mybeardeddragons.co.uk

Hi I have only just joined this forum and will be collecting my baby beardie (FLOYD)in two weeks time !
He will be four weeks old and I am quite nervous and want to get everything right so this is what ill be doing:

Have 4 ft Viv, will be purchasing the uvb, basking lamps, thermometers, a few days before I collect to ensure all the temps are ok before putting him in the viv.

Now the breeder im having him off has very basic setups but I want plenty for him so will get logs, hide and climbing opportunities for him/her.

I have bought a dimming thermostat, but am worried that the temperature overnight will drop too low as my house is freezing at night! so the petshop and breeder that I am buying him from have said either use a moonlight blue bulb for the night which I have decided against or a heat mat fixed to the back of the viv (not the floor) and leave it on all night, he cant get to the heat mat as its high up on back of viv, but im contemplating attatching the thermostat to the mat so that it is not on all the time just when temp drops below 60. I think ill be ok with the lights through the day as ill put them on before I go to work and switch them off 12 hours laters

my other concern is feeding him im still confused over this as he's eating well at the moment and ive copied ur nutritional guide given on another post. Im just confused as too how many crickets a day to give him I know he will need veg daily.

also I have a partition in my viv to two foot as I was told i would need to segregate as he will have difficulty finding and catching the crickets but then I was told as he s eating fine that I could remove the partition and he ll catch it ok??

also would I feed him crickets everyday or alternate with some other crawly and what would be best for him??

calcium/d3 when and where and how often should these be used?

confused.com!!!!!!

sianparf
with Bichon Baby Millie
Nearly mam to newbie Floyd

Hi - first thing I'd do would be to check the house temp around say 4.00 am as it may well not go much below 16C in which case you wouldn't need background heating. If it does however then the heat mat on the wall is much better than any type of light. Either that or a separate ceramic heater for overnight connected to the thermostat. Put the day time lights on a timer much easier than switching on and off.
Why people believe dragons get confused in big areas I don't know given that they hatch in open bush and have to forage by themselves from the word go. I wouldn't even consider partitioning the viv and never have done for any of our babies, however until they're hunting well we only have a pretty basic enclosure. Basking rock, branch to climb on something to hide behind (not under) and paper, lino or tile on the floor. They are pretty bad at catching live food at first and tend to scoop mouthfuls of substrate when they pounce so I wouldn't recommend putting sand in until you see him hunting accurately. Just stick with crix for the moment powdered with calcium daily. He should be fed 2~3 times a day with live food and will probably eat 10~20 crix over that period with fresh veg provided daily. Not a fan of D3 but suggest you use this weekly.
Lastly it can take up to a week to get temps correct so do allow as much time as possible for set up.

Hope this helps

Rick

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Beardies from an Australian point of view.

Hi thank that helped, do I need to gut load the crix and what is the best wway to do this also what are the best worms and how often would I give these? etc to feed a baby or should I just stick to crix for a bit?

Do I dust veg and crix every day

Any live food needs gut loading to provide the best nutrition for your dragon and if you go to the feeding beardies section viewforum.php?f=10 of the forum you'll find a wealth of info. in this regard. With babies just stick to crix for the moment, feeding them to your dragon 2~3 times a day. Only one feed of crix needs calcium powder and none on the veg.

Rick

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Beardies from an Australian point of view.

Thank u

Will let you know how I'm getting on and post some pics of new arrival.

Welcome to the forum. its a great place to be.

Looking forward to seeing pics of Floyd.


Regards
Sonic

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Adopted parent to Bert a beautiful 20 month old dragon
Willing to do what is best for Bert.


One day I promise I will grow up but that day is a long way away
Life is a joke so keep on smiling