Couple noob questions.

[Evassss]

I bought my son a beardie about a mnth ago.It was about 4 inches long and has almost doubled in size.
He is doing great.
Question 1 we have been feeding it crickets, phoenix worms and mealworms.He also will eat a few greens now and again.
How do I get him eating pellets? It would be nice to have options if I should run out of insects.
Ive soaked them and mixed worms in but he is really good at picking out those wiggly bugs.

Also If I got another bearded could they be housed together? If not then I wont but it would be cool.We dont know if its a boy or girl yet either.

Another question.He is on newspaper.Well this weekend we tried to switch to play sand.He promptly ran down and started eating it :shock: So I thought since the sand was damp he was thirsty, we already trained him to drink from a dropper and he did so I thought it was resolved but kept an eye on him.Sure enough 10 min later he jumped down and started doing it again.So he is back on newspaper.Will he ever be able to be on sand of any type?
This was the week we got him.

This is him now.He loved my sons warm hand.

 

[Gail]

He's very pretty, good job on raising him. You might want to stop with the meal worms though, they really have no nutrition and can cause intestinal blockage. Very few dragons eat the pellets, if he doesn't like them then it may be impossible to get him on them, insects really are a better choice any ways.
Its never a good idea to house them together, it might work for a while but sooner or later you will have a fight or early mating, sometimes the fights can be fatal. I had a rescue that killed his tank mate one day out of the blue after four years of living together.
If he likes sand then you might never be able to use it. Wait until he is at least a year before trying again. In the mean time you can use slate or rough textured tile for flooring. Its easy to clean and helps keep the toe nails filed down.

 

[DaddyGeek]

First I would suggest cutting out the mealworms. They can cause impaction at his age. The pellets are always hit and miss it seems. Neither of mine will touch them. I'd suggest trying to get them used to eating greens by always making sure they are fresh and available. Maybe try dropping reptiworms one at a time on to the greens. That is how I tricked mine in to eating them. They go for the worms and get a mouth of greens.

Second, no they can not be housed together. Some have been successful at it but more often than not regardless of if it is male/female, female/female or any other combo they will try to kill each other and one of them will probably succeed.

Third, get him off sand and keep him off. It is very dangerous no matter how used to it you think they are they can eat it and even later in life may randomly try to do so. There is a user on here who lost her beardie after three years on sand when they randomly started eating it. It is a very painful death for them and for you to have to watch. I use non-adhesive shelf liner because it is easy to clean and cheap. It comes in many different patterns so it is easy to find one that fits your cages "design." many people use tile. Any substrate that can be eaten they will probably try to because they use their tongues to explore so no coconut shavings, soil, sand or wood chips. It's always better to be safe than sorry later.

 

[Evassss]

Well thats just too bad.We were hoping to make the cage really pretty.What about the calci sand?
Do they die in the wild from eating the dirt? Kinda dumb but I guess they are only lizards
I didnt really need a beardie for myself anyway.So no worries about housing together, it was just a thought.

Also I dont often give him mealworms.I was using them before I discovered the pheonix worms.I like them much better anyways.Its amazing how much he can pack away though.I do have a baby leopard gecko that I got at the same time for me.He eats only a little compared to the beardie.
I do have a dubia colony but its so small I doubt it will be anytime soon I can start feeding any off.Next week I am going to order some different roaches called Rusty Reds.Ive heard they are good feeders too.

 

[FBradshaw]

Start by putting a small bowl of pellets for juvenile bearded dragons in his cage and just leave it there. The adults I have ate pellets when I got them and that's how I got Dojo to eat pellets. Don't stop your normal feeding schedule while the pellets are in there though, I use them to supplement feeding and for their vitamin value.

Super worms are definitely a no-no for a staple food, and shouldn't be fed to a dragon under 16" or so anyway due to impaction issues. Beardies tend to become spoiled on supers too and will start refusing other feeders.

 

[DaddyGeek]

Well thats just too bad.We were hoping to make the cage really pretty.What about the calci sand?

Calci sand is actually one of the worst because they develop a taste for it and it will cause impaction.

 

[maverickgtr]

Most of your questions have been answered but I just wanted to second the slate tiles, and not using sand. My beardie did just fine on sand and never ate it, but we switched to slate for the simplicity and much lower cost. The sand has to be changed every six months. Even changing it that often it's not clean. It'll smell even after you get the poo and urates out. It's not that sanitary. The sand we bought cost $15 per bag and we needed two bags for our tank. That's $30 every six months. We switched over to slate tiles, that cost us $18 to cover the whole bottom. One time cost unless we feel like changing it. Cleaning up after poos is way easier. Just removed the poo with a paper towel, spray the area a bit and then wipe up the extra water. I've been told about chlorohexidine [spelling?] that's good to use for cleaning reptile tanks because it's used for veterinary care as a topical solution.

Best of luck with your new beardie!

 

[Kaiser]

I agree with maverickgtr that most of your questions have been answered, and I would agree with them. I just wanted to address one of the questions that hasn't been answered yet, though it doesn't directly apply to your bearded dragon's care (though it may help you decide on what to do about the sand substrate):

Do they die in the wild from eating the dirt? Kinda dumb but I guess they are only lizards

Bearded dragons do not really live on particulate substrates in the wild; that means, they don't live on fine sand or loose dirt, necessarily. They actually live on baked, firmly packed clay or dirt, which usually does not pose as much of a threat as the particulate substrates provided in most pet stores. But yes, if for some reason they are living on particulate substrate in the wild (which is not natural, mind you), health complications or even death can occur from eating the particulate substrate.

 

[TASTIGER]

the bag that sand comes in says to change it every six months but it should really be replaced every week. even if you scoop out the poo there are still trace amounts left which can add up so basically they are running around in their on poo all day. not to mention the risk of impaction is quite high.