Bearded Dragons & Me!

From years of growing up with dogs. As a kid thru my teens I will always remember my first personal pets. My first which was a Male Beta Fish named Viper. Then buying my first hamster, a Syrian named Oreo. To my first big pet project a 45 Gallon community fish tank w/ predators. Though I was never able to merge into the reptile side of animal keeping.

Now that I am older and have moved. I am finally able to start branching out and into the scaly critters worlds that I love. At the top of that list being Tegus & Reticulated Pythons, though they will come in the late future. I am starting with a pair of Bearded Dragon Hatchlings from a breeder I met on MorphMarket.

I'm going to start my introduction to the reptile lifestyle with hatchlings, two siblings.
Male and female pair, male hypo leather 50% het trans (in full body shed, tail should be fresh shed) and female normal 66% het hypo 50% het trans that looks to be starting a shed on her head. Female is a month older than the male, but from the same parent pairing. Which are being sold to me for $300. Update Only buying one and will purchase a 2nd once I have a separate setup.

At the moment I am currently talking to Cliffside Exotics. Owner is Cher Cloughley @ http://CliffsideExotics.com & Facebook http://Facebook.com/SDCliffside .

Still going through guides and researching everything I will need for their arrival and coming life. I will list what I have so far below for my set up and care, an If I am misinformed about something or am going off outdated advice, please do tell me! I've read and watched hundreds of guides and care videos and everyone has very different styles and opinions through their own experiences. All advice and criticism is very happily received and appreciated.


Pictures of the Dragons

https://imgur.com/a/MLDyIKF

https://imgur.com/a/rwaRI0Y

https://imgur.com/a/W8zMWa8

https://imgur.com/a/gZvn0CH


Current Care Item list

U P D A T E D

Tank/Enclosure
-Reusing my 45 Gallon Fish Tank
- Plans to buy/ build them a tank specifically for them!

Lighting and Heat
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00101JIFG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00101JIFG&linkCode=as2&tag=bdlife-20

- Dome : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OS0SB8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

- Stand https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000255OUO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2701FG002WN6Z&psc=1

- Not using any Top for aquarium to allow light to get through 100%

Substrate
- Paper Towels : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BG11QTS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Thermometers
- https://kit.com/GoHerping/ball-python-setup-kit/etekcity-lasergrip-1

Tank Accessories
- https://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-driftwood/11442-619871/aquatop-aquatop-sunken-wood-branch-decor.html

Food Items and Supplements
- https://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-food-supplements/11442-105550/rep-cal-herptivite-with-beta-carotene-multivitamin.html

- https://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-food-supplements/11442-105551/rep-cal-ultrafine-powder-calcium-with-vitamin-d3.html

Optional But Recommended Items
- Going to invest in a 24 hour Timer, Surge Protector, & I live in Cali so I doubt I will need A CHE but I will look for one just in case.

Food

Going off http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Nutrition Guide.

Below will be my Babies diet!

Greens
-Collard Greens
-Dandelion Greens
-Escarole
-Mustard Greens
-Turnip Greens

Insects Update
-Phoenix Worms ( Black Soldier Flies )
-Silkworm
-Dubia Roaches

Squash
-Squash, Acorn
-Squash, Butternut (Winter)
-Squash, Hubbard
-Squash, Scallop
-Squash, Spaghetti
-Squash, Summer

Berries
-Blackberries
-Blueberries

Have your setup running before you get the lizards. Give yourself time to see how things settle w/ the lighting, temps, and such.

If going with no lid, keep in mind the youngsters can jump. It happens fast and seemingly out of nowhere at times but they’re deceptively agile when they choose to be.

Most recommend not housing multiple dragons together. The male can make the female’s life very stressful once puberty becomes a reality. Until then, the female can\will take the larger portion of food and best basking spots as long as she’s big enough to impose her will. Things can get very Lord of the Flies very quickly—even if they seem to enjoy each other’s company.

You will need to house and feed your bugs in between purchases. Buy in bulk because it gets crazy expensive any other way. Highly recommend roaches over crickets. Crickets stink, jump, are loud, and grow quickly. Roaches help avoid these issues and are a slightly better food source. Get ready to read way more about bugs than you probably planned on.

I live in SoCal. The CHE isn’t needed during the summer months but unless I blast the heater, my home can easily get into the 60’s-50’s during what we call winter here.

Hope this helps. BD’s have an amazing disposition and are a joy to watch and live around.

BeerdedBiped":3uxaa4hi said:

Have your setup running before you get the lizards. Give yourself time to see how things settle w/ the lighting, temps, and such.

If going with no lid, keep in mind the youngsters can jump. It happens fast and seemingly out of nowhere at times but they’re deceptively agile when they choose to be.

Most recommend not housing multiple dragons together. The male can make the female’s life very stressful once puberty becomes a reality. Until then, the female can\will take the larger portion of food and best basking spots as long as she’s big enough to impose her will. Things can get very Lord of the Flies very quickly—even if they seem to enjoy each other’s company.

You will need to house and feed your bugs in between purchases. Buy in bulk because it gets crazy expensive any other way. Highly recommend roaches over crickets. Crickets stink, jump, are loud, and grow quickly. Roaches help avoid these issues and are a slightly better food source. Get ready to read way more about bugs than you probably planned on.

I live in SoCal. The CHE isn’t needed during the summer months but unless I blast the heater, my home can easily get into the 60’s-50’s during what we call winter here.

Hope this helps. BD’s have an amazing disposition and are a joy to watch and live around.

Click to expand...

I will have it set up in a few days to a week from today and will post photos. Thankfully you're in SoCal too so If possible I will be asking a lot of advice from you! lol

I will defiantly be careful with no lid as I have seen videos of older dragons jumping and am sure a baby will do the same much faster. With the case of housing them together I see more and more warnings against it and will most likely only purchase one and buy a 2nd an down the line if I want to breed them years from now.

Aside from now only getting one and the set up being topless, as well as letting the enclosure run for a bit once put together. Was my list looking good to go? I'm not missing anything?

Feeder Insect related I've read more about bugs this morning than I (wanted) to know about them in years. Crickets were off-putting because of the noise and risk of having that one escaped cricket that haunts me every night. So I was looking towards buying Dubia Roaches & Black Soldier Flies, with their mix of Veggies, and the occasional worms as treats. Although as breeding dubia is a bit of pre-setup and work I was wondering if I could feed my baby just Black Soldier Flies larvae and veggies. Until I get other food sources set up.

I updated my original post with your suggestions as well.

Your food choices look well thought out. I believe the Phoenix worms work as a healthy staple bug.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=213213

My setup is a bit different so I don’t have personal experience with those products but it certainly seems like you’ve done your homework and I don’t see anything that looks unusual. The MH lights have pros and cons from what I’ve read but again, I don’t have the personal experience to argue one way or another.