adoption questions & intro

[chicboys3]

Hi All,
Our family is adopting a 2yr. old Beardie & have tons of questions!
He/She is coming in a 40 gal.breeder tank w/ heat lamp, UVB light,
under tank heating pad ,some flat rocks, a hide & basking log.

Right now he is eating mainly romaine, shredded carrots(daily) & "some" crickets, approximately every other day. Maybe 15-20 per week?

I see that he should be eating no more than 50 crickets per week.
Should we keep his diet the same as he adjusts to us & the new environment or should we start feeding more crickets & offer new, better veggies, ALONG with what he's been eating?
He will be going to the vet on Wed (we'll be getting him Tues.), but I wanted to have the proper veggies/crickets in the house before he gets here.
Also, I have a 10 gal, screened tank that I'd like to raise crickets in. Any suggestions? I usually only get to town 1x/week and I don't want to be running short on protein food for him!
We've never had a lizard before, but I'm assuming that we would want to keep things quiet & low key for the first week or so?
Also, he hasn't been handled much for the last year or so. Any tips or hints for taming him? We've heard slow & easy, not more than 10 min. per session?
My 11yr old has researched beardie care fairly extensively, but Mom here is nervous! I'm concerned that I won't realize if something is wrong because I'm unfamiliar w/ lizards! Thanks for any advice. Chicboys3 + mom

 

[redn3ckkittycat]

Welllllll Welcome and congrats on becoming a beardie slave!

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
that is a uber super guide for food...book mark it, I did!!

Also...just make sure your temps are right 100-105 on basking, and 80 ish on cool side.
Order online! Find a good rep, http://www.mullberryfarms.com plus lots of others, and buy crickets by the 1000's. I personaly, am going to start breeding roaches . Hope this helps!!!

 

[auntylolo]

Hello! I say have good stuff waiting for him, get him off his junky diet asap! Also ditch the heat mat, your beardie should get the right amount of heat from above and anything more can cause burns or overheating.

 

[chicboys3]

Thank you all for the info & website!
I thought an under the tank type of heat mat
is ok, but a "heat rock" is not?
We watched him eat & then go over & lay down on the sand above the heat mat. The owner said they need heat to digest their food.

We'll be taking him to our exotic vet on Wed. so
hopefully he'll get a clean bill of health!

Does anyone raise their own crickets? If it's more economical to buy crickets online, how many can/should I keep in a 10 gal?
Is it safe for me to up the amount of crickets from what he's been getting?
I'm sure my vet will be able to answer all these questions, but I don't want to wait until I've got the beardie & then go chasing around town trying to find all the supplies!
Thanks for any info. chicboys3 & nervous mom

 

[redn3ckkittycat]

They do need heat to digust, but they do not have the amount of nerves in their under bellys, like other animals, and could get burned by heat under the tank. An over head heat lamp is much better, more nature, and safer I personally right now am buying crickets by bulk, 1000 at a time. But, Friday i am buying a shipment of lobster roaches, which are easy to breed and raise! would recommend that Get some egg crate from the local bakery, and cut them into squares so the crixs have lots of hiding places. And feeding them the dragon's left overs is great! i give mine lots of carrots for caroteen for the dragons colors. I'm not sure how many will live suggestively in a 10gal, mainly because i am using a 20gal long atm. But mine holds 1000 easy. Just use the egg crates, and paper towel/toilet paper rolls :lol:

 

[chicboys3]

Thanks so much for the info!
I think we'll start w/ crickets & ease hubby into
this slooowly!

Any idea on how many crix/per day, per week?
The beardie is about 2 yrs old.

I was reading about ceramic or slate tile as a substrate &
wondering if there is a trick for taking the tiles out to wash them?
If it's a 36in tank & I cut two 18X18 tiles to fit, how closely do I want them to fit & how do I lift them out (without dropping them, or scratching the glass!!)
And how traumatic would it be for him to go from the pet store sand that he's on,to tile? Thanks for any help, chicboys3

 

[redn3ckkittycat]

Well, remember this rule - 80/20. Juvie beardies need 80% protien (live feeders) and 20% greens (their veggies). And adult beardies (you new slave driver) needs the opposite! So, an adult needs to be eating roughly 50 or so crix's a week. And as far as the slate tiles, I'd cut them smaller, so they are easier to lift. And just water works well. If something is stuck (like his poo) vinger to parts of water, or the clorox wipes. And actually, their natural habitat is a hard clay, so slate is more natural than loose sand. You can give him a 'dig box' which is a tupperware dish with play sand. If you'd like too. Hope this helps!!

 

[jennybud]

this is the best site i found for ordering live crickets by the 1000 becuase it is one of the few that have a great (cheap) price and they also don't charge extra for shipping and winter shipping prices. I've found good deals on crickets before but they always charge 5-8 dollars shipping and they can be alot more expensive if they have to winter pack them when it gets cold. you can also buy them in 1/4 in. increments so you get the size you want since you have and adult you can get full grown or I would go with almost full grown so they don't start dying of old age before you get to feed them. any way here is the link

http://www.nyworms.com/FeederCrickets.htm

 

[chicboys3]

Thanks Jennybud!
I love the NY worms website-lots of cool info.
Our vet recommended feeding her (yes, Jake is actually a girl-and now named Luna), 10 crix a day to
start with. She's a little underweight, & we're still waiting for the fecal exam results.
If I order 1000, and up her to 15 crix a day, that's still 66 days worth of crickets.
If I order the smaller/midsize ones, won't they start dying from old age before I feed them out?
I did see a website or 2 that ships 500 crix, and they're still priced better than Petco's @ .10/cricket.
I'd better check on their shipping though! Thanks for your patience w/ this nervous mom! chicboys3 & mom

 

[jennybud]

okay i'm a problem solver. here is another choice i found (i've been shopping around for deliveries as well) and this place is really good it looks like. 2 day delivery is included but they may charge a dollar or more for cold shipping but their prices are unbeatable with or with out the extra charge you can get 500 crickets for about $13 it looks like. but check it our that may be what you are looking for. and what i'm looking for baby bearded dragons can go through 50 to 60 crickets a day and more or less depending on the size. . . but having an older dragon 500 should last you at a month don't know but tell me how it works out!


http://www.millbrookcrickets.com/ourproducts_crickets.html

 

[chicboys3]

Thanks Jennybud!
I'm bookmarking them too. chicboys3

 

[brittany]

Just a tip that I didn't see listed is that this dragon is 2 years old and more than likely over 16". If he is over 16" long, super worms work great! They are better for larger dragons than crickets and are 1/8 the hassle/smell/noise. If feeding supers, 20-35 per week is perfect. You can get them from http://www.wormman.com and http://www.mulberryfarms.com which I've had great experiences with both.

 

[chicboys3]

Ok, I just measured her & I think she's just barely 16in. Maybe-she moved while I was trying to measure w/
a cloth tape measure.
She's definitely 2-2 1/2 yrs & weighed 380 g.at Wed.'s vet check.
Think she could do super worms at her size? Do they have the
hard shell like meal worms?
I'll go check that website-thanks!
I think she likes us-or at least the food we bring! chicboys 3

 

[brittany]

I think that he can handle them. They do have a hard shell like mealworms but because they have much more meat (and because at 16" the digestive tract is no longer curved) they are fine for them. I measure with a cloth measuring tape too.