Hoping to get a beardie soon!

Hello! I am new to this forum and thought I'd introduce myself. I have been fascinated with beardies for years, but circumstances have never allowed for me to have one of my own. That has changed in the past few years, and so my husband and I are looking to get a beardie in the coming months. I've been doing TONS of research lately, reading as much info on this site and others as I can get. I tend to be a worry-wart when it comes to our pets (we have a cat and dog right now), so I will probably spend the first few months of our beardie's time fussing over them and trying to get everything "just right".

I would LOVE any information, tips, or advice you guys can give me. Anything from what to look for in our first dragon when purchasing, to care information, to feeding tips -- anything you can throw at me!

Welcome to the forum! My advice is to get a roach colony established ahead of time so you have a staple food source ready to go. Then all you'll need to order are supplementary bugs. This will help during growth spurts when they eat a ton.

I also advise setting aside money for good lighting, a stash for vet care if needed, and a plan to build or buy a large enclosure to give an adult dragon enough space. Even a young dragon is OK in a large enclosure if it has places to bask and places to hide. It's better than starting off with one that is too small with improper lighting in my opinion. It's nice to have money set aside so dragon related expenses and upgrades don't become stressful.

Thanks, CooperDragon! We are planning on getting equipment piece-meal over the next couple of months so that it's several hundred dollars spread over a few paychecks, rather than all at once. That'll also give us plenty of time to do our research, network with breeders, maybe attend a few expos, and whatnot. I'm also hoping that this will allow us to get the enclosure dialed-in in terms of temperature and humidity well before we actually put a beardie inside -- I figure that will take some of the stress out of the early days for the little guy.

All of this advance effort will make a huge difference in quality of life. If you have any other questions please let me know.