New Owner with LOTS of questions!

I'll take a better picture of the basking area later on today. We have the round, ceramic light hanging in the tank at the far right end with the half round log and the new hammock so he can get close to the light. There are two thermometers at that end. We just got the hammock as I read he needed to get closer to that light than what we had set up so I'll get a better reading today to see if I have it at least 199 degrees. Before, we had the ceramic basking light just lying on top of the screen and I don't think it was warm enough for him.

I also just read that we needed to turn the lights on at least an hour before feeding him so that he can warm up first. I just turned the lights on a few minutes ago so in an hour I will go read the temp and see if things are better. I don't think he was getting warm enough before. There is a small gap now where the light cord runs in at the top of the screen and I sure hope that the crickets don't jump out of that gap! I guess I need to put some plastic wrap or something on there so they won't jump out.

I also have a light timer than I kept out from the Xmas lights as I read the lights need to be turned on/off at the same time each day - is this true?

As far as the chameleon goes, my 14 year old and I read a lot about them last night and decided that if we ever got one, it would be later on when we feel like we know what we are doing but now he wants a BD like Gizzard so we'll give it a few months and see if he still wants one at that time.

Off topic here but Cat 72, everytime I see your avatar, it reminds me to tell you that a good friend of mine has a MINI Cooper that is called "Darth Cooper" and has Darth Vader on the windows. They are also crazy into DragonCon and are in the annual Atlanta parade where they lead about 200 Stormtroopers! Just thought I'd mention that! LOL

You are probably better off leaving the ceramic heat emitter above the screen (in some type of dome fixture), and making him a higher basking area. Those things get HOT, and if he has access to it, there is always the chance he will burn himself on it. Again, I would get him a higher basking platform of some sort.....whether it be a fancy ceramic one from the pet shop, or a plain ol cool rock from outside. The rocks absorb the heat from the lamp, and will radiate some of that heat back to his tummy to help with digestion. If you use a rock from outside, just make sure it is well cleaned and disinfected with a mild bleach-water solution, then rinsed well, before putting it in with Gizzard.

What I do as far as the morning warm-up time for mine is put in their salads as soon as the lights come on in the morning (yep, I keep them all on timers ), and wait about an hour or so before giving them their live food. This serves a couple of purposes.....one, it does take them awhile to get fully awake and moving, they aren't going to be very good at catching their food right away, which gives the crix more time to hide out from them if you dropped them in right awa, then they may not find them....and two, once they start waking up and moving about, they are more likely to decide they are hungry and start nibbling on their salads before their tummy is full of bugs. With critters that are already well established eating their salads, this isn't such a big deal, but it can be of help getting babies established eating their greens.

And "Darth Cooper".....OMG, that is too funny!!!

Hello,

Ok, so you decided to wait on the chameleon, that is probably a good idea. Gizzard will give you plenty to do for awhile.
I agree, making the basking platform higher & just leave the ceramic heater where it is.
How is he doing today? Does he enjoy his hammock? What are the temps measuring now?


Tracie

Okay, I moved the light back on top to rest on the screen. I have two thermometers in that corner and they are both reading around 90. Hopefully if he climbs his hammock and/or we get a tall rock, he can get to the 100 mark. He loves his hammock. Every time I've went in the room he is climbing on it.

We fed him three crickets that were powdered with the vitamins and calcium. He was so funny, He looked at me and waited for me to chaise the crickets to him! Guess he is already spoiled!

Hello,

Ok, well, the temps are pretty good. You can take the temps at the basking spot up to 105 if you can. The 100 would be fine too. You are using the digital probes, right?
It sounds like you have made some good changes for him now, great job.
Yes, I am sure he is already getting spoiled now! So, he is eating well today then?

Tracie

It felt so weird yesterday going to the market just for this tiny lizard! LOL Yes on the digital probe. I bought curly kale, collard greens, red, yellow and green bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, apples, strawberries adn grapes.

This morning we put the "greens" in when the lights came on and we will feed him the crickets in a couple of hours so hopefully he'll eat a little bit of greens. He LOVES the crickets and yesterday we saw him eat six of them.

My oldest has decided against the chameleon now and I told him that if all goes well with Gizzard that we will get him a BD in a few months. So, we've been looking on the web for a local breeder here in the Atlanta area. I saw where there is a reptile expo once a year but still can't find a local BD club and I know there has to be some out there.

In my car club, we place an invite business type card on the windshield of MINI Coopers that we see inviting them to the club but we are also on the web so people can find us. Any ideas on how to find a local reptile club? My son wants to know the different colors of BDs, etc. but we don't know what words to Google in order to find out. Oh well, hopefully all the searching on the web will turn up something one day.











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Sounds like you got Gizzard a great variety of foods! Just have patience, and with a buffet like that, I'm sure it won't be long before he will be really chowing down on his salads.

I don't really think you will have much luck finding a club that is exclusively a Beardie club, but they do have the Georgia Herp Society that would be a great place to start!

http://www.georgiaherpetologicalsociety.org/

The Georgia Reptile Rescue may be a place to get some information on local herp resources as well.

http://www.georgiareptilerescue.com/index.html

OMG! You won't believe that the Bell's Ferry vet is within walking distance of my house! I was worried about finding a reptile vet as we never found a bird vet when my cockatiel got impacted with an egg one day and we ran around to eight vets with her dying in my son's arms! That's great news!

Thanks for the links to the Atlanta area site but still, no website. In my car club we get together at least once per month for dinner, puttputt, gocarts, racing, or just plain talking! I'm sure there is a reptile club here in Atlanta somewhere and I'll just keep looking.

Reptile shows are great! Lots of times you can get supplies cheaper... especially once your beardie gets bigger and is eating tons, you can buy in bigger quantities a lot cheaper. Many times at the shows you can get the yellow, orange, or red dragons for only a bit more than what a pet store charges for the normal color beardies if your other kid wants something a bit different.
Shows are also a great place to find a local herp club. Exclusively BD club would be pretty hard to find.
One place we have found lights and other supplies like the vitamins at half the pet store prices is www.reptilesupply.com
Welcome to the site and enjoy. I'm glad you have a herp vet so close to you. That is really nice.
Oh... and we agree about the feeding more and greater variety. One of our beardies favs are red bell peppers... I think they are drawn to the color partly.
Here's another site that has a lot of really awesome nutrition info if you ever question if a food is ok or not, www.beautifuldragons.com Click on the nutrition part.
ENJOY!!! Reptiles are like potato chips... you can't have just one.