mybeardeddragons.co.uk

Hi….just wanted to introduce myself, and my Beardie. So grateful I came across the forum, and look forward to learning a lot, and hopefully sharing a few things in time too

I am a real animal lover, and always have been. Currently, I have a Hermans Tortoises (Rioja), A Rescue African Grey Congo Parrot (Swazi), 2 Rescue Cats (Sammy & George), A rescue Springer Spaniel (Jack), MArien Aquarium, and of course, my Lovely Beardie(Boris).

I am very new to owning a Bearded Dragon - got Boris there months ago, and he is 14 months old. He is adorable, very tactile and a joy to look after. He comes out of his vivarium every day and has a good run around the living room, he is very inquisitive, and loves his time out. I feed him b=veggies 4 days a week (e.g Carrot, lettuce, cabbage, peppers, and a selection of herbs from my garden) then three times a week, am feeding him small crickets. He goes mad for the crickets, and is like lightening catching them. He wouldn't eat his veggies at first when I brought him home, and eventually fed some to hi by hand…however, over time, as he has settled in, he now readily eats his veggies

I use Aspen as his substrate, and he has a strip light for his UVA/UVB and an Red Heat lamp as his basking lamp at the hot end. His UV light comes on at 10:00 and goes off at 22:00. His heat lamp is on all day, and I ten the thermostat down at 10pm - it comes on and off as needed, set to around 70 degrees. However, after reading some comments on here, maybe I should turn the heat lamp off in the evening completely??

He seems healthy and alert, and often just sits on his bark log, basking in the heat. He is very observant, and watches me when I enter the living room , and runs to the glass when he sees me going towards his home. I just love him - and want to do the very best I can for him.

Anyway, I have waffled on far too much -s o, will stop boring you all now!! No doubt you will see me hanging around the forum dipping in and out
Terry

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Terry
www.tjreiki.co.uk
www.tjbodyrocks.co.uk

As you say "perhaps I should turn it off" We actually do have cold nights here in Aus and dragons do need a cooling down period as well as hot basking times. Keeping a red light on all day and night does not allow either a cool down or a restful sleep as (despite some on-line advice) they do see the colour red. I'd change it for a standard white spotlight (RO80 75 watt) for a happier dragon. You should also provide veg on a daily basis rather than 4 x a week.
Temps should be 39~42C on the basking spot, mid 20's cool side and can safely drop to 15~16C overnight. Hope this helps.

Rick

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Beardies from an Australian point of view.

Hi Rick. Many thanks for your advice - I will get the bulb changed over this weekend, and also sort out the daily veggies. I was led to believe that on the days I feed him crickets then I would not feed veg and vice versa…clearly NOT the case.

So, yes - your comments have helped a lot - thank you

This forum is a great place of interest and invaluable information
Terry

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Terry
www.tjreiki.co.uk
www.tjbodyrocks.co.uk