Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I'm so confused!!!!!
I recently acquired an 18mnth old male beardie from a friend of mine.
I've basically discovered, he wasn't keeping him in the conditions he should have. FEEDING HIM ICEBERG LETTUCE, ASWELL AS LEAVING THE UV ON THE FLOOR!!!!
After reading numerous caresheets, seemingly from america/other countries, the advice about temp is that the basking temp should be 95-105F. With regard to feeding, a beardie of this age should be fed twice a week and supplemented once a week.
They also say u can feed them kale as a green.
Now, when I called my petshop for some advice on supplementing they basically told me all this info is wrong. They said the basking temp is far too hot and should only reach about 30C. The night time temp shouldnt drop below 26C. They said i need a heat mat as soon as possible as he isn't getting any heat during the night and i need to turn it on and never switch it off, but i thought they can burn beardies(unless i put it under the viv?)
They advised that feeding him 2 boxes of crickets a week is too much and i should be feeding him 8 crickets every other day and supplementing him 3 times a week. I advised i was using repton and they said this should suffice as it has multivitamins in as well as calcium.
I have read that beardies should be misted, but the pet shop advised a waterbowl.
Oh, and when i read a caresheet from the uk, it said u shouldnt feed kale as it is a calcium binder and affects the dragons bones.

As u can see, I basically haven't got a clue who to believe any more, and i need to know i'm doing everything right.

I'd prefer only experienced keepers from the uk to reply ASAP!!!

Please help!

Thanx
Kat

1 male beardie 'Khan'

hey wow the petshops around you seem to be very stupid, well u had the basic ideas bearded dragons love it hot, as logn as they can cool down i keep my basking temps 105( the live in the dessurts of australia) and a cool down of 80 in middle of tank and a hide box of 70 a water bowl is just a bad idea, it will buil bactireia and just plane and simple raise the humidity levels s much it can kill ur dragon from a respitory infection, misting is also not a bad method of water, but they get most of the water from greens, now as of kale, kale is good some times, they need a variaty of greens not just one what u make a beardie salad tr to have 3 types of greens and i say one non citrus fruit like 2 or so raseberrys my beardies love, as for cricets my male whos 19 inchs, gets 30 large cricketsevery two days, and greens in between the days, i never let him go with out eating for a day i find it messed up so my basic scedual is crickets monday, greens tuseday wensday, 10 wax worms and 20 crickets thrusday (friday and saturday he gets greens and on sunday i just make him a sunday platter with wax worms meal worms, and all his fav greens, as for uv i use a repti sun 10.0 best results ever, now, u want it to go into ur basking spot so try geting them close together, so get a strip and long as your tank,

heres a link of THE best beardie site to me

www.beautifuldragons.com

tell me if any of this helped u i hope it does

THANKYOU SOOO MUCH!!!

If u keep ur beardies like that and live in the uk, then i'm taking ur advice.

I'll get the temps back up and sort out me greens n insects!!!

Thanx again

kat

forgot to ask.

how often do u supplement, and what do u use.

i was advised to use repton 3 times a week(by the pet shop)

thanx
kat

One thing you should know, the bulk of petstore employees etc, do not have a clue how to take care of bearded dragons correctly.

The care for bearded dragons is the same (basically everything we have been telling your for the last several weeks) no matter what part of the world you live in. It is also best to go with the advice of the majority of the people, caresheets etc, you have consulted over the past several weeks. Yes there is some variation but there is some flexibility in the trade. The important thing is to notice when your dragon is thiving or is not. A healthy dragon is active, curious about what is going on around them, alert, cleared eyes, eats enthusiastically etc.

The previous poster indicated he feds 10 waxworms per insect feeding. Be careful with the waxworms as they are high in fat and shouldn't be fed as regularly as once (or more) a week. I would cut it down to only a few waxworms (2-4) a week or no more than 10 a month. Variety of insects is good so giving them a choice of insects per feeding is fine.

Fahrenheit and celcius conversion can be confusing and when one source tells you keep dragons at 30C and another says 105F it can be difficult to know which is which. There are plenty of converters online that can convert Fahrenheit and celcius for you, you can figure it out yourself using the formula (which I don't recall right now, easier for me to just use a converter or look at my thermometer which has both listed on it). Most digital thermometers have both so you can use whichever is easiest for you. The temp ranges dragons should be is listed below, in both formats.

Basking spot temp: 95-115F (35-46C) (higher range better for younger dragons, 95-105F is good for adults).

Ambient temp, daytime: Around 80F (27C) for the warmend is good. The cool end can go down as low as room temp (72F or 22C)

Ambient temp, nightime: The overall cage can be room temperature, about 72F (22C). It is fine if the temp is cooler, but no cooler than 65F (18C)

It is very important that there is a heat gradient in the cage during the day so your dragon can move from one temp to another as he needs to do. Having a large wide basking spot that has different temp at different locations on the basking spot, gives your dragon a choice where to bask. Typically, bearded dragons will bask in a higher temperature first thing in the morning and right after they eat. Other times during the day, they will move to different temperature areas as needed, the cooler end to cool down, on the basking spot to warm up. It is best to give him the choice where to bask, instead of limiting him to a single basking temp to use.

For your 14 month old dragon, suppliments should be giving about twice a week in the form of lightly dusted insects.
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PHLdyPayne

Thanx very much for your help.

I take it using the Repton supplement is fine then? (x2 a week)

I'll feed him every 2 days as advised and he'll get greens every other day.

I have a question on behaviour now.

As Khan doesnt seem too happy about being handled (beard goes black and occasionally hisses) I saw on previous posts I should put my hand in the viv and keep it still so he doesn't see it as a threat.
I did this last night and he was fine, then he walked around the viv and when he saw my hand again, he'inflated' his beard and started bobbing his head up and down. I didn't move my hand, and then he went for me. The advice in the post says if he goes to bite u, to move ur hand away - so i did.

It's such a shame he hasn't been handled by his previous owner much, coz he's gorgeous. I'd love to enjoy him, outside his viv, but i can't help thinking that i'm stressing him out, when i pick him up.

Do u have any handling/taming tips I can use.

Thanx
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Kat

1 male beardie 'Khan'

Check out beautifuldragons.com for General care and behavior info but for the most part:

Head bobbing is used to show that they are boss or to determine dominace.

Arm waving is a sign of submission.

I have read some where of a guy that would take his fist to represent a dragon head, and would talk to bearded dragons. When he bobbed his fist they responed with head bobbing, when he slowly rotated his thumb in a cirular motion it represented submission and they would calm down.

I have not tried this but you might want to try it the next time he gets all worked up.

When I first got mine they wanted nothing to do with me, they would flaten them selves out or freeze when I walked by. But I would just sit there and watch them eat or hang out with them, for about ahour or so a day. After a few days they didn't freak out as much when I went near them. They just need to get used to you first. I would suggest putting them in an area that they can see you the most.

Good luck.