Hello everyone =)

[Arrow]

I don't yet own a Bearded Dragon and was hoping to do quite a bit of research and prepare myself for what owning one entails. So needless to say, after countless searches on google and other major searching sites, I found this site to have the most useful information :mrgreen:

I recently discovered the species, and I must admit, it was from seeing a very small baby Bearded at PetSmart (which I think I fully discovered is not the best way to go...for one, it was definitely too small judging from ya'lls' standards (five inches tops) and it /was/ PetSmart after all). :roll:

I used to be enthralled with wanting to own an Iguana, but was turned off of them because one tried to break an aquarium running at my face when I was quite young. That turned me off of lizards since then, but seeing Bearded Dragons in person has turned my thinking around. I am 17 now and my family has always owned LARGE numbers of pets, so I know the responsibility of owning a pet and such.

My major concern, and it seems quite silly, is that I am terrified of insects. :shock: I know this isn't quite ideal when being a lizard-owner, but it hasn't stopped my research of them yet. :wink: Are any other Bearded, or other lizards for that matter, owners equipped with this same fear?

My questions are; if I was buying crickets every two to three days, would their enclosure stink THAT bad or would it be tolerable? How many crix do you think I would need to purchase per trip per stage in life? And just to let you know, my parents are TOTALLY against roaches or breeding crickets. Are the Cricket Houses and Keepers and products of that nature really used to keep from touching the feeders you feed your lizards or is it a marketing ploy? How would you go about using the products, and which ones do you recommend?

 

[ozric]

greetings, arrow. i just bought my first BD and after scouring these forums i decided to buy some phoenix worms (http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/StoreFront) to supplement his diet. i don't know if your fear of insects would translate into these little creatures, but if not - they should be helpful to you.

the smell isn't too bad when you only have a few dozen crickets. the main thing is to completely clean their housing after you remove the last one. i keep the crickets in my office at home, and i don't notice the smell at all - and i'm sensitive to bad smells. i do keep one of those wall-mounted scent dispensers (a wall flower from bed bath & body works) to put a nice apple cider smell into the air. you might be able to get away with never touching the crickets. if you buy them, then dump them straight into a cricket keeper they will crawl into the black tube and then you can slide the tubes out and shake the circkets into the BD cage. however, crickets occasionally get away and need to be caught. and if the BD doesn't eat all of the crickets you dump in, you need to collect what he doesn't eat. so - you'd have to be extremely diligent in order to never have to touch one.

 

[pheonixmum]

QUOTE:My major concern, and it seems quite silly, is that I am terrified of insects. I know this isn't quite ideal when being a lizard-owner, but it hasn't stopped my research of them yet. Are any other Bearded, or other lizards for that matter, owners equipped with this same fear?

hehe GUILTY!!
im 18 and im terrified of bugs. i mean literally a dead spider touches me n i freak out lol.
i dont have my beardie yet but ive had a gecko in the past and i managed feeding him okay. just tippes the crickets 1 or 2 at a time into a plastic bag of calcium/vitamin dust then tipped it into the viv. closed the viv n watched him take it. then again another 2 lol.
its scary coz you worry that youll drop them but when ya look at ya beardie (in my case leo) ya just get on with it coz its totally worth it.
i never had to touch any crickets because i used a plastic cup and piece of card to catch any that i needed to get out of the viv and tbh if i woke up to a escapee on my wall i just squashed it lol.

my crickets never stank that bad but i only bought 1 box every couple of days.

if your getting a baby beardie they eat ALOT of crickets and can eat between 50-100+ beardies a day (someone on here told me) and then i suppose it would get more stinky lol.
older beardies who eat their veg eat alot less crickets

ive been looking into the cricket keepers too but alot of people have said they get much more escapees from the cricket keeper. but i dont know because i personally havent used one

 

[Arrow]

haha, I am very glad I'm not the only one afraid of bugs then!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Hmm. I wonder why crix get out of the shaker things moreso than normal enclosures...anyone care to elaborate?

 

[pheonixmum]

im not sure but heard blue-tac can solve the problem

 

[Arrow]

Another new question; I have been looking for good "cages" and such online and don't honestly want a traditional (fish) aquarium. Are things like this

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752527

good products to purchase? Are there any pre-made and less-than-ridiculously-priced cages that are better to buy?

 

[pheonixmum]

yes you can buy pre-made wooden vivs similar to that.. my viv is 6 foot long, made of wood and has glass sliding doors.
i would ask in petshops as they sell exo terra vivs (the one you just posted) and also check classifieds you may find a second hand one or someone who custom makes them. good luck

 

[Arrow]

Is wood fairly easy to clean? Seems like it would hold bacteria more easily than glass...but then again, I have never owned a lizard in my life and am getting advice from the experts here :mrgreen:

And thank you for all the answers, yet again-they are much appreciated!

 

[pheonixmum]

i thought that myself to be honest because when i had my last gecko he was in a glass viv. i think the would is treated though so its easy to clean.

im not sure which is better though sorry as i havent atually used my wooden viv yet

do you think you'll be getting a beardie? or should i say when? lol

 

[mybeardies]

I'm not a big insect fan myself. I have to house large amounts of crickets because of the area that I live in and small amounts of crickets because of the cold weather. I keep paper towel tubes in my cricket cage and use that to shake my crickets into the beardie cage. It works good. Just make sure one side is pinched together to keep them from jumping out.

 

[Arrow]

haha, yes I will be getting a Bearded Dragon but not entirely sure when...my family is having trouble financially (stupid recession) and I want the very best so a lizard so I can be a good slave :mrgreen: :wink:

The paper towel tube...very good idea! That way they really couldn't get out easily...sounds like a great plan; thank you!