Getting two, one year old beardies.**Update!!!!**

[TandyML]

Hi everyone, my name is Tandy. I am new here and my husband and I are getting our first beardies this weekend. They are already healthy and established. The owners that have them now are moving across country and they dont want to risk trying to move them that far so they are re-homing them to us. We already have box turtles, tortoises, and tarantulas so we are not new to exotic pets. I have done a lot of research on the upkeep of beardies, the proper lighting and their diet and it is similar (with a few differences) to what we have for our tortoises, so we feel pretty confident in that area. We even have two colonies of roaches, we go to the pet store once or twice a week for crickets, and always have two drawers full of veggies. I do have a question about their housing though. These two have lived in a 55 gallon tank together since they were babies and the owners still have them together. I have read that it is best to keep them separated but it will be a while before we can make a new viv. Would it be ok (since they are used to each other) to keep them together for about a month until we can make them the proper vivs, or would there be enough room if we split the tank in half, or are there any other suggestions? They are pretty big already (although I do not know their exact measurements yet) and I dont want them to be too squished. Like I said it will only be for about a month. Anyway, if there are any other suggestions for a first time beardie owner they would be greatly welcomed and appreciated! I will also be browsing this site because I can see that there is already plenty of good advise that has already been given, but I thought it might be a quicker learning experience to just ask. Thanks in advance!
~Tandy

 

[vickson420]

Well you just touced on one of the most debated topics in the beardie world :wink: Here is the deal as far as I am concerned I personally would never even consider it if a male is somewhere in the mix and I would be less then happy even if it were 2 females.I personally own a beardie who I rescued named Apophis.He was housed with one of his clutchmates for almost 6 months and then one day was malled by him.The previous owners were told they were a M/F pair but they were M/M and when juvie hormones kicked in everything went south.Apophis is now without a tail and has multiple ill healed fractures so has trouble walking as well as MBD from always being bullied away from the basking area.These two are the poster children of why you shouldnt co-house beardies.If they are a female pair there is less of a chance of a fight but its still quite possible that on a bad day out of the blue one will attack the other and no matter what there will always be a dominant so the other will suffer.How big are they? What sex are they? There is another option you could use a rubbermaid bin as a temporary enclosure for one of them.A 55 gallon is really to small for one adult beardie so to split it for two may become an issue.

 

[TandyML]

Thank you so much for your reply! All I know right now is that they are male and female and that they are a little more then a year old so I think I will have to use a rubbermaid for a while. My husband and I are planning to build better vivs for both of them we are just assuming that it will take about a month until they are finished. Could you tell me what you think the best dimentions would be to build one for a full grown adult? Do you think the rubbermaid would be ok for a month? I will find out more about them on Saturday. I have only seen pictures of them so far so I dont have a lot of details yet.

 

[vickson420]

Thank you so much for your reply! All I know right now is that they are male and female and that they are a little more then a year old so I think I will have to use a rubbermaid for a while. My husband and I are planning to build better vivs for both of them we are just assuming that it will take about a month until they are finished. Could you tell me what you think the best dimentions would be to build one for a full grown adult? Do you think the rubbermaid would be ok for a month? I will find out more about them on Saturday. I have only seen pictures of them so far so I dont have a lot of details yet.

Rubbermaid is fine for a month and I think the best dimensions for an adult beardie is 4x2x2 but the minimum are 36x18x18.I bet you cant wait to get them!Have you reviewed all the care sheets hear to make sure you have everything you need before they arrive?

 

[TandyML]

I have read many care sheets but none of the ones on here yet. I will do that tonight or tomorrow though. We are getting them with all of their lamps and lights so we will have to get one more set for the rubbermaid. I think my husband has a few extra lamps already so we might only have to get the uvb bulb. I think we will use paper towls as substrate until we can get the tiles. That is another thing, they are using sand (I dont know what kind) as substrate right now. Since they are over a year is that Ok? We will be changing a lot of things when we get them because I dont want to use sand in their vivs. Are there any questions that I should ask the current owners before we buy them? Thank you for your help.

 

[vickson420]

I have read many care sheets but none of the ones on here yet. I will do that tonight or tomorrow though. We are getting them with all of their lamps and lights so we will have to get one more set for the rubbermaid. I think my husband has a few extra lamps already so we might only have to get the uvb bulb. I think we will use paper towls as substrate until we can get the tiles. That is another thing, they are using sand (I dont know what kind) as substrate right now. Since they are over a year is that Ok? We will be changing a lot of things when we get them because I dont want to use sand in their vivs. Are there any questions that I should ask the current owners before we buy them? Thank you for your help.

Ok just a heads up depending on the type of UVB they are using and how old it is may mean you will need to replace them.UVB flourescent linears vary greatly in quality and truthfully the only ones I recommend are the reptisun 10.0 and the reptisun 5.0,no coil or compact should be used at all,and even the reptisun must be changed out every 6 mos.As for the sand you can use washed and sifted childrens playsand for adults is ok but no reptile sand at all.I personally prefer solid substrate I use tile and nonadhesive shelf liner myself.As for questions ask them about previous vitamin supplementation,ligting,feeding and pooping schedules.Just be sure to get as much info as possible about their previous care.

 

[TandyML]

Thank you again! I will write those things down so I dont forget when we go. I am hoping that they are in good health but if they need some help getting healthy I am glad that I found this site to help. I plan on pampering them!! LOL! We spoil our animals more then ourselves! Ha ha!

 

[vickson420]

Great and Congrats.Look forward to seeing a few pics in the future

 

[TandyML]

I will be sure to post them as soon as I get our new babies home!!

 

[dolcedragon]

Hello, :wave: So glad you plan on separating them and and even better to hear that you plan on pampering them! I know you will love them- they are like little scaly dogs! Can't wait to see pics.

 

[TandyML]

*Update!*
We got our new beardies today and I am really excited! HOWEVER, I think they need a lot of work. The previous owner says that they are both the same age (a year and a half) and the female is MUCH bigger then the male. That was the first thing that seemed strange to me. They also seem a little dry to me too. I dont think they have given them very many baths. How often should I give them a warm bath? The biggest problem I found was that there was NO uvb light in there! They had a basking light and a red light only. I have a feeling they have gone their whole lives with no uvb! They just seem so small for their age. The male is about 13 inches long and really skinny. The female is about 15 inches long and she is fatter then the male but she still seems kind of skinny to me. They are both getting used to their new home so they are only somewhat active. Their eyes look good but I have a feeling they are a little dehydrated. I really think that the previous owners meant well and thought that they were taking really good care of them but I think they were lacking in a few important areas. I think that their main diet was crickets and romain lettuce. They had a bearded dragon handbook so I am surprised that they didnt know to at least have a uvb light. Also, even with the basking lights they were only using 75watt bulbs and it is only about 76 degrees in the basking side. What wattage do you think I should have for them? They just seem so cold and much duller in color then the ones I have seen and held in the expos. Any new suggestions for me so I can get these sweet beardies in their best shape?

 

[TandyML]

I have some pictures now but I dont know how to post them on here? Can someone give me a step by step??

 

[ozric]

hello tandy,

it sounds like you already are well on your way to getting your new owners into good shape. it is okay to give them a bath in lukewarm water every day if you want - 5 - 20 minutes per bath is about right. give them lots of attention, plenty to eat, and a great home and you'll see them getting better by the week.

to post pictures here, first open an account with a website like Flickr.com

upload your photos to that website

on your Flickr page, right-click on the photo you want to be posted here

in the menu that appears click the word "Properties"

in the window that appears, look for the Address/URL of the image and highlight the entire thing

right-click on the highlighted address and click "Copy" in the menu that appears

come to this forum and start a new post

click the button at the top of the typing area

you will see something like this appear: [ing][/ing], only it will say "img" in the brackets, not "ing"

put the mouse pointer in-between the two bracketed "img"s

right-click and click on "Paste" in the menu that appears

that's it! i hope that helps!

 

[TandyML]

Thank you so much!! I will make a new post with pictures as soon as I can this morning!! The pictures I am putting up is of their current situation not what it will be when I fix it up in the next few days. I just have to set up a rubbermaid for my male and get all that sand out of there until we can get their new homes made. Thank you for all your help this site is great!!!!