bearded dragon for me?

[natasharose]

Hello- I wanted to get some realistic advice about the dragons, since I recently lost a leapord gecko, and my confidence is a little off. I wanted a dragon originally, but was put off by the size. I think the geckos had parasites, but am not sure, I did all the things I thought I was supposed to do, but she just didn't thrive. My main questions are about how hardy the dragons are, and are they really as easy as I read? How fast do they grow? I have a 20 gal long tank, and can definitly get a bigger tank when it needs it, but also wanted to know if a dealer that ships them better than the pet store? Thanks for letting me ramble.
natasha

 

[WyoJames]

my only advice would be to get the bigger tank now rather than later, you never know what could happen and what your financial situation could be down the road when your beardie is in need of a larger tank.
other than that all I can offer is that if you have the correct lighting and heating, they are awesome little companions that will always make you laugh

 

[natasharose]

Hi Thanks for the encouragement. How big and what light? I really am pumped about the beardies, husband is not so much into it. By the way, do they smell terribly? Of course, diligent cleaning aside, how big a smell is it?
Natasha

 

[WyoJames]

most members on here agree that an enclosure 4'x2'x2' is a good size for a beardie. you will need a basking bulb which will create a temperature of between 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit on the basking spot and a UVB tube light (NOT a coil UVB...coil/compact uv = bad for beardies). A lot of members as well as myself have a reptisun 10.0 UVB tube.
If the tank is cleaned and fecal matter removed daily I don't find that my beardie stinks. If you keep crickets to feed your beardie...they will stink a lot haha

 

[natasharose]

thank you, that is reassuring. I am pressing on to the next step.
natasha

 

[augsburg1530]

Welcome!

My son and I are brand new dragon owners Ours is a wonderful little guy, or gal as the case may turn out to be. I was surprised at how gentle they can be and how interesting with little personalities and all. I was also surprised at how much they eat!!! 50 crickets/roaches a day is not unbelievable. Ours ate 61 roaches today, yikes! We switched from crickets to roaches in hopes of starting our own roach breeding colony so that I don't have to get a second job just to get our beardie into adulthood. The idea of roaches is yucky but the reality is, for us, they are way better than crickets. Do a search on line for dubia or lobster roaches and check it out.

Other than my new love for dragons and roaches, the only other thing I can say is check out the forum here and the care sheet and you will be well prepared to be on your way!

Eric

 

[natasharose]

OK, well, how do you handle the roaches? Do they jump, or fly, or whatever? Can you get them to the dragon w/o actually touching them? Do you give them one by one or in groups, and how long does that take? I may have to wait until my son leaves for college, it looks like they need alot of space, and I have a little house and 2 very active papillons, 2 lovebirds and a 55 gal. fish tank. They sound like so much fun, I really want to do it right, and am kind of jealous of those of you already keeping them.
natasha

 

[augsburg1530]

Natasha,

The roaches are very easy to keep. You really don't have to touch them if you don't want. They hang out in toilet paper rolls or egg crate. What we do is pick up a piece of egg crate, which usually has 20-30 roaches in it and dump that directly into a little cup. We then add a bit of calcuim powder, give it a shake and dump the roaches into the feeding container with the dragon in it. Spike looks around like he is on the hunt, then pounces and gobbles up the roaches! So much fun!!!

We keep our roaches in a rubbermaid container, takes up no space at all.

Do some research on line. You can go to http://www.theroachguy.com for some good info and you can purchase from them too.

Eric