AboutSandra Expertise I can answer questions about housing-heating-lighting-substrates
diet and supplements-breeding and incubation and hatchling care
and give advice on what to do in case of an emergency until you can get your reptile to a vet
Experience I have 10 plus years experience in keeping reptiles
I currently keep Bearded Dragons-Leopard Geckos-African Fat Tailed Geckos-Crested Geckos-New Caledonia Giant Geckos-Gargoyle Geckos-Blue Tongue Skinks-One Tokay Gecko and One Box Turtle
Education/Credentials Self taught with reading and through personal experience with reptile care
I can find links to care sheets and forums about species of reptiles that I do not keep but I can only answer questions from experience from the reptiles listed above
Question QUESTION: hi can you helpwe got our bearded dragon about a week ago but he seems very frightend we have never seen him move really not to his water or food also when we go over he is opening his mouth at us is there any thing we can do
ANSWER: Hi Laura
In order for me to be able to try and help you with your dragon-I need some more information abut his size and housing
What size is he/she?
You can measure from tip of nose to tip of tail
What size enclosure do you have him/her in?
What substrate is he/she on?
What type of heating and lighting are you using on the enclosure?
What are the temperatures under the spot basking bulb (hot spot) and on the cool end of the tank?
The best thermometer is a digital with a probe on the end
You place/lay the probe where you want to measure the temp and it gives you a digital temp read out
What are you feeding him/her?
Veggies/greens and insects?
and lastly was this beardie alert and active with nice clear eyes when you purchased it?
Please let me know the answers to these questions and I will try my very best to help with your Beardie
Sandy aka LadyGecko
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QUESTION: hiya thanks for quick reply the vavarium is 3ft wide and 3ft high he is 6inch long as his tale got bitten off when he was smaller and he was fine when we picked him up eyes fine active and seemed happy there was 2 in with him we purchased desert sand which he has in his vivarium his basking area has a 125 w solar glo temperature is 100 at the hottest and 80 at the lowest we also have climbing trees which is were he usually sits near the light and very rarely moves from there as i have to drip water on him as he doesnt go to the water we feed him live crickets which he does eat but fruit and veg wise we have tried cucumber, cougettes, bannana, kiwi, carrots the only thing he has had very little of his broccoli. thank you
This is NOT normal Bearded Dragon Behavior by any means
They are the most outgoing lizards and little eating machines when they are healthy and usually are not stressed for long after being moved into a new home unlike many other species of lizards
As I see it-you have two options-either return your current dragon to the pet store for a refund or take him to the vet
The bill could run as little as $50 and as much as a couple of hundred dollars
I never use any type of a partial substrate for younger Beardies and I do not like Desert or Calci-sand as they have been shown when ingested to cause impaction with accidental ingestion when your Beardie gets some in his mouth when catching crickets
I do not believe at this point that anyone beside a vet can help your Dragon
He could have a blockage from the substrate or have a high Coccidia level or other internal parasites
As far as greens and veggies go-most people feed chopped up Mustard-Collard-Turnip Kale and even Escarole and Endive
I usually add some grated sweet potatoes or some squash and bell peppers of any color
Some Beardies take to eating green/veggies faster than others
You need to just keep offering them
There are complete lists on the web and
BeardedDragon.org has a good list of the best greens and veggies
Go easy on the fruit as to much gives them diarrhea and no citrus fruits should be fed to them
Your temps are fine and if this is a Mercury Vapor lamp then your UV is alight too
Again-even with his moving into your home a week ago-he should be exploring the tank and hunting down crickets on his own
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