Hello,
Congratulations on your new dragon.
Great you are asking questions as a new owner.
Personally, I don't use sand, but alot of people do. However, if you do choose to use sand, please use washed & sifted playsand. Do not use calcisand or vitasand as they clump when they get wet & cause impactions.
I personally would use non adhesive shelf liner, tiles or paper towels for a baby first until he is a year or so old. They lick everything when they are babies.
What type of UVB lights did you get? Please be specific. Is it a compact or coil light or a flourescent type of light. What brand is it?
What type of basking light are you using, is it a bright white light or a colored one?
What sized tank did you get?
What are you measuring your temps with, a stick on type of thermometer or a digital probe or a temp gun? It sounds like you got a stick on dual with the humidity & temperature gauge. Unfortunately, that will only measure the ambient temps, not the basking. So, you will also need to get either a digital probe or a temp gun for better accuracy. You can find a digital probe at walmart in the plants section, it is accurite brand. Or, you can get a temp gun from
www.tempgun.com or
www.reptileuv.com
As far as feeding goes, no lettuce, it is too watery & has no nutritional content & can cause diarrhea too. I would opt for mustard greens, collard greens, dandelion greens, escarole or endive as the greens.
Oh, no mealies, either. Just crickets, smaller than the space between the eyes & phoenix worms.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Tracie