New to Beardies!!!

[mhoover]

Ok here's my questions all of which I'm sure you are tired of but I've been researching all over the net and quite frankly based on all the ball python support this site offered when we were new to that I'm really wanted opinions from you all!

Obtained 8 month old female at a show. Apparently fed crickets, red and green leaf lettuce primarily. I have had her one week. She ate 5-6 dusted dubia roaches daily for me the first few days then really seemed to have a poor appetite for a few days then picked up yesterday when I offered dusted crickets-ate 10 or so No bowel movement yet! Seemed lethargic for a few days now too.

Cage is a 4ft long x 1 ft x 2 ft high
hot side 90-95
cool side 75 mostly
10,0 UVB 3/4 or moe of tank
digital thermometer with probe
heat pad under tank but rocks over top so no direct contact to lizard
two 75 watt bulbs over hot side
hammock within 6-8 inches of heat lights and part of UVB
tupperware hide
branches, rocks
back of cage covered for visual protection
4 kids in home and 1 dog. Cage in the office but surely still gets a decent amount of noise/action... Too much?

Questions about care:

1). Do you usually see bowel movements and urine daily in these guys?

2). At this age does the amount of insects she's eating seems ok?

3) she shows no interest in a variety of greens I've offered-escarole, kale (not the best I know), spinach, butternut squash, berries, peppers. How does one start encouraging the veggies. I can't make her eat them but I know it's best !!!!actually necessary! Mash and syringe?? Just chop and keep offering??? More time ??

4) how to offer insects but not have the hassle of trying to catch them again???? I have a deep tank and cage furniture that makes it a real pain and they are gross anyway!!! Do most of you use a separate feeding tank? I tried roaches in a glass dish and this really confused her...tried to eat them through the glass!

5) is the lethargy to be expected....should I give her more time to adjust?
6). Should I wait to handle her much so she can adjust/acclimate?

please be kind thanks!


Looking forward to advice.

[mhoover]

Wanted to add I've given her a few soaks and have waivered around about leaving a dish in, just offering it for a while daily, misting...

[Jayrhamlin]

1.) Of all your concerns I would say this is the one that needs the most attention. How many day has it been? I've never seen any of mine (I have 3) go more than a few days without a BM. Continue the warm water soaking - try to get at least 15 min a day. Mine usually only last a few minutes before they "go" right in the water.

2.) She does seem to be eating pretty normally. Mine will sometimes lose interest in insects for a couple days at a time. Just make sure the roaches you offer are appropriate sized - adults would be way to big for a dragon that age.

3.) Just keep offering veggies - some juvi dragons just don't eat them all that much. Shes still in a new environment too so give her some time. Sometimes when mine are being stubborn about it I will wait till they are chomping on a roach and shove some veggies in their mouth. If there is anything I've learned its that dragons don't know how to spit anything out. Once its in there she'll eat it. You can do it while she's gaping too. Let her see where you're picking up the veggies and she may catch on.

4.) Insects escaping and hiding in the tank is a pain. All my dragons are spoiled rotten and eat right out of my hands one at a time. One has bad aim and gets my finger every time so I use tongs for him. I've heard of people crushing the hind legs of insects to make them slower and easier to catch but I've never done it.

5.) This is hard to gauge. Beardies are lazy to begin with. If she's eating and basking that's about all they do. If she's on the cold side hiding all the time that's another story.

6.) Give her some time - especially in a busy house. I have 5 kids and a dog and mine are all in my living room. They adjust.

The decrease in appetite may be a sign of brumation too. Rare in juvi dragons but not unheard of. I had a 7 month old dragon brumate for 7 months. Probably not the case here, though.

[jclaiborne]

My Juvi wont eat greens unless I feed it to him directly from my hand and even then its only a leaf at a time...so Ive been gut loading my crickets with the greens then feeding them to the beardie... My guy has a BM daily...my hot spot is a bit warmer than 95 and he isn't in that big of a tank yet...those are the only differences that I see. Good luck

[Jayrhamlin]

Yeah now that I read the original post again, are those temps air temps or surface temps? Also your enclosure sounds like it's a 55 gallon tank. If it's only a foot deep you may want to consider getting a 40 gallon breeder tank.

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[kameo37]

Take out the UTH, you don't need it.
Your hot side temps are a little low...should be more like 95-100. Take the temps on that hammock, too. If it's too hot, she'll never use it.

Try a hamster feeding bowl or cat bowl. They are opaque, ceramic and low sided.

I agree, soaking is a requirement anyway for hydration and that is also usually when they potty. If she hasn't poo'd in the last few days you can give her some baby food or a little olive oil to get things going. As they get older, they poop less. Mine poops about every 5 days. He's older than 2, but we don't know his exact age.

She's only been with you a week though, and that could have something to do with it. They seem to have a fairly long adjustment period. Give her time. Keep bathing her, keep giving her veggies and insects(make sure you are dusting them with calcium and vitamins). She'll poop. I would handle her as little as possible for the first week, maybe two. My beardie is a completely different guy than when we first got him. It probably took him a good month to settle down. He came from a bad situation though.

I would definitely think about building or acquiring a bigger enclosure. 12 in width is really not enough. Comfortable would be a 4x2, 18 or 24 inches tall.

Also, visit www.beardeddragon.org --it's just like this site, but for beardies!

Congrats on your new gal! Beardies are great pets!

[mhoover]

Wow.... Thanks for the responses! Just what I've come to love about this spot! My temps are using a walmart accu... Whatever thermometer with probe. Probe is at the hammock and unit is at the corner if the cold side. Will remove the UTH. Continue veggies... Try by hand. Soak daily. Roaches were small... Nymphs... Used the distance between the eyes rule. Maybe a different terrarium for Christmas. I just had this one for the ball python.... He came with it and I switched it for a 36 l x 24w x 12 h one I had for the Beardie. Thought the Beardie would like the height better than the python. Maybe I should sell the Beardie one and get something else.... But what?

Whatcage/brand does everyone like? I like the exo terra one I gave the ball because it opens nice in the front. Easy to clean. But I think the largest is only 36 long...

[Jayrhamlin]

Beardies do like to climb but they are still very much terrestrial animals so surface area is the most important. Invest in an infrared temperature gun to measure surface temps. Definitely ditch the uth. Other than that I think you're in good shape. What are you using for substrate?

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[mhoover]

Using non adhesive contact paper mats from Walmart cut to fit cage bottom . Any ideas on custom cages that would be well constructed ? Saw someone talking about customcages.com but can't find it online.

[kameo37]

Build your own! Much cheaper and you are just building a box, so it's pretty easy!