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new to beardies - housing

herpspaz

herpspaz

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Hey, I just got a baby beardie (said to be about 12 weeks old, about 5-6 inches tip to tip) for an early christmas present.

I've read up on care and what not, but of course, i can only get the basics from caresheets.

More importantly though, I'd like to know what type of setup is best for these guys. right now, i'm keeping him on paper towel, he has a branch to climb on (though he doesn't use it) with the top of the branch (basking spot) at about 100 degrees. temp at the ground beneath the light is about 85-88. He's got a tall deli cup with paper towel that he sleeps in (it's on the cold side of the tank) and he's got a little hide that he never goes in, in the middle of the tank. (it's a 10 gal for now).

I give him about 5 small crickets every other day, and chopped greens inbetween, dusted.

Can anyone maybe post a pic of their setups to give me better ideas? and if anyone has any suggestions for me, it would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

Thanx,
Karin
 
i'm pretty sure you should feed as many crickets they can eat in 10 minutes twice a day like breakfast/dinner.... or was that monitors hrm, i can't remember
 
erm..does anyone know for sure whether it's beardies or monitors?

i tossed two in last nite, (i ran out, and the rest are gutloading for today) but he still hasn't touched em when i checked this morning.
 
Get your temps up some. It needs to be 110*F in the basking spot, 90 on the warm side (below the basking spot) and mid 80s on the cool side of the tank.

Papertowels are great. Keep him on those for quite awhile, until he's around 10 inches.

Feed him as many crickets as he wants twice daily, and be sure, VERY sure, that the crickets are no bigger than the space between his eyes. I'm guessing that's about a 1/4 inch cricket for now. You will be MUCH better off if you bulk order crickets, as you will go through 1000 in no time. This little guy should eat 50+ crickets daily in no time. Do not leave the crickets in the tank with the dragon for longer than 10 minutes. Crickets can gnaw holes into live animals.

Feed the dragon greens daily, put them in after you feed the first batch of crickets in the morning, and leave them in unitl that night. Collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale, endive, and such, chopped finely and dusted properly.

Keep a shallow water bowl in the tank, and try and mist daily, not heavily, but enough so that at least one side of the tank has water running down the side a bit. The movement tends to attract the baby dragons to drink from the side. Or try misting the top of the water bowl and see if that has the same effect.

If you don't have a UVB light, get one. A repti-sun 5.0 is a good bulb, and essential for your dragons health.

Hope this helps!!
 
thanx very much!! that was very helpful!

i do have a reptisun 5.0, left over from my iguana. right now, i'm using a 75 watt moon bulb, and that leaves the bottom of the tank under the light 85 degrees, and the basking spot at about 109 now.

he doesn't seem to want to chase after crickets much, though i assume he is still trying to acclimate (it's only been 4 days). He'll eat, but he's always got one eye on me...but how many should he be eating about??

here's a pic of the tank, any other suggestions and advice would be great! (the temps on the thermometer are low in the pic because i just turned the light on...)
 

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Lets rearrange some. Use the stick for your basking spot. Move it to the left of the tank, and put the probe from the thermometor ON the branch (staple the cord) that way you know what the temp is WHERE the dragon should be basking from. Put the other part of the thermometor (the gauge part) on the cool side to monitor it.

Be very sure that he can't shift any of the rocks or the branch, if he does, you will quite possibly wind up with a squished dragon.

How old is the Reptisun? If it's older than 6 months (been used for longer than 6 months) replace it. After that time, the UVB rays are so short, they do no good.

It looks like you have another tank to the left of the dragons. If you have anything bigger than the dragon, or very active in there, put some newspaper, construction paper, or something to keep the dragon from stressing about his neighbor, and feeling like he could be eaten at anytime.

As for the wattage of the bulb, I would guess when you rearrange, it's going to be way too hot, I would GUESS that a 45 or 50 watt bulb would be plenty for a 10 gallon tank. This of course depends on the temps in your house.

Also, if you don't have the lights on a timer, I would advise it, that way you don't have to turn them on and off yourself, and the time that the come on and go off is consistent for the dragon.

And give the little guy a week or so to settle in before you handle him at all, and then only for short periods of time, in very calm places.

Good luck with him!
 
The reptisun 5.0 is brand new, my iggy grew out of them faster than i thought! (i had stocked up when i found a sale at LLLreptile)

but anyway, i USED to have the branch as the basking spot, but the way i had it propped up, it was only getting about 90 degree readings, but, will try again. the 75 watt is necessary at this time of year, we only have one radiator in this small studio apartment, and it's no where near the tanks. I originally had a 50 watt bulb in there, but when i tested an area 4 inches below the light, the highest reading i got was only about 88. (it's quite cold this time of year in chicago!)

i have tanks next to it, under it, above it, across from it, etc. the one immediately next to it in the pic are just leopard geckos, nothing i would be too worried about, they don't come out of their hiding spots all too often.

the slate pieces are glued...those are no problem there, and the branch is also solid on the ground (the way it was in the pic anyway)

timers are set (same as my iguanas).

would you happen to have pics of your setups that you can post??

i think the only major problems i have now is getting him to figure out how to get to the basking spot. when i had just the branch there, he wouldn't climb it, when i have the hammock there, he wouldn't use it. (prolly cuz he's gotta climb the branch to get to it). He mainly just chills on the ground where it's about 88. any suggestions on this or just give him time?
 
About feeding..

I'd strongly recommend feeding crickets twice a day, and offer greens every day.

Also - be sure to mist the lil guy often. We mist our babies at least twice a day, and they drink every time we mist them. They will often lick drops of water off the glass... It's also really easy to give them water from a syringe.

Make sure you are dusting your crickets with a high quality calcium powder w/D3 - and also dust the greens with the calcium powder.
 
thanx for the advice, i've changed the setup back to the way the pictures shows, the temps at the spot he usually chills at (on the hammock) is about 108.

i feed him twice a day, he eats only about 10 each feeding. but i also leave him a dish of greens (maybe about 2 tablespoons to give an approximation?) and he eats a good amount of that as well. I don't dust every feeding of crickets, but i do dust every plate of greens (lightly) with Repcal and Herptivite and a little bit of Parazap.

so far, it seems like he is doing good, he's grown a bit from what i remember when i first got him, but i still worry that he's not eating enough, etc.

-Karin
 
That is not a bad setup, although I do agree to rearranging it a little. I would remove one "clump" of the slate. This will make it easier for the little guy to find the food. You can pick him up and put him in the basking spot every now and then. He will learn where it is at and that it is warmer. He will also choose when he needs to get to that warmer temp. Definately put something between the cages for the time being till he is a little bigger and more acclimated to everything. Give him an hour or two to warm up in the morning before feeding, then give him veggies first and leave em there all day. A bit later, give him his first feeding of dusted crickets. Dust with vitamins once or twice weekly, not daily. and yes, as many as he will eat in 10-15 minutes is good. This will go down as he gets older and salad consumption will go up. Keep the paper towel until he is at least 10-12 ". Speaking of size, I would say that at 5-6", he is more likely about 8-9 wks old. They are only 3-4" at birth.

Here is the link to a web site that has awesome info and awesome people

dragontank
 
actually, the clumps of slate are not there piled up anymore, because as you mentioned, the crickets just has too many places to hide from him. so, the rocks are there, but mostly just to hold the corners of the paper towels down so crickets can't get under it.

and he's figured out how to get up and down the branch no problem now, he's much better acclimated.

he still doesn't have a name (i'm fresh out of ideas, too many animals to name...) and the only "problem" i feel i have now is just making sure he is eating enough.

does 10-12 small crix about twice a day good enough? (i say about, because sometimes, he'll eat much more veggies during the day, and not eat as many crix at nite)

-karin
 
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