Buds new home.

Greta16

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I brought Bud home yesterday from my son's house. How long should it take him to acclimate to his new home? He's mostly chilling on his log. His hot spot is about 96 and the cool end 72. A few mins ago he was on the bottom trying to climb the glass so I took him out and sat him on my shoulder and talked to him a bit. He's back in his home now and seems chill. I should also mention that when I leave the room he prob has 3 cats staring at him. My son had no cats. I hope someone sees this and responds. My last post got none. Thanks in advance.20180216_155345.jpg20180216_142622.jpg
 

Greta16

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I'd like to add that I've done lots of Google research but I trust you guys more!
 

ColleenT

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Sorry no one has answered you. idk anything about them, so i can't help you. There might be some care sheets online that would help. Good Luck.
 

snivloc16

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If you search bearded dragon forum online there is one. Don’t think they have an awesome app like this though. I had a bearded dragon for about 7.5 years. I miss him a lot. They’re great pets.
 

snivloc16

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Is that just paper towels on the bottom? I would recommend the ground up walnut shells or calcium sand for substrate. What type of lighting does he have?
 

KrissyLeigh

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Please do NOT add walnut or calcium sand!!! That could lead to the death of your beardie from impaction. A great resource is beardeddragonforum.com for informaton- it's set up just like this forum and has awesome, informative folks.

Your guy looks underfed to me, possibly dehydrated - hard to tell from the pictures. Please check out the care sheets on the forum - some of the basics to know: juveniles eat mostly insects with some greens, adults eat mostly greens with some insects, you need a good quality UVB bulb that will need to be replaced 1-2 x / year (depending on type and manufacture), juveniles need it hotter than adults, staple insects should be crickets or roaches

Your setup looks pretty good. If you notice him eating paper towels (mine did so I can't use them) you should switch to a safe substrate - tile and shelf liner are most common. I use nonadhesive shelf liner because it is easy to clean but if it gets totally gross, cheap enough to just replace.

The behavior of climbing the glass is something we call "glass surfing" and could indicate stress, needing to poop, or boredom. Really just depends on the beardie. Mine does it when he needs to poop or wants to have free range time.

Best of luck, I'm sure he will settle on fine. See if you can fatten him up! :)
 

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snivloc16

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There is nothing wrong with the sand. Used it for all the years I had mine. As long as you have a separate deep dish to feed them in. I think part of our responsibility’s of keepers is to help replicate their habitats in the wild. And I’m pretty sure they don’t live on paper towels or shelf liner. They like to nestle down in the sand at night because it stays warm. I never once witnessed mine trying to eat it. Just my opinion.
 

TechnoCheese

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There is nothing wrong with the sand. Used it for all the years I had mine. As long as you have a separate deep dish to feed them in. I think part of our responsibility’s of keepers is to help replicate their habitats in the wild. And I’m pretty sure they don’t live on paper towels or shelf liner. They like to nestle down in the sand at night because it stays warm. I never once witnessed mine trying to eat it. Just my opinion.

Calcium sand is worse than regular sand, because it encourages them to eat it.
Bearded dragons live on mainly hard, packed down clay, not sand. With the logic of desert=sand, Antarctica must be like a beach.
If someone smokes and never gets lung cancer, does that mean that smoking is ok?
 

KrissyLeigh

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Their natural wild habitat is arid woodlands and rocky desert, not the loose sand deserts people typically think of. An appropriate 'natural habitat' would either be a bioactive setup or one with hard packed substrate and tons of rocks/crevices.

I have pulled paper towel out of my beardies mouth twice, at which point I stopped using it. He has a safe room for free range that I have to check every time because he eats or tastes everything he comes in contact with. I have considered going bioactive with him because I have done tropical bioactive (not arid though), but to me the risks of him ingesting random stuff is not worth it. And I would definitely not recommend a bioactive for a beginner with a young beardie.
 

snivloc16

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If you feed them properly and give them the correct foods they won’t eat the sand. I use to mix mine with some soil to to encourage digging. This made it a little harder and not so loose. I guess there are different opinions on the subject just like everything on here.
 

Greta16

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Thanks all. He has a reptile mat to go in there, it needs a wash. He seems much better. It's been about a week now that he's been here. He seems much more comfortable and settled.
 

Speedy-1

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Hi , I just saw your thread I don't have experience with beardies but do have other reptiles. I would never use sand for any of them. Any kind of sand , he might not eat it but why risk it ? I think I would raise the temps a bit , and consider a bigger tank for Bud , a 40 gal long tank would work well . He does appear a bit dehydrated , I would probably soak him in a 50 / 50 % solution of pedialite and water for about a week to stabalize his electrolites . Reptile carpet is fine , for that matter paper towels are better than sand . At least they are digestible if eaten . :D
 
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Tom

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There is nothing wrong with the sand. Used it for all the years I had mine. As long as you have a separate deep dish to feed them in. I think part of our responsibility’s of keepers is to help replicate their habitats in the wild. And I’m pretty sure they don’t live on paper towels or shelf liner. They like to nestle down in the sand at night because it stays warm. I never once witnessed mine trying to eat it. Just my opinion.
You are entitled to your opinion, but my experience with several reptile vets and sand impaction tells me you are wrong. I'm glad that yours survived living on sand, but many of them don't. Have you ever watched an impaction surgery? I have. It ain't pretty and it is easily avoidable.

Sand and walnut shell are the worst possible substrates to keep these lizards on, and it doesn't matter if you feed them in a bowl or not.
 

Tom

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His hot spot is about 96 and the cool end 72.

I think your paper towel substrate is fine. I've also used that successfully.

Sounds like your temps are a little cool. I like the basking area directly under the bulb to be around 110-120. They can move to the edge or away from it, if it is too warm. I like ambient to be between 80 and 90 during the day. 72 is fine for night time.

Looks like you also need a UV source. The newer HO type UV tubes make strong UV, but are best used with a meter to make sure they are mounted at the correct distance. A strip type 10.0 UV tube could work, but your screen is going to filter out lot of the usable UV rays. Don't use the coil type bulbs. Some of those burn reptile eyes and I've witnessed tis problem with beardies before.

Great info from Krissy above. What are you feeding? Mealworms are not great for them, but that is what most pet stores recommend.
 

Greta16

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Sounds like your temps are a little cool. I like the basking area directly under the bulb to be around 110-120. They can move to the edge or away from it, if it is too warm. I like ambient to be between 80 and 90 during the day. 72 is fine for night time.

Looks like you also need a UV source. The newer HO type UV tubes make strong UV, but are best used with a meter to make sure they are mounted at the correct distance. A strip type 10.0 UV tube could work, but your screen is going to filter out lot of the usable UV rays. Don't use the coil type bulbs. Some of those burn reptile eyes and I've witnessed tis problem with beardies before.
Thanks Tom, I asked my husband last night to put a new screw in the wall so I can lower his heat lamp. Right now he's got a coil uvb lamp, I thought that was ok for reptiles other than torts, it's what he's had right along but I'll switch to a tube light.
 

Greta16

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Calcium sand is worse than regular sand, because it encourages them to eat it.
Bearded dragons live on mainly hard, packed down clay, not sand. With the logic of desert=sand, Antarctica must be like a beach.
If someone smokes and never gets lung cancer, does that mean that smoking is ok?
[emoji1]
 

Greta16

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I think your paper towel substrate is fine. I've also used that successfully.

Sounds like your temps are a little cool. I like the basking area directly under the bulb to be around 110-120. They can move to the edge or away from it, if it is too warm. I like ambient to be between 80 and 90 during the day. 72 is fine for night time.

Looks like you also need a UV source. The newer HO type UV tubes make strong UV, but are best used with a meter to make sure they are mounted at the correct distance. A strip type 10.0 UV tube could work, but your screen is going to filter out lot of the usable UV rays. Don't use the coil type bulbs. Some of those burn reptile eyes and I've witnessed tis problem with beardies before.

Great info from Krissy above. What are you feeding? Mealworms are not great for them, but that is what most pet stores recommend.
I've actually gotta pick up a roach colony from my son. Dubia(?)roaches, he was feeding Bud the baby roaches and some greens. The one time he gave Bud meal worms he threw them up.
 

Tom

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I've actually gotta pick up a roach colony from my son. Dubia(?)roaches, he was feeding Bud the baby roaches and some greens. The one time he gave Bud meal worms he threw them up.
Dubia roaches are great! Good nutrition for Bud and easy to handle for you. I feed my dubia colony dry dog kibble and a wide assortment of "wet" produce like potato, carrot, yams, oranges, bananas, and whatever leftover stuff I have around.

I agree with Krissy's assessment that he looks a little thin. I'd feed him up more and possible take a stool sample to the vet for a fecal float to be sure is isn't harboring an excessive parasite load.
 

Greta16

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Dubia roaches are great! Good nutrition for Bud and easy to handle for you. I feed my dubia colony dry dog kibble and a wide assortment of "wet" produce like potato, carrot, yams, oranges, bananas, and whatever leftover stuff I have around.

I agree with Krissy's assessment that he looks a little thin. I'd feed him up more and possible take a stool sample to the vet for a fecal float to be sure is isn't harboring an excessive parasite load.
He definitely is underweight I'm assuming. As soon as my son moved out this summer he got him on a whim, totally unprepared for all that a reptile needs. I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn't hear of it. Hopefully the roaches are still alive. I planned on getting them shortly after I picked up Bud, but infuenza has had me in bed all damn week!
 

snivloc16

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You are entitled to your opinion, but my experience with several reptile vets and sand impaction tells me you are wrong. I'm glad that yours survived living on sand, but many of them don't. Have you ever watched an impaction surgery? I have. It ain't pretty and it is easily avoidable.

Sand and walnut shell are the worst possible substrates to keep these lizards on, and it doesn't matter if you feed them in a bowl or not.

No I have never seen an impaction surgery. And I should have been a lot more clear. Jub jubs enclosure was not just sand. I had a lot of rocks, stones and branches in there to create little caves and for him to climb on. The sand/dirt mix was just kind of a base. I did some more research as it has been years since I had him. And you’re right it does sound like walnut shells are the worst thing you could have. My mistake. But as far as sand I really think it gets a bad rap on hear. Not saying it should be used alone or in large amounts but I do mix a little bit in with my hermanns enclosure substrate of coco coir and top soil. Sand in some form is a natural part of almost every environment. And helps for soil to drain better. I have to mix some in my outside enclosure or my soil gets so compacted my guy can’t dig good.
 

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