Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys. I recently got a month or so old bearded dragon. I have done a ton of reading on some sites that where mentioned by posters here, but have a quick question or two.

I have a 20 gallon tank, with a Repti-Glo 5.0 24" UV light, and a 50 watt indy light for basking. I have a thermostick on each side of his enclosure. The cool end sits at about 80-85 all day, and the side with the basking light, at about 95. I have two things set up about 8 inches under the basking light, a peice of store bought driftwood, and a stone retptile basking platform. He can easly get ontop of both, with no problem. All that said, he never basks. He will usually get kinda right in the middle of the cage, either just going onto of the basking spots, or just stay on the floor. Whenever i clean his cage, or have to move him, i will set him back right on one of the bask spots, but with-in about 10 min he will usually get off.

From all the reading i have done here, it seems like BD's do alot of basking, which has me concerned. He also doesnt seem to be eating a ton, probably about 10 1/4 inch crix a day coated in Repti-Cal. Also, he really seems to relax alot. I will sometimes in the morning catch him kinda running around abit, and of course when he is fed, he will run around after the crixs, but otherwise, he will just kinda chill out with his head up high, usually opening his eyes to check me out, then slowly closing them and relaxing again. Mind you this is usually not in a basking spot, but somewhere in the middle of his enclosure. Also, sometimes when i pick him up to clean his cage or what not, he will completely fall asleep on my hand. He will close his eyes, lay down flat against my hand, and seems to go right to sleep. At first i was thinking that he was totally stressed and playing dead or something, but if i mist him, he will drink like regular, and sometimes he will give me the "eye" and then kinda go back to sleep again.

Sorry for all the rambling. I am trying as hard as i can to get these first couple months with my new guy perfect, and i might be a little over worried. Thanks for any help.

PS. I use Paper towels for substrate, and have had him for 4 days now.

Personally I don't think your beardie is relaxing I think it feels like crap and is lethargic. I'd bet money your temps are waaaaaaaay off. You need something that can measure the temps at the basking spot. That means a probe that you can place directly on the highest point closest to the bulb. You are aiming for 105-115.

Another issue which may be contributing to your problems is that he may be stressed from being in a new enclosure. This happens to most animals when they move into new surroundings, especially youngens'.

Also, you will want to make sure you get all of the crickets out of his cage before he goes to sleep. Beardies sleep so soundly a hungry cricket can gnaw it's eyelids away without it ever waking up. It has and does happen.

That's about all I can think of. Get those temps accurate and try extra hard to keep his stress level down for a while and I bet your beardie will be basking and eating like he should in no time.

Good luck!!
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Rob Talkington

I usually feed him, then after he is done, clean out his cage and put back any crixs he didnt eat. Here are some pics of the enclosure and him. Nevermind the cricket, he had just been fed.

Another pic of him "Basking". You can see the basking set up well here.

Last pic. Close up on him.

You got a really, really small beardie there. Most of the time breeders won't let them go until they are 6" in length since they're so fragile being that small. My second one was almost that small though and he did fine.

Oh yeah, make sure you keep him well hydrated. I think one of the best ways to do this is to put some water on his nose using a dropper or needless syringe.

This will do two things. One, it will keep him hydrated (he should start licking up the water once it's on his nose.) and two, if you ever need to give him oral medication this will make that a lot easier. FYI, sometimes babies won't drink from the bowl so definitely keep an eye on his water intake.
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Rob Talkington

If his temps are even a little off that could be why he's lethargic. I agree that you should replace those thermometers. They aren't usually accurate, especially when you want to measure the temp at the top of the basking spot, not on the side of the glass. You can get a good digital thermometer at tempgun.com/ that's what I use and it's great. Basically those cheapo things you buy at the pet store just don't do the trick, and with a baby so small everything needs to be just right to give him a good head start.

He's a cutie pie.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

You got a really, really small beardie there. Most of the time breeders won't let them go until they are 6" in length since they're so fragile being that small. My second one was almost that small though and he did fine.

Oh yeah, make sure you keep him well hydrated. I think one of the best ways to do this is to put some water on his nose using a dropper or needless syringe.

This will do two things. One, it will keep him hydrated (he should start licking up the water once it's on his nose.) and two, if you ever need to give him oral medication this will make that a lot easier. FYI, sometimes babies won't drink from the bowl so definitely keep an eye on his water intake.
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Rob Talkington

Thanks for all the help guys. I ran out to the pet store and bought a digital thermometer. I will leave the probe sit at the basking spot and see what it was hitting. I also bought a seperate small herb enclosure that i am going to feed him in, and a bigger wattage basking light, incase it is indeed not hot enough.

Sounds good. Let us know how it goes!
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Ok, the basking spot on the wood is hitting 112F, so looks like i can take back this huge basking light i bought out of fear

Anyone have an idea why he wouldnt want to bask? He is again, just sitting on the paper towels, looking all smug. Havent seen him bask at all today.

Ok, this is just a shot, but I think it's possible he's a little intimidated by the large space. Like wideglide mentioned, lots of open space can seem huge and scary to a little beardie. You may want to try partitioning off one side of the cage so it's half as big. You can cut out a piece of cardboard to fit and slip it in the middle, then put all of his stuff on one side. Also covering the sides of the glass with some type of paper, so he can't see out in all directions. Maybe keep it simple with just the basking platform and the food dish, and maybe a little hiding spot, and save the piece of wood for when he's bigger. Right now that may just be too big and too much, and he may feel scared to get up on the huge piece of wood for everyone to see him.

Of course, you've only had him for a few days so it's normal for him to be a little wary of his surroundings, but personally I think making his open space a little smaller could help. I don't guarantee it, but it might be worth a shot.

Also, just to rule out any possible parasites, have you had a fecal check done? They aren't very expensive and it's a good idea with any new reptile to make sure he's healthy right off the bat.

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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

With the set-up i showed, what kind of supplement should i use?
I have been using Repti-cal, which contains calcium, phos, Vit-A, and Vit-D3. Since he is only really eating cricks, and has a UV light, should i use a calcium only suplement instead? Or should i just use the one i have every other day or so? Everyone here seems to swear by Rep-Cal. Should i track some of that down?

I would get yourself some pure calcium (Repcal) and also get some multivitmin (Herptivite). The issue with the Repti-cal is that id contains phospherous and vitamin A, both of which can be used too much. You want to use the calcium everyday for one feeding and using it that often when it contains the extra stuff probably won't be very good. The multivitamin you want to use 2-3 times a week. That is the regimen I used when my beardies were little and it worked well.

One thing I did with one of my beardies is get some fake vines and put them in one side of the enclosure. I think it helped him feel more secure. Either that or the cardboard is a good idea. I bet he's just really, really scared right now and he wants a small, simple place to be in without any commotion.

It wouldn't hurt to lower that basking temp a couple degrees to see if that makes a difference as well. At 112 it's at the high end of the spectrum(105-115).

Good luck and feel free to ask as much as you need!
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Rob Talkington

That looks like a nice setup. A couple of things.

You really do need a digital thermometer with a probe. What you would do is place the probe right on top of that piece of wood. Right there you are aiming for temps of 105-115.

Another thing you might want to do is cover 3 sides of that enclosure. That tiny little guy probably doesn't feel very safe in that big open area.

Hope this helps!

ps - temps are extremely important so make sure you do what it takes to make them right. I think walmart has the digital thermometers for about $14.00.
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Rob Talkington

Rob has it right on the money. I keep mine ar 112 or 115. It is very important. Also spray it down gatoraid for a few days. It my be dehydrated.

Mike Nagy
None Fatter Herps