UVB Question and more..plz help!

Question
QUESTION: I was just given a 6 year old, male, bearded lizard that will eat mostly only crickets. His cage is about 88% F. I have had him for two days now. I bought a desert 7% UVB coil-lamp/20 watt for him and a repti basking spot lamp. Will this work? I'm not sure which one goes directly above him though and how long the lights should be on. Also, he won't eat veggies and I don't know why. I realize that he is still getting use to his new environment but his previous owner said he didn't really eat veggies for him either. His feces was black and slimy is that normal? Is sand ok bedding and what would you suggest besides sand? His beard gets orange when I hold him, what does orange mean? Sometimes he opens his mouth while in the cage...? I also heard that bearded dragons have lock jaw, is this true and do I have any concern when his beard is black and puffs up? He is very mellowed out like most BD's but couldthey bite you when they puff up and is it ok to touch them if this happens? What should I use to clean his cage and how often? I know i'm full of questions but I need help. I love this little gy and want to make sure he is healthy.

full of questions. Please help!

ANSWER: Hello and thanks for emailing,

Congrats on the dragon older dragons are really calm and easy to handle. You must try many different types of greens and veggies finely chopped or in the case of greens such as lettuces green leaf or romaine or endive lettuce you can tear the leafs off and into small pieces instead of chopping...an all bug diet is harmful to the adult dragons kidneys...too much protein is not good. What I do for my adult dragon is give him green leaf lettuce..that's about the only green or veggie he will eat very day fresh and washed off placed in a dish in his cage...every three days I give him as many live bugs as he wants, on the days without the bugs he will be seen eating his lettuce. Avoid head lettuce lizards often wont eat it and it contains no nutrients. A 7.0 coil is what I'm using with both my dragons right now they seem to work very well and my juvenile dragon is now 12 1/2 inches long at only 6 1/2 months old. Orange beard I've never heard off perhaps he is just extending his beard but not blacking it as dragons do when there mad...is the dragon orange in color? You want to have a high basking spot thats easy to get to so he can get within 8 inches from the coil bulb or the uvb rays will be useless to him and he will get very sick...a ordinary cinder block works fine for a high basking point..whatever you use make sure its stable and cant fall over on him. The overall tank temp is ok but what is the temp under his heat lamp? You need to get a temperature gage and see how hot it is under his basking light at the highest spot he can get to under the lamp, The basking spot temp must be 90-110 F. which is around 40 C. other wise he will be slow moving...sleepy and not eat or poop much if at all and he can get sick if kept too cold. Put the UVB lamp and the Heat lamp close by each other and make it so the basking spot goes close to both lights without risking him burning himself under them this way he can get uvb and warmth at the same time without switching spots...its also good to keep the lights at one end of the tank so he can go to the other end to cool down when needed. You can use normal household light bulb(NOT the energy saver ones thou) for heating as well..you may need to try 40/60 and 100 watt bulbs before getting them temp just right from the distance he sits from them...there is no need to waste money on "reptile bulbs" I once did and was told household bulbs work the same and true enough I've been using them on my adult dragon for a year and a half and raised my young dragon with normal bulbs...but every 6 to 8 months you do need to replace the UVB bulb so it still produces strong UVB rays to keep the lizard healthy and happy...I recommend only using the 7.0 or 10.0 UVB bulbs for bearded dragons as they are from very hot high UVB areas of Australia. Turn he lights on in the morning as soon as you wake up and turn them off 10 to 12 hours later. The fecal matter is of a normal color...it looks like giant bird poop really. Sand is Never recommended to put any animal on other then hermit crabs! since the sand is often very dusty and irritates the lizards eyes it also is easy for the lizard to swallow when chasing its dinner around...or if his green's fall from his dish while eating he will get a mouthful of sand when picking it up..the sand is near undigestible and can kill the lizard aftertime sine it builds up in the intestinal track and stomach causing a life treating blockage often the only thing to help is surgery....all loose bedding should be avoided...no bark no sand no cali sand, no repisand no playground sand no walnut chunks, no pebbles or small rocks, no carefresh litter no lizard litter and no dirt. The so called "digestible" bedding are no more digestible then any other forgin substance if we were to swallow rocks would they digest? No. I have been using newspaper, paper towels and reptile carpet for years on my reptiles without any problems and all good health, some also use textured ceramic tile which hold warmth well and can look very nice and is wipe clean, some also use none adhesive shelf liner...for cupboards I am currently trying some out in my subadult dragons cage it looks nice and is washable plus he cant eat it! you can find it in dollar stores in several colors. Reptile carpet as I Said is safe as well and looks nice but can be expensive and its gross to have to handwash..putting it in the washer and dryer would shrink it badly..thou it still did shrink when I washed it by hand so it has its draw backs...a well some companies sell it piece by piece for tank sizes...you need two pieces for your tank one to have in and one to replace it with while you wash and dry the other piece and it comes in some different colors. Gaping is a way to relive the body of excess heat so having the mouth opening while sitting under the basking lap is norma...an opened mouth display coupled with a puffed beard or black puffed beard means leave the  lizard alone he may bite you as he is now quite mad. No such thing as lock jaw in dragons. They can bite yes as i said above...anything with teeth can bite and I got my finger nail nipped by my 17 inch adult male once shortly after owning him..by shire accident I was trying to handfeed him squash bits that were a bit too short and he got my finger nail...his sharp little tooth when right through my nail and tiny dots of blood appeared on my nail... as with green iguanas bearded dragons teeth are said to be razor sharp and bites can be painful to say the lest but since dragons are unlikely to bite if you watch for warning signs there's no need to fear playing with your dragon. I clean out my dragons cages with hot water and paper towels...anti bacterial hand-soap and warm water when they get poop on the cage bottom or glass. Pick out poop with paper everytime you see it and about three times monthly clean out the whole tank and replace bedding. I hope this answers all your questions if you need more info please email at any time I'd be happy to help. And enjoy your dragon...there wonderful lizards.

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QUESTION: I think my BD is a german giant to answer you question. There suppose to have orange in them I believe. He has had sand as his bedding his whole life. I'm afraid new subtrate would upset him? He seems to be doing better but still no veggies. I heard sometimes they will eat veggies if yo withhold crickets for a while. However he has proven before that he can go a long time without food and I'm afraid he would allow himself to die. Everyday I try to offer him all KINDS of fruit but he won't budge. I even waved it infront of his face! To get him to eat crickets, I have to literally point them out. He loves dandlions but wouldn't eat one when I offered it. His belly has alot of loose skin so he must not be entirely the right weight. Maybe I'm just to impatient. He has moved 4 times before I got him and I plan on not giving him away like the previous owners. Do you think he will eat veggies again? I know I can gutload cgrickets and put calcium powder on them but it is becoming expensive. Also if he starts eating veggies again how often do you suggest I feed him crickets. I have readevry technique and tried them but he is soooo stubborn!

Answer
Hello and Your Welcome for the reply.

Some german giants are just normal colored then there are orange german giants. Ignore fruits my dragons wont touch them and there to high in sugars just try different veggies and greens. It is possible he has lost weight from the loose skin you've noticed..also if a dragon is getting ready to shed you cna notice that the skin gets crinkled on the belly and saggy looking.. perhaps he is just shedding. Try some silk worms and super worms also but dont leave out crickets unless you want to swich him to silk worms...crickets or silkworms make a good staple diet and superworms are nice to add every now and then. If he looks thing get him a few butter worms these re ftty and fruity smelling dragons love them! I have done away with crickets I feed soley super worms with some other bugs on the side once in awhile plus daily greens so I'm not all together sure how many crickets he needs. You dont need to uy gutload for crickets the stuff is too expensive just feed the crickets veggies and dry cricket food...do podwer them with calcium once a week however. Dragons slow down in the winter as well..I'm not sure if where your living its getting cooler or not but all dragons over 1 year old will slow down for the winter eat less, sleep alot and be rather inactive until it starts to warm up in spring don't be fooled thou they are Not hibernating just slowing down