My baby Bearded Dragon keeps burrowing under his bark Help?

[Herpaderpa]

Again, defective is right. They come from clay/compacted soil environments and the soft silty 'sand' on top is much much finer than any sand available to put into a reptile enclosure. Aside from this... there is absolutely no doubt at all that they die in the wild from impaction as well. So the concept of keeping them on sand just because it seems close to wild habitat and therefor they wont become impacted is just ridiculous. However, if you don't care if your bearded dragon becomes impacted then you can keep them on what ever you like. I guess by this reasoning you should also keep them with predators because their are predators in their natural environment

Beardies are actually harder to feed than blueys and I don't like that they are always pushed as a first reptile/lizard. Their greens requirements are at times a balancing act and what is readily available in supermarkets is not suitable for beardies. I highly recommend starting your own vegie patch You can buy things like endive on ebay in seed form, follow the instructions provided for planting and have a fresh source of beardie food in your garden

Substrate wise... the zoo keeps them on sand because the entire thing is an educational display. Would it be as appealing as a display if it didn't mimic their natural environment? But they are a zoo, not private keepers. Zoos keep animals very differently with a wild concept being the main idea in the majority of zoos.
If you would like to mimic a wild style look you can also use rough textured tiles on the bottom of the enclosure. I used tiles very successfully and they keep nails trim as well. You can get natural rock look tiles in various colours. I personally used slate. I used baby wipes to clean up poops each day as they happened and spot cleaned particularly sloppy ones when they happened... and took tiles out once a fortnight for a thorough clean, but if you install them into the enclosure with grout you can also clean them within the enclosure as you would if they were installed in your house.

 

[1131035]

I appreciate all responses. Once I change substrate do you believe he will stop trying to dig? Is the act of burrowing or digging a major problem?

 

[ajandj]

Herpaderpa - i agree about the food. My daughter (5) and l started a beardie friendly garden a few months back and it's great. We have planted endive, rocket, nasturtiums, pansies, carrots (kids eat the carrots raw from the garden and Yoda gets the greens), same with beetroot, the list goes on - it's great and the kids love going and picking Yoda's food.

1131035 - I've never had the problem because l have only ever used newspaper with papertowl over the top. Yoda hasn't dug as such but has on the occassion decided to crawl and sleep between the newspaper and papertowel. I think if you up your temps a bit, that will encourage your little fella to stay out and about. Just make sure he has a hide so if he wants to get away from the heat, he can.

 

[viciousred]

You might find the uv light is hurting his/there eyes if you don't have a basking light to cut through to excess white light...... Ceramic heat lamps are not great for beardies, they love sun, and like having sun like light to bask under. Thats what i've been told.

Sand is fine once they are adults, but tiny hatchies only have tiny stomachs so in reality it doesn't take much to cause impaction.....

 

[Defective]

I appreciate all responses. Once I change substrate do you believe he will stop trying to dig? Is the act of burrowing or digging a major problem?

the fact you have no hides for your beardies is probably part of the problem. Even a partial hide is better than nothing. here is a picture of my baby beardie Norbet's Enclosure

the green stuff is fake turf and is awesome!

its a natural thing for them to dig but yours are doing it to escape the heat as there are no hides available......if threatened they will quite often run into a log if they cannot take on the animal, so talk to Lizard Lady...i highly recommend that she knows her stuff and is no rookie in the game

 

[1131035]

the uv idea is interesting, if I replace the ceramic heater with a basking light, what should I use at night for heat?

Thanks again everyone

 

[Defective]

they don't need night heat. but if you get worried in winter next year you can always put a 7watt heatmat in the enclosure and by then your beardie should be old enough to go onto desert sand which goes in moist and drys compact like the desert and the heat mat can go under the sand and it warms the sand up....thats what i've done with Yoda...but hes the exception, he's very spoilt!

did the picture help you get an idea at all?

 

[viciousred]

Agreed, night heat is not needed at this time of the year, its healthier for them to have a temp drop at night anyway
Do you have plenty of branches as well? when mine were babies they spent there days on branches and nights in hides.

 

[1131035]

The pictures was great thanks, what is the best temperature for night time? I do have plenty of spots for them to climb. I will upload a picture and you can point out what you think. Thanks

 

[viciousred]

Where are you located?
As long as your room temp doesnt go bellow 18-20 they will be fine without heat at night
Another reason hides are a must is that it keeps them warmer longer instead of just lying on the bottom of a tank. Once they get all toasty warm and go into there hides for the night, they will stay warmer longer

 

[1131035]

Yeah I have got a hide now, and I live in Melbourne so it should be fine without heat

 

[ajandj]

I'm in LaTrobe Valley - couple of hours east of the city. I don't use any heating at night as my house really doesn't get below between 16-18 degree's. Even in the colder months because of the heating in the house, l still don't run heat at night.

 

[1131035]

Great thanks

Hi, just had another question, what do you all think about baby puree? I have given to my dragons once or twice before due to recommendation and they seem to love it

Hi, thanks for list it is very handy and detailed. I had one question, the small round green peas that you can buy in frozen bags at the supermarket what do they come under on the list. I noticed there were two types of peas one rare and one occasional. Thanks again

 

[Defective]

for safety sake...just don't give it peas...and as for baby food, that should only be used as a last resource if not eating anything at all which most do go through a patch of. 6wk old beardies should have calcium every day and a multivit 5-6 times a week so nearly every day.

the puree gets them hooked like candy and then they are harder to feed crix and salad to

 

[1131035]

Thanks, I now know that it is the uvb globe that is causing all the problems. I purchased a screw in globe uvb 10.0 and it is too bright and I am now after a uvb tube. I have to find a fitting first though, any suggestions?
Thank you to everybody who have helped, I have learnt a lot!

 

[Defective]

depends on your enclosure...glass with mesh top you can use an aqua one fluro box but if wood then hardware stores like bunnings should have single batton fluro fixtures otherwise give reptile stores a go...petshops will just sell the fluro not the fixture

 

[ajandj]

i ended up going to lawrence and hanson (local electrical retailer/wholesaler). I found that the pet shop was really expensive. I have a wodden enclosure so it had to be mounted. Pet stock have the fixutre and the globes but when l needed mione, they were out of stock.
1131035 - the peas you have in the freezer would be just green - as defective says, l would just leave them out. There are so may healthier things to select from

 

[Herpaderpa]

1131035 a fantastic staple to feed with your greens if you are looking for something easy is squash. Pretty much all woolies stores have it, you can cut it into little strips raw or softened (left in boiling water for a few minutes). Some woolies also sell endive.

 

[KaotikJezta]

Its not a science, I dont see what all the fuss is about. You have two healthy dragons and one likes to burrow? You havent provided a hide at all. Reptiles dont like open spaces with no where to hide, he is just trying to feel safe.

I find all this talk about impaction from sand pretty hard to swallow. Bearded Dragons come from an enviornment of sandy conditons and heaps of owners keep them on it with no worries. I feed my animals in plastic tubs anyway as I dont like escapee crickets chirping all night

I agree, I have kept beardies on and off for 12 years now and never had a problem with sand and have never fed them out of their enclosure. Maybe with tiny ones for convenience it may be easier to use a non particulate substrate, but as I said, I have never had a problem with adults or hatchies on sand. Bark on the other hand could cause problems.

 

[1131035]

Squash sounds good, what about seeds do they have any and if so do I need to remove them?

Thanks