New owners

[Kumala]

Hi. We've recently bought a Beardie (born 29/05/12) from a reputable long standing reptile shop.

We have a 3' viv, with Arcadia 2' UV tube, heat mat, 100w spot lamp and bark substrate.
He is being fed locusts (small), mealworms, spring greens, apple and dandelion leaves as well as the odd silk/wax worm. We tried crickets but he's not keen on them and then it's a nightmare getting them out the viv.

His UV is on from 7-7. Heat lamp is turned down to about 75f at night, 86-90 daytime. (ambient temp's - middle of tank)

We noticed today (6th day of being home) he's off his food and his tail has turned grey over the last few days (lost its colour)
He had been seen rubbing his face on the log a day or so ago.

Is he shedding?

He's also much quieter and either sleeps or sits in one place all day.

Before (Last Sunday when we got him)

Today


Thanks in advance.



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[micky0]

Hi im no expert but I think heat needs to be more 98 + in day with 105 basking spot also maybe try a night bulb, I got one last wk a black light . Now his night temp is 83 which seems better . I also think 10 % Uv may be better

[Kumala]

Thanks for the reply
We have the light on a thermostat and whilst the sensor is in the middle of the viv the temperature stays at 28/30 (85/90) which I was told was fine.
His basking spot (lump of wood) is 4-5" below the bulb which is 40(110) tested with a digi thermometer
I spoke with the shop and emailed them photos and they've said it's shedding and not to worry. As for the viv set up they also said that's fine. but keep the bulb on all night?? (turn off UV though obviously)


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[micky0]

He is a cute little fella , the only thing that worrys me, is place you got him saying keep basking bulb on all night . He would be better with the whole night dark thing , My night bulb 60w is a black light (so called mooonlight bulb) or an infa red one is also good as long as he has high basking spot all sounds ok in that respect .But I would think a lower (60w) night bulb would be better for him

[RedBeard]

he has great colours good choice

[Bradleybradleyc]

Bulb off at night the average house is fine tempature wise for a beardie, light will keep beardies awake as the "3rd eye" is light sensitive. So no lights at night. If your house does get very cold you can use a heat Mat at night.Turn of uv and basking at night

As for the dull tail shedding mine start with a tail 90% of the time..

He could well be quiet as he's getting used to his new enviorment, beardies are not always the most active lol

I will add while young you should not really keep them on a loose substrate as their aim for food is not great, don't get me wrong I keep adults on loose substrate. Just a heads up.

Also invest in a couple of digital thermometers as the dials are pants, I have dials for quick reference but use a temp gun ad digital thermometers daily

[Kumala]

Thanks all for your replies.

We're a little miffed, frustrated in fact with the amount of varying advice on offer.
Obviously we want what's best for the animal but the advice seems so conflicting.

The reptile shop we bought the beardie from have been trading for donkeys years (at least 20 if my memory serves me right) they have excellent reviews and recommendations and their advice was to keep the bulbs on all night. Explaining that in the wild they will burrow under a rock and use the heat from that which the sun has warmed all day. It was also said that they cannot see incandescent light (the heat bulb). Failure to keep the bulbs on and the heat dropping below 60 could make it become ill over time?

However, my logic tells me that a desert can get very cold at night, as well as dark! The heat absorbed from the sun during the day dissipates and by early hours the air and rocks become cold.
So in theory, replicating the natural environment is surely better?? Is it not?

We are confused to be honest and it is becoming stressful just knowing what is RIGHT for the beardie.
We do have a heat mat (small) under his substrate which is under his thick wide branch where he basks and then sleeps under at night.

I am tempted to put the UV and spot on timer from 7-7 and leave the heat mat on 24hrs as it is now. ??

Arghhhhh! ;-)


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[Bradleybradleyc]

Originally Posted by Kumala

Thanks all for your replies.

We're a little miffed, frustrated in fact with the amount of varying advice on offer.
Obviously we want what's best for the animal but the advice seems so conflicting.

The reptile shop we bought the beardie from have been trading for donkeys years (at least 20 if my memory serves me right) they have excellent reviews and recommendations and their advice was to keep the bulbs on all night. Explaining that in the wild they will burrow under a rock and use the heat from that which the sun has warmed all day. It was also said that they cannot see incandescent light (the heat bulb). Failure to keep the bulbs on and the heat dropping below 60 could make it become ill over time?

However, my logic tells me that a desert can get very cold at night, as well as dark! The heat absorbed from the sun during the day dissipates and by early hours the air and rocks become cold.
So in theory, replicating the natural environment is surely better?? Is it not?

We are confused to be honest and it is becoming stressful just knowing what is RIGHT for the beardie.
We do have a heat mat (small) under his substrate which is under his thick wide branch where he basks and then sleeps under at night.

I am tempted to put the UV and spot on timer from 7-7 and leave the heat mat on 24hrs as it is now. ??

Arghhhhh! ;-)


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I can understand the frustration as everyone on here can we are all giving our best advice from our knowledge and personal experiences. What I said works for me others will have different ways of doing things. Shop can be open for a long time and have good reviews, but still give some bad/wrong advice at time, dont forget they have a large viarety of repa you have to take in the advice given and work out what best for you and your reps most the time, there is so much conflicting advise out there.

Personally no light no heat at night

[sammyp]

No light in the desert when the sun goes down. They need a balances day/night routine to rest. 12 hours on and off, for both uvb and heatbulb. Mine is this way and my living room isnt that warm in the morning and the temp is still fine. careful with locusts, beardie can eat loads mine did 43 crix in one sitting a few days back that will cost you a fortune in locusts.

[bluemoon1502]

Hi, i am no expert myself but my friend used to breed beardies but stopped about 2 or 3 years ago. Since then i have been fascinated by them and read pretty much everything on the internet about them! I got my first beardie 3 weeks ago and went through the same kind of thing as you the first week i had him.


First of all, what gorgeous colours.. You dont find colours like that in many pet shops in Manchester, I got mine from a private (licensed) breeder.

To me it sounds like your little juvenile is starting to shed, this is why he is rubbing his face.. Mine did the same thing. If he isnt afraid of being handled you should bathe him for a couple of minutes a day in luke warm water no deeper than his 'knees'. This will help him/her stay hydrated and it will also help the dead skin come away. Whatever you do, dont try and pull it off or rub it because this could damage the new skin underneath. If yours is anything like mine was it will still be a bit skitty and you wont be able to pick him up because you dont want to stress him. If thats the case then try and mist his back, tail and toes with bottled water a couple of times a day to help. Be carefull not to spray too much though because his viv will become too humid and this (over time) could lead to resperatory problems.. About 3 or 4 squirts 4 times a day is what i did.


Regarding the light.. You need a 10% UVb sitting between 10 and 12 inches from your beardie, this should be in the centre of your viv. The reason for this is that bearded dragons' have excellent protection on their eyes to stop too much UV light going into their eyes but because it comes from the sun in their natural habitat, this protection is at the top of their eyes and doesn't realy protect as well from light coming from the sides.. It sounds like you have this already though?

For heat i use a 75w light bulb bought from B&Q.. Apparently these work just as well as any other heat lamp bought from a pet shop! Be sure to get the clear ones because your beardie needs to get UVa from the light and the other colours block out some of this. You should have the heat lamp no closer than 10'' away from the highest point of your basking spot to avoid burning your beardie and it should be on through the day time with your arcadia tube for about 12/14 hours a day, this way your beardie will be able to get as much UVa+b as he needs. During the night, you shouldnt let your temps drop below 16C but during the summer most houses dont get that cold so he should be fine. I have a ceramic heat lamp linked up to a pulse thermostat set to 17C so if the temps do drop that low then it will kick in. I wouldnt have my heat lamp on as their parietal eye will more than likely be able to see it as it is photosensative and may stop him sleeping? Most bearded dragon breeders suggest you stay clear of heatmats/heated basking rocks as they can burn your beardie but at temps of 16-18C i doubt this will be the case.

I hope this has answerd your question and if anyone reads this and disagrees i'd like to know because at the end of the day, i am also new to owning a bearded dragon.. Can i give a few pointers on your set up though? I dont mean to sound condescending or as if i am picking out points but most experts advise against loose substrates at such a young age. If any of it gets swallowed your little dragon will have trouble digesting it and it may cause impaction leading to death. I use clean lino or you could use paper, kitchen towels etc.. When they get older it will be fine to use childrens play sand or repti sand but not just yet.. Another cause of impaction would be a basking area that isnt hot enough. For babys people reccomend 40 and 46C surface temp on the basking spot but for adults this can be between 36 and 43. The beardie should also have a cool end of the viv because they are cold blooded, they thermoregulate meaning they will switch from the warm end to the cool end to maintain a steady temperature. The cool end of your viv should be between 25-29C. This might be hard to get in a 3ft viv as it wasnt easy in my 4ft one so you may need to make some more air vents in the cool end. All temps should be measured with a digital thermometer or IR thermometer. I bought a digital themometer with a probe for about £15 and keep the probe in the cool end while the main unit is in the basking end. Both temps are checked twice a day and im constantly monitoring the warm end's temp. If you put a probe on your basking spot and the unit on the wall of your viv.. Once you get the temp right on your basking spot, check what the unit says on your wall and work out the difference between the two. This will give you a rough guide of the temp on your basking spot without having to measure it all the time.

Like i said, i am no expert so if someone reads this and disagrees then please say so. This is how i have my set up and my little 'baby' is thriving.. I'm sorry if this sounds like i am picking at holes in your set up but i'm not, I just know that there is a lot of different advice out there and i wanted to share what is working for me. Pet shops, even established ones, are notorious for giving bad advice. I've found that you can get a lot of sound advice on this forum from people who actually know what their talking about so stick with it and everything will be fine!