Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi! I recently acquired two baby beardies (They're about four to five inches long). For this school year they are technically "classroom pets" in my father's classroom, and by the summer I should have my own place. This means they have two habitats set up, on for the week and one for the weekend. The habitats are both 20L, the one at the school has a nightlight heat lamp and a full spectrum light, and the one at home has an undertank heater and a night light (until next pay day they have to make due with full spectrum five days a week and vitamin suplements on the weekends). I can't get an accurate temp on their basking and cool spots because the thermometers I have aren't working (they bother read different temps in the same place...VERY irritating!) But I reused an old fish tank thermometer and the basking spot is over ninety (as high as this will go) and the cool spot is about seventy-five to eighty. They're having bowel movements regularly, and it's nice and solid.

They're both eating a TON of small crickets a day (about ten each!), and the one is interested in mealworms but now that I know they aren't good for him (or her) he won't be getting any more. I offer them a salad of finely chopped mustard greens and collard greens with a very tiny amount of red bell pepper, carrot, and yellow squash for color.

In both habitats they have a shelter and driftwood to climb on, and in the weekend habitat they have a fake cactus (the bigger one has claimed this as his)

My questions are: Do these setups sound alright for now, with each pay day getting better (a plant or two for the school habitat, and a full spectrum light for weekend specifically, but any suggestions are welcome)? Also, what other vegetables can I offer that will pique their interest in veggies? I know at this age they aren't too awfully interested in the green stuff, but I want to get them started right. And my mother was wondering if the little green worms you find on corn are okay for them. I'm not too comfortable with the idea of wild-caught food, but the biggest worry I've read about are pesticides and fertilizers, and we haven't used any in our garden.

Oh, and one more! I read that silk worms are great for beardies. Where can I find them? Thanks so much!

Temps. and UVB are VERY important. Your going to have to get something to measure them more accurately. Hot side ambient should be 85 to low 90's with a basking spot of 110-115. Basking temp. is a surface temp. while ambient is an air temp. Think of a road on a hot summer day. The thermometer says the air temp. is 90 but the road is so hot you'd burn your feet. The cool side ambient should be as close to room temp. as possible.

The often market some incandescent bulbs as full spectrum. The emit no usable UVB which is absolutely necessary with dragons. A Zoo Med Reptisun 5.0 flourescent tube gives usable UVB up to 12" from the bulb assuming there is no obstruction. A Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 gives usable UVB up to 20" with no screen or other obstruction.

I would just stick with the greens without vegitables. They may pick at them rather than at each other so I'd leave them in full time. You should be feeding them crickets 3 times a day and the should be no longer than the distance between the dragons eyes. Cage mates sould be no greater than 1 1/4" apart in length.

The green worms on corn are likely wild hornworms which are poisonous to dragons. They can be fed only if raised on commercial food. Silkworms are available from mulberryfarms.com and coastalsilkworms.com. Commercial hornworms are also available from them.

Be careful that you don't have 2 males otherwise they will problably fight til death when they get a little older. Also make sure 1 doesn't dominate the other. Sometimes 1 dragon will intimidate the other making the 1 not eat and slowly whither away. I am not saying this will happen, but it is something you should look out for. I wish you the best of luck.

Personally I think the stress of moving the dragons from one inadequate cage to another twice a week and housing both in a 20 gal tank.. at both locations, is going to cause problems.

The fact you don't have the money to set up the cages properly isa concern too. You need a dedicated bulb which is designed to produce UVB light, such as Zoo Med's repti-sun or Exo Terre's Repti-glo 5.0 or higher.

Getting the proper set up and temps is more important than anything...before buying a dragon.

10 crickets a day is actually not much, considering hungry baby bearded dragons on average can consume 50 or more crickets a day spread over 2-4 meals. Appropriate sized crickets should be offered several times a day and as much as they can eat in a ten minute period with any uneaten crickets removed, especially at night.

Temperatures should be measured by a digital thermometer with probe. The dial shaped stick on thermometers are not very accurate for the most part and only measure ambient temp. Thermometers with probes can have the probe set right on top of the basking spot to check basking temps. Temperature guns are also great for surface temperature readings.

There are plenty of excellent care sheets and books on proper bearded dragon care available to learn all the basics needed to ensure happy and healthy dragons.
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PHLdyPayne