need help for my new baby

My son just recently aquired a baby bearded dragon about 3 mos old or so we are unsure how much and how often to feed. We have been feeding about 6 or more crickets throughout the day but he always looks like he wants more....LOL I have read from 3 times per day or 2-3 per feeding, or 1 per feeding....AHHHHHHHH to many confusing stuff. If someone has one of these lovely lil guys pls lemme know which book and how much and often to feed. I don't want my baby to get ill or die so need help asap. We have only had him 2 days.undefined

beardie addict

You could do a google for "bearded dragon care sheets" and probably get a hundred hits.

I would imagine being naturally foragers, they would do just fine a few cricks a day, BUT, they need other sustinance. Baby food works, both fruit and vegy, and they will let you know what they like. Occasional dusting of the crickets with reptical or similar dusting powder.
They NEED a Basking light, and prefer it fairly hot. It should not be able to get to the bulb.


I am not a pro though. I have ever only rescued 2 beardies. This is only what was passed on to me, and it did the trick just fine.
Hope it helps.

Ciao,
Rick

OH YEAH...........Morn, and eve.

From what I've read, they should have all the crickets they can eat in a five minute period. The exact number can change depending on thier size. To start off with this, try feeding him in a Rubbermaid tub so his cage won't stay full of crickets...because the crickets can munch on the baby at night and cause little bite marks and stress to the baby. That way, you can get an idea of how much he will eat. Anyway, the crickets need to be dusted with plenty of calcium.

You should also offer him a "salad" of greens (mustard, turnip, collard, etc.) on a daily basis. I typically use a food processor to chop the dragon veggies. I just pile that on top of the salad. The veggies that my dragons enjoy are squash (all kinds), yams, bell peppers, green peas. They also love all kinds of fruit, but the citrus variety will tend to give them the runs. There is a really good list of dietary needs on www.beautifuldragons.com. I would highly recommend that you check out this website.

The baby should also be given baths to keep it hydrated about 2 times a week. Just run an 85 degree bath that comes to his shoulders and let him soak.

As for the substrate, the baby should be big enough to be on washed, sifted playsand. In our area, Home Depot carries a 50 pound bag for $5 that is really pretty and white. As long as the baby is well hydrated, impaction should not be an issue.

Baby also needs to stay very warm...about 105 degrees on the basking spot. If you don't have a digital thermometer, you may want to get one. They run about $8. The cool side of the baby's tank should be about 90 degrees. He will also need UVB light, which can be provided by a flourescent bulb over the basking spot. Many different styles are available, and a great place to save money is www.reptiledirect.com.

Everything that I've told you about is exactly what I practice for my dragons, all 60 of them. They are all healthy and happy, as I'm sure your little guy will be because you care enough about him to try to find out the proper husbandry for him! Hopefully, this will help you out a little bit.

If he is hungry..feed him! Just do not leave crickets in with him over night while he is trying to sleep. They will pester him and can eve try to snack on him.

PLEASE put some greens in there with that baby! Romaine, mustard greens, collard greens, chopped up squash and carrots.(NO ICEBURG LETTUCE!) Please have this in there at all times for him. Now do not misunderstand me, this is not to substitute his crickets which are full of the protien this little guy needs right now as he is growning. But those veggies are great for them and full of the calcium he needs also.

NO MEALWORMS!! he is too young and they are very hard for him to digest right now.

Please also make sure that you have his home set up with the proper lighting and everything he needs.

This is probaby one of the best care sheets available:
www.anapsid.org/bearded.html

I hope this helps..

thankyou soooo much for the advice. I have a basking light (zoo med repti basking spot lamp 50W)) that keeps one side at 100 degrees and the cooler side is around 83, i also have the uvb/uva light along side the heat light since he likes to climb up the treelimb and "sun" himself...lol he is too cute. We are feeding him 3 crickets in am and again about 1-2 in the evening about an hour before he sleeps is this too late?? Will he be able to digest them this late? I have desert blend walnut shell on the bottom of cage..what do you both think of this?? Also feeding the crickets fllukes high calcium cricket feed and cricket quencher to gut load them prior to feeding, and how often to dust with the bone\aid calcium powder?? why does he try to go to my window when i am holding him? and when i hold him, he likes to lick my hand, or move around quickly is this all kinda normal behavior for him? as you can see we are very new to this. We have 1 cat, 1 boxer 2 guinea pigs, 1 peach faced love bird, 2 hamsters, and a petting zoo basically lolol. Thanks!!

beardieaddict

Well, the temps sound pretty good to me! Although when that bulb burns out, you may want to try upping the wattage to 60 or 75 watts, so that his basking spot will be just a bit warmer. These guys really like it HOT!

I would also remove the walnut shell, as it really can cause impaction. Try either paper towels or washed, sifted playsand. Those are the ONLY things I recommend as substrate.

As for the crickets you're feeding him... keeping in mind that they should be no larger than the space between his eyes...feed him as many as he can eat in a 5 minute period. I can assure you that mine eat anywhere from 10-25 crickets in a 5 minute period. The crickets should be calcium dusted one time daily, and multi-vitamin dusted 2 times a week. As for feeding him before bed, I would just try to keep his lights on for about 1-2 hours after he eats so he can properly digest the crickets.

As for him trying to get to the window...mine do that too. They do enjoy sunning themselves and watching what's going on in the outside world. You may want to try taking him outside when the weather is nice. Just make sure he's protected from birds, fire ants, etc.

Licking your hand and moving around really fast is perfectly normal behavior for a healthy little guy. The licking is him "tasting" you. I, of course, view it as the dragons giving kisses! LOL!

It sounds like you have your hands quite full there! We've got quite the zoo here also...so I completely understand! Keep us updated on this little one and let us know if you have any more questions.

WOW, sounds like I am starving the poor lil fella......I see some of the crickets they gave us are rather large almost as big as space from side to side of head, so i haven'
t even tried those. I am concerned though as to where to buy our crickets, the only place i have been is petco...so far this has been good but i read others have had their babies gotten ill so now i am very weary....where do you get yours?? I am thinking i need a heat lamp at night since the cage gets down to 73, do you think this is to low?? Thanks for all the help and your website is AWESOME! I just wish my hubby would let me get more...heeheee....LOL Its all because I grew up next to farm land in Mass and I miss it very much. I was always surrounded growing up with lots of animals. My own parents raised 15-20 siberian husky's for dog sledding up north which was a blast. So I guess its partly their fault too hehe. I have tried to feed him some cut up greens but he isn't interested. I ony left them there for about 2 hrs. then removed it. Is this long enough or what do you think? Also the people at the store told me to buy the darn walnut shell so should I change cage ....yes this will be our second time changing the bottom..LOL to the paper towles?? Or what about that astro turf stuff??

Beardie Addict

I get all my bugs from reptilefood.com. They sell crickets by 250, 500 and 1000. I buy from them because it's much, much less expensive than Petco...and they deliver to my front door! With this many of them, it's difficult to find time to go out and shop for all thier stuff when the stores are still open. I find it much easier to order online, and the prices certainly are better. And don't worry...I don't think you're starving him, but he will grow much faster if he eats until he's full. I personally leave greens and veggies in the enclosure all day. I put the greens and veggies in the enclosures as soon as the lights go on, and remove the bowls for washing right before the lights go off. To encourage my beardies to eat thier greens, I don't offer crickets until about an hour after I serve greens and veggies. That way, if they wake up ravenous, they will at least try the greens and most discover they really like them!

As for the temperature drop at night, not to worry. In the wild, these guys sleep out in the desert where temperatures drop also. My house gets down to about 70 at night, and all my beardies do just fine with that. If you do feel the need to get him a heat lamp at night, just make sure it doesn't emit light or it will disturb his sleep.

I'm sure you will soon find that very few people at pet stores actually know how to properly care for beardies. I'm not sure what the reason for this is, I just know that I see them doing things all the time that I and most others would NEVER do. Even though it's a major pain in the butt, I would change the substrate out. At 3 months, he really should be fine on sifted playsand. As long as you scoop poop frequently and make sure that he's always hydrated, he shouldn't get impacted. I think playsand is also much less expensive than the stuff they sell at Petco. I only pay $5 for a 50 pound bag of really pretty white playsand at Home Depot. Since you don't live too far from me, I bet your Home Depot would carry it also. I've never tried the astro turf, but I don't see that it would be very easy to clean. I'm a little bit obsessive about keeping the enclosures clean!

I think it's wonderful that you had so many animals growing up. I personally think having animals helps children learn reponsibility and how to "care" for something. I am a country girl from Texas and spent a lot of time caring for horses and cattle, so having beardies fills that need to "care" for things...not to mention the kids!

Thank you for the compliments on our website. My husband put that all together...and it was his first attempt at a website. I'm a little biased, but I think he did a great job!

I gotta tell you...it's so nice to see someone care for and be concerned about thier beardies. Your little guy is very lucky!

Thanks... I am just soooo glad to have someone to actually talk with.....I have a yahoo account so maybe we can exchange IM's and instant message from time to time....as you can see I am Obsessive as well when it comes to the care of any animal...I did about 2 weeks worth of researching these lil guys before I allowed my 9 yr old son to have one. BUT! He is not allowed to hold, touch or feed him without our supervision. he is learning very quickly that the lil guy can run off his hand, and we make him sit on his bed so if he does "jump" off he will not be hurt. he is very aware of cleanliness which is wonderful to see, he calls me whenever he poops.....LMAO and tells me "
mommie i need to clean my baby" its just sooo cute. He named him Aragon although we don't know if he is a boy or girl yet. I am thinking from the head size to body size that its a girl... I am going to take a picture tonight but have no clue how to load it under the name....so maybe I will get help from someone. I am going home around 3:30 so I will be stopping by homedepot to by some play sand,..lol my hubby is gonna think i have lost my mind. In the last 3 days we have changed his substrate 3 times...LOL but I want to make sure he doesn't get impacted so I don't mind. LOL

I am in Gilbert, Az only about 1hr 45 mins from you all. I am wondering if my beardie will get as colorful as yours?? Or is that a nother type of bearde you have? I also saw you have some outer country ones wow they look pretty cool. Well better get back to work..LOL

Sophie
aka Beardie Addict