Bearded Dragon worries.

[Chris1]

TheBoga, all my dragons move to sand once theyre about 25-30cms snout to tail length.

theyve never had any probs with it and love to dig.

dont use commercial reptile sands though, the ones with added calcium encourage the dragons to eat it and tit turns to cement in their tummies, but the play sand comes out grain for grain the way it goes in.

 

[TheBoga]

OK. I just got rid of the reptile bark and changed it for play sand from Bunnings (thanks Chris1).

Now my question is that is it still OK for me to drop the crickets in during feed time because he prefers them to roam around as he likes hunting them rather than be put into a tub, or will this mean he'll ingest more sand?

Second question, he was brumating for around 14 days, woke up fed on 20ish or so big crickets, then went back to sleep. Should I mist him at all? I haven't seen him drink since I've had him and don't know whether he's in need of it or not? Or will misting stress him as he's still pretty much brumating? I saw him lick the branch a couple of times when he was awake.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chris1]

if hes eaten he needs to bask to digest his food, if he doesnt wanna do that, microwave a bag of rice, wrap it in a towel and put him on that for heat.

misting wont stress him, if hes thirsty mist him, on busy weeks i give mine a drink @ 1am or so when i get time and they go right back to sleep....!!

injesting a bit of playsand is ok, it comes out granulated the way it goes in,...

just try to remove most of the uneaten crix if ur feeding him in his home,...or make sure theres somethign other than ur dragon in the tank for them to eat.

 

[reptalica]

Great thread peeps. Exactly the same situation I am in with mine. Although we have been moving I might just refrain from that now and let him be. We have been bathing him so might mist instead.

No poops either does that matter????

Cheers all and great feedback.

 

[Chris1]

just a warning to all,....a friend called me on monday to say her dragon was acting funny,...they thought it was brumation but wanted to be sure,...

i said if they were unsure of her health she should go to the vet before they assume shes brumating.

which they did plan to do, her bf had stopped turning the lights on for the previous week to not disturb her, she hadnt eaten in a couple of weeks and did a huge crap a few days before.

anyway, sad ending, Knevil is dead.

so dont assume acting weird is brumation,...

 

[TheBoga]

Good point Chris1, I've done so much reading lately trying to learn as much as I can.

I check mine every day, and the sand has been a great idea as I now know he does occasionally go for a wander during the day, he leaves prints and tail marks everywhere.

My beardy did a big "poop" the day after his big feed, there was also the "wizz"/white toothpaste in there also.

He's now pretty dormant after his big energetic day last week where he had a big feed soaked up some heat all day then went back down the cooler end. He was really full of energy and I'm fairly confident he's OK, I think he had a "break", then a big feed and is now continuing his "break"/brumating.

I am no expert only very new to this.

Other than him resting I don't see a reason to take him to the vet, when he was awake for that feeding frenzy day he was jumping up to high branches and puffing his chest out as he was chasing the crickets around, really playfull.

Looks like he'll go another period of resting for a while.

 

[TheBoga]

I've noticed my thermometer has been reading around 16* to 18* down the cool end lately. The basking area is still 38* to 40ish*, but the cooler end seems to drop a few degrees cooler lately as the days have been getting cooler but the warmer end stays consistent.

My beardies happy down the cool end but I am wondering if that is getting a bit low for him. He has gone up the warm end a couple of times for 20 minutes or so but is happy to go back down the cool end.

He's definitely brumating still/again, another two week stint for him then he has a feed and goes back to the cool end. For the 4 or so weeks I've had him he's spent all but 5 days sleeping, it's a good life he's got.

 

[TheBoga]

My beardy is still brumating but went down to bask for a while today. He had some interesting ways to bask today. He's shedding around the chin and head area also.

 

[TheBoga]

I just got home to find my spotlight that provides my Beardies heat has blown. Must have happened early as the timer is set for it to come on in the morning. My digi thermo said it got down to 11degrees today.

When I got home I found my beardy half buried in the sand which he's never done before, as he spends his brumating time on his branch. I thought something was wrong, he was really sluggish.

I've just replaced the globe and I'm trying to get some warmth into him, he's under it heating up now. The problem is that if the globe blows, my inclosure gets cold, as what happened today and he's got to stay like that until I get home.

Hope he'll be OK.

 

[Chris1]

he'll be fine after a day,..most of mine jump out of the tank within an hour or 2 of basking and find a cold place to sleep behind the tv cabinet or something.

love the pics, hes gorgeous!!

 

[mysnakesau]

The colour change also happens to my beardie. I'm just guessing darker colours absorb the heat better.

Mine has recently come out of her sleep (started around 2 and a half weeks ago). She seems to be up the hot end and moving about, not sure if she just wants a feed.

Our beardy goes dark whenever we take him out in the sun so that probably makes sense since they reckon white light reflects heat, black absorbs. Our beardy has dug himself a hole and has been there for weeks. I don't want to disturb because it will wreck his hole, but surely I'd smell him now if he were dead. We always look in he doesn't look dead. My daughter would be devestated if that happened to her little dragon

 

[TheBoga]

I hate disturbing mine too, but it's easier to monitor mine because he is brumating on his branch, I can see his every move.

He's doing fine today.