Hey Everyone :)

[Stephanie923]

My name is Stephanie and I am 20 years old. My boyfriend and I have recently moved into an apartment and want a Bearded Dragon <3
Were saving up the money now and I have researched the internet far and wide to get some info on these guys and we def. want one! They are a lot of care but hey pets are family and you take care of family. Plus I love how they learn and grow to have an awesome personality and relationship with their owners. So I saw this site and was like, heck yes info city and here I am so if anyone has ANY TIPS pleeeeease contact me!!! I want to know everything about these guys. Ive already picked out some names. Lola or Rapunzel for a girl; Ringo, Yoda and Leonardo for a boy...Da vinci not Dicaprio I am open to all suggestions and tips. So I know were getting a 55 gl tank....is sand okay to use for babies? And should I buy one at the store or from a breaded... I personally would like one from a breeder, so anyone here who lives in the Tampa Bay area Florida or in Fl and wants to sell us one in a couple months?

 

[Claudiusx]

Welcome to the site!

I wouldn't use sand for any aged/sized bearded dragon. Its not a good substrate at all. Loose substrates in general shouldn't be used.

I would recommend getting one from a breeder. You can look at the parents and know what your baby might look like as an adult and pick that way.

Make sure you read around here and get your set up perfect BEFORE buying your little guy/girl! :mrgreen:

-Brandon

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

Use the reptisun 10.0 fluorescent tube as you UVB tile is the nicest solid substrate or non adhesive wood liner I believe that's what it's called

 

[LizardLover21]

Im new to all this as well. I have had mine for a little over a month now. Yes beardies are worth every ounce of care they need. My tip other than reading as much as you can on this forum and gaining info from experienced people such as Brandon , is buy the big viv first to start with, instead of buying a twenty gallon like me, haha he was six inches and has added over three inches since i got him. Will need a new viv within a month or two. Welcome to the forum, is a great abundance of information.

 

[Stephanie923]

Thank you all so much! Yes its a definitive that we need to make his or her home PERFECT before he or she lives in it. Whats a viv? and do I get the lights that sit on top of the cage thingy? If someone would make me a nice list of all the right things I should get.... that would be swell and id love you forever plus good pet stores or stores to buy accessories. UGH I can not wait to get one, I just need to find a nice breeder.

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

you will need

-a basking bulb and probably a lower wattage one for the cool side to
-2 heat lamps
-substrate can be paper towel,news paper,tile,non adhesive shelf liner
-if i were you i would just start with a big viv so you will want something about 4 feet long about 18-24 inchs wide and about a 1 and a half feet to 2 feet tall btw a viv is the tank now its your choicee you can build one or buy one but look on like craiglist.ebay,kijiji etc..... if you want to buy.
-a basking spot now its your choice to add plants and stuff it not mandatory but it looks nicer and makes them feel more natural habitat but you can build your own stuff two like ive seen people using bricks books cardboard etc.. but you can look threw this link and get some ideas for your viv viewtopic.php?f=34&t=66704 ( look on the diy page if you want to see some basking spots people made)
- you wwill need a reptisun 10.0 flourescent tube and a fixture it will have to hang in the viv and your beardie will have to get 6-8 inchs away
-you will need a calcium and vitamin powder to dust the crickets with or dubias,worms etc... calcium you dust on them 5x a week and vitamins 2x a week once a day i do calcium on weekdays and vitamins on weekends easy to remember
- you will need some dishs for them probably 2 one for veggies and 1 for worms and for the veggies here is a link for a good nutriton chart its most recomended http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
-you will need a misting bootle and probably a medicine droper to drip water on their nose and mist the cage 1-2 times a day the medicine droper can be used for many other things as well like giving them baby food medicine etc...

if i miised anything someone else will cover it oh and probably a harness to walk them lol just in the yard or somethin

 

[Flynnthedragon]

If it is a pet store that is NOT petco or petsmart and they are active and healthy looking with clear eyes and nice nails.. then you can buy at a pet store but honestly stay away from buying any reptile at petco. petsmart seems to take a little better care but. I bought my first baby from petco because i wanted to rescue him from those horrible people and bring him back to health but sadly nothing i did helped much so :'( But then I bought one from a breeder in california and i love her So breeder is by far the best. Specially if they are local! I bought some vinyl tile that had some texture to it from Home Depot and i love it and makes a awesome substrate. You can just wipe off any messes and very easy to clean. I have them so they arnt glued down or anything so if i need to i can take them out and clean them. also a viv ( Vivarium) you may also see/hear terrarium is simply their enclosure. I bought the terrarium from petsmart thats 36" x18"x18" and im thinking i will need to build my own when shes older. Also all this stuff... the lights and all that are pretty expensive and add up very fast, ive spent over 600$ on just the items. the terrarium cost 120$ or so.. but the lights and all that arnt very cheap Then my beardy cost 120 with 50 shipping so Of course that 600+ is also on some stuff for my dubia roach colony.

Not sure if someone has already posted this but im sure you have home depot down in FL so stop on by and grab at least 2 timmer that have 2 outlets each on them. they are like 9$ each and will save you alot of money and hassle from buying the ones at petstores. The timers will just make your life easier by turning on the basking light and UVB light in the morning for you, and turn them off at night. I have one timer for the basking light and UVB and one for the CHE for night time which you most likely wont need in FL but i am in washington so it gets cold at night.

 

[Stephanie923]

You all are so helpful. Thank you all so much. Does it ever become rutine.? I'll but a dry erase board so my boyfriend can keep up. We keep our apartment at 74 so I think to be safe we should buy a night time lamp for he or she. You can walk a lizard on a leash lol GET OUT!!! I want one haaha how old do they have to be? A baby is too young isn't it.

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

U will not need a nighttime lamp it will be okay it can drop to 60 and yeah u can get them off drag a long

 

[tazznzeppelin]

There are probably lots of breeders in Florida but the best is Rio Reptiles or beardeddragon.co
They don't have any babies right now but they will in a few weeks. It would definitely be worth the wait.
If you have facebook you can check them out there. There are some pics of the babies that will be for
sale in a few weeks.
Amy

 

[Flynnthedragon]

beardeddragon.co also has medication and supplement for your dragon I just bought a bunch of stuff from them to have for emergencies

 

[Stephanie923]

What kind of diseases can they get. And is the whole salmonella thing something be be very cautious of it?

 

[tazznzeppelin]

Metabolic bone disease is the biggest one. But as long as you are using a calcium supplement and the proper uvb lighting you should not have to worry about that. They can contract parasites from time to time from their live feeders. That is something you should be watching out for. The salmonella thing is a valid concern. You should be washing your hands after you hold your beardie. And don't let him/her walk on your counters where you prepare food. It's not something that I worry about, but I do take preventative measures. Be especially careful if you get a dragon that walks through or lays in their feces. Neither of mine do that but some do. If you have any more questions or concerns feel free to ask.
Amy

 

[Flynnthedragon]

Mine sometimes lays in her feces.. not on purpose though lol Shes still adapting to her new home and some times backs away from my hand when i reach in to clean up her mess and she will accidently rub her tummy in it or some part of her. I just use hand sanatizer. Also its a good idea to wash your hands BEFORE handling her too if you have been cooking or out side work or anything just to me sure your hands arnt passing anything to your beardy and it takes like 5 seconds to wash your hands take a look at all the stuff they have on beardeddragon.co. There is alot of stuff including cleaning stuff that is safe to use around your beardies. depending where you live their shipping is a bit high though, They use flat rate boxes and shipping for what i ordered was like 16$? and wasnt even that heavy but what ever~! my baby is spoiled so whats 16$

 

[tazznzeppelin]

The website where they have the babies for sale is beardeddragon.co/shop/
beardeddragon.co is where they sell lighting and supplements etc. they are owned by the same people. Rio Reptiles and Yellow Room Reptiles have joined together to form those sites. They are located in Pinellas Park Florida, I don't know how far that is from you but they will ship the babies to you.
Amy