New pics!! Bearded dragon girls!!!

[IRescue452]

Look at the nice big bellies. My sister's Lacy hasn't grown much in the past few months. We've been trying to bulk her up. Roaches, mealsworms, silkworms, whatever she can get and still no gain. The beardies natural habitat is the sandy plains of Australia, so I should hope they can handle sand. Lacy is on the all natural paper towel substrate. The only thing we never do is mist the cage or offer standing water in the cage. She gets water outside of the cage each day. I don't understand how so many sites tell you to mist them daily when breeders say misting is a major cause of illness and death for beardies.

[luckies4me]

Look at the nice big bellies. My sister's Lacy hasn't grown much in the past few months. We've been trying to bulk her up. Roaches, mealsworms, silkworms, whatever she can get and still no gain. The beardies natural habitat is the sandy plains of Australia, so I should hope they can handle sand. Lacy is on the all natural paper towel substrate. The only thing we never do is mist the cage or offer standing water in the cage. She gets water outside of the cage each day. I don't understand how so many sites tell you to mist them daily when breeders say misting is a major cause of illness and death for beardies.

You would think so but that's not correct. Any type of sand substrate is very very dangerous, as is walnut shell substrate. Numerous beardies die each year due to impactions from consuming too much sand. It binds together and cannot easily pass, building up in the digestive tract and eventually killing them. Granted, there are a lot of beardies that do fine on sand, but why take the chance when there is strong evidence it's not ok? Too big of a chance to take IMO. I have seen two beardies so far at my work ( I work at a vet clinic) who have had major impactions. Luckily one was caught in time and had surgery but the other wasn't so lucky. Not only can sand cause impactions but so can feeding too many insects, such as mealworms and superworms as their outer shell is hard to digest. If an owner refuses to give up their sand/shell substrate do the beardie a favor and at least feed them in a seperate area away from sand.

Misting is not a major cause of illness and death in beardies. All bearded dragons should be misted once a day in the early morning hours. Humidity is a leading cause of illness, and because of the chance of beardies becoming ill they have more of a chance of death from that illness. Standing water is ok ONLY if left in the cage while you supervise the lizard drinking and it is promptly taken out and not given under the heat source. Leaving a dish of water in while they drink for 5 minutes is not going to change anything significantly, and having a humidity gauge in the enclosure helps owners monitor the humidity. Again, you want to avoid upping the humidity of the enclosure. Plus, a lot of breeders and owners hate keeping a water dish in the cage as it creates a lot of bacteria if the animal defecates in it. That's why most avoid it. Plus, most bearded dragons cannot recognize still water and don't understand how to drink out of a dish, which is why they must be sprayed.

Not only is spraying good (only once daily as to not increase humidity which can lead to URI, and not too close to bedtime as you want to avoid them getting too cold at night) but so are tub baths. All beardies should be soaked in the tub at least twice a week. This helps them stay hydrated as well as helps aid in the shed of their skin. Plus if your beardie likes to drink from a puddle this is a good way to encourage them to take in some nice fresh water.

Has your sister had a fecal done on her girl? Beardies should be dewormed about every 6 months as they are very likely to pick up parasites from their food source, especially if the live food is purchased from a pet shop. Buying online and preferably from an organic breeder is the best way to go. It's not 100% the prey will be parasite free but your chances are a lot greater.

Are you sure she is not dehydrated? How much water does she get a day and how is her water given? This is where tub soaks and misting are very important. Beardies with a thick tail are well hydrated. If her tail looks a bit on the thin side and may need more water intake.

Also, what about her diet? Have you guys tried any high protein foods to help bulk her up? Waxworms are high in fat so you may want to offer her a few of those, just make sure she doesn't get too much. Is she offered greens along with insects? Are the insects gut loaded before being given? Does she recieve a good vitamin/calcium supplement? They need a well balanced and varied diet daily.

Here's a link that shows an autopsy that was performed on a beardie who died of walnut shell impaction. Not for the squeemish!

http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm

Another good article.
http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/impaction/

Oh and kudos to you for the paper towel substrate!

[tikeyas_mom]

Puff has been on sand her whole life *from hatching till now*. She has never had any problems with pooping (she poops every other day as a matter of fact lol), it is sifted playground sand. Yoshi used to be on carpet but I found it to be VERY hard to clean (carpet holds ordours like mad). Yoshi seems to like her sand, she digs in it like crazy.
I never feed them off their sand, they eat all their salads off a plate, or bowl. When they get crickets I watch very carefully to make sure they arnt getting sand in their mouths while hunting.. I did buy some more repticarpet a while back, but I havent decided to put them on it yet.. Still debating. I am a member of a reptile forum and there are quite a few people who use sifted playground sand like me.

[luckies4me]

I dislike the carpet as well. I find it hard to clean. Right now all my girds are on paper towel but I am in the process of "remodeling" all my enclosures with Terra Cotta tiles, a lot less risky IMO. I just would not risk my lizards health. Spike was on sand for god knows how long before I adopted him and he was fine, but that doesn't mean he would never have a problem with it. I love my lizards too much to take the chance of them getting impacted.

You can always take out the sand and use something different and offer a box to dig in, which a lot of owners do. This way at least you minimize the risk. All my girls love to dig but they have oatmeal boxes that are there to meet their digging needs.

[Kalei]

Awwww they are so adorable! and Yoshi looks a little chubby, but it is so cute How big do beared dragons get?

[ratdogg]

wow. this is such an informative thread. I was looking at the pics and thinking "that is one really interesting looking reptile" and I'm NOT a fan of reptiles. Then I kept reading the posts about sand and humidity and general bearded dragon care and I became intrigued. It seems like there is a lot of work and background knowledge you need to have to properly care for a bearded dragon. I think the whole idea of having one would be really fun. now i'm curious

[Sevaede]

Aww! Adorable! I have loved beardies ever since working with them! They were all always so calm, let you carry them around, kiss on them, and whatnot.