Pawfessor":2dgkbegr said:
Hey,
I have never had a bearded dragon as a pet before & am looking to learn the proper information before buying one. I’m a professional animal trainer, feed my dogs a raw diet & even use the most up to date methods to train so I need 100% the best information.
What size tank/cage should I get?
How old should should the BD be when I adopt/purchase him/her?
Does sex matter?
Where should I adopt from?
What is the best diet for them?
How often do they need to be fed?
I read somewhere that veggies are bad. Is that true?
What kind of lamps do I need?
What kind of terrain do I need?
How much money should I plan to spend for BD, cage/tank, lamps, etc?
Specific links from amazon would be greatly appreciated for the cage/tank, lamps, terrain, etc.
Also anything else I need to know, please tell me.
THANK YOU!!!
Okay, first off, CooperDragon is pretty much one of the Top Authorities on Dragons, from what I've seen. I've even seen threads where people have said "wait for Cooper to chime in"! So I doubt I can provide much more detailed information than he's able to provide. However, as we've recently gotten our little Vash the Stampede, I still have all the receipts nearby! So, if you're not handy and have no qualms spending money on something because you think that XYZ item is better than you could possibly make/find and repurpose safely... Well, here's what we spent. Please note, we got almost everything from PetCo, you may be able to find things cheaper online/other stores:
Tank, 20gal, will need to be replaced before Christmas, possibly before Halloween at this rate: $20.00 (PetCo had a $1/gallon sale) (I expect to spend closer to $250 for his Big Boy Tank.) (Don't buy glass products online if you can help it. You don't want to get a broken thing, and they don't ship well from my experience. Used to keep fish.)
Repti Carpet: $9.99
Hide / Basking Rock (note, he's already too big to hide in it): $19.99
Food Bowl: $5.99
Water Bowl / Pool / Toilet: $22.99
Decoration (already trashed, didn't like it, too plastic and too stiff): $9.75
Hammock: $13.28
Tank Background (to keep the cats from freaking him out so much): $21.99
Bamboo Tweezers (I'm not touch insects, sorry): $7.99
Breakout Blocker Screen: $19.99
Thermometers x 2, Humidity Gauge: $19.98 ($11.99 + $7.99) (Ended up using a different thermometer gun we already had to regularly check the tank for better accuracy.... Lesson to learn, don't by the stick-on kind, they're inaccurate.)
Calcium: $7.99
Multi-vitamin: $7.99
Basking Bulb: $22.99
UVB Bulb (WARNING, I bought the wrong kind, I should have bought the tube but we bought the coil because that's what we were told to get by the "expert" breeder we spoke to at the reptile rally thing): $19.99
Ceramic Heater: $34.99
More Decoration, fake plant that we kept: $9.99 (He can hide behind it from the cats.)
This Food for when we can't get to the grocery store for fresh kale:
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...-food/t-rex-bearded-dragon-gourmet-food-blend $12.99 (This is Extreme Emergency backup.)
Cricket Food: $2.99
This Food which he won't touch
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...uffet-blend-food-for-juvenile-bearded-dragons: $7.99 (I was trying to help him get even more protein in his diet. But he won't touch it, or the kale or squash if it touches it.)
Cricket Carrier: $12.99
Vash the Stampede: Priceless, but PetCo says $59.99.
This list does not include the live / fresh foods. We're spending $8-9 every other day on crickets, and $15 every week or so on super worms. The last time, the lady tried to refuse to sell us super worms because we were buying other their entire supply (all whopping three things of them), to which I told her if she could keep food in stock, she wouldn't have customers stock piling when they could.
We haven't really paid attention to the cost of the kale or squash during grocery run trips. I guess it's maybe an added $15/week? Granted, I am buying organic, local sourced, etc. I'm not being uppity, I just don't like the vegetable section enough to go past the first few rows. There might be cheaper stuff back in there. I'm a pizza and Chinese food gal - my pets eat better than I do.
We will need to upgrade the tank before Christmas at the latest, but preferably in the next couple months. We will need to get a new table for the larger tank, too - the old dresser we cleaned up a bit for it to sit on is just big enough for the 20L. Gotta keep it away from those danged cats! (I'm not worried about the dragon, I'm worried the cats will get hurt. They're not bright.)
Estimated cost for new tank: $244.99
We're also using the wrong UVB. That will be fixed WAY sooner than the tank issue.
Estimated cost for fixed lighting: $40-60 for the fixture, $20-25 for the bulb. (At least we'll be able to stop switching the
UVB bulb and ceramic heater at bed time / wake up time!)
We also want to get his lights and heater on a timer. Cost varies. Still doing research - really want a smart timer, but not sure that's the best option for three items. (Two lights, one heater.)
So. Yeah. I probably spent way more than I needed to, but I've never kept reptiles before and have no idea what can be re-fashioned into what. I'm also not very handy, at all.
Oh, and as for what you can and can't feed them, I've been working from this list:
http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-nutrition-data.php#veg (This link, while it looks similar, is not necessarily related to this forum. Though, it is why I found this forum!)
I'm sure some folks will be happy to argue any list all day long. This is just the one I'm working from.
As for the title of your thread, how to convince your wife.... Well, you're on your own. We don't know her, so we don't know what aspects of a beardie would appeal and repulse her. They're sweet, generally calm, low maintenance compared to other reptiles, don't require rodents for food, and are adorable. We got ours because of my husband begging for one for years, and me getting tired of saying no so trying my best to do research for half a year, still getting things wrong, and ending up with a wonderful little boy who I can't leave alone when we're home. Seriously, I thought I'd be creeped out by him, but he knows me better than he knows my husband!