New Beardie Owner With Questions

Hello everyone. I just got a beardie on Sunday and have been hunting for a sight like this. Everyone seems very helpful. Though in some of the posts I've noticed they can be a bit harsh to a newby that doesn't know everything. I can understand how this happens....with beardies being such amazing reptiles and their owners being so dedicated to their well being. I just hope I've learned enough not to sound foolish with my questions.

Unlike a lot of people here, my beardie purchase was not planned. In fact, I'd never really heard of them. On Sunday my hubby and I went to a flea market. My husband, who is from Texas and used to raise all types of snakes, purchased a ball python from a vendor. Being born and raised in Alaska, with no snakes, I was not thrilled with his purchase.

While the hubby was getting money from the atm, I walked by the only large beardie. I told the vendor that all the pokey spines made him look somewhat evil and I should buy it to get even with my husband. The vendor responded by telling me how kind and gentle the beardie was and that his girlfriend handled him constantly. He picked him up and put him on my shoulder. After just a few minutes I fell in love. By the time my husband returned, I'd already decided the beardie was going home with me.

At that point I knew virtually nothing about beardies and made a trip to Petsmart to get some accessories and crickets. It was only then that I realized how pricey beardie ownership can be and how dedicated owners are to their beardies. When seeking help in the store, we managed to get ahold of an employee that owned six beardies and was definitely an enthusiast. She promptly told me the 10gal aquarium I'd just purchased would be going back and set me up with a 50gal. with lots of accessories.

Anyway.....after spending some more time with my new beardie, I realized why so many people seem nuts for these little guys. They really do have amazing personalities and love attention. I'm so protective that I haven't yet let my kids (ages 10,11, and 12) hold mine yet.......and his home is in my room.

So....on to the questions.... I've had Ozzy since Sunday afternoon. He ate a dozen crickets dusted with calcium powder by that night. He also eats an adult bearded dragon food (he just turned a year old) and ate some greens I offered him yesterday. After all that, he has not pooped yet. After some reading I could not figure out how often that is supposed to happen. Yesterday I was a bit concerned so I gave Ozzie a bath....hoping that would help, but so far nothing. Can anyone help me out with how often Ozzy should void? I'm heading out to get more crickets at the pet store this morning, but it doesn't seem like I should keep filling him until something comes out???

Also, the girl I spoke with at Petsmart said that mealworms are hard for them to digest and to stick with crickets. However, on this site I notice most people discuss worms a lot. Can anyone help me out with a healthy diet for Ozzy? It seems to me, variety would be good.

Thanks so much for your help in advance!

how big is she? She looks HUGE on the pic! He should be pooping 2-3 times a week, so don't worry about that. You should be feeding her about 10-15 crickets every 2-3 days, or you can just give them 50 crix a week. Babies can pack a lot of food, they eat about 50-100 crickets a day! but you don't need to worry about that since she's already an adult. Use the following worms: silkworms (very good), pheonix worms (no need to dust because their high in calcium, and other good stuff), superworms, butterworms (not sure if their a good staple), and roaches are good as well, even thought their not worms, lol! You really don't need to feed her as much lve food because she's older now, and must be fed more greens, what greens are you feeding her? I don't think I left anything out, but if anyone noticed that I missed something just let me know.

Thanks for the help. From the pictures I've seen here, Ozzy is pretty big. He measures about 6 1/2" from the tip of his nose to the base of his tail and about 15 3/4" from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail.

So far he's only eaten green leaf lettuce. We tried spinach.....he won't touch it. We also put in a few pieces of fresh strawberry and cucumber. After six hours, I had to take them out. We will try experimenting every few days with different greens to find his favorites. Unless anyone knows a reason for not doing that.

Here's a couple pics on my hand to help show his size -

Wow, he's big! You shouldn't feed them lettuce it's just full of water, and it really dehydrates them because when they eat lettuce, it make their poop really watery, so all the liquid in their body pretty much goes through with the poop :lol: Try collards or turnips those are a good staple.

Welcome. I feed mine grated squash, carrots and mix in some romaine or red-leaf lettuce (unlike iceberg, they do contain nutrients) in addition to crickets and superworms. Be careful with spinich..it contains high oxalate levels and can inhibit calcium absortion...good luck...he's adorable.

Some of them have the weirdest tastes in the world. A lot of them go for certain colors, usually red but some prefer green. Here's a site that lists the best foods for him and how much of each is good for him: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Thanks so much to all of you for your help. Normally I'm a little quicker to reply, but I took the big kids to the beach in Corpus for the last couple days. I was so afraid to leave ozzy at home, but was also afraid the trip would stress him too much.

Hmmm.....is it just me, or do these guys have a temper? When we got home today, Ozzy had moved ALL his sand to one corner. His pile was unbelievable. He filled his water dish and food completely with sand and then covered it with at least 4 inches more.

After cleaning out his entire home and getting it set back up.....I picked him up and I swear he pouted the first 15 minutes before forgiving me. He seems happy now and back to his old self.

Yep, that sounds about right :lol: I'm glad to hear he's back to normal!