Am I providing the best care for my new juvenile bearded dragon?

Thanks for your question about Smaug, and thanks for the photo as well! I think that you have a good start to your set up, and that we can tweak a few items. First, your lighting situation appears adequate - I see a UVB light (please change this bulb every 4-6 months), a basking light, and a ceramic heat bulb. I would ensure that your temperatures are appropriate for this species, and that you are monitoring them using digital thermometers (I think that you see both a digital and analog thermometers currently) at the level of Smaug. Analog thermometers are inaccurate, so I don't recommend using them (also, they are high up on the sides of the enclosure, so they wouldn't be giving an accurate temperature read for Smaug). For the cage furniture that you have, I like that you have places for Smaug to climb and hide. However, I would recommend having a hide on both the warm side of the enclosure and the cool side so that Smaug has choices. Same for the climbing structures. I may have missed a food and water dish in the enclosure - I would recommend that both of these be shallow, and be large enough for Smaug's entire body to fit within them. I cannot tell what type of shavings that you have on the bottom of the enclosure, but the only wood shavings that I recommend are aspen shavings. If they are pine, these can be irritating to the respiratory system. I hope that gives you a place to start, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Con rats on your new beardie! Conflicting information online can certainly drive you crazy. I'm not sure if you had a question or concern since the post was truncated. Juvenile beardies need temps that are a bit higher than adult dragons. As Sam gets older, you can make adjustments. For now, the basking area should range from 35C to 43C. Ambient temps should range between 29C and 32C. Nighttime temps should not drop below 22C. You can use a ceramic heat emitter at night if necessary. This is a heater that does not emit visible light which can disturb your beardie at night. Humidity levels should be 35%-40%. Beardies come from desert environments. High humidity can predispose them to respiratory infection. Use high quality thermometers and hygrometers to monitor parameters. The following links can provide great information regarding care and feeding. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html https://www.beardeddragon.org/index.php http://pogopogona.com/

Hello. Here is a link to a bearded dragon care sheet. This should answer all your questions. http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care-Sheets/Lizards/Bearded-Dragon/ If after reading this sheet you still have questions feel free to post again and try to be as specific as possible. Best wishes.

He's about due for an upgrade now. These guys require a lot of space, so it's best to provide as much as possible. The requirement is that they have enough room to have a hiding place on both sides of the enclosure with enough room for basking in the middle. If you can achieve this, then that would be best. For more information about caring for your Bearded Dragon, I recommend you visit the website at the link below. This has good/well-supported information from experts in the field. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html I hope that helps and all is well with Clyde.

One of the most reliable sites for beardie care is found at the link below. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html You can find additional information here: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care-Sheets/Lizards/Bearded-Dragon/ Provide heat, UVB lighting, water and a balanced diet while she recovers and beyond. Once she is healthy again, acclimate her to your presence slowly then gradually introduce her to handling by holding her for ever increasing periods of time.

Some of it depends on the age of the beardie. If young, make sure any live food is small enough for it. Meal works, crickets or even pinkie mice Here's a good recipe for a reptile salad. Basic Salad Recipe 1/2 cup shredded raw green beans 1/2 cup shredded raw orange-fleshed squash (such as acorn, banana, kabocha, spaghetti, and pumpkin) - you can occasionally alternate with carrots 1 medium or 2 small raw shredded parsnips (in areas where these are seasonally hard to find, you can substitute with asparagus or cooked or canned lima, navy or kidney beans that have been well rinsed and minced or mashed. If you use beans, add extra calcium to offset their high phosphorus) * 1/4 cup mashed/minced fruit (strawberries, raspberries, mangos, papaya, figs, cantaloupe, cactus pear) Alfalfa ** Multivitamin and calcium supplements * If parsnips are a seasonal vegetable where you live, you can use 1/2 cup shredded asparagus, trading off with 1/2 cup drained, rinsed, and chopped canned cooked lima beans, plus additional calcium to make up for the lousy calcium:phosphorus ratio in beans. Cooked beans are acceptable for short term use only due to their phosphorous content and other chemicals that can impede the uptake of minerals and trace elements. Asparagus is comparable in protein to parsnip, but does contain oxalates, so should not be a long-term staple. ** The quantity of alfalfa you use will depend upon the alfalfa product you are using. You want to add about 15 grams of protein. That is about 1/2 cup of alfalfa rabbit pellets, or about 1/4 cup or less of alfalfa leaf tea or a tablespoon or so of alfalfa powder. The older the healthy iguana is, the less protein they need, so you may end up using only a couple of teaspoons for an adult iguana. Thoroughly mix all the Basic Salad Recipe ingredients together. Makes about 3.5-4 cups. Add in a multivitamin supplement (any multivitamin supplement for birds or reptiles is fine, but the best, actually, is powder from a crushed Centrum tablet) and a calcium supplement. You do not need to get a calcium supplement that has phosphorous or D3 in it, as the iguana is already getting considerably phosphorous from the plants and multivitamin, and their D3 is best manufactured in their bodies by regular exposure to direct sunlight or special UVB-producing fluorescents. And more good info on husbandry and feeding isnhere. If temperature is not correct they also may not eat. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html

Yes, I think a 40 gallon tank will be sufficient for now and may be enough long term depending on hiow big he gets. Just make sure to properly control his environment with temperature, an area to eat, and an area to hide away. Good luck! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.