Hey everyone!

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syd93

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Hey guys, I'm going to a pet expo next week and i know they will be beardies. i'm thinking of getting one, but the i was unsure if it was worth it. So i must ask, why is everyone so crazy about these lizards, and why are they so popular as pets? I haven't made up my mind yet, they seem like cool animals but i'm just unsure of wether to get one. if i do get one this will be my 1st lizard ever.
 

CooperDragon

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They are good companions. They have fun personalities and are very curious. Most people wind up forming a pretty strong bond with them, myself included.

They are not good impulse buys however. They require high quality lighting and they grow quickly and will require at least a 4x2x2' enclosure as adults (at about a year old). They eat a lot of bugs while they are growing so having a roach colony is helpful or else buying bugs in bulk is recommended. As adults they are mostly vegetarian so they eat salads and veges every day and bugs only about once a week or so.

I recommend reading through the beardie tales section to get some first hand stories from owners. I also suggest looking through the care articles to get a sense of what is required for proper care. They are very rewarding pets and I can't imagine my life without them, but if you aren't prepared to give them attention and good care then they may not be a good choice for you. I advise making as much of an educated decision as you can instead of an impulse purchase.
 

syd93

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CooperDragon":2fp9692g said:
They are good companions. They have fun personalities and are very curious. Most people wind up forming a pretty strong bond with them, myself included.

They are not good impulse buys however. They require high quality lighting and they grow quickly and will require at least a 4x2x2' enclosure as adults (at about a year old). They eat a lot of bugs while they are growing so having a roach colony is helpful or else buying bugs in bulk is recommended. As adults they are mostly vegetarian so they eat salads and veges every day and bugs only about once a week or so.

I recommend reading through the beardie tales section to get some first hand stories from owners. I also suggest looking through the care articles to get a sense of what is required for proper care. They are very rewarding pets and I can't imagine my life without them, but if you aren't prepared to give them attention and good care then they may not be a good choice for you. I advise making as much of an educated decision as you can instead of an impulse purchase.
Yeah i agree with you there, i went to a pet expo in febuary this year and saw the cutest baby beardie, very calm, just sat on my hand staring me in the face :3 i decided not to buy it bc i had no clue about how to care for one, but i've done research and even brought a kindle book about them on Amazon. I know they need UVB light (found one on amazon for 14 bucks (it was a steal LOL) i tested it on an old light fixture that sat on a old shelf for God knows how long,the bulb on it was broken so i threw it away and amazingly the new UVB bulb worked! Heat lights are not new to me, i raise poultry so i have few extra of them lying around. BUT even IF i have the main lights covered, the tank and the food is what gonna get me, idk they may have em on sale at the Expo, i saw bearded dragon kits and just aquariums, my friend (she breeds dragons) told me the kits are crap and to never use sand (i'm gonna take her advice if i get one) and i saw live insects, which don't creep me out, but i'm not keeping them in my room, God help me if they were to escape! so idk yet, i'll just have to see if i can earn enough money by the expo next week.
 

CooperDragon

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As far as the UVB lights go, you get what you pay for. It's worth investing in a high quality light because the outputs vary so much. You need to provide UVB that is similar to mid day sunshine over the basking area which often requires something along these lines http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/

For basking, it's quite similar to poultry in that you need bright white light and heat. I use a brooder dome fixture for my basking light along with a PAR38 halogen flood light which produces the heat required. It's a little tougher than the bulbs that were in the poultry section at the farm store although a few bucks more.

The kits certainly are crap unfortunately. I would avoid them because you'll wind up wasting money replacing things that come with it. Better to build up from scratch with high quality items that will last for years. It's better for the health of your dragon too.

The bugs are required in some form. A young dragon needs a LOT of them so having a roach colony of some sort is really needed unless you order in bulk every month which gets expensive for a while. Crickets are nosiy and smelly by comparison but are another option. The adults require less and are easier in terms of bug requirements but I still keep a roach colony for my dragon who is about 2 and a half now. They aren't so bad once you get used to them and they're pretty low maintenance. I haven't had any escapes so far but I understand your concern on that front. On the flip side, they're very good composters and will eat leftover salads and all sorts of veg scraps. My colony took out an entire banana in about 15 minutes once, peel and all.
 

syd93

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":1c3zhu1e said:
As far as the UVB lights go, you get what you pay for. It's worth investing in a high quality light because the outputs vary so much. You need to provide UVB that is similar to mid day sunshine over the basking area which often requires something along these lines http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/

For basking, it's quite similar to poultry in that you need bright white light and heat. I use a brooder dome fixture for my basking light along with a PAR38 halogen flood light which produces the heat required. It's a little tougher than the bulbs that were in the poultry section at the farm store although a few bucks more.

The kits certainly are crap unfortunately. I would avoid them because you'll wind up wasting money replacing things that come with it. Better to build up from scratch with high quality items that will last for years. It's better for the health of your dragon too.

The bugs are required in some form. A young dragon needs a LOT of them so having a roach colony of some sort is really needed unless you order in bulk every month which gets expensive for a while. Crickets are nosiy and smelly by comparison but are another option. The adults require less and are easier in terms of bug requirements but I still keep a roach colony for my dragon who is about 2 and a half now. They aren't so bad once you get used to them and they're pretty low maintenance. I haven't had any escapes so far but I understand your concern on that front. On the flip side, they're very good composters and will eat leftover salads and all sorts of veg scraps. My colony took out an entire banana in about 15 minutes once, peel and all.
good gosh, what roaches did u have! Lol. I used to have Dubia but a rainstorm flooded their tub and made it stink! They produced many babies. My chickens ate the fudge out of them lol! And crickets do stink, whew I can smell em easily in the sports section in Walmart haha. And all the kits have sand (well the ones I saw at my pet store do and they also had baby dragons on sand which I heard was a big no-no) one of the babies looked lethargic and possibly dying. :( poor little thing! My reptile loving friend told me it was a fatal disease in reptiles and the baby dragon was showing symptoms of that disease, I think she said it was crypto-something idk. She also said it was very contagious so I felt sorry for the baby bearded dragons bc they were so cute! :( they also had a sick thin leopard gecko :( so no matter how cute they are I'm not buying from a pet store, can't trust em. I'd rather buy from a breeder from the expo.
 

CooperDragon

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They are dubia roaches. I have a large colony now split into 2 bins. I'm not sure why the kits come with sand. It's not a good option, especially for small dragons. Shipping them with a plastic sheet or some kind of shelf liner would probably be close to sand in terms of low cost and much healthier. It's sad to hear about the baby dragons. They could be ill or they could have improper lighting. When they are kept in groups some of them will dominate resources like food and basking spots causing the others not to thrive. It could be a number of things caused by improper care.
 

syd93

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":qpt60ov4 said:
They are dubia roaches. I have a large colony now split into 2 bins. I'm not sure why the kits come with sand. It's not a good option, especially for small dragons. Shipping them with a plastic sheet or some kind of shelf liner would probably be close to sand in terms of low cost and much healthier. It's sad to hear about the baby dragons. They could be ill or they could have improper lighting. When they are kept in groups some of them will dominate resources like food and basking spots causing the others not to thrive. It could be a number of things caused by improper care.
yeah could be, but that's what she said. i saw babies at the last expo that were alert and curious, and flat out freaking adorable :3 Plus the people at pet stores don't seem to be very educated of their care. (sand in the cages and kits for example) I asked one employee a simple question about them and he said "idk" i was like :shock: :? and thinking "Ok but i thought you guys knew how to take care of them." the woman selling them at the expo knew more than the knuckleheads at the pet store. Good thing i did my own research, this site and forum is a HUGE help btw so thank u to whoever created this website and it's admins :)
:)
 
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