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My question why does my bearded dragon have a white area that looks like his scales are missing? If you have ideas please help the more informed ideas the better. Also if you could let me know what to do to fix the problem and if they grow back and if so how long? Thanks a lot for the help and looks . Oh diet information is he eats dusted crickets sometimes I give him superworms. He eats a little bit of greens now and then but really doesn't care for them so i have to do a lot of work to get him to eat them. I have a water dish in his cage. I soak him now and then and mist him once a week.

I don't know why it is white with no scales. But, I am mostly concerned that it looks constricted. Possibly a retained shed issue. I would soak him daily and spray the end of his tail often and hopefully it will recover.

It looks like something is constricting the tail...as BDLvr suggested, soak him, gently rub the area to see if any unshed skin comes lose (after a good long soak...mineral oil applied on the area can help soften dead skin too). The only other thing it can be is a healed injury, or maybe even a new one...though it looks more like scar tissue than a fresh scrap. How long did he have this?

The scales should grow back after many sheds, or they may never grow back. If it is an old injury that is completely healed, then he will always have that spot on his tail. If it is caused by unshed skin, once the dead skin is removed, the tail should flesh out (lose that indentation) pretty quickly (couple weeks, months...not really sure). If a fresh injury, such as having his tail caught in something, it may heal and be fine in a few weeks.

Also, his substrate..it looks very sharp edged and coarse..is it crushed walnut shells? If so get rid of it. crushed walnut is very high risk for bearded dragons. It can cause impaction if ingested (even accidentally), even cause damage in the gut as well, because of the sharp edges.
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PHLdyPayne

Yes it is crushed walnut shells but from reading the bag it said it was great for bearded dragons. I did not know this could be bad for them. What does everyone use? I hear sand is not good and everyone talks about soil with sand but can somone give a link to what everyone uses? I can only go by what i read and it seems this is one lizard that no one does anything the same. Funny i read meal worms all the time and then another person says no meal worms. Someone standardize this stuff lol. Please help thanks.

There is no regulatory commitee for pet products...so there are a ton of products out there that are dangerous, and still get sold. YOu will quickly learn to not trust packaging

Fine grain playsand is fine for adult dragons - just make sure its not calci-sand or anything, and that its very fine.

other suitable substrate for dragons of all ages include: paper towels, non adhesive shelf liner, tiles, or reptile carpet.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

Anything that is marketed for a specific animal is going to say it is good for them. There is plenty of info around to read, you just have to do your homework. Honestly if this was done, alot of the questions you have you would have answers to. A big problem is people going into a big box type pet store, buying a dragon(first mistake), going by what the misinformed or misguided salesperson tells them(mistake two), and then hopefully they get some kind of correct guidance to correct all the mistakes and it winds up being a problematic ordeal. Advising people to put their dragon on sand at a tiny age may not be the best advice. Telling them their cage setup is fine when its not is not the best advice. Keeping dragons on crushed walnut is not ok. Baby dragons are best if housed on paper, but some do use sand(I have), but I would always suggest to a newcomer to use something like paper towels, newspaper, or shelf liner......etc. If you have questions, or are new to dragons ask away......thats what everyone is here for, but concentrate on getting your dragon setup in a healthy proper environment first.
chris allen

meal worms are almost all shell with little guts to them. little protien. super worms are better but can fatten the dragon over time and is lower in protien. crickets are great but roaches are better then crickets by far. dubia roaches are one of the softest boddies roaches. easy to keep, they give live "birth" so easy to bread. dont climb glass and dont smell.
silk worms are GREAT as a staple along with roaches.
hope this helps!

Does anyone have a website they have bought dubia roaches off of and they were good to go. Only thing i cannot find is how they do in cold weather just says if its too cold they will not reproduce. I live in MI so its hard to get live animal or insect deliveries here in the winter.

In the winter it is hard to ship any insect and some companies won't ship at all in extreme conditions. Right now I wouldn't be able to get anything living shipped to me due to it plummeting to -20 C or more at night.

However, it is still possible to get insects shipped in more moderate cold weather. They can be shipped in insulated boxes with a heat pack, usually 48 hour heat packs. These help ensure the environment inside the box stays warm even in cold weather. Heat packs are basically small packs (about 3-4" square though size varies per brand) of chemicals that react to produce heat. They 'burn out' after a certain time, indicated by the type. (ie 24 hour, 48 hour etc.)

I don't know of any roach shipping companies off hand but check the businesses tab above for feeder suppliers or check the feeder section of the classifieds. These can lead to a local supplier or one fairly close to reduce shipping costs. Most places will have a toll free number or at least an email address and you can contact them about how they ship insects in the winter, live arrival guarantees etc.

Reptile care is relatively new to the pet world compared to say, cats and dogs who have been companion pets since...6000 BC or longer. Care is always changing as new technologies become available, new research is done etc. So techniques used ten years ago may now be considered inappropriate for reptiles.

Mealworms were a staple, as they are easy to keep, cheap and can be stored in the refrigerator. But research and observations from many experienced keepers of bearded dragons found they are not a good sole feeder for young dragons.

Constant researching and reading, is the best way to know what is best for your dragon. Basic setups are a great way to start but there are more than one way to keep a dragon healthy and thriving. Some can live for 10 years on crushed walnut or calcium sand and never have any problems..others die of impaction in months. There is more factors to consider as well. (insufficient heat can make it harder for dragons to digest, and ingested substrate spends more time inside..or if they are dehydrated nearly all the time, its harder to flush things out of their system. A particularly large piece can be eaten and lodge in the lower intestines and cause blockage. OR tear a bowel).

The important thing to keep in mind is risk factor. Crush walnut may only have a 10% or 15% chance of harming your dragon. (I am completely guessing on these figures, they could be higher or lower. Just putting them here for example purposes). Washed children's playsand is about the safest particulate substrate but it still has a risk..maybe 2-5%. Again other environmental factors can increase or decrease the risks. (prolonged dehydration for one). However non particulate substrates (paper towel, tiles, newsprint etc) have virtually no chance of being ingested thus extremely unlikely to be a cause of impaction or other similar problems.

Soil is good as its usually finer than sand and more like what they encounter in the wild. Though I would suggest soil and soil mixes be more for intermediate to advanced keepers..as it does take more consideration and planning to do properly. The soil can't be too damp as you don't want high humidity in the cage (bearded dragons do best with low to normal levels of humidity (30-60% with 45% probably best...humidity consistently over 60% can cause respiratory problems among other things). To read more about using soil as a substrate check the FAQ section of www.proexotics.com

Another thing I find is best with bearded dragons is feeding a variety of insects. For the first year the bulk of your insects will be crickets. They are just too convenient to not be a staple. Not to mention cheap to buy in bulk. A 1000 crickets costs maybe $15 or so and a hungry baby dragon can go through that many crickets in a week or two. As a dragon gets older (pretty much once they are over 10" other insects can be added, like roaches, superworms, silkworms, small horn worms, butterworms, phoenix worms and other 'farmed' insects that don't have a hard exoskeleton. Keep in mind crickets still need to be gutloaded and dusted with calcium. This helps balance the phosphorous/calcium ration as nearly all insects dont' have the best ration..should be more calcium than phosphorous. So dusting in calcium without phosphorous or Vitamin A (but with vitamin D3) often is beneficial.

keep reading. Not just here, but other websites, any new books that go out, Reptile Magazine or other reptile based magazines (Iguana is another one and there are a few more but I can't think of the others off hand). Guest chat month we have here (starting in February and for every weekend in February, see above for schedules) are also a great time to ask specific questions of experts in the field. Past chat transcripts are also available so even if you can't make it, you can read the chat transcripts. (if you have a specific question...but can't make it, have a friend ask for you. It may even be possible to just email it to the chat coordinator who could ask the question on your behalf (keep in mind basic questions are most likely not going to be asked, or asked by somebody else so best to leave basic husbandry type questions or care questions for here. Unless its something more specific.)

Ok I rambled on long enough...
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for the help and extras.

I get my roaches from www.blarberus.com - they are great, and a colony is easy to start
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

go to theroachguy.com he has the best dubia at the best price

Thanks guys i found a guy in the insect classifieds that lives in Jackson Mi which is about 45 mins away and he comes near me every other weekend. Everyone on this site is super cool no matter what tab i go into. Wish i found this site before i bought my dragon I would own a cool red one. Oh well still wouldn't trade my dragon for any other ones now that i got him (hope its a him).