Beardie Set up, Miscellaneous Questions

[Tristam]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Tristam and this is my fourth posted question I believe. I have been interested in various reptiles for most of my life and have even owned a few. I have owned a ball python and several geckos (found around my house).

My experience with reptiles runs a little bit over two and a half years. Recently I have taken up an interest in preparing a suitable enclosure and finally purchasing a bearded dragon when I am entirely ready. I have been doing a bit of research on the care, feeding, and preparation for bearded dragons the past 5 weeks or so.

My experience in actually caring for bearded dragons is exactly nothing. I trust the people on this forum are quite knowledgable and I was hoping that you could help me with any questions I may have. I thank you in advance.

Okay. On to my actual post:

I have decided on getting a bearded dragon early next year. I just want to make sure that my set up and habits will be correct before I get the dragon. At the moment, I have:

36X18X18 glass zilla critter cage with a sliding lid
Zoo Med Deep Dome Lamp Fixture
A couple hiding half-logs, various sizes
2 Repti-Hammocks, large size, in opposing corners
Reptisun 10.0 24" fluorescant light
Repti-Cal calcium (with D3)
Herptivite multi-vitamin powder

What I am going to be buying:

Accurite Digital Thermometer (with probe)
Sprayer/Mister bottle
24" fluorescant light fixture
Some kind of item to secure the light fixture inside the tank, underneath the lid
A powerful enough basking bulb (Non MVB)
Slate tile to use as substrate
Water dish (maybe...not convinced on it)
Light timer
Surge protector
Some sort of background and stuff for the sides to ease the stress on the beardie, something natural
Vines (maybe?)
A bathing dish?

What I am going to be feeding my bearded dragon when I get it:

Silkworms
Phoenix worms
Repti-worms
Crickets every now and then

I still have to research salads.

Another note: I will be getting an adult bearded dragon.

Question 1: Is this a suitable set-up? I want to be responsible in taking care of this bearded dragon correctly.

Question 2: If I do decide to feed my bearded dragons the worms, is it necessary to dust them, because the D3 is very important I have heard.

Question 3: On choosing a bearded dragon (It's from a pet store that uses an 80 gallon enclosure in a similar fashion as I am looking at, with the Repti-sun 10.0 fluorescant lamps, slate substrate, etc. with mostly good things, except they house dragons together, along with a small sulcatta tortoise....I know, I feel bad for them too. When I go to buy one, should I choose the largest, most alert, although dominant one, or one of the other fairly smaller ones?

Question 4: About the light fixture...it is 24" and 17 watts....however, my reptisun fluorescant light is 24" and 18 watts...is this still viable to use or should I look for something different? I am not electric literate >.<.

Question 5: The name for my first bearded dragon will be one of three names: Gorbash, Smyrgol, or Darscen. Which would you guys prefer? Two of the names I got from the movie "The Flight of Dragons" which I watched all the time when I was a kid. The last name is a name from a story that I quit writing a few years ago.

Anyways, I thank you in advance for any replies. I really appreciate all the helpful people on this site for recommending quality products.



Thanks for your time,
Tristam

 

[Beardednoob]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Tristam and this is my fourth posted question I believe. I have been interested in various reptiles for most of my life and have even owned a few. I have owned a ball python and several geckos (found around my house).

My experience with reptiles runs a little bit over two and a half years. Recently I have taken up an interest in preparing a suitable enclosure and finally purchasing a bearded dragon when I am entirely ready. I have been doing a bit of research on the care, feeding, and preparation for bearded dragons the past 5 weeks or so.

My experience in actually caring for bearded dragons is exactly nothing. I trust the people on this forum are quite knowledgable and I was hoping that you could help me with any questions I may have. I thank you in advance.

Okay. On to my actual post:

I have decided on getting a bearded dragon early next year. I just want to make sure that my set up and habits will be correct before I get the dragon. At the moment, I have:

36X18X18 glass zilla critter cage with a sliding lid
Zoo Med Deep Dome Lamp Fixture
A couple hiding half-logs, various sizes
2 Repti-Hammocks, large size, in opposing corners
Reptisun 10.0 24" fluorescant light
Repti-Cal calcium (with D3)
Herptivite multi-vitamin powder

What I am going to be buying:

Accurite Digital Thermometer (with probe)
Sprayer/Mister bottle
24" fluorescant light fixture
Some kind of item to secure the light fixture inside the tank, underneath the lid
A powerful enough basking bulb (Non MVB)
Slate tile to use as substrate
Water dish (maybe...not convinced on it) I use water dishes in my enclosures, as the dragon gets older and eats more greens then there is less need for a water dish
Light timer
Surge protector
Some sort of background and stuff for the sides to ease the stress on the beardie, something natural
Vines (maybe?)
A bathing dish? Better to bath outside of the enclosure to help keep the humidity down

What I am going to be feeding my bearded dragon when I get it:

Silkworms
Phoenix worms
Repti-worms
Crickets every now and then

I still have to research salads.
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/home.html

Another note: I will be getting an adult bearded dragon.

Question 1: Is this a suitable set-up? I want to be responsible in taking care of this bearded dragon correctly.Only thing I can see you may want to consider is getting a basking perch or platform

Question 2: If I do decide to feed my bearded dragons the worms, is it necessary to dust them, because the D3 is very important I have heard.Which worms are in question here?

Question 3: On choosing a bearded dragon (It's from a pet store that uses an 80 gallon enclosure in a similar fashion as I am looking at, with the Repti-sun 10.0 fluorescant lamps, slate substrate, etc. with mostly good things, except they house dragons together, along with a small sulcatta tortoise....I know, I feel bad for them too. When I go to buy one, should I choose the largest, most alert, although dominant one, or one of the other fairly smaller ones?Choose the one with all of it's extremities, active, clear eyed, curious, one, also is a good idea just to hold a few and take you time with your decision. This might show some light on the character you are planning to own as well.

Question 4: About the light fixture...it is 24" and 17 watts....however, my reptisun fluorescant light is 24" and 18 watts...is this still viable to use or should I look for something different? I am not electric literate >.<. I am not that literate in the subject either but..
http://www.petmountain.com/show_product/11442-522673/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=11442-522673


Question 5: The name for my first bearded dragon will be one of three names: Gorbash, Smyrgol, or Darscen. Which would you guys prefer? Two of the names I got from the movie "The Flight of Dragons" which I watched all the time when I was a kid. The last name is a name from a story that I quit writing a few years ago.This in my opinion should be left for your personal preference but, if I had to suggest one I would choose Darscen as it is your original creation.

Anyways, I thank you in advance for any replies. I really appreciate all the helpful people on this site for recommending quality products.



Thanks for your time,
Tristam

 

[Tristam]

I was going to get him a bathing dish for the sink, yes. I will also be getting him a piece of driftwood or design some sort of platform for the beardie so he can get nice and warm. The worms in question would be the three worms I have listed, as they will be my main feeders. Good advice in the "choosing" section. I will definitely give that a try ^.^ Thank you.
Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it.

I am open to anyone else who may have an opinion...

 

[techdave]

Have you looked into dubia roaches for the staple?

 

[Dopestar23]

If I were you I would go for the last name. And I'd also finish that book you were writing. As for the setup I generally accept that a cage should be (sorry I don't work with inches) 1meter lenght by 50cm high and the depth being a little more than the height, because you want your beardie to be able to run around.

As for the food, I would recommend using a feeder that has more protein, when their young, then all you have to do is coat them in calcium.

Beardie wise, you should choose the most alert one, as the others will most likely be lethargic and could have other disorders. (I am by no means an expert on this subject)

The light fixture will probably have to be replaced, just to be safe. Wouldn't want your brand new UVB to blow out or not work when you finally start it up.

When you feed him/her worms try and dust it. In fact try and dust it all.

Hope this helps.