temp an food HELP

[inky22]

i have a uv light and 1 40w spolight bulb on the hot side am my temp always reads 100, and on kool side about 85, i have sand down and some big rocks for them to climb and hide made of wood. there pooing all the time and eatin well, mainly standard crickets and meal worms there both 10 weeks biggest messures 10" and smallest measures 8".
they both seem happy and have shed twice in the for weeks i have had them. they love my laptop screen and playin peeka boo.

is this alrite ??

 

[zebraflavencs]

Hi Inky and welcome to the forum !

Okay.. Let's take a closer look at things shall we ?

Which uv light do you have ?
How old are these dragons ?
How large (inches long x inches wide x inches high) is this enclosure ?

What are you using to measure these temps ?
I'll wait for your answers before offering some suggestions.
Janie

 

[inky22]

not to sure on UV it what the pet shop owner gave me.
there 10 weeks old 1 is 10" and the second 1 is 8" there hypo breaded dragon ( orange and white )
there eating standard crickets.??
to messure temp am using a round thermometer that stick on the back of the tank x

 

[zebraflavencs]

Okay, the way to find out what brand of uv is in use, is to look at the end, where the prongs are in the fixture. You should see printed on one side or the other, the name of the bulb.
Would this be a long tube, or a curled bulb ?

Stick on thermometers are not very accurate.. a therm (digital) with a long probe tends to read more accurately.

You haven't yet mentioned the size of the enclosure.
Janie

 

[inky22]

sorry its 3 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot. uv is a long tube x

 

[zebraflavencs]

Oh good.. that enclosure is perfectly sized for 1 adult dragon..

Now can you see the name of the tube ? If you have to remove it to see, that's fine, too.
Janie

 

[egg 80]

welcome inky
sand is a big no no with baby beardies, there are plenty of alternatives like paper towel, repti carpet, ceramic tile or slate tile etc.
when sand gets wet it clumps up and can cause impaction in them which could result in premature death with the beardie sorry i dont want to sound too harsh i call it constructive critisism
sorry for bad spelling just not with it lol. also housing bearded dragons together isnt a good idea these animals are loners and only usualy come together to breed, there are alot of issues that can happen by housing them together
paul

 

[renich]

Hi, again. If you can get us the make and model of your UV light it will help a lot. Beardies need strong UV and a lot of brands on the market are not good enough for them. It is a sad truth that a lot of pet stores give bad info when it comes to bearded dragon care. That is why we are here! Hang in there and we will get it straight for you.

As Paul mentioned, sand is a very controversial topic. I have used it, but only when my beardie reached maturity at 1 year old. Sand can cause impaction, but it can also harbour bacteria that is very bad for your dragon's health. I think yours are too young to be using sand right now.

Lastly, stop the mealworms. They do not offer any nutritional value and their outershell is too tough for beardies to digest (especially as ones as young as yours).

 

[inky22]

lots of info there. thanks. my friend has 2 breaded dragons and from hatching they have been on sand, mine they have been on paper for 4 weeks i dont give them many meal worms its normally a treat. they seem to get on really well and the book i bought on them said they are social animals so now am confused lol hmmmmmmm drama xx

 

[renich]

Even a few mealworms can cause issues. In fact, one has been known to cause impaction. Especially babies as young as yours.

Can I ask what book you bought? I have never heard of beardies being social. Yes, there are success stories of beardies being housed together. But they are far and few between. I tend to stay on the side of caution. So, personally, I would separate them and not risk any harm coming. Yours have already started to show signs of dominance with the one standing on the others head. Make sure you watch them closely.

 

[inky22]

reading it this morning its just comments of people that have sucessfully housed them together. am taking it day by day and i no alot of ppl that have housed together and not had any problem, i think the only problem am guna have is if there both male because am not sure on the sex of them, then i will have to re home 1
but hopefully the male and female and i can breed. there alot bigger than the pic i have up. but so confused at the mo getting all different advice from people that have sucessfully housed together and had them on said and feeding them mealworms, saying that mine might handly it differently than everyone elses. so think am gunna take it day by day try different stuff and see what works best at end of day its just keeping them happy and healthy xxxxxxxx

 

[egg 80]

are the two beardies from the same breeder if so its not recomended to breed, and if your looking into breeding there are alot of issues to look into such as cost of equiptment to house them until you can sell or rehome them no more than 5 to a viv and if one decides to start nipping at the others a isolation tank to house that one cost of feeding them as many crix as they can eat within a 15 min period 2-3 times a day, then there are the bills to go with the heating and lighting of multiple vivs.
as for the sand issue alot of ppl succesfully keep their beardies on sand i for one used too keep mine on sand until i was advised of the issues that can occure then i gave them a more natural substrate in half of the viv which is reptile clay and part sand mixed and the other side is slate tile, but sand with such young beardies is a issue as their stomachs have a natural kink in them and if sand is ingested can clog up in their stomachs causing impaction which in result will cause you beardie not to eat etc and death as a result of a oversight.
housing multiple beardies can and has been done succesfully but is not advised even keeping a male and female together as the male will hassle the female and cause her stress also ending in a very ill beardie.
there is alot of conflicting information on the net and even more from pet shops. the information you are getting on here is valued information as we all have kept beardies for a long time and been through all the issues being raised in this thread and learned from our mistakes. im sorry to sound harsh but would hate for you to have a thread on here in a few weeks months later saying beardies are ill, beardies are injured or beaardie is egg bound thorugh stress.


paul