Hi everyone!!

I need some advice. I have just rescued a male juvinile beardie!! and named him rex! he's lovely!

I sexed him myself as his femoral pores were raised so i think that means hes a male?

The previous owner has kept him on beach wood chip, which I am going to change to floor tile asap. However I wanted to know what adhesive i can use for underneath that is safe??? And the grout????

2nd thing the only thing that came with the viv is a household bulb 240v 60w, which was being used for the heat source. Any recommendations on heatbulbs??
There was also no uv!! So any recommendations on which uv to use would be great i no some people use the coil type however i have heard that it can cause problems with eyes?????
There are no thermometers or thermostats so recommendations on those would be brill.
What are your recommendations for basking temps etcc.......
His tempory viv is 30"length 12"width and 16"height

I have kept chameleons and geckos for years, however beardies are different completely, I also know that reading up on the net can be usefull and also a hinderance as they always say conflicting info so i usually go down the route of asking people who keep them!!

My beardie is 8 1/2" at 5 months old.

When i rescued him 7 days ago, it was a matter of have him or that lizard wouldnt survive otherwise i would have researched a lot more. I have dedicated my life these past 7 days in taming my dragon and getting to know lots more about them.

He feeds on lettuce with calcium powder sprinkled on it, however doesnt feed from his feed bowl very much n prefers to be hand fed lettuce.
He eats live crickets and since hes been with us his appetite has increased and has eaten 11 crickets in one sitting.

He has a bath daily where he intakes his water and he does actually drink when hes in there too!!

Since we've had him he has poo'd once (the day before yesterday) but his tummy does not look fat and distended!! How often do they poo.
My gecko poo's every day and my chameleon every other.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

And also i am going to buy a 36" b 15" b 15" for him very soon once i have this tank set up for him, my gecko can go in there eventually. Is that big enough for him for life???

Thanks

yes the 36' b 15' b 15' is big enough for a gecko i,ve got a leopard gecko and my vivs 30'12'12

jordan

whoops sorry no not for a beardie no

jordan

Glad to hear that he seems to be in better hand snow, Beardies make excellent pets, you won't be dissapointed with him!

First of all, the minimum size of his vivarium should be 48"x24"x24". Ideally bigger if you can.

Excellent choice with floor tiles, it's what I use and always recommend. Ordinary adhesive and grout is fine, but you will need to leave it for 24-48 hours for it to dry and any fumes in the air to clear, so leave the glass doors open for that time and keep him in another viv.

Household bulbs are perfect, as long as they are of the reflector type. There really is no point spending £5+ on a specialist reptile bulb, when a regular household one does the same job. You will need a 100w to sufficiently heat a 48" viv.
This has to be on a dimming thermostat.

The UV I would recommend is the Exo Terra Repti Glo 10w and for a 48" viv the 36" inch size. Your beardie needs to be able to get within 6-8 inches of this for it to be useful and it needs to be replaced around every 6-9 months as it will loose it's strength over time.
This doesn't need a thermostat as they don't get hot.

Basking temp should be around 110 degrees F, hot end around 90-100 degrees F and cool end no less than 80 degrees F.

Exo Terra do small circular stick on thermostats, buy 2 so you can monitor the hot and cool end.

Swop the lettuce for Spring Greens. Lettuce has very little nutritional value as it's mainly made up of water, whereas Spring Greens are naturally high in calcium, so should be a beardies staple.
Hand feeding is fab, keep it up, it creates a bond between you and improves the trust too.
The calcium sprinkling is good, keep that up, however you should also be using a vitamin and mineral supplement called Nutrobal.
Dust his livefood on every feed with calcium, by putting the crickets into a snadwich bag, with the calcium give it a good shake. Twice a week use Nutrobal - be careful with the dose as you can overdose, weigh your beardie first and check the label (I think it's a pinch per 100g of lizard)

Baths can be good, but they really aren't a necessary daily thing to do. It can sometimes help them to go to the toilet but I myself have never given mine a bath.
I offer him a small dish of water every few weeks and he usually refuses to drink. These are lizards who are highly adapted to living life in dry climates - most of the water he needs he will get from his veg and well hydrated live food.

Babies/Juveniles should be pooing every day, adults less, every other day.

Just noticed after all that, that this is an old thread and the OP hasn't be active since starting it back in May!

Oh well, maybe it might be of help to someone else!