My beardie Vixi

Question
Hey Jennifer.

i use the lights the pet shop putted in when i bought my beardie with the tank.

can it maybe be the wooden chunks i use for his bedding or what do you prefer for bedding?

and also can it be that the crickets and mealworms have parasites, how do i clean them.

thanks alot for your help hey...

regards
Roxanne

Answer
Hi Roxanne, I think I may have intercepted a follow-up question about beardie parasites that was meant for someone else (Jennifer?) But since I'm here....If the pet store installed a fluorescent UVB bulb it will need to be replaced after 6 to 8 months. The bulb still emits light but the UV level will have diminished. Intestinal parasites are fairly common with beardeds, espescially coccidia and pinworms. They are fairly specific to beardeds and quite unlikely to have come from either the bedding or the insects. Baby beardeds actually pick up coccidia from the mother, transferred from the uterus to the egg. Insects and bedding can transfer parasites if they are moved from one bearded cage to another but it is very unlikely that they would be carriers otherwise. They are produced in breeding facilities and wouldn't be exposed to reptile parasites.