First time future owner...should i buy male or female?

[khaleesithedragon]

Hey everyone, I´m really excited to have a beardie in the near future! I have been doing a lot of research and all that good stuff....I should have my beardie by December.

I initially wanted a female (still do actually) but I came across some mixed answers that has me in this limbo....

I read somewhere that a male is better for a first time owner because with a female, I´d have to deal with a female laying infertil eggs, and it can cause health problems especially if I dont plan on breeding (I don´t plan to)

I read that males can become aggressive when wanting to mate, how aggressive can they get? would they still be able to be handled during this time?

I also read that males have more personality...how true is that? I also read that both male and female have their unique personalities...so it confuses me....

(Here´s the link I found about having a male over a female for first time owners https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110910042414AAuXFrR )

Any first time owners who had a female first?

What do you recommend? Should I stick to having a female, or should I go for the male? At the end of the day, I just want a healthy beardie, the sex ultimately doesnt matter, but some advice would be appreciated!

thank you so much!!
:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Edit: another question just popped to mind....for a first time owner, is it best to buy a dragon that is already six months old, or can a two month old be okay?


Thank you again everyone!

 

[AnnaLexi]

Hiya,
I I have my first ever beardie, and I got HER over 6 months ago.... she's just a darl. Honestly would never go back, even though in about a month im getting a boy. Truth is Lexi, my girl beardie, she is so full of personality and craves my touch. I got her when she was just under a month old and out of luck she was a girl. Ive found taking care of her a breeze.... as long as you have the right lightning, try to pick a time to feed your beardie (I feed her at 6:30 every night) Dont know about a male beardie but I do plan on breeding in the future, but whatever choice you make JUST GO FOR IT!!!

Have Fun!!!

 

[Taterbug]

If you are prepared to pay good attention to behavior changes you shouldn't have a problem either way. My understanding is that gender doesn't have much influence on personality, judging by how many dragons have been incorrectly sexed for months/years. Usually egg laying is the game changer, lol. Males can get randy and focus on breeding in the spring, go off food and being tough etc. they don't get mean to my knowledge - that's more an iguana thing.

Egg binding is serious though so you need to be prepared to provide her a place to lay and supplement her diet. You should also be prepaired to take her to the vet for x-Rays and treatment in the unlikely event of egg binding. Good attentive care can mitigate most risks. Poor husbandry is the #1 cause of reptile illness. Most yahoo! answers are totall bunk - infertile eggs are no more a risk than fertile ones. They take the same toll in the female as far as calcium/nutrient depletion. The important thing is to maintain her health and nutritonal support.

A dragon from a reputable breeder should be a good choice regardless of age. Good breeders should only be selling healthy well started, feeding animals. The breeder I got my guy from doesn't sell babies until they are consistently eating crix, roaches and salads. A good breeder will also offer customer support after the purchase. A petstore generally won't have any history information on their dragons and you may by into health problems (from stress, husbandry etc). A six month old will be mostly grown and less fragile than a 2 month old. I got Pepper at 3 months & 10".

 

[khaleesithedragon]

Hiya,
I I have my first ever beardie, and I got HER over 6 months ago.... she's just a darl. Honestly would never go back, even though in about a month im getting a boy. Truth is Lexi, my girl beardie, she is so full of personality and craves my touch. I got her when she was just under a month old and out of luck she was a girl. Ive found taking care of her a breeze.... as long as you have the right lightning, try to pick a time to feed your beardie (I feed her at 6:30 every night) Dont know about a male beardie but I do plan on breeding in the future, but whatever choice you make JUST GO FOR IT!!!

Have Fun!!!

Thank you so much for the reply! The breeder said they're ready to give out at around 2 months. How big should they be around that time? I read that starting off with a 6 month old would be better but I would love to have a smaller beardie to see it grow. Of course they're more fragile..also, the lighting and the food they need I have been studying and writing down to prepare, the only thing I'm a bit worried about is when it lays it's infertile eggs. I read that adults can have sand in their enclosure so if it's a female even better because they can dig there. Is that correct, or would I have to provide something different when the time comes?


Thank you once again

 

[Taterbug]

Sand wouldn't quite work the way you are hoping - it's loose and shifty and wouldn't hold a good neat burrow. A sand/soil mix might work but not many people on here use it for impaction concerns. Most folks have a tub for laying I think.

 

[khaleesithedragon]

If you are prepared to pay good attention to behavior changes you shouldn't have a problem either way. My understanding is that gender doesn't have much influence on personality, judging by how many dragons have been incorrectly sexed for months/years. Usually egg laying is the game changer, lol. Males can get randy and focus on breeding in the spring, go off food and being tough etc. they don't get mean to my knowledge - that's more an iguana thing.

Egg binding is serious though so you need to be prepared to provide her a place to lay and supplement her diet. You should also be prepaired to take her to the vet for x-Rays and treatment in the unlikely event of egg binding. Good attentive care can mitigate most risks. Poor husbandry is the #1 cause of reptile illness. Most yahoo! answers are totall bunk - infertile eggs are no more a risk than fertile ones. They take the same toll in the female as far as calcium/nutrient depletion. The important thing is to maintain her health and nutritonal support.

A dragon from a reputable breeder should be a good choice regardless of age. Good breeders should only be selling healthy well started, feeding animals. The breeder I got my guy from doesn't sell babies until they are consistently eating crix, roaches and salads. A good breeder will also offer customer support after the purchase. A petstore generally won't have any history information on their dragons and you may by into health problems (from stress, husbandry etc). A six month old will be mostly grown and less fragile than a 2 month old. I got Pepper at 3 months & 10".

Thank you very much for your response

I'm sticking to having a girl, I guess what I'm a bit worried about is that, I see mixed thingns about sand. I know that for a baby, paper towels are the way to go. For an adult, sand is ok, especially if it's a girl since they tend to dig. Is that correct? Or is there another way to provide something for their eggs?

Also, the breeder I'm getting my beardie from is giving away the babies at around 2 months. I know they're more fragile at that age than 6, but it's totally okay to have a 2 month old, correct? I would also love to start off at that age since I would want to see then grow and just bonding with them would be pretty amazing.

again thanks for the info, I will continue to prepare for my beardie

 

[khaleesithedragon]

Sand wouldn't quite work the way you are hoping - it's loose and shifty and wouldn't hold a good neat burrow. A sand/soil mix might work but not many people on here use it for impaction concerns. Most folks have a tub for laying I think.

Interesting. Just so much mixed info online. I've been watching YouTube videos as well from beardie owners...I'll look into the tub thanks!

 

[Taterbug]

Well remeber a lot of it is personal preference or opinion, with some ethics mixed in. Some of is just bunk too. Substrate is particularly contentious because done wrong it can be dangerous, but both sides have legitimate points. Not all loose substrates are equal either. I personally use sand/soil year round but wouldn't even consider plain sand, reptile sand, wood chips, walnut etc. I used tile, paper and shelf liner previously and unless I have some problem with my current system don't plan to go back. But that doesn't mean tile or such is bad, it's just not what I want out of keeping.

Loose substrate is more of an impaction risk, but that risk also relates to other husbandry factors.
Loose substrate can be challenging to keep clean, but so can reptile carpet.
Loose substrate offers enrichment and allows support of more natural behaviors but a well planed cage can offer some similar opportunities with solid substrate.
Solid substrate offers a gentler learning curve - it can be more forgiving for new keepers who tend to worry about everything.

A well started 2 month old should work out just fine for you you can continue to research the laybox since you will have time to decide how you want to go about it.

 

[khaleesithedragon]

Well remeber a lot of it is personal preference or opinion, with some ethics mixed in. Some of is just bunk too. Substrate is particularly contentious because done wrong it can be dangerous, but both sides have legitimate points. Not all loose substrates are equal either. I personally use sand/soil year round but wouldn't even consider plain sand, reptile sand, wood chips, walnut etc. I used tile, paper and shelf liner previously and unless I have some problem with my current system don't plan to go back. But that doesn't mean tile or such is bad, it's just not what I want out of keeping.

Loose substrate is more of an impaction risk, but that risk also relates to other husbandry factors.
Loose substrate can be challenging to keep clean, but so can reptile carpet.
Loose substrate offers enrichment and allows support of more natural behaviors but a well planed cage can offer some similar opportunities with solid substrate.
Solid substrate offers a gentler learning curve - it can be more forgiving for new keepers who tend to worry about everything.

A well started 2 month old should work out just fine for you you can continue to research the laybox since you will have time to decide how you want to go about it.

Hello! Thank you for responding.

So I was just checking my messages with the breeder again, he said the babies will be born late November and I can get mine in December.... Assuming I wait 4 weeks,would 4 weeks be too soon for a beardie to get shipped? What's the earliest a baby can go to its new home?

 

[Taterbug]

I'm not sure, honestly what's a good age. Will you be able to source pinhead crickets? Hopefully some one can answer.

 

[KahliLizard]

Did you ever get your dragon? was it a female?