Soon to be First Time Owner!

[meryan87]

Hi All!
Emer from Ireland.
I have been preparing for my first Beardie for about 2 months now. Almost ready to bring him/her home. All that remains is for the viv to arrive and the baby dragon to come from the breeders.
Im guessing itll be around 2 months old by the time I get it.
Any tips for looking after a Baby will be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone knows a rough estimate how many crickets a baby eats in a week, thatd help me when ordering live feed too

Thanks for reading!!

 

[meryan87]

Just a pic showing off all Iv collected so far! Vivarium hopefully arriving in a week or 2...

 

[Sarah Britten]

Hi,
I'm a first time beardie owner too I only got mine a couple of weeks ago so can't really offer up much advise but I will say they do eat a lot when they are small my beardie spud is a little fatty. Sorry I can't be any more helpful but hope u enjoy ur beardie when u get him they are great lizards.

 

[meryan87]

Thanks Sarah! I'm excited I must admit you could say Im even a little bit obsessed, Lol!! Iv just been measuring light fixtures and basking distances this evening, and I think Im gonna go for a taller tank than planned. What size tank are you keeping Spud in? Also, how old is he , and what does he measure, if you dont mind me asking I think my guy will be at least 8 weeks before I get him/her.

 

[Sarah Britten]

I'm using a 3ft x 2ft x2ft viv not sure how old he is as the reptile shop we got him from never told us but he's about 7 inches from nose to tail. They catch on pretty quickly as well He knows which side of the viv we feed him from and he waits at the glass in the morning. Spud loves baths as well watching him swim is quite funny.

 

[meryan87]

Great Im thinking my tank will be around the same measurements! Has he started head bobbing/ waving yet? That I think is the funniest thing I got a good book on my kindle a while back and its very informative on all aspects Beardie related. I had a quick glance and it says a beardie is born at around 4" and grows an average of 2-2 1/2 inches a month. By that estimate you could probably guess Spud is probably between 1- 2 months old. Iv posted a pic of the book cover in case youre interested. I found it a great read!

 

[Sarah Britten]

That's the exact same book that I have. Not had any head bobbing yet but he has started arm waving which yeah ur right is quite funny

 

[meryan87]

"Greetings Human, I am Pogona. I come in Peace and offer you the dance of my peo- I mean fellow reptilians. Now, feed me some juice bugs!"

 

[PatsyB]

Good to see you are doing your research before you bring one home. As far as what you have so far..the only thing that sticks out at me as not right is the night light. Any color of light at night is going to disrupt their sleep cycle. They have a "third eye" on top of their head that they can sense light and shadow overhead. In the wild it protects them from predators like birds. This is the same reason when you hold them you want to scoop them up from the front and support their back legs with your other hand because coming overhead with your hand is going to scare them. It's good to have a temperature gradient at night. As long as your tank doesn't get below 65 degrees they shouldn't need any heat. If it does drop below 65 you can use something called a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) this gives off heat but no light.

Also, as far as your lighting goes, you want them to be on a consistent cycle. Either 12 hours on and 12 hours off or 14 hours on and 10 hours off. Timers on your lights are a great help to turn them on and off automatically.

A baby eats a lot of crickets. Mine used to eat 20 three times a day! Don't forget vitamins and calcium suppliments. You want to dust your feeders daily with calcium w/o D3 and weekly with a multivitamin.

Did you read that book yet? Is there a section in there that says they can eat pizza in small amounts LOL??? I read a book when I started out that compared them to dogs and said they can eat things that we eat in small amounts. I borrowed the book to someone and never got it back.

 

[meryan87]

Thanks for your reply PatsyB ​

I agree with you about the night light. I had originally bought it as a backup secondary heat source during the day as temps in my room can get a bit low in the winter (Im in Ireland) and I was worried about the 'cool' side of the tank (side opening wooden vivarium) getting too cold for a baby. I realise now that its completely unsuitable and yes I think youre right and that I should get a ceramic lamp instead. At least that can be used at night also!

As I said the viv will be in my room, and as I myself like to light candles (safely within lanterns) at night, I was even planning on having a cover for the viv so as not to disturb its sleep; so maybe that will also help to retain heat on cold nights.

Thanks too for the info on feeding amounts. Im sourcing suppliers at the mo and needed a general idea of the amount Id need in a 2 week period. I have both calcium & vit dust too, although Im concerned about phosphorus levels and synthetic Vit A in the brands I got as its not stated on the bottles whether either contains these. I'd hoped to get some Herptivite and Phos free Calcium dust, as I read its a great brand, but its next to impossible to be got in Ireland it seems
Oh and yes, I think I remember a section in the book talking about treating them things like pizza and even turkey dinners on rare occasions, probably the only advice I wont be following LOL!

 

[meryan87]

Oh, and Im thinking of getting one of those timer plugs for the lights too! Id hoped to get a 24hr Day/Night cycle Thermostat, but funds dont allow for now at least

 

[PatsyB]

I knew I wasn't crazy when I read that!

We keep all our reptiles/amphibians in our game room. Frogs lights go out at 6pm so they can wake up, chameleons lights also go out at 6pm and the beardies stay up till 8pm. We usually have a tv on and a table lamp with a low wattage bulb and nobody has been affected by it. Our frogs have a red light for heat at night that goes on and off as needed. As long as it's not over the beardies heads they sleep right through it.

Last winter we had it real cold and there was a few days that one of our tanks got down to 65 degrees. Our living room was in the 70's so we just took Dexter out of her tank and wrapped her in a blanket and let her sleep in a cat bed those nights and put her back in her tank when her lights went on. She was pretty happy with that arrangement!

 

[meryan87]

Sounds like Dexter had it pretty cosy on those nights! Blankets can definitely be arranged if needed. Plenty of time between now and winter to get things ready (although you'd almost think it is here already on some nights!)

I guess I shouldnt worry too much about the candle light either in that case. Being new to it all, Id really like to be able to give my new beardie the best care possible. Im glad I joined here, its nice to talk to others with experience and hear your stories.

Im still waiting patiently for the pet store guy to let me know when the hatchlings will be ready (I think he said theyll be around 8 weeks old about now) Hopefully all will be revealed tomorrow!!

 

[PatsyB]

The only thing to worry about with the candles is too much smoke. Make sure you have a lot of ventilation especially when blowing out the candle.

Is it real cold there right now? One of my coworkers son is going to Ireland in a few weeks to study for 6 months.

I like this forum. It's a little more personal than Facebook sites. I feel like people care more here