My Bearded Dragon

[dazron13]

Hi all, first post. I bought a Beardie on Saturday and I am looking for a little advice if possible.

He is 8/9 weeks old and 8 inches long.

He is fairly active in the morning and eats about 8 insects (mix of Crix and Locust) pretty quickly,

then he has on and off spells of activity throughout the day, in late afternoon he starts to get lathergic and winds down.

Around 17:00 we try him with 3 or 4 crix and he eats a couple and some greens then by 18:30 he goes into a tree and within an hour is sleeping.

I have a 4ft viv and at one side is my basking lamp, which heats that side of tank to around 100 - 105oF and the uv light runs the length of the tank. On the other side of the tank (where he sleeps) it is around 80-85oF during day and cools to aroun 70-75oF at night.

We do spray him and he has had a bath, as I am concerned about overheating or dehydration, he has done 2 poops of good size brown with white bits and fairly moist almost paste like.

Only having him since Saturday I am unsure if he is ok and that this is normal behaviour or if he is still settling. I have the Bearded Dragon Manual but would like another owners opinion.

I appreciate any help and re-assurance

[elljhitch]

The cool end sounds fine, just try and get the hot end up to 110-115*F. Also, don't feed him just before he goes to sleep as he needs to bask for a bit to aid digestion!

Other than that it sounds fine!

[Reece]

Yeh do not feed him before he goes sleep mate. Also i dont know about everyone else but I only feed mine once every 2 days, when was baby once a day, i wouldnt feed them twice a day. just enough in one feed to fill them. Also, i wouldnt spray them? Not sure but a water bowl and salads will keep them hydrated. I may be wrong though mate.

[Adam98150]

Originally Posted by dazron13

Hi all, first post. I bought a Beardie on Saturday and I am looking for a little advice if possible.

He is 8/9 weeks old and 8 inches long.

He is fairly active in the morning and eats about 8 insects (mix of Crix and Locust) pretty quickly,

then he has on and off spells of activity throughout the day, in late afternoon he starts to get lathergic and winds down.

Around 17:00 we try him with 3 or 4 crix and he eats a couple and some greens then by 18:30 he goes into a tree and within an hour is sleeping.

I have a 4ft viv and at one side is my basking lamp, which heats that side of tank to around 100 - 105oF and the uv light runs the length of the tank. On the other side of the tank (where he sleeps) it is around 80-85oF during day and cools to aroun 70-75oF at night.

We do spray him and he has had a bath, as I am concerned about overheating or dehydration, he has done 2 poops of good size brown with white bits and fairly moist almost paste like.

Only having him since Saturday I am unsure if he is ok and that this is normal behaviour or if he is still settling. I have the Bearded Dragon Manual but would like another owners opinion.

I appreciate any help and re-assurance

For babies you should have three feeding periods throughout the day, as much as he can eat in ten minutes on each of the feeding periods. I'll explain in a few hours, it's almost 3.00AM.

[Reece]

mmm i didnt think you should feed them more than once a day unless they actualy eat them all within 20 mins. then add more if they have, never mind maybe i was doing it a bit wrong. I'll be waiting for the extra info of u aswell mate so when i get more babies in the future i'll know what to do haha.

[dazron13]

Thanks everyone, appreciate all the responses, makes me feel better.

I will keep you posted.

[Adam98150]

Originally Posted by Reece

mmm i didnt think you should feed them more than once a day unless they actualy eat them all within 20 mins. then add more if they have, never mind maybe i was doing it a bit wrong. I'll be waiting for the extra info of u aswell mate so when i get more babies in the future i'll know what to do haha.

Baby Beardies tend to be very demanding, much more then the adults. This may sound like a lot, but 60 - 100 crix should be fed to them daily. The minimum being around 40 per day. I've just gone through google and found this care sheet, it recommends 3 feeds also.

- Baby Bearded Dragon Care Sheet

Your beardie has been eating small/medium crickets - if the crickets are too small he won’t be very interested in them, and may find them harder to catch. Feed him as many crickets as he can eat in about 10 minutes, and feed him 3 times a day if you can for the first few months. A good rule of thumb is never feed anything larger than the distance between the beardie’s eyes.

I know of a well established Bearded Dragon forum which also recommends the same as the above.
Your adult Beardie should be fed once per day. A large bowl of fresh salad, with a few locust/crix/silk worms on the side.

Hope i helped.

[Antw23uk]

Also you shouldnt be spraying your beardie or giving it a bath really. They get moisture from live food and there fruit/ veg and they are naturally evolved to use this little moisture to survive.

At a push give a little bath bi weekly and ensure your beardie has access to fresh water daily in the form of a water bowl in the COOL end. You want to keep humidity to a minimum so defo no spraying.

I would also advise 2-3 feeds a day. Good luck x

[Pendragon]

Hi, on the water bowl front, make sure it is tiny.

On the crix front, I only ever fed mine about 15~20 once a day, each beardie my be different, weigh him a couple of times a month, and make sure he looks fit. there is no exact sience to the amount he needs

Lastly, how close can he get to his uv, he should be able to get close enough to touch it if he wants.

Check out my viv, this will give you a good idea of the choices your chap should have in regards, heat, uv, shade.







Jay

[Adam98150]

Originally Posted by jabba1967

Hi, on the water bowl front, make sure it is tiny.

On the crix front, I only ever fed mine about 15~20 once a day, each beardie my be different, weigh him a couple of times a month, and make sure he looks fit. there is no exact sience to the amount he needs

Lastly, how close can he get to his uv, he should be able to get close enough to touch it if he wants.

Check out my viv, this will give you a good idea of the choices your chap should have in regards, heat, uv, shade.

Jay

The UV lamp should be 6 - 8 inches away, we don't want them ending up burnt.