# Bearded Dragon advice please :)



## Ben C Smyth (May 12, 2009)

hi there, i recently aquired a bearded dragon from some people who live close to me who didnt want it anymore. they said its roughly around 2 years old and a male. 

The dragon is hardly eating anything and stays in one place all day, everyday i offer mixed fruit and veg but none is ever touched, he has eaten a couple of mealworms but has quite a lot of difficulty picking them up, he seems to have no depth perception and misses the mealworms each time, this led to me handfeeding him about 6 before he refused annymore.

he has a basking light which he never sits under but lies on top of the heat mat all the time.

When i first took him home i cleaned out the whole enclosure which was absolutly covered in food remains and faeces, the previous owners had obviously lost interest for a very long time, i replaced the previous substrate( red sand) with coco fibre, is this ok for bearded dragons?

I have no previous experience with reptiles as i only collect tarantulas and thought a reptile would be something different and fun to look after, but it seems to me that this bearded dragon has been malnurished for a long time.

i would appreciate any advice anyone has as all i want is the best for this little fella.

i just ordered him a new basking light (exo terra sun glo) and a new UV light (exo terra sun glo 10.0) and hopefully these should arrive soon 

thankyou


----------



## AuntyLizard (Feb 7, 2007)

Ben C Smyth said:


> hi there, i recently aquired a bearded dragon from some people who live close to me who didnt want it anymore. they said its roughly around 2 years old and a male.
> 
> The dragon is hardly eating anything and stays in one place all day, everyday i offer mixed fruit and veg but none is ever touched, he has eaten a couple of mealworms but has quite a lot of difficulty picking them up, he seems to have no depth perception and misses the mealworms each time, this led to me handfeeding him about 6 before he refused annymore.
> 
> ...



My main advise would be to take out any hides and of course the heat mat. Beardies dont need the use of a heatmat and can burn from being on them as they tend to feel heat from above rather than underneath their bodies.

You seem to have got a beardie that has never really been cared for correctly. Buying a new uv tube may help his activity as the one he has may never have been changed so he is not getting any uv. 

Hand feed him for now as he could have a suffered from neglect and may have some mbd issues. When you get your new equipment in there have a basking spot of around 110f hot end around 96-98f and cool end of around 86f.

If you need any further assistance don't hesitate to contact me. I would however take out the substrate and put him on lino or newspaper for now. Keep dusting his live food and do keep offering him veg.. Things like grated butternut squash, dandylion leaves and flower, rocket and romaine lettuce.

Liz


----------



## sazzle (Jun 3, 2008)

as above... also may be an idea to get a poop sample checked at the vets for parasites just to rule that out x


----------



## Ben C Smyth (May 12, 2009)

**

thankyou very much, i shall get everything done straight away 

The new UV light came in the post this morning and i have it up and running 

thnaks again


----------



## Ben C Smyth (May 12, 2009)

*...*

removed substrate and heat mat from enclosure, replaced with some spare lino that i found in the shed and gave a good scrub  i let him sit on my shoulder whilst i sorted out his enclosure and he nibbled my ear the little rascal :lol2: 

What should i do for a heat source for night time now that i have removed the heat mat? should i leave the heat bulb on?

The enclosure that i recieved him in and that he is still in is an exo terra 45x45x45cm , i know that this is too small for a 13" bearded dragon and i hope to get him a new bigger enclosure as soon as possible, i was wondering if anyone knows of a place that does 2nd hand vivariums or bigger exo terra tanks for good money and is in Northern/Southern Ireland or would deliver to Northern Ireland.

Or even if anyone on the forum has a vivarium going let me know please.

once again thankyou for your time and help.


----------



## AuntyLizard (Feb 7, 2007)

Hi again ben.. Beardie should not need heat at night really. Most house temps rarely fall below 55-60 F and that is what they will experience at night in their natural habitat.

Liz


----------



## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

Ben C Smyth said:


> removed substrate and heat mat from enclosure, replaced with some spare lino that i found in the shed and gave a good scrub  i let him sit on my shoulder whilst i sorted out his enclosure and he nibbled my ear the little rascal :lol2:
> 
> What should i do for a heat source for night time now that i have removed the heat mat? should i leave the heat bulb on?
> 
> ...


glad he is in good hands now...your gonna need at least a 3x2x2 wooden viv...easy to make yourself if your handy with wood and a saw lol


----------



## Ben C Smyth (May 12, 2009)

Thankyou for your great advice everyone, i think i'll have a go at building a vivarium, once i get all the materials sourced it should be no bother...hopefully:lol2:

:2thumb:


----------



## grumpyoldtrout (May 19, 2008)

Are you dusting his Crickets with Calcium for 5 days of the week, and vitamins for the other 2?

Calypso dust or similar for the calcium, and Nutrobal for the vitamins. : victory:

Good job on rescuing him. :2thumb:


----------



## Ben C Smyth (May 12, 2009)

ermm im dusting his crickets everyday with "2:0 calcium/no phosphorus powdered supplement with vitamins" by T-rex, it has Calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3 and Vitamin C in it. is that ok for him?

Also i drew up some plans today for a Vivarium and im gonna get the wood soon to start making it


----------



## AuntyLizard (Feb 7, 2007)

Ben C Smyth said:


> ermm im dusting his crickets everyday with "2:0 calcium/no phosphorus powdered supplement with vitamins" by T-rex, it has Calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3 and Vitamin C in it. is that ok for him?
> 
> Also i drew up some plans today for a Vivarium and im gonna get the wood soon to start making it


Hi again ben.. Your doing well.. He really needs calcium every day with exception to 2 days when you suppliment him with calcium and vitamins. 

Liz


----------



## Ben C Smyth (May 12, 2009)

righto  shall do that, i think he is a good deal better already, ive had him out twice today and he is running around everywhere like a crazy wee dude. 
but he is stopping every once in a while and doing a sort of swallowing type action, where he opens his mouth like he is eating something and is trying to swallow it?? he was doing it during the night aswell. it is a tad confusing.


----------



## becky-c123 (Aug 19, 2008)

sometimes they open their mouth when they are hot and just cant be botherd to move away from the heat .. 
or if he was on sand before could it be anything to do with that ?? i dont know, but im sure someone on here could tell you ,, 

Rebecca .


----------



## dan.hobley (May 4, 2009)

i dust my locusts in a bag that has a mixture of nutrobol and calci dust every time i feed them to him 7 days a week.

therefore he gets both calcium and nutrobol 7 times a week.


----------



## Ben C Smyth (May 12, 2009)

**

Hi again, just wanted to let everyone know that my bearded dragon (Fred) is alot better, he is very active and is eating every cricket that he gets aswell as all his greens , his colour has also improved greatly and he now looks very striking, he is like a completely new beardie! 

i wish to greatly thank everyone who offered advice to me when i did not know what to do, i am sure that Fred would also like to say his thanks but he cant type that well (even though he has tryed lol :whistling2


Thankyou : victory:


----------

