Guide on how to raise a beardie needed!!

[Souri]

Hi y'all! So I recently went to a pet smart and fell in love with the bearded dragons. A friend of mine is leaving the country and has offered to give me his 8 month old male beardie with the set up and everything. I have no prior reptile handling experience and I have been doing a lot of research then but I still have questions.
Firstly- Along with the dragon, I will be given a roach colony. Does anyone have experience with them? This will be his primary food since I am not allowed to house crickets due to all the noise they make. I will also be given superworms too. Are superworms treat or can they be a food source?
I also know they need to be offered fibers, is kale one they typically like?

I read something about people having beardies that only feed on commercial food and no live insects, is that an option or should I stick to the live bugs?

I also read that they need a basking spot and one side of the tank needs to be around 75F. Can someone tell me how they have their tank set up and what their schedule is? Like when do you turn which device on and off for your dragon. I've done hours of googling but every site seems to be different and I just want my beardie to be as happy as possible. The tank I will be given is 40 gallons and comes with all the equipment I think, I would love to know what each thing does and how to use it.
Can someone also please explain what kind of supplements they need? I've heard that they need calcium dusted crickets often but since he will be given roaches, do they still need to be dusted since they have higher calcium levels?
Also, how much and often should a 8 month male beardie be consuming? Ratios would be super helpful too!
I also read they are prone to parasites, are there any good wormers out there to use as a preventative?
I don't know how friendly this beardie will be so are there any ticks to handling it? I have raised many animals in the past because I grew up on a farm, but never a reptile and I want to make sure I do it right.

I am so sorry about all the questions but I am getting him soon and I really want to make sure I am doing everything right and don't harm his health because I am unaware of something. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!

 

[NBGwen]

Hi Souri - a great guide for everything you will need, proper temps, lighting, etc is right on this website The Care sheets and articles tab has everything. Basically - make sure he has proper UVB, the basking area is 100 - 110f, calcium with D3 a few times a week, herptivite a couple times a week - both get dusted on insects/veggies/fruit - whatever he's eating. Make sure to read the list of greens/veggies/fruits that beardies can eat. At 8 months his food source is mainly insects, but by adulthood it switches to about 80% plants 20% insects.

As for roaches, I can't help with that one, sorry - not allowed them in Canada

 

[CooperDragon]

Here is some info about roach colony care. They do need to be dusted with calcium as crickets would. If you don't want to mess around with both vitamins and calcium I'd pick up some Repashy Calcium Plus which is a nice all-in-one option. Stick with the live bugs and fresh veges. They are much more healthy for your dragon. Supers are OK as treats but not great. I prefer to offer silk worms and black soldier fly larvae to supplement roaches.

https://www.southtexasdragons.com/dubia-roaches.html

It's good to offer salads every day. I like to offer 2-3 items on this list rotating things in depending on what is fresh at the store each week. The leftovers can go to the bugs. I feed my roach colony lots of veges. They seem to love squash in particular.http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

As mentioned, UVB is quite important so if you're not sure how old the bulb is, I'd replace it. Their output degrades over time. I would pick up a T5 like this one http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/

It's important to have accurate temperature readings too, so I'd get an IR temp gun or a couple of digital thermometers with probes - one for the basking area and one for the cool end so you can monitor them easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/

I keep my lights on about a 14hr daytime cycle. The actual on/off times will depend on your schedule. It's helpful to hook the lights to automatic timers so you don't need to worry about turning them off/on manually and they stay on a set schedule.

He may have parasites, he may not. Give him a few weeks to settle into his new home. If after that you notice his poop is clear the room stinky or it's consistently mushy rather than well formed then it's worth having a vet check a sample for parasites. Different parasites require different treatment so it's best to see what you're dealing with before offering medication.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hi y'all! So I recently went to a pet smart and fell in love with the bearded dragons. A friend of mine is leaving the country and has offered to give me his 8 month old male beardie with the set up and everything. I have no prior reptile handling experience and I have been doing a lot of research then but I still have questions.
Firstly- Along with the dragon, I will be given a roach colony. Does anyone have experience with them? This will be his primary food since I am not allowed to house crickets due to all the noise they make. <<<< only the adult male crickets churp , and really it's quite a restful sound (I like it).
I will also be given superworms too. Are superworms treat or can they be a food source?
I also know they need to be offered fibers, is kale one they typically like? <<<< superworms are best given occasionally as a treat .... I give my lizards (bts and beardies a couple of superworms each once or twice a week.
kale is OK , none of mine are keen on it, preferring buk choi greens.

I read something about people having beardies that only feed on commercial food and no live insects, is that an option or should I stick to the live bugs? <<<< stick with bugs , a 9month old only needs one bug meal per day along with some salad.

I also read that they need a basking spot and one side of the tank needs to be around 75F. Can someone tell me how they have their tank set up and what their schedule is? <<<< lighting schedule I use is 16on/8off .Like when do you turn which device on and off for your dragon. I've done hours of googling but every site seems to be different and I just want my beardie to be as happy as possible. The tank I will be given is 40 gallons and comes with all the equipment I think, I would love to know what each thing does and how to use it. <<< since you don't know the age of the UV source, I'd replace this immediately with a new uv source rated at least 10% UVB.
Can someone also please explain what kind of supplements they need? <<< you will need a bottle of calcium powder and bottle of reptile vitamin powder .I've heard that they need calcium dusted crickets often but since he will be given roaches, do they still need to be dusted since they have higher calcium levels? <<< yes roaches also need to be gut loaded to increase their calcium content and enrich them with vitamins , as well a dusting most days lightly with calcium powder, and maybe vitamin powder dusting on the weekends.
Also, how much and often should a 8 month male beardie be consuming? Ratios would be super helpful too! <<< I don't use roaches , I use crickets , and silkworms (when I have them) as my insect staples.
I also read they are prone to parasites, are there any good wormers out there to use as a preventative? <<< no need unless you discover via your vet there is a paracite infection, take a fresh poo sample to the vet ASAP and he'll tell you if need to treat for paracites, if none, don't bother treating for them as a precaution.
I don't know how friendly this beardie will be so are there any ticks to handling it? I have raised many animals in the past because I grew up on a farm, but never a reptile and I want to make sure I do it right.

I am so sorry about all the questions but I am getting him soon and I really want to make sure I am doing everything right and don't harm his health because I am unaware of something. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!