First Time Owner Help

[JellOh]

Hey guys, I have decided to get a Bearded Dragon and would like some help before I get him/her. Any and all help or some articles that I could read would be greatly appreciated.

- What should I buy for my first Dragon? Are there any good kits I can get?
- What kind of heating/ lighting should i use?
- Are small pet stores or Craigslist ok places to buy Bearded Dragons?
- How often will I have to buy live food?
- If I were to get a young Bearded Dragon would it be better to get a smaller tank and then upgrade or get a full size tank and section it off until he/she gets bigger?
- Is there any behavioral difference between males and females that would make one a better pet than the other?
- What should I look for when picking a Bearded Dragon?
- What should I get to put in his/her tank for climbing and such?
- (this may seem a little silly) Does he need a water dish? Or just a dish for his fruits and veggies?

I know I've missed a lot so *any* information would be very helpful.

 

[Buddysfam]

If you continue to surf this site you will find all your answers. Keep in mind that everyone has a different opinion on how old, what gender and where to get a beardy, but the care facts are really great here! We got ours off kijiji, like Craigslist, and he was about 5 months old. Not quite as finicky as a baby, and easier for the kids to handle. We feed him super worms, cause he doesn't like crickets and lots of veggies! The biggest thing is to get a large enough terrarium off the start and a good heat lamp and UVB tube bulb, not a coil bulb!

I'm sure you'll learn lots and really enjoy your beardy! They are very interesting reptiles to watch and interact with!!

 

[Brandonforty2]

Hello. Welcome to the website. You will find a lot of helpful information here.
1. There are sadly no good starter kits. I got this one here and added/took out some stuff. I started out with a zilla 40 gallon beardie starter kit. I had to get another full set after that and got everything separate. You should not have a night light bulb and you need a tube uvb bulb. I have the reptisun 10.0.
2. You need your basking spot to be at least 100-110 for a young one. For the lighting, use a tube uvb bulb. The reptisun 10.0 or archadia 12% will work well. Get one that runs the length of the tank. You don't have to get a super expensive fixture. You can look into making one.
3. I sadly cannot say where to get a beardie. I got mine from PetSmart and they had parasites. You can got to a reptile convention or find a good breeder. Pet stores will be cheaper. I don't know about Craig's list.
4. You can buy live feeders online. I like Armstrongcrickets.com. they are only 25 dollars shipped for a thousand. It depends on the beardie and how much they eat. They eat as much as they can in 15 minutes which can be a lot.
5. Get a full size tank. It will make things cheaper.
6. Some males will go crazy if they see another dragon and some females will lay infertle eggs without seeing another dragon. If you get a young one, you won't know the gender until it is older.
7. Look for an alert dragon that isn't missing part of its tail and its toes. It should have wide open eyes.
8. Buster has a hammock that he lays on to bask. Dave has a half log and a cave rock as a basking spot. The only other thing that I can say is to get creative.
9. No water dish is needed. Instead, give a weekly bath. You just need a food dish.

If you have any questions or problems, this is the best place to ask. For more helpful info, check this website out. http://www.beautifuldragons.com

Good luck with finding a beardie.

 

[JellOh]

Thank you, I will definatly read through the rest of this site and beautifuldragons. I. Still a little confused about feeding though. How do you seperate your crickets out to coat them in vitamins and calcium without them jumping out of the container you keep them in? And wouldn't they drive you batty with their chirping!

 

[Brandonforty2]

What I do to get the powders onto the crickets is take a small sealable container and put crickets and a pinch of powder in and shake. To get the crickets into the container, I tap the egg holder stuff that comes with my cricket shipment onto the container.

You also get younger crickets with younger dragons. Adult chirping crickets can cause a younger dragon to choke. You get crickets that are no bigger that the space between the reptiles eyes. There are also other feeders out there such as Dubia roaches. They may sound nasty but they are cleaner than crickets and are easy to breed. With an older dragon, they eat more salad than protein so dubias are probably the better choice for an adult. Mine are still less than a year old so I haven't had to deal with that... (Yet)

 

[JellOh]

How often do you buy crickets? Are there any differences in crickets (other than size and price) depending on where you get them? Ie some one on the Internet would have better grade crickets than someplace like PetCo.

 

[Brandonforty2]

I probably get crickets around two times a month.

There are different crickets depending on where you buy them. My local PetSmart has the brown cricket which seems to be the cleanest. Luckily I found their supplier so I don't have to pay those insane prices. Armstrong crickets has an article on the different crickets. You can check it out here. http://www.armstrongcrickets.com/news/type-of-cricket/
I have fed with the banded cricket but they got pretty nasty. I order brown crickets from Armstrong.

The biggest difference from Petco and online is the price. I believe Petco sells crickets for 10 cents each and with a dragon eating 50-100 a day, that's a problem. Online, you can get 1000 for around $25.

 

[Spike1etta]

Ghann has a special right now 4000 for $40, so a penny each...
They are the striped crickets, but I have not had any trouble from them (smell or otherwise) and they are not aggressive like some other crickets I have had in past.
They do need regular cleaning and lots of food.

 

[JellOh]

Thank you guys

For the UVB light, could I use heavy duty Velcro to attach the light rater than hooks? I don't think it would melt, I'm just not sure how heavy the light and fixture are.

 

[Brandonforty2]

If you make your own fixture then you might be able to. With the zoo-med fixture, it won't work. The zoo-med ones are way too heavy. Here is a guide on making your own fixture just in case you needed it.viewtopic.php?f=34&t=140791

 

[JellOh]

I'm hoping to use the Lights of America 24" fluorescent grow light fixture, so hopefully it shouldn't be too heavy.

When I'm feeding my dragon, is it better to take them out and put them in a bin type thing or feed them in their tank? He/she will have reptile carpet when he/she is young and then tiles when I upgrade their tank.

 

[Brandonforty2]

You can do either. It really depends is you want to check the tank for hiding crickets. I have done both and the other tank thing is easier but it is fun to watch them run around their tank. Reptile carpet and tile are a good idea. I use reptile carpet and always will.

 

[JellOh]

When I first get my Beardie I've heard that it is good to leave them in their tank because of relocation stress. Does this mean I shouldn't him out even for a bath? He/she will be a baby and I've heard they should get daily baths. I'm hoping that he won't be too freaked out by people as I'm getting him from a local pet store that raises its own animals and handles them daily. Also, what do stress stripes/lines look like? How can I make his transition the least stressful?

 

[Brandonforty2]

You will probably need to leave him in his tank for about a week. You can feed him crickets in his tank. For baths, I cannot say but it may be best to wait. You can probably try to give him .5 to 1 ml of water through a syringe. Don't handle him until it has been 7 days but you can slowly stick your hand into the tank around the end. This will let him smell you. Even though the pet store handles the animals, he won't be used to his new home yet.

Stress marks look like this- ()
They will sometimes appear on the belly.

Oh yea. Here is a good tip just in case you don't know it. When taking the temp. of the tank, don't use those plastic coil thermometers. They are very inaccurate. The best way to take the temp. is a digital thermometer.

 

[JellOh]

Ok, I'll definatly leave him alone. Would it be ok to mist him?

I'm planning on getting an Acurite digital indoor/outdoor thermometer, can they be left in the tank 24/7?