JoshCD
Member
My fiance and I became interested in beardies about a year ago and started researching them seriously around 6 months ago. We both realized we really wanted one after reading several books and websites and visiting a very trustworthy, locally owned aquatics and reptile store.
When we finally decided to go ahead and get one we visited the store ( http://www.aquaticcritter.com for anyone in the middle Tennessee area that needs an amazing pet store). I was greeted by a very friendly and knowledgeable employee. He took about an hour to go over all of the options when it comes to beardies, what to expect, and the responsibilities of owning one.
My fiance and I looked over their selection of dragons, which was sizeable, and we found one little guy that stuck out. When we walked up to his viv he was head bobbing trying to show off to the female in the next viv over. When he noticed us he turned right around and ran up to the glass. We could tell he had personality, and he was extremely active and alert.
The employee came back and could tell we liked this guy. He told us he was around 7-8 months old and 12-13 inches long. He took him out and carefully passed him to me. I made sure to support his whole body and he remained calm. He soon after started climbing up my arm and went right to my shoulder. I passed them to my fiance and she absolutely fell in love. We knew which dragon we wanted.
We went ahead and had the guy put him on hold for us and we purchased a 40g breeder with sliding glass doors, the lighting, and other necessary accessories. We took the viv home, sanitized everything, and set it all up. We spent several days ensuring everything was working properly and the temps and gradient was at an appropriate range.
Once we felt comfortable with everything and were sure everything was ready for him, we went back to the store and brought him home. I had the heat in the car turned up to make sure he was comfortable and I sweated the whole 45 minute drive home, but it was totally worth it. We got him home and had the viv already warm and waiting for him. He didn't seem terribly stressed, as he was simply exploring his new surroundings most of the afternoon, but we refrained from handling him or otherwise bothering him that night so we wouldn't exacerbate any stress.
We let him sleep around 11-12 hours and woke him in the morning by turning on his light and softly speaking to him. Once he was well awake, up and moving around we gave him a breakfast of fresh collard green leaves misted with a little water. He was definitely curious as soon as we put them in and went right over to them. He proceeded to eat about half of his dish, played in it for few minutes, then finished the rest off all save for a small leaf or two. I'm grateful the store introduced him to veggies at a young age.
After breakfast he basked for an hour or two and then decided to explore and generally have fun in his new setting. He certainly has a lot of energy and is terribly full of himself, but in a cute way.
He saw his reflection out of the corner of his eye from atop his favorite lounge spot, his log, and immediately hopped up and marched over to the glass and bobbed his head up and down for a good few seconds. Confident he had dissuaded any would be trespassers into his territory he returned to the log with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
That night for dinner we fed him crickets for the first time. In order to make it a bit easier for him to feed, I removed all decor, and his water dish, from the viv. I put 5 crickets in at first and he went crazy. He made short work of them and was looking at me at as if he was asking for more. I put another 5 in and he made more of a game out of catching these, but he did finish them all. Wanting to make sure he had enough, I put another five in there for him. He ate 2 and started snubbing the others in the tank so I moved the uneaten ones back to my cricket keeper.
He basked for another hour or so, then played around in the alfalfa digging holes and filling them back up, throwing the pellets everywhere. He eventually found a comfy spot on the cool side that he liked and laid down. We turned off his lights and he shortly went to sleep.
Today we gave him more greens for breakfast and he was energetic just as he was the day before. I had to google to figure out this term but he was "glass dancing" wanting attention after a while. I put my hand in the viv and he climbed halfway onto it and I was able to support his butt and tail with my other and take him out.
He laid on my chest and let me rub him for 15-20 minutes while I talked nicely to him and watched as he ate up the attention. I put him on the bed for a moment to see what he would do, with my fiance nearby to make sure he didn't try to make a run for it. He explored the bed for a bit and ran around but never outside of the boundary we made around him with our hands as he got close to an edge. We decided it was time to go back in the viv and eat his dinner at this point. I dusted around thirteen crickets with calcium for him, took his decor out again to make it easier on him and prevent crickets from hiding, and dumped them all in.
He looked as if he was having quite a fun time. He ate them all within about 10 minutes. After feeding and putting his decor back in he crawled to the highest rock in his viv that maintains an approximate temp of 103F and we left him alone to bask for a few hours.
Just went and checked on him an hour or so ago. Turned off his light so he could sleep, as he could barely keep his eyes open, and it was almost bedtime for him anyways.
I am SO glad we decided to get a Bearded Dragon. He has been such a good pet and great addition to our little family.
Are they all this friendly and personable or did I get extremely lucky? Maybe it was the care the pet store gave him, as the employee explained he personally bread almost all the beardies there (except for rescue dragons they take in) and showed me some eggs in the process of hatching. Or possibly this little guy just has a great demeanor and personality.
Glad I found a site and community dedicated to such awesome creatures. Greetings and salutations from Mushu and family!
When we finally decided to go ahead and get one we visited the store ( http://www.aquaticcritter.com for anyone in the middle Tennessee area that needs an amazing pet store). I was greeted by a very friendly and knowledgeable employee. He took about an hour to go over all of the options when it comes to beardies, what to expect, and the responsibilities of owning one.
My fiance and I looked over their selection of dragons, which was sizeable, and we found one little guy that stuck out. When we walked up to his viv he was head bobbing trying to show off to the female in the next viv over. When he noticed us he turned right around and ran up to the glass. We could tell he had personality, and he was extremely active and alert.
The employee came back and could tell we liked this guy. He told us he was around 7-8 months old and 12-13 inches long. He took him out and carefully passed him to me. I made sure to support his whole body and he remained calm. He soon after started climbing up my arm and went right to my shoulder. I passed them to my fiance and she absolutely fell in love. We knew which dragon we wanted.
We went ahead and had the guy put him on hold for us and we purchased a 40g breeder with sliding glass doors, the lighting, and other necessary accessories. We took the viv home, sanitized everything, and set it all up. We spent several days ensuring everything was working properly and the temps and gradient was at an appropriate range.
Once we felt comfortable with everything and were sure everything was ready for him, we went back to the store and brought him home. I had the heat in the car turned up to make sure he was comfortable and I sweated the whole 45 minute drive home, but it was totally worth it. We got him home and had the viv already warm and waiting for him. He didn't seem terribly stressed, as he was simply exploring his new surroundings most of the afternoon, but we refrained from handling him or otherwise bothering him that night so we wouldn't exacerbate any stress.
We let him sleep around 11-12 hours and woke him in the morning by turning on his light and softly speaking to him. Once he was well awake, up and moving around we gave him a breakfast of fresh collard green leaves misted with a little water. He was definitely curious as soon as we put them in and went right over to them. He proceeded to eat about half of his dish, played in it for few minutes, then finished the rest off all save for a small leaf or two. I'm grateful the store introduced him to veggies at a young age.
After breakfast he basked for an hour or two and then decided to explore and generally have fun in his new setting. He certainly has a lot of energy and is terribly full of himself, but in a cute way.
He saw his reflection out of the corner of his eye from atop his favorite lounge spot, his log, and immediately hopped up and marched over to the glass and bobbed his head up and down for a good few seconds. Confident he had dissuaded any would be trespassers into his territory he returned to the log with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
That night for dinner we fed him crickets for the first time. In order to make it a bit easier for him to feed, I removed all decor, and his water dish, from the viv. I put 5 crickets in at first and he went crazy. He made short work of them and was looking at me at as if he was asking for more. I put another 5 in and he made more of a game out of catching these, but he did finish them all. Wanting to make sure he had enough, I put another five in there for him. He ate 2 and started snubbing the others in the tank so I moved the uneaten ones back to my cricket keeper.
He basked for another hour or so, then played around in the alfalfa digging holes and filling them back up, throwing the pellets everywhere. He eventually found a comfy spot on the cool side that he liked and laid down. We turned off his lights and he shortly went to sleep.
Today we gave him more greens for breakfast and he was energetic just as he was the day before. I had to google to figure out this term but he was "glass dancing" wanting attention after a while. I put my hand in the viv and he climbed halfway onto it and I was able to support his butt and tail with my other and take him out.
He laid on my chest and let me rub him for 15-20 minutes while I talked nicely to him and watched as he ate up the attention. I put him on the bed for a moment to see what he would do, with my fiance nearby to make sure he didn't try to make a run for it. He explored the bed for a bit and ran around but never outside of the boundary we made around him with our hands as he got close to an edge. We decided it was time to go back in the viv and eat his dinner at this point. I dusted around thirteen crickets with calcium for him, took his decor out again to make it easier on him and prevent crickets from hiding, and dumped them all in.
He looked as if he was having quite a fun time. He ate them all within about 10 minutes. After feeding and putting his decor back in he crawled to the highest rock in his viv that maintains an approximate temp of 103F and we left him alone to bask for a few hours.
Just went and checked on him an hour or so ago. Turned off his light so he could sleep, as he could barely keep his eyes open, and it was almost bedtime for him anyways.
I am SO glad we decided to get a Bearded Dragon. He has been such a good pet and great addition to our little family.
Are they all this friendly and personable or did I get extremely lucky? Maybe it was the care the pet store gave him, as the employee explained he personally bread almost all the beardies there (except for rescue dragons they take in) and showed me some eggs in the process of hatching. Or possibly this little guy just has a great demeanor and personality.
Glad I found a site and community dedicated to such awesome creatures. Greetings and salutations from Mushu and family!
I would watch the pellets they mold easy. I like tiles the best easy to clean up and only have to buy them once. You should be feeding him 2 to. 3 times a day as many crickets as he can eat in 15 minutes.
