bearded dragon holiday care

[reptilerob]

We are heading away for a week after christmas, and i was just wondering if i could get some advice on how to care for our 2 bearded dragons.
I have a few options, but need some questions answered first.
1) Can the UV light be left on 24/7 for 8 or 9 days, or would it be better to have it left off for 8 or 9 days? Another option would be to get whoever feeds the lizzards for us to turn it on one night, then turn it off the next, so that its on and off for 24 hour cycles instead of the 12 hour cycles we normally give it?

2)We can find someone to feed them without any worries, but dont want to put anybody out too much, so is every second day OK? We thought we might cut up some carrots/broccoli/apples etc... and put glad warp over them and leave them in the fridge, so that whoever we get to feed them just has to take the plate out of the fridge and put it in the enclosure. Is every second day OK or should we get them fed every day?
We will also leave a punnet of crickets here for them to have midweek.

So the idea at the moment, is to leave the fluro UV on 24/7 for a week or so, and get somebody to feed them every second day. Does this sound OK, or should they get fed every day??
Sorry about all the questions, but we are only new to the bearded dragon thing.

If anybody has any other suggestions, please feel free to tell me.

 

[gregcranston]

With the UV thing, or even the heat. Buy a timer (they are not expensive and can be found at bunnings, etc) so that it can all be on for 12-14 hours a day and then off for the rest. That way you won't have to worry about it being on or off for the whole time, or someone having to plug and unplug it on alternative days. As any of these other options would be poor, especially leaving it on or off the whole time.
With the food, firstly I have to ask, how old are the dragons? If they are at least semi-mature, then every second day is fine, offering vegies and crickets on alternative days, although I wouldn't be leaving vegies in there for any length of time, also heard they should only have very small amounts of carrot, if any.
Hope that helps.

 

[reptilerob]

Thanks heaps for that help greg, so vegies one night, then nothing, the next, then crickets, then nothing, then vegies again. Thanks a heap for that.
We dont have a bunnings here, but we have a mitre 10 and a kmart, so hopefully someone would sell timers. Are they hard to install? Do they need to be wired? I will certainly look into it.
The dragons are both mature. The guy at the petshop said theyre about 2 or 3 years old..
We have been giving them carrots quite a bit, why is this a no no? Thanks for the heads up on this as i didnt realise.

 

[falconboy]

The timers are easy. Just plug them into the power point, then plug the light into the timer. Depending on what timer you buy they differ in how to set them, but the simple ones just have plastic pins that you plug in the ON time and the OFF time, turn the knob to show the correct time at the arrow (obvious when you see them) and thats it. Plug it in, turn the powerpoint on, and it will come on and go off according to the times set. One of mans better inventions I reckon.

Obviously you can plug a powerboard into the timer and the UV and heat into the powerboard so they both work on the same timer.

Set it up a few days in advance so you can make sure its working as it should. Replace your heat globe at the same time if its not fairly new just in case it blows while you are away.

Also ask your friend who's feeding them to maybe pop in a few different times to ensure the heat lamp is on when it should be too.

Happy holiday.

 

[Tinky]

I am in a similar situation. Going away for 3 or 4 days.

Will put UV on a timer.

I also want to drop the temp. Any recomendations. It is summer so with just the UV fluro tube the enclosure will run at mid to high 20's.

 

[marksmates]

Firsly i hope you enjoy your holiday.

I am curious,i have 2 adult beardies and 2 week old babies i give them all carrot often. Why is carrot a problem?

 

[Chris1]

too much vitamin A is bad for beardies, so carrot should be fed in moderation.

butternut pumpkin is better for them and way more popular, they do love the coloured bits in their salads,..

u just reminded me, im getting the beardy im baby sitting for a month today!

 

[JasonL]

Turn the heating off and walk away.... 1 week is nothing to worry about.