first pygmy advice needed pleaseee :

[contos]

ive just got my first pygmy bearded dragon and shes in a basic housing. all the heating and lighting is up to standard but im worried that shes not eating live food. i come home and the veggies are a bit mixed up and missing so thats a good sign but i want her to eat some woodies/crickets. is there any way i could entice her more with them?
also at what age should i move her onto sand? or should i even? i think because shes a pygmy she runs more risks on impaction. sorrry for the long questions but i reallly dont want to stuff up my first reptile. last question... i want to move in some more pygmys (hopefully one more female and a male). is this fine at any age? or is it better to do it earlier?
any advice would be greatly appreciated
thanks in forward

 

[reptilefan95]

Hey mate ive also got a pygmy beardie, i found that my pygmy didnt eat for about 4 days after i brought him home, so you need to be patient as she is likely to be very stressed, wait for a day or two then try and feed her. I was told not to put them on sand untill they were a year old but many people keep them on sand at only 3 months or so but paper is alot easier to clean. You can move in some more pygmies but firstly what size tank do you have. Also can you tell us what the tempretures are just to make sure its right.

Cheers

 

[contos]

yer im starting to think shes a bit stressed. i put the roaches right up to her feet and she dosent even look at them. ive got two tanks, ones 3 ft and ones 4ft. im keeping her in the 3ft one at the moment because she dosent really explore much. shes either basking or hiding (mostly hiding). im not sure where to put my thermometres to measure the temperature but the basking light reaches 37 from about 8 inches away. thanks again

 

[reptilefan95]

Your temps are fine then maybe could be a little higher. If you want to get another few then def opt for the 4 foot tank and probably around 3 is good. You can put the others in whenever you feel like she is comfortable and settled, make sure that before you put the other pygmys in the 4 foot with her they have been eating for you as well.

 

[contos]

ok thanks for that. i changed her log for her basking spot and its much more accecable and shes basking a lot more which is good. but what does it mean when shes got her mouth open when shes basking?

 

[reptilefan95]

Either she is releasing heat or if she is infact a he then it means (he) is showing signs of assering dominance

 

[Jamisgec]

Reptilefan is right. They may take a few days to eat. If she was feed well up to when you got her she will be fine for a few days.

What is your enclosure made of? If it is 37, 8 inches away from your basking spot the basking spot may be to high/hot. I would say it would be getting to hot for her in the basking spot if she is opening her mouth.

You can get a small probe thermometer and measure the basking spot temp at points throughout the day to measure the tempreture. You could also get an infarred thermometer. I bought one recently and it was a really good investment! You just point and click and it gives you a digital read out of what you point it at instantly.

If you were to get more i would get some now. That way you can grow them together.

With the substrate i changed to sand at 6 months with my pymgies. They do put a little sand with their veggies and water, but it is so much easier! Having to change the newspaper daily or every 2 days was really annoying after a while. Which means taking everything out, where as with sand it takes a couple of minutes to scoop. Plus they love to dig in the sand.

 

[contos]

shes used to my enclosure now and is incredibly active which is good. shes eating some woddies now but ive got the basking spot in the early 40s which im worried about. any good reptile sand brands you could recommend? and how do i get her to stop running into the glass and bumping her nose. shes really interested in her reflection. its cute and all but im worried she might be getting hurt

 

[Freemason2250]

Where do you live and what wattage bulb are you using?

 

[contos]

lane cove
using a 100 wt exo terra tight beam

 

[Freemason2250]

100w its way to high a wattage IMO

Try a 60 watt reflector globe from coles! You will also need a UVB globe too

 

[contos]

well ive got one of thermostat things that controls the temps so if it ever gets too hot i turn it down. ive got a 36 inch uvb

 

[Freemason2250]

What type of enclosure is it in?
I live on the coast which gets pretty hot and I haven't had any temp spikes like that lately

 

[contos]

3 ft glass
my rooms on the top floor of my house and it does get fairly hot
ill bring down a bit