Bearded Dragon questions...?

Question

I am thinking of becoming a BD owner and this is what kind of lighting i have planned:
1 Reptisun 5.0 Light with fixture
1 Basking bulb with fixture
1 Purple (or red) night glo bulb with fixture

What about for the diet:
Some mini freeze dried, gutloaded, crickets
Some turnip,collard, or mustard greens with some small carrots

I am thinking about name being Quincy

A Ceramic Heat Emitter is not needed or wanted is it? Especially if i got basking and UVA/UVB

Answer 1

Being a B.D. owner is great my guess is by the lighting that you are getting either a baby or a juvenile,not a sub-adult or adult because they are desert creatures they would need stronger light. Such as T-rex,160 flood uva-uvb heat in one or power sun bulbs same as above. Get infra red because red is a much brighter color for night viewing. If you get freeze dried food products you might also need a vivicator(a vivbrating food tray)to make it seem to move. To pick a reptile that's healthy look for the biggest one(fatter). Or shop @ zoomed, buy live food, and with the money you saved buy a sub adult, so there woul be less chances of things going wrong with the animal. The ceramic heater though is usually used w/o lighting @ night, and best with a thermostat. See zoomed.

Answer 2

Here's my setup (approx cost $300 not including my BD), 40 gallon breeder tank(minimum for a beardie), Basking lamp(100 watt light bulb). reptisun 8.0 uvb bulb for maximum calcium absorption) I live in CT and my home doesn't get under 62 degrees, so I stop using a night bulb. You need to keep your tank about 95-100 degrees in the basking area. If you are planning on getting a baby only use newspaper/paper towels/repti carpet for the substrate(flooring). NO SAND/Reptibark, etc. A baby will eat up to 75-100 "pinhead" crickets each day so you ll be spending about 25bucks a week on crickets if you go to the pet store(on line in bulk is cheaper, but you 'll have to house & feed the crickets). NO heat rock or heat pad, beardies are lazy & will get too hot. You have to provide a basking type area 8" away from the uvb bulb. and the bowls(if you arent crafty), WHEW!! after this is all set up and yo get your beardie have fun... oh, by the way, you also must provide greens as well(kale,red/green leaf) mustard greens,mine likes green beans. and you need to dust the crickets & veggies with a baby beardie every day(repti dust is about 6 bucks.) I frequent a cool website called www.repticzone.com verfy handy with questions etc.. Good luck.

Answer 3

The ceramic heater is not advised because beardies can easily burn their bellies on it. The night bulb isnt needed either im sure youve probably heard that they are a desert animal and its gets pretty cold out there at nite so i wont be needed. with the diet probably live crickets would benefit it more, more natural. with food dont forget about vitamin and calcium powders to dust the crickets with every second day or so. the vegies are fine and quincy is an awesome name, i was thinking of charlie, or a cool name nobody knows like my dogs name is tikaani which is wolf in alaskan, just different.

Answer 4

Beardies do not need nighttime heat unless the house temp falls below 60F. They must have a cool down period at night to remain healthy. Forget the freeze dried insects--most beardies won't eat them. Live gutloaded crickets are the best staple food. When they are older, superworms, silworms, phoenix worms can be added. Stay away from mealworms--the shell is too difficult to digest. Do not feed spinach and apple to beardies. Quincy is a great name! For complete diet info, please visit this site:

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/home.html

Answer 5

The UVB bulb and the heat bulb are great, but you don't need the night bulb. I actually recommend against it. Bearded dragons are desert animals. While it may get over 100 degrees during the day in their native environment, it can drop down into the sixties at night. Allowing the temp to drop at night will help the beardie sleep and is perfectly safe unless your home drops below the mid 60's at night, which I highly doubt. I've talked to people who have tried red bulbs at night, and they say it kept their beardies awake all night. By getting rid of the bulb, they'll be able to sleep well and again, it is perfectly fine for their night temp to get into the 60's.

Answer 6

Some suggestions:

Keep the temp in the cage above 85 degrees at all times; warmer in the daytime. They don't do well if they get chilled.

Mist the cage twice a day as opposed to keeping a container of water. Some bearded dragons like to bathe - I've owned mine for over 5 years and I've never seen him drink or bathe. But they do need moisture.

Make a salad mixture of: romaine lettuce, kale, spinach, collard greens and carrots diced really small - avoid any gas producing vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli. You can also mix in diced apples (again, diced really small), mine likes banana once in a while - nothing high in acidity like oranges or grapefruit.

They also sell canned meal worms.

It is really important that your BD get calcium - it can't hurt to get a powdered calcium additive for his food. Unfortunately, I was ignorant of this when I first got my BD and as a result, his front legs matured incorrectly - he walks almost on the outside of his front feet. It is important too to remember that vitamin D helps the absorption of calcium so make sure that you do have a good "day light bulb" so his system can metabolize the calcium properly.

If you live in a warm climate, take him out to bask in the sun during the day - make sure he has access to shade and water and that the container you put him in outside is NOT glass - he should have plenty of ventilation.

They love basking on rock surfaces or wide logs so be sure to keep these in his cage.

If he does not eat correctly, they can also be fed baby food - meats and vegetables - again, avoid those gas producing vegetables. You put the baby food in a syringe and sort of gently force-feed him. Watch out for his mouth, though - they have no teeth but their mouths are very tough and they can give you quite a bite without meaning too.

And remember, the more you handle them, the more sociable they can become. They're actually quite nice, quiet little pets.

Good luck and I love the name Quincy. My guy is Crispy Critter.