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Bearded Dragon Lighting hours.

  • Thread starter Druid-man
  • Start date
Lol, First of, let me state I am not canadian just because I keep using EH, EH, is EH, Not Ey. Got it? Good... Lol... Okie dokie... Now... Bearded Dragon... Snap...

Ok, My bearded dragon right now has a bone disorder, im working to correct it... But first, Can anyone tell me.... whats the absolute best way to supply him with calcium... Ive got the huge Reptisun 2.0 UVB light thing... But what else will help. Yea, hes got Calcium deficiency, but its not really hurting him in anyway, he can move and eat just fine. Ok, Now my real post. Right now my bearded dragon has a 100W basking spot, with a large rock underneath he suually lays up on, hes got a heating pad on the other side, which I just installed today, Friday. He seems to be liking the extra heat, and the Pinkie mouse... (So Sad... Dangit... I hated watching it... But... Ya know) ...Which he ate GREEDILY! I mean he didnt even give the little thing time to squrim, IT WAS GONE, hes got it in his beard... letting it "Salivate" Muhaahahahah! Muahahaha! Anyways, Right now, My Bearded Dragon has his Heat lamp set to turn on at 6 AM, and it turns off at 10 PM. Are these the right hours? Im not really sure how long he should be awake and asleep! I know they wake up early... But sleep? Can someone help me? Thanks...

Animal Lover...
Druid Man.

(No im not a hippie)
 
The best lighting for a BD is to have a fixture for a UVB bulb (like you said, a Repti-Sun...needs to be higher then 2.0, try 5.0) THe 100 W bulb is fine for heat via basking. THe uv light and basking should be turned on all day till night, and when night falls and light goes off, then switch on heat pad.

Try not to feed too many pinkies, even though they provide a good amount of protein. Limit to one per month, inorder to reduce chance of fatty build up.

BD's should be quite active most of the day. THey should sleep when the light is off. If your bd looks sluggish, the calcium defect. is probably taking affect. Good luck_Zach
 
Ok, The reason hes getting the mouses for the next week, is because hes really skinny from brumination, and he needs the calcium from there bone marrow and stuff. A 5.0 light? I thought those big ones were only for iguanas and the larger type reptiles? Ill buy one if I must... HE FINALLY got the mouse down after having it in his beard for a day and a half, its down, and his little tommy is huge! Hes spent alot of time on his heating pad, good thing mice cant cause impactions, no hard shells or anything, there squishy! THANKS
 
Ok, Some Bad news with my bearded Dragon. Ok, Lately hes been doing LOTS better. On saturday we started the "Pinkie" treatment... the guy gave him a furry... but he got it down ok... So, He had a furry on Saturday, then nothing on sunday, and finally today, We went out and got him a real tiny baby PURE PINK mouse. He guzzled it down, he litterily swallowed it whole, no time to waste, I think the poor little thing was alive half the journey down...

The bad news... I just figured out that that little tiny pinkie... isnt enough. I just went into my bedroom to find him EATING HIS PAPER TOWEL BEDDING! I immedaitly busted open the top of the cage, put my finger down, and slowly, and steadily pulled it out, A PIECE ABOUT  6-8 inches long I managed to slide right out of his stomach, it seems one pinkie is nowhere near enough to satisfy his appetite, as he was eating towel! I will soon change his bedding to sand if he keeps that up... From now on im not going to feed him one pinkine, then nothing the next, then a pinkie... Now every day hes getting osmething, even with protein being his main concern, im still feeding him in-between his pinkie days. So, On wedensday he gets another pinkie, and a cricket, and maybe a few slices of apple/lettuce or some squash or osmething with the cricket and pinkie, cause its ovbious one pinkie does not fill up his belly after the stunt he pulled tonight. Tommorow, Tuesday, I will be feeding him ONE cricket, and mainly an assortment of Veggies and fruit, then wedensday he will get the PINKIE one cricket, and a very very tiny serving of vegetable, maybe none at all, and it wil continue like that till friday, when I shortne his diet to one pinkie every saturday, till the end of the month, one pinkie a month, then after 3 months, stop feeding pinkies all together unless he gets skinny again.

AGAIN, I need some advice on how to get my Beardies calcium levels up, Ive got his new light (Thinking of installing a 5.0 reptisun bulb and take out the 2.0) Because he is still suffering, I think the pinkies bone marrow and bones themselves should increase his calcium level, well see how fat he looks from all these pinkies and how good his bones look on sunday. YES, Im aware, three pinkies a week is nuts for a beardie, but you should see his size! Hes like a tooth pick, but lately hes gotten a big fatter underneath, his shoulders, which were recently drooped in, like he didnt have any, are begging to take shape, and im noticing that he all together is starting to act much better.

PLEASE! Help me out with my beardies diet, As of right now im thinking of picking up some-
Squash, Apple and some Carrot maybe added in with some parsley or sunflower stuff?
His Veggies/Fruit diet will be supplemented with-
On tuesday, Today, when your reading this, He will get three crickets( the giant sized from the "Can O crickets"), and a small serving of the Veggies/fruit.
On Wedensday he will get one full bled pinkie mouse, one cricket, two bites of a veggie and fruit, One bite of apple, one bite of... Squash.
On Thursday, Three crickets, Small serving of Veggies.
Repeat that until saturday, when his pinkie diet is no more.

Tell me, any flukes in his diet? To many veggies? I was told that 1 year old beardies should have mainly meat stuffs should make up 75% of their diet, Maybe I should only give him veggie on tuesday, not thursday? HELP! And remember, where not talking about a 18 inch long, healthy large bearded dragon, where talking maybe 11 inches long, pretty skinny, Calcium defcieint Dragon.
 
Well, I don't know much about this situation, so this could be a completely stupid post, but broccoli has calcium, I dunno if he'd eat it, but I thought I'd suggest it anyway. I'd check up on it first though, becuase for all I know, this could be a big no-no. Anyway, hope that helps.
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He may have started eating the paper towel seeking some veggies or out of simple boredom, but I'd say he's looking for veggies. Your BD sounds like he's still on the small side, so even though the mice are beneficial---he still needs lots of veggies.

I don't know if You are familiar with supplementing his diet by "dusting" with vitamin powders (can't remember the brand I used to use--Good stuff though), but You may want to start. Get something with Vitamin D3--its water soluable and won't build up in the BD's fat--its body will take what it needs and discard the rest, then you won't have to worry about whether or not its getting enough of the "Right" quality light and will save you a fortune on those expensive bulbs. You can supplement ALL of its food, ie. mice, insects, veggies, etc, but don't supplemnt every meal---some vitamins store in the fat tissues.

Also 75% of it diet being meat doesn't mean mice. It means non-veggie, ie. Insects. He doesn't sound large enough to be on a mostly meat diet, so you may want to give him more veggies and offer him something everyday. I used to feed my adults (35 of them) mice, crickets, mealworms, super mealworms, and any veggies they would eat. I used to get 14,000 crickets/week and 2,000 of those were dusted and went straight to the Beardies. The rest of the week they got veggies and some pinks/fuzzies. If I remember right, I dusted the insects every time and the mice/veggies only some of the time.
There's a really high limit on "Too many mice" for young and breeding female beardies----just be aware that mice contain a lot of fat for a BD, so if the body weight is up, overall health is good and/or its NOT a breeding female---then mice should be more of a treat/supplement than a major portion of the diet.
I realize this post is a little late for your situation, but may still be beneficial to you, and help someone else in the future.

CYa!
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It sounds to me that you're starving him. They have very big appetites. You need to feed him more that once a day. They also need alot of greens. Before you get an animal you should make sure that you understand and can provide for their needs. You should always do your reseach before you decide to buy  any animal.
 
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