Musicmanslady
Juvenile Dragon
- Messages
- 102
Ok so I apologize for asking so many questions earlier! For background, my daughter took her sons (10 and 8 at the time) to Pet Smart for a pet they were begging for. 8 yr old got a Syrian hamster...easy easy pet. Older grandson loves reptiles so my daughter asked the guy what would be the easiest and healthiest reptile to care for. Guy said, I quote, "oh bearded dragons are the easiest. They live 12 to 15 years and you really dont have to do much of anything for them. Just buy this and this and this and you are all set. Feed them live crickets and offer vegetables and water. Well, we love reptiles so we did a lot of research on how to feed, calcium dusting, gut loading insects, etc. He was in a 40 gallon cage and they said that is the biggest cage hell ever need. He was about 2 or 3 months when they got him. They sold her a deep dome dual fixture with 75 watt heat bulb and the coil uvb. More research...we got a reptisun t5 5.0 . Well, he ate 50 to 60 crickets A DAY and would only eat live food, not the crap food they sell in the pet store. Upgraded to a 100 watt zoo med basking spot lamp. Got a single deep dome and got rid of the uvb coil, just use the t5 now. Turned a year in Dec. He is now in a 4'x 2' x2' which is about all that fits on the dressertop. He needed solid substrate because repti carpet wasnt working. Upgraded to a reptisun t5 high output 10.0 24" size. Needed 2 stick on themometers for ambient temps on warm and cool side. Needed a hide. Has a tree which he absolutely LOVES and will not give up! We are using a zoo med reptil basking lamp 150 watts. He has a water dish and a food dish for his veggies. He only gets organic collard greens, organic mustard or turnip greens, celery leaves as a little treat, red bell peppers, butternut and other squashes. His crickets are always calcium dusted but he has a new favorite...silkworms! They come in a can and he gobbles them even though theu are not a living insect. Mealworms are only an occasional treat and they are calcium dusted too. Cant do dubias because daughter cant get past the roach name. He is a nice size dragon, calm and happy and adjusting slowly to his larger enclosure. Ordered a new background for the outside back surface of his tank. Going out to store today to get him a probe thermometer and prob a solarmeter too. Have tried various decor pieces but he ignores them all except his tree and his small rock. I tried putting him on the larger rock with a bigger hide but he puffed up black beard and got mad until i put his tree back and his smaller rock lol in their normal spots. We live in upstate ny so its cold and snowy here. Nightime temps in his tank do not go below 69 to 72 on his cool side so although we bought a cermaic heat emitter (recommended by the pet store) we dont use it. We have spent literally THOUSANDS on this dragon to give him his best life (and we are not rich by any means..im on ssdi and she doesnt make much money at her full time job). We love him dearly and hope he lives a long happy life but a bearded dragon is NOT an easy pet! Think I finally got his setup right...he seems happy and ate 6 silkworms today, also eats his veggies. Pics show him on his much loved tree, his tank, and the lights as viewed from the inside top of his tank. Note: he has always had a great appetite, no signs of distress, limbs are straight. He needs his nails clipped but i have to work up to that...dont want to hurt him!
