New owner, need a little advice getting started

Hey everyone,

My wife and I are going to get a beardie for our 2 boys (6 and 4 yo) this Christmas. It is a reward and a surprise for the little guy being done with nighttime pullups. The chain Pet stores is where we are going to purchase from. I am getting a full setup from a friend at work who used to own one. She is giving me 3 tanks. The big one is 36x18, the middle is 30x12, and the small is a 10 gal 20x10. I've enclosed the images (if they work). I have owned snakes and monitors in the past (in college about 20 years ago) and I am in the middle of fact finding and research before we buy.

The advice I am looking for is:

1)Is there anything I should look for in choosing the bearded dragon?

2)What type of bulbs should I purchase with the housings I am being given? Spiral bulbs are currently in the double housing.

3)Should I get a flourescent fixture for the UVB lighting instead?

4)Will I have enough room to create the 2 zones of I set up the smaller starter tank?

5)The tank will be going in their bedroom. Any thoughts?

6)Any routines I need should set up right away?

7)Any other tips and/or tricks a more experienced beardie owner can give me before we move forward?

1) the usual health animal signs - active, clear eyes no discharge, no staying in the vent, not skiny or lethargic. If they will feed them so you can see it eat it's a good idea. I would also discourage buying from a chain store - there seem to be more health issues with these dragons than from smaller breeders.

2) household lamps are fine for basking. White only - no colors. You can use the fixture with the coils and regular bulbs (low wattage) or in UV cfl for more light.

3) get a T5HO florecent fixture and a Reptisun 10 or Arcadia 12% bulb. They are stronger and last longer.

4) i would just start with he largest tank. You've enough decor it shouldn't be too sparse and stressful and it's much easier to provide the heating zones + enrichment in a bigger setup.

6) dusting and gutloading the feeders should be a habit from the start. Offering water by dripping on the snout is also a good habit to get into.

Hi there....this will be exciting times for your boys [ and you ] Good advice from Taterbug.....start out with the large tank and just remove 1-2 of the climbing areas, leaving one on the warm side + one on the cool side for now. It keeps a fearful baby from hiding too much or from finding their food. I've raised many clutches and they do best to start out with only a few nice climbing items for the first couple of weeks.

And I think Tater meant to check that there are no stains [ she wrote " staying " ] on the rear end [ vent ] that could indicate diarrhea, although any baby could get a small smudge here or there or on a foot. If you are buying from a local store, see which stores have the healthiest babies consistently. Try to get the biggest, most alert one. If you end up buying from a breeder to have it shipped, don't wait until the Xmas week. There is a much greater volume of packages and it increases the chances of a package getting delayed....plus you'd need to check the weather for storms. Babies can survive being shipped by professional breeders even in very cold weather, but a storm can mean that planes + trucks can be delayed.

Be sure to have very small insects set up before you get the baby, they need lots + lots of food, hundreds of bugs every 2 weeks on average.

Thanks for the information. I will add them to my bird notes