Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A buddy of mine has about 190 eggs in huvabators (sp?) and some are just starting to hatch. Now that a few are out i have a question about keeping hatchlings outside (like 2 day old beardies!) The breeding pen is 12'X12' and it has 10 adult dragons in it, we had planned on keeping the babies in a seperate box that is about 5'x2.5' in the same pen but on a table (above ground away from any insects/ants etc and the adult beardies.) Now our concern is that it will be too hot/humid for the young ones, the adults do just fine but they are a bit more hardy.

So i suppose the question is, would it be ok to keep beardies (less then a week old) outside in the potental rain with high humidity and high heat (todays forcast is 90* feels like 101*) Or should we just put them in a smaller tank with a UVB bulb in it and keep it inside so we can better control the temp/humidity?

copy paste this link for weather info in my area, we are in melbourne, fl (32901)

thanks!

http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/32901?from=36hr_fcstHourLink_undeclared
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Russ
1.0 Basset Hound (Goofy)
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Apollo)
1.0 Columbian Rainbow Boa (Odin)
1.0 Guyana Red-Tail Boa (Ares)
0.1 Pastel Salmon Boa (Minerva)
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1.1 Western Hognoses (???)

Melbourne, Fl

Since beardies are a dry climate animal I would not recommend having them outdoors in the humid conditions. I have a humidity sensor outside and I won't let my adult beardies out there unless it's low humidity just because they can so easily end up with a respiratory problem. I definitely wouldn't keep young babies outside. Just my opinion.

I also suggest not putting babies out right away. THe big wide open places outside may stress them out, dehydrate them or cook them... Giving how frigile babies are, it will be best to get them well started inside, till they are a couple weeks old then bring them outside, maybe just for short periods of time, as natural sunlight is the best...as they get used to being outside then a cage for them especially can be given.

I don't think its a good ideal to keep them in with teh adult dragons, even in a separate container, especially if they can see through the sides. Having adults all around may stress them.

Also make sure the smaller cage for the babies is sufficiently big to give them plenty of room without over crowding. 190 babies in a 5'x2.5' cage (I think that was the dimension of the cage you were going to give the babies) is highly crowded (well, since the eggs are all likely to hatch at the same time, though with many adults, maybe they will..) It would be better to have smaller cages for 5-10 babies, assorted by size, instead of throwing them all into one cage. You also need to make sure you ah;ve proper warm and cool areas, even if outside..thus proper shelters, hides and shaded areas to ensure they are not cooked.
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PHLdyPayne