hi, my name is kitti....

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blackshadowkitti

Hatchling Member
i got a bearded dragon a few weeks ago, and loved her so much, i have ended up getting 3 more since i bought her. i have 2 20 gallon tanks for now, and i have 2 beardies in each tank. they are all babies. 3 of them r 5 1/2" long and my first one is 8 1/2. the oldest one is named peaches, then i have kermit jr, and rusty. my newest dragon doesn't have a name yet. i had a few questions though because i have read a lot, but there r still a few things i'm not sure about. first of all, do they eat thier skin when they shed? i really want to take the old skin out of the cage, but i've had someone tell me that is waz healthy for them to eat it, and i read somewhere that they dont eat it at all.

also, i waz told that older beardies eat will sometime eat the smaller ones. i waz wondering if anyone knew what the size difference was for that to happen, so if peaches got exceptionally bigger than kermit, i knew when to seperate them.

i plan on getting a larger tank in a month or so when i moved, but what is the biggest they can get before i need to move them to a larger cage?

i'll post pictures of my babies later when i quit procrastinating. thx everyone.
 

Project X

Hatchling Member
I really don't know about the skin thing, I've never heard of anyone talk about their beardie eating their previously shed skin.

About the 'eating eachother' they won't actually eat eachother, but if they are kept in the same enclosure they can fight for dominance and beardies can lose arms/legs/tails or possibly their life, so you really should seperate each dragon into their own enclosure as soon as you can. And you should give them about 4'x2'x18" enclosures each.

And, you don't want to just keep them at 'the biggest they can get' because that is just not fair to the animals. You could keep some dragons in a 10 gallon tank their whole life, but no one that properly cares for their dragon does, because they can't move or anything and it would just be horrible for the beardie. So, I'd say you should move them as soon as you can, and no later, don't wait for them to become really cramped. And like I said you should get them each into their own enclosure.

And for substrate you can use non-adhesive shelf liner (what I personally use), tile, newspaper, papertowels, and sand when they are older (make sure its sifted playsand and not calci-sand), you could also use rabbit/alfalfa pellets, although not too many people do.
 

Soul Owl

Hatchling Member
I'm going to have to disagree with project x and say it's fine to house them together. if both dragons in the pair are female and about the same size, there should be no problem. for the substrate, I recommend getting non-adhesive shelf liner -- it's easy to clean and inexpensive.
 

NintendoVixen79

Gray-bearded Member
Pairs of females do sometimes get along if they are the same size... but it doesn't always happen. Oftenly 2 females will fight. But it is the only pairing that people tend to have success with. If your dragons are still babies (which they are judging by the size) then cahnces are you probably don't have an accurate sex of any of them yet.
2 males or a male and female should never be housed together.

Each dragon needs 6-8 square feet of room.
The 8 1/2 is probably too big to be in with a 5 1/2.

Also, there doesnt have to be a size difference for the babies to bite each others limbs off. If they dont get fed enough (approx. 30-50 or more tiny crickets a day EACH) and dusted with the right supplements, they may bite each others tails and toes off out of hunger. (which is why often at pet stores you'll see multiple babies housed together with missing parts if they arent fed properly)

Expect to need as many as 4 tanks that are preferably 75-gallons each.
The 8 1/2 is probably too big for the 20 gallon now anyway.

If you happen to have all females that get along (you might not know till they're a bit older if they will get along or not... so dont go by their baby behavior. And stuff like laying atop each other is signs of dominance) You'll need MUCH larger tank(s) than 75 if you wanna house multiples together.
 

blackshadowkitti

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Project X":922e4 said:
And, you don't want to just keep them at 'the biggest they can get' because that is just not fair to the animals. You could keep some dragons in a 10 gallon tank their whole life, but no one that properly cares for their dragon does, because they can't move or anything and it would just be horrible for the beardie. So, I'd say you should move them as soon as you can, and no later, don't wait for them to become really cramped. And like I said you should get them each into their own enclosure.


tha only reason i asked about that is cause i wont have any room for a bigger tank for another month, and i needed to know how big they could get before i had ta move them, so i knew if i need to make room for a larger tank or not.



out of curiousity, y do u not use calcium sand, and is the vitamin sand ok?
 

blackshadowkitti

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
NintendoVixen79":a8aae said:
Also, there doesnt have to be a size difference for the babies to bite each others limbs off. If they dont get fed enough (approx. 30-50 or more tiny crickets a day EACH) and dusted with the right supplements, they may bite each others tails and toes off out of hunger. (which is why often at pet stores you'll see multiple babies housed together with missing parts if they arent fed properly)

i feed them in a seperate tank, one at a time, my 8 1/2 (peaches) only eats about 20 crickets, kermit eats around 15, and the other two only eat around 6. how many times a day do i need to feed them? i put pellets and fresh veges(dandelion leaves) in the tank before i go to work(around 7-8am), and then i feed them crickets when i get home from work (around 6pm)
 

NintendoVixen79

Gray-bearded Member
You should feed them live food 3 times per day. As much as they'll eat in 15 minutes each of those times. And one meal a day 5x a week needs to be dusted in Rep-Cal Calcium w/D3. And the other 2 days 1 meal each day needs to be dusted in Rep-Cal Herptivite. Otherwise you'll have alot of health problems in the future.

Any sand from a pet store is bad b/c when it gets moist it hardens up... therefore when it is in their system with all the liquids it hardens and impacts them. Beardies have died from this. (yes even though the package says digestable)
The only acceptable sand is children's playsand, but even use that with caution- especially with babies.
Most people use stuff that is smooth & can't be ingested like non-adhesive shelf liner, tiles, paper towels, etc.

Are you able to sex them at all yet? Do you have room for 4 75-gallon tanks if need be? As well as the money for the proper set-up in each tank (heat bulb, reptisun 10.0 or reptiglo 8.0 UV lights, digital thermometer)
The proper set-up for just my one beardie cost me around $500... plus a costly monthly bill for feeding. If you are short on money now and can't afford larger tanks, will you be able to afford proper set-ups for each one when you need to?
 

Akeath

Gray-bearded Member
They will eat the skin, yes. And it does have some nutrients as well. But it's not so full of nutrients for them that they need to eat it. You can go ahead and take it out when you see it, they'll be fine with the supplements and food you provide.
 

blackshadowkitti

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
i have money for larger tanks and set-ups, i just won't have room until we move in a month or so. good to know i am putting the right supplements on the crickets. but do u have any ideas on how to feed them 3 times a day when i am gone from 7:30-6? i can't come home for lunch cause i work too far away, and i read it waznt good for them to eat right before bed. how big do they need to be before i can use sand substrate?

i got peaches about a month ago, i waz told she waz anywhere from 3-6 monthes when i got her, i got kermy 3 days after that and waz told he waz 2-3 weeks old. i got rusty(name pending) on the 7th, i waz told he waz only a few weeks old, and i got my newest little guy 2 days ago, and waz told he waz only a few weeks old as well, so they are not old enough to know sex yet, but i think peaches is a girl...w/ a name like peaches, i sure hope she is a girl!

also, my newest little guy still hazn't eaten yet.....
 
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