Help a Daddy Out!!

[absolutbill]

That's the great thing about this forum - we all feel like we have a "stake" in your animal when we go through the selection process with you. It's great to watch the individuals grow, be bred, and become parents, and as you spend more time on here you'll get to know individual chams and their owners just like they are your neighbors. The most important thing is that King Beardo is in a happy home and that your son (and you) are thrilled with him. And, since you are 6 hours ahead of the east coast here, we're expecting photos soon!

 

[Daddymike]

The King is asleep!!

Fluxlizard, any advice on light times for the tube and uv?
Many thanks in advance!

 

[Daddymike]

That's the great thing about this forum - we all feel like we have a "stake" in your animal when we go through the selection process with you. It's great to watch the individuals grow, be bred, and become parents, and as you spend more time on here you'll get to know individual chams and their owners just like they are your neighbors. The most important thing is that King Beardo is in a happy home and that your son (and you) are thrilled with him. And, since you are 6 hours ahead of the east coast here, we're expecting photos soon!

Hey! I thank you! Hope all is well with you. I tried to upload a pic of the King lol but it doesnt seem to work via my mobile? Will def get a couple of pics up on here asap. Even my wife was mesmerised by him! And that is saying something, trust me. Right, I really need to get some sleep....whoops, my little lady is just about to wake up...I cant wait to introduce her to the King haha! Speak tomorrow!

 

[Daddymike]

OMG are you kidding me? DO NOT apologize, i'm sure just like many others that gave their 2 cents worth on your thread, i'm just as excited for you and with you on the new beardy. oh wait not your beardy, your boy's. LOL, i'm having a hard time typing this. congrats.

Excellent...It makes me very happy to hear that!
Enjoy! Speak tomorrow!!

 

[melble68]

btw, can you all move here to the US? I'm saying "king beardo for president".

 

[fluxlizard]

Fluxlizard, any advice on light times for the tube and uv?

14 hours of light works well. When I've got breeders awake indoors I use timers and the lights run from 7 am to 9 pm. But my son turns his lizards lights on when he wakes up and off generally when he goes to bed. He isn't very exact about it but they do great.

 

[Daddymike]

14 hours of light works well. When I've got breeders awake indoors I use timers and the lights run from 7 am to 9 pm. But my son turns his lizards lights on when he wakes up and off generally when he goes to bed. He isn't very exact about it but they do great.

Thanks for the advice Fluxlizard.

I am finding that this is a real learning process! I got so many different opinions when it comes to the lighting. The lady I brought King Beardo from told me he likes his UV light to be on all the time? She said to switch the tube light off at night but to leave the UV one on?

I have to add that KB was very lively this morning, tapping the glass with his nose and what looked like a lot of showing off! I LOVE KING BEARDO!!

 

[Daddymike]

Meet King Beardo!

 

[Daddymike]

The Kids are hooked on King Beardo!

 

[Daddymike]

Oh how I wish I had the time to tell you about King Beardo's arrival....Damn you work! I will get round to it asap!

I am finishing early today as Beardo is due some locusts!

I honestly cannot convey mine and my sons excitement....he hasn't left Beardos side!!

THIS is LIVING!!!!

Any tips on what to put in his viv? We have lots of wood and stones too?

Also, he has wood chippings in the viv...is this or sand better?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[ridgebax1]

I think no substrate but not sure. We have that green reptile carpet. Can't wait to get home to see his pictures on my computer.

 

[ridgebax1]

Just checked out the pictures. He is gorgeous! and that is a very nice tank too. Good job Dad!!

 

[melble68]

Just checked out the pictures. He is gorgeous! and that is a very nice tank too. Good job Dad!!

yep, I completely agree. he's very cool. you are not so bad either DaddyMike.

 

[Daddymike]

yep, I completely agree. he's very cool. you are not so bad either DaddyMike.

Thank you both!

Melble68...Back at ya!

 

[Daddymike]

So we got home with King Beardo lat night about 10pm....my son stayed up til midnight, helped me to set up the viv, the lights etc. When we let King Beardo out of his bag and into the viv he was very calm, looking all around him. We let him roam around his viv, and then we gave him some spinach leaves to eat. I held a piece and he was looking at it and then decided to take it from me....it was a lovely moment which my son was ecstatic about! So then my son tried to feed him a piece and then....bingo! What a moment! We left the other pieces of spinach which KB promptly ate. My son and I sat infront of the viv with the glass slid open....KB didnt come out but was happy to walk to the edge of the viv and he let us stroke his head and back. He was a little bit cautious, from what I could see, but I put that down to the fact that he hasnt been held for atleast 3 weeks.....his previous owner told me that she did stroke him etc regularly but it was her nephew who held him on a regular basis, so my plan today is to feed him some Crickets whilst trying to get him chilled enough for me to try and hold him (and my son ofcourse lol).

After he ate his spinach he then done a big old poop which we took as a good sign. I cleaned this up and then he proceeded to walk around the front of his vivarium, looking at us and tapping the glass with his nose. He is an amazing creature, he really is! He just looked "at home" and this morning he was very happy to eat some more spinach and do some more fancy prancing across his viv. My son is so excited at the thought of bonding with KB...."Daddy he keeps looking at me! " "Daddy he is eating his greens" and so on. It is fantstic to see my son so engrossed with his new best friend!

 

[carol5208]

Wow you have the hottest and most viewed thread going on the forums and it is not even about a chameleon anymore! Oh well, congrats on your Beardie and enjoy!!!!!!!!

 

[fluxlizard]

Couple things from the piccys and your comments-

The UV light is the flourescent tube (or should be) check the brand and make sure.

The red light (maybe infrared? and name creating confusion with UV?) is for heat and could be left on all the time, but I don't really recommend it.

Here is why- most lizards do better with a cool down at night. The cooler night temps allow their metabolism to slow for a deeper rest state. Inland Bearded dragons are not really tropical- they are more temperate. They can tolerate temps down near freezing- I keep mine outdoors here at night until temps dip down to 40 or below, and in a pinch they can even handle a light frost without difficulty. Most homes are never going to dip down to 40 (that's 5 celcius)- and temps of 50 and above are going to be quite comfortable for night sleeping. So for a deeper sleep and better rest, no night heat. Is really going to hurt him to use it- probably not, but IMO it is better not to do so.

Actually, I'd recommend scrapping the red light altogether and replacing it with a standard incandescent light bulb of appropriate wattage. There is no reason for the color red if the light isn't necessary at night and the lizard and you will both see colors better with a standard incandescant.

The other tip I have for you is get rid of the shavings. It is easy for dragons to ingest substrate accidentally- either from tongue flicking when they walk around, on purpose if they get a little wonky, or on accident when catching bugs and picking up greens, etc. The shavings aren't digestible and the size of the particulate is pretty large, so there is a very real potential for clogging up the lizard in time which can kill it.

Sand for large dragons like yours is fine- the particle size is small and can pass through if ingested or you can also do the cheap and simple newspaper. Not quite as flashy, but easy to keep clean.

The trend online seems to be to line the enclosure with stone floor tiles and then wipe the tiles clean daily. This is partly out of fear that even sand has the potential to create impaction. IMO for adult dragons that fear is largely unfounded in the case of sand if they are healthy and have a good metabolism. I used sand for several years without problems for dozens of adult breeders and so have many thousands of others. But the tiles are certainly another workable option- they wear the nails on the positive side, but on the negative they don't allow for scratching around and digging which dragons like to do.

I do something else for my breeders which wouldn't work in the average home but I like it for my breeder cages for 10 years now- orchard grass hay- it is absorbant, they lizards like to make burrows in it to sleep in, and they eat it some which provides long stem fiber and some nutrition, it is absorbant and it can be quickly and easily spot cleaned when poops have dried. But it has a strong odor, the large bales would be difficult to store in the home, and it can mold easily either in storage if there is humidity or in the cage if water spills or gets trapped under a water bowl, so it has to have an eye kept on it and cleaned when moisture becomes a problem, when selecting bales from the farmer I have to check carefully for mold. So it isn't for everyone.

My kids do the paper- it is easy to deal with. Sand looks nicer but has to be kept spot cleaned and changed out regularly.

So probably sand, paper or tile would be best, but I'd really recommend not using the wood.

The lizard has that classic look that I like! Happy for your kids!

 

[Daddymike]

Couple things from the piccys and your comments-

The UV light is the flourescent tube (or should be) check the brand and make sure.

The red light (maybe infrared? and name creating confusion with UV?) is for heat and could be left on all the time, but I don't really recommend it.

Here is why- most lizards do better with a cool down at night. The cooler night temps allow their metabolism to slow for a deeper rest state. Inland Bearded dragons are not really tropical- they are more temperate. They can tolerate temps down near freezing- I keep mine outdoors here at night until temps dip down to 40 or below, and in a pinch they can even handle a light frost without difficulty. Most homes are never going to dip down to 40 (that's 5 celcius)- and temps of 50 and above are going to be quite comfortable for night sleeping. So for a deeper sleep and better rest, no night heat. Is really going to hurt him to use it- probably not, but IMO it is better not to do so.

Actually, I'd recommend scrapping the red light altogether and replacing it with a standard incandescent light bulb of appropriate wattage. There is no reason for the color red if the light isn't necessary at night and the lizard and you will both see colors better with a standard incandescant.

The other tip I have for you is get rid of the shavings. It is easy for dragons to ingest substrate accidentally- either from tongue flicking when they walk around, on purpose if they get a little wonky, or on accident when catching bugs and picking up greens, etc. The shavings aren't digestible and the size of the particulate is pretty large, so there is a very real potential for clogging up the lizard in time which can kill it.

Sand for large dragons like yours is fine- the particle size is small and can pass through if ingested or you can also do the cheap and simple newspaper. Not quite as flashy, but easy to keep clean.

The trend online seems to be to line the enclosure with stone floor tiles and then wipe the tiles clean daily. This is partly out of fear that even sand has the potential to create impaction. IMO for adult dragons that fear is largely unfounded in the case of sand if they are healthy and have a good metabolism. I used sand for several years without problems for dozens of adult breeders and so have many thousands of others.

I do something else for my breeders which wouldn't work in the average home but I like it for my breeder cages for 10 years now- orchard grass hay- it is absorbant, they lizards like to make burrows in it to sleep in, and they eat it some which provides long stem fiber and some nutrition, it is absorbant and it can be quickly and easily spot cleaned when poops have dried. But it has a strong odor, the large bales would be difficult to store in the home, and it can mold easily either in storage if there is humidity or in the cage if water spills or gets trapped under a water bowl, so it has to have an eye kept on it and cleaned when moisture becomes a problem, when selecting bales from the farmer I have to check carefully for mold. So it isn't for everyone.

My kids do the paper- it is easy to deal with. Sand looks nicer but has to be kept spot cleaned and changed out regularly.

So probably sand, paper or tile would be best, but I'd really recommend not using the wood.

The lizard has that classic look that I like! Happy for your kids!

Yet more invaluable tips!! I am off to get some black crickets soon (no locusts in stock til tomorrow)....how much should i give KB? and will change the woodchips over to newspaper for now.

 

[fluxlizard]

how much should i give KB?

Depends on how you want to feed him. Some are nearly bottomless pits when it comes to insects. I loaned a pair to a classroom once and the teacher called me a week later to say they couldn't afford to feed them as the pair was eating 100 crickets between them every day! So I had to educate her a little about how to use other food items.

By the time they are adult size like yours I'd really recommend going mainly vegetarian and pellets and using insects more as treats or occasional meals or supplement with them a few times a week. And amount is up to you but your male looks a little on the hungry side today!

Really for now- if you can locate a source of rep-cal pellets that would probaby be an easy way to go until you learn a little more about diet. I had animals that were over 10 years old and great breeders on those pellets alone once they were adults. They are balanced.

But some long stem fiber in the form of fresh leafy greens is best for health along with the pellets- plus dragons like to eat everything and who wants to limit that enjoyment?

But a greens based diet is a little tricky- you have to learn what you are doing (read up on iguana salads for ideas).

"Pellets only" animals were for my own learning to see on long term feeding how they would do.

So pellets as a base, with a some greens and some insects on the side for variety is my normal method and is the easiest way to go. Cheapest too.

Probably greens as a base if you learn how to balance them properly with pellets and insects on the side would be the optimal situation in a perfect world though.

 

[fluxlizard]

sorry so many edits- I'm going fast this morning LOL