Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This may be a bit long, sorry. I am new to caring for lizards, but I did atleast do alot of reading before buying a BD. I thought I had set up the 20 gallon tank well enough for a young bd with a 75 watt uv light and heat pad on one end. I have a brown repti-carpet (pretty much brown astro turf), a log for Mr D (D for delicious) to hang out on under the heatlamp, good sized water dish, and one of those wood huts. I only got one temperature gauge and I put that on the unheated end figuring that as long that end didnt get too cool everything would be fine. I just Mr D this past friday.

Heres my questions -
1)How long do BDs usually take to get used to their new homes? What is normal behaviour for a BD when it is getting used to it's new home?

2)How can temperatures between 65F and 70F affect a BD? What sort of behaviour does this cause? Can it be serious?

I ask these questions because I made a mistake alot of people have made and didnt think about how cold it got in my apartment at night and I only had the heat pad going at night. I also did not have an incandescent(?)heatlamp for the night times. Saturday night I opened a window in my living room to get the cricket funk out and when I got up in the morning the cool end of the cage was 66 - 68F. I dealt with this the same day and got the nighttime heat light and another temp guage on the warm end. So now During the day the warm end of the tank is about 85 - 87F and the cool end is 75 - 76F. Last night I cracked a window cus of the cricket funk and when I got up in the morning the cool end was 72F. So I guess thats ok now.

All of that leads up to this. I have not seen him eat once (except for what I believed was a cricket leg sticking out of his mouth) since I got him/her (who knows, I may have to call him/her Ms. Delicious) and he doesnt move around much. Plus after saturday night he doesnt move hardly at all except to look at me when I check on him. He stays where I set him and doesnt bother moving even when I put him on the cool end of the tank actually thats where he slept last night because thats where I put him. I hope this isnt anything serious and that bearded dragons behave this way when getting used to a new environment. Any help would be appreciated.

Maybe he/she is not eating enough because the basking spot is not warm enough. Directly under the spotlight where the basking site is it needs to be 100-110 for him to be warm enough. You can check that with a digital thermometer with a probe (Walmart $10-15) or a Temp Gun which will run around 35-50. I didn't see you mention a basking temp anywhere in your post.

What are you using for supplements? Anything? You also mentioned a UV bulb. Is it one of those reptile basking bulbs? If so...they produce no UVB whatsoever. They produce UV-A, which is another term for visible light. You can use a standard household bulb, or a halogen bulb for like 3 times cheaper. You would need a good UVB strip light like a reptisun.
-Nicky

dang I thought those bulbs produced uv light that was necessary. I get off work here at 3, so I guess I know what I have to do after work. As far as the basking area goes I didn't realize it needed to be that high. So I need UVB. By supplements do you mean gutloading crickets? Because I do that. But he is not eating them as far as I can tell. I can't remember the name of the gutload off the top of my head but they are dark green cubes that come in a plastic container. Thanks for the help.

Temps are definitly important. The beardie isn't able to digest its food properly without the proper basking temp, which has been mentioned in a previous post.

UVB-light is also mentioned. Also very important.

The supplements mentioned is a powder with calcium and vitamin D3. You dust the crickets with it before they are fed to the dragon. This should be done on one feeding daily for a baby. Also remember the cricket size rule: They should be no bigger than the space between your beardies' eyes. If they are, they can cause serious damage, and possibly death to your beardie.

Since you're new to beardies, I would definitly recommend reading some good care sheets available on the web. Try www.beardiekingdom.com, for instance, or just type "bearded dragon care sheet" at google.com. You'll find all necessary information on housing, feeding, lights . There's a lot to keep in mind if you want a healthy pet!

Good luck.

When I got home I found him sitting on the cool end of the tank exactly where he had been this morning. He seems rather cool so I sat him under the basking light to warm him up. I had also got a UVB stip light that was mentioned (the hood and light combo are expensive) and hooked it up. Now I've got him under 2 heat lights (1 day and 1 incandescent) and the strip UVB light and he seems to be looking better now. Now I juse need to get him to eat. Thanks for all the help.

Good to hear. In addition to NorwegianDragon's post you should use a product called herptivite once a week. It's a multi-vitamin supplement. Definitely look up some caresheets as suggested above and look into some books. The Bearded Dragon Manual is excellent. Good luck!
Any questions email at chappylestrange@yahoo.com
Later.
-Nicky