the needs of a baby. His beardie was already near, if not fully grown when he got him. He did this with the best intentions and while he knows a great deal about his dragon, I don't think he knew enough about babies. I wouldn't have agreed had I known we would have run into complications this early on. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade her now for the world, but I did not expect problems this early on and am minorly annoyed and a bit out of my league. He provided the tank, carpet, driftwood (not in the pictures below at the moment) and then bought the small food dish and a hammock for the tank (also not pictured in the below pics). He spent a lot of money on the whole setup, along with buying the baby for my little ones. He had the greatest of intentions and I agreed, and was excited truth be told, to the whole setup. I knew I'd be the one taking care of it as that was a given. I just didn't expect any real issues right off the bat other than general cleaning and feeding/buying food.

I don't want to be taken as a non-caring pet owner. I love my pets and having just lost one right before Christmas, I am deathly afraid of doing something wrong here with our new baby. I want her to be healthy, thrive, grow and be happy. I also want to make sure I get her calm enough that the kids can handle her in the way they hope to. I want to do everything I can to make sure everything goes smoothly. I just don't know what I can do until I can afford to buy her a bigger tank. I have a friend who thinks he has one in storage and is going to look, but that's not concrete.

Is there anything I can do in the meanwhile? She ate 4 crickets today and a good sized chunk of a green that she will only eat if I hand feed it to her. She lets me hold her, loves to be spritzed and even lapped up water like a dog (it was really quite funny to watch) when I put her in the water dish tonight. I am just so afraid she's going to wither away. I might be being paranoid, but I'd rather be overly paranoid than under-so.

The pics I've posted are a few of me playing with her and then some tank shots of her setup and where she decided was a good place to sleep for the night.

 

[Violoso]

Yes, that is a toilet paper roll I turned into a cave to see if she had any interest in it. Not even the crickets like it so far. On another note. Viewing pics seems hard to do. Is this a site thing or something going on with my PC locally?

 

[Hdrydr31]

Ok, so over the course of the day I put my thermometer in different locations in Stitches tank. Turns out, the coolest area in his/her (I think her tbh) tank is still 90 degrees. No matter how far to one side I have the lamp, it's still a balmy 90 degrees at the far end. The very top of her basking rock is close to 115 degrees, but I've noticed she tends to stay a bit back from the light, thus I would assume, in a slightly cooler temperature. That said, I know she needs a bigger tank. Problem is, I simply cannot afford it right now. When my oldest (22 yr old) son asked if he could buy one for the kids and assured me he would get the gear needed, I don't think he realized the needs of a baby. His beardie was already near, if not fully grown when he got him. He did this with the best intentions and while he knows a great deal about his dragon, I don't think he knew enough about babies. I wouldn't have agreed had I known we would have run into complications this early on. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade her now for the world, but I did not expect problems this early on and am minorly annoyed and a bit out of my league. He provided the tank, carpet, driftwood (not in the pictures below at the moment) and then bought the small food dish and a hammock for the tank (also not pictured in the below pics). He spent a lot of money on the whole setup, along with buying the baby for my little ones. He had the greatest of intentions and I agreed, and was excited truth be told, to the whole setup. I knew I'd be the one taking care of it as that was a given. I just didn't expect any real issues right off the bat other than general cleaning and feeding/buying food.

I don't want to be taken as a non-caring pet owner. I love my pets and having just lost one right before Christmas, I am deathly afraid of doing something wrong here with our new baby. I want her to be healthy, thrive, grow and be happy. I also want to make sure I get her calm enough that the kids can handle her in the way they hope to. I want to do everything I can to make sure everything goes smoothly. I just don't know what I can do until I can afford to buy her a bigger tank. I have a friend who thinks he has one in storage and is going to look, but that's not concrete.

Is there anything I can do in the meanwhile? She ate 4 crickets today and a good sized chunk of a green that she will only eat if I hand feed it to her. She lets me hold her, loves to be spritzed and even lapped up water like a dog (it was really quite funny to watch) when I put her in the water dish tonight. I am just so afraid she's going to wither away. I might be being paranoid, but I'd rather be overly paranoid than under-so.

The pics I've posted are a few of me playing with her and then some tank shots of her setup and where she decided was a good place to sleep for the night.

Take a deep breath you're doing just fine..The hardest part is getting everything set up. Petco does sales on tanks like 4 times a year maybe a bit more they are $1 per gal so a 40g breeder which would be the smallest you should get and that is perfect for an adult dragon. So call them and see when the next sale is. I would also get the hinged screen top for it, super easy to have access to them without moving the lights (depending on how you set up the lighting)
What you can do is raise the basking light up or you can try a lower wattage bulb..
Keep doing what your doing and keep handling your little one and soon she's going to be decent size for you're kiddos to handle.. as long as she's eating/pooping she's doing just fine.

 

[Violoso]

Well, funny enough, it seems like the temperatures have lowered a bit in the tank overall, especially in the cool zones. I'm not sure why, or what I did differently, but it seems better. That said, I'm sorry, I know I'm a bit on the high strung side. Especially when it comes to something like this that could not only affect me, but my kids. Not to mention, I really like this little squirt! She's still not eating as well as I'd like, but she is eating and pooping and becoming even more lovey towards me. I hold her now and she wraps her front legs around my finger and it actually takes a bit of work to get her to let me put her down. I've still been afraid to take her out of her cage, mainly because my kids tend to be loud at the worst times and I'm afraid they'd spook her and she'd bolt.

A friend of mine thinks he has a 30 gallon tank in storage, so I'm hoping he is able to find it here pretty soon. I think the funniest thing she does is her green eating ritual. She waits while I break off a piece and watches me until I put it in the tank. She opens her mouth and sits there until I actually put it directly in her mouth. Then she chows on a few bitse and that's her fill. Sometimes I have to rub under her chin to get her to open her mouth. It's almost like a game funny enough.

She looks like she's shedding again though. Not a full shed this time, just a partial. She just literally finished her full molt and now I see more. Either she didn't finish the first molt, although I don't think I overlooked any part of her, or she is molting yet again. Is this normal this soon after a full body shed?

Oh, the funniest thing this squirt has done is actually lap up water from her bowl like a dog. She will literally put her face down, just deep enough so she can open her mouth and lap up the water. She still loves to be spritzed and even has taken to licking the water right off of my hand since I've started holding her during spritz times. Are all dragons this funny or did I just get lucky to get one with a crazy personality to match my own?

 

[Hdrydr31]

They will seem to be in constant shed as they are babies..When your little one reaches adulthood the 30gal may still be a bit small especially if it's a 30gal fish tank as those are narrow and tall where they need the floor space so less tall and wider is best like the 40gal breeder..
It is pretty cute when they drink like that my 2 adults do that when they are in their bath. They all have such funny personalities that is for sure!!

 

[PatsyB]

She is TINY, but so cute! Glad that the temps went down a bit for you. Because she is so small, make sure when you give her water in the bowl that it’s very shallow so she doesn’t drown in it.

Nobody thinks you are a bad pet owner. We understand that this was all given to you and you are doing the best with what you got.

 

[Violoso]

Good news! I bought her a 20 gallon terrarium as an upgrade last week. Still in the process of perfecting it and I know it's still only a temporary solution, but she has a lot more running room now and a better temperature controlled environment. Bought a higher watt heat bulb too because I don't think the 50 is cutting it anymore. She seems happy. Now I just need to put up the background.

 

[BeardedHippy]

Hi, sounds like you have everything in hand. I can reccomend two items that you will find invaluable, but which are not too costly to buy. Firstly, an IR thermometer (as mentioned above), this is the only way to accurately measure surface temperatures. The analogue things are not very accurate, you can expect them to be out by a few degrees either way. Secondly, a dimmer for your heat/basking bulb. With a dimmer you can adjust the temps in your tank a lot easier, take it down a bit in the hot summer or up in the winter. Being able to accurately adjust temperatures a few degrees either way can make a big difference. I know, its all more expense, but these things just make life so much easier and you will feel good knowing everything is spot on for your dragon.
If you buy a more powerful bulb, make sure your light fixture can handle the wattage as some are only made for low power bulbs. Best of luck and i look forward to seeing how you get on.