My first Beardie

[PythonChick]

Hello everyone. I have been looking at getting a bearded dragon for some time now, and on Thursday I finally caved and brought home Yoshi. He is adorable and so much fun to watch and he seems to be doing well. On Thursday the breeder told me had had already eaten some salad and after we got home he took 6 calcium dusted crickets. Yesterday he ate 8 of the crickets, but I am having a hard time telling if he is eating his greens. Any suggestions on how to tell would be great. I put a picture a picture of him and his setup in the post, and any suggestions on that would be loved as well.

[ADEE]

nice set up... i would be careful with the bath of water that they dont drown.. hopefully others can help you. nice looking dragon, congrats!

[littleindiangirl]

nice set up... i would be careful with the bath of water that they dont drown.. hopefully others can help you. nice looking dragon, congrats!

Yes, you may already know this, but beardies dont readily go for standing water. Some people suggest putting in a bubbler to get them to take an interest and start drinking. Are you misting him to keep him hydrated? Or does he actually drink from that bowl? Just a thought. Good luck.

[ADEE]

i put ours in small tubs as often as twice daily (typically when im cleaning their enclosure, which i do daily) to keep them hydrated, they lay in it and drink the water.. of course if they poo in it i take them out and put them in fresh. i also drop water on their snout to let them drink, they will literally lick it off. i have had no problems with doing this i also offer the greens (rodiccio eek spelling) salad daily, i give them fresh greens in the morning and replace in late afternoon. they always have this readily available. i have seem them go right over and eat pieces of it (in fact nikon was just eating salad) i offer crickets twice daily as well, if im going to be gone at work most of the day i leave a few in there for them. i had just read numerous times that leaving water bowls is not a good idea.

[PythonChick]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have not seen him drinking from the water bowl, but I am misting him several times a day. I hadn't thought about it being too big, as the breeder I got it from told me it was good to have a big one in case they wanted to bathe. I keep the water level in the dish low enough that he can stand in it, so I hope drowning wouldn't be a problem... hmmm. I shall try bathing him, and perhaps downsizing the water bowl. He just started shedding today, and I am amazed that he actually has a lot of red on him under all the nasty shed.

[ADEE]

enjoy him.. it had just looked pretty deep by the pic which is why i said anything. our little girls sure are entertaining

[zimbabwepegasus]

They can drown, although they don't often.
One of the biggest reasons to avoid water dishes in beardie tanks is because it raises humidity. You want your humidity between 30-40% in a perfect world. Consistent high humidity can cause respiratory infections in beardies. Now, really, with the water bowl, it depends on where you live. Misting outside of the tank and regular baths tend to be better ways to get liquid into your dragon.

You can try hand feeding him greens.

Lots of baby beardies won't take their greens, just keep offering and try different types. Mustard greens, collards, dandelion greens, escarole, endive and squash are all good for beardies. Sometimes they like one better than the other and sometimes they just won't even try greens until they are around 7 months. It's ok for now.

You do want to do what you can to get that cricket count up though. A young beardie can go through 70 crix a day easily. The first week or two you have him pretty much doesn't, so no stress yet.

[PythonChick]

Thanks for the help guys. He is eating a lot better now (Not up to 70 crickets a day yet, but in the 30 range with some greens taken as well). I keep just a bit of water in there now, as I do live in a rather humid region, and he gets misted several times a day with a bath 2-3 times a week. He is also a lot more active now, and he is a hoot to watch hunting the crickets and trying to run away from my hand or the bath, though he is calm and tolerates handling well after he is caught.