New Beardie soon! few questions

Hey Everyone!!

I'm getting my first Beardie soon! I'm getting it December 16th and plan on getting all the supplies as early as next week. (Always good to be early! :wink: ) I have done countless hours of research and am VERY excited. I do have a few question though, Is there anything I should know that takes new owners by surprise? I already know to get at least a 40g breeder and not to use heat rocks, heat mats etc etc. I have my food plan thought out and even made a weekly calender! (i know im really extra) Also how often should your baby be out of its viv and how long does it take to settle in? I don't want to be stressing out to poor thing more than I need too. :study:

Thanks~ Claire

I'm glad to hear you're doing so much planning ahead of time. It will make a big positive difference for your new buddy!

If you plan on using dubia roaches as a staple. I would get a colony started as soon as you can. That way they will be well established and be able to keep up with demand when your little guy hits growth spurts and needs a ton of bugs.

Lighting is also often overlooked or misinterpreted. It's absolutely worth investing in high quality lighting from the start. It's a critical component of their habitat so it's very helpful to get that fine tuned and ready to go ahead of time.

Settle in time varies between dragons. It depends on their personality. It can be anywhere from a few hours to several weeks or more. Just be patient and take time to learn your new buddy's personality. Once they are comfortable around you, you can take them out to explore in a safe, supervised area whenever you want as long as they have a few hours under their lights around meal times at least. They'll let you know when they're done exploring in most cases by slowing down or finding a cozy spot to bunker down for a nap. You'll get the hang of that after a while.

OK, I plan on using crickets as a staple, would that be the same stiuation, starting a colony?, or should I wait? Also what size and how many should I start with? I originally was thinking 1000 or is that too much?

Sorry for all the questions but I have too many :lol:

Crickets work as a staple. I wouldn't bother with a colony. They die off pretty easily. I used to order about 1,000 each month so it's good to buy them in bulk. They can live in cardboard tubes from paper towels and toilet paper. They eat veg scraps. They tend to prefer being warm and do better if there is a heat lamp available (CHE, heat projector, etc).