Houston 4th Grade Teacher

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Hello Everyone,

I am currently preparing for the upcoming school year and have decided to add a classroom pet to my curriculum. I started my journey contemplating a King or Corn Snake but, after days of research, decided the snakes would not offer enough student interaction. My partner decided to try to talk me into mice or hamsters until she found out that they stink. The lady at the pet store recommended bearded dragons as she has two herself. Although my partner would only look at them from across the room, she agreed to research them. I have spent the last four weeks trying to convince her to agree. She, along with my school's administrator, is on board!

I have done a lot of research on the type of food and lighting that beardies need. I am a little hesitant as to which insect to feed. An old friend of mine had reptiles and fed crickets. All I remember from those crickets is that they escaped and stunk. Therefore, I really do not want to do crickets. Much of what I have read says that roaches provide a better and safer meal for the beardies. Yet, roaches really gross me out. Which insect is best to feed? Are roaches hard to breed or hard to "deliver" to the beardie? How would I start a colony of roaches?

I also understand that beardies need to be fed daily and greatly enjoy human interaction. I plan to have a habitat set up both at school and at home, so that I may bring the beardie home on the weekends and for breaks. Will the beardie adapt to this type of situation or will it cause extra stress?

I want to get a baby bearded dragon so that my class and I can observe the growth and development process. However, I am hoping to have the beardie at least a couple weeks before school starts so that I may ensure the dragon has gotten used to being handled. Do you think this is a good idea?

I have read about salmonellosis and plan to use this opportunity to stress good hygiene. I plan to send a letter home with all students which must be signed and returned by parents before a student is allowed contact with a dragon. From what I understand, all risks are greatly diminished as long as good hygiene is practiced. Is there anything besides the salmonellosis that I should inform the parents about?

I have gone to several pet stores around Houston and have been looking on Kingsnake's classifieds to locate the perfect beardie. From what I have read, I should steer clear of pet stores. However, based on the classifieds, the pet store's pricing is more in line with a teacher's budget. I have seen some colorful, yet nipped, babies available. Are there lifelong complications with nips?

Further down the road, I am hoping to breed dragons for future classrooms. Would it be beneficial to have two dragons now or start with just one? I have read that they tend to fight.

Any suggestions, lesson plan ideas, and donations :wink: would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Alisha Smith (Ms. Smith)

 

[spurlee01]

Hi Alisha-
I am a student getting ready to begin student teaching, so I know where you are coming from!
I absolutely plan for my bearded dragon to be a part of my classroom. I would like for students to gain experience in observation, recording, and organizing data. As I have spoken with other teachers on this site, they also recommended that we grow our own feeders in the classroom which will provide more opportunities for learning. Habitats and adaptations of beardies and all feeder insects will be discussed, as well as the food chain.
I agree that it would be rewarding for students to watch a baby grow, but let me recommend you not get a tiny baby. They are very hard to handle and VERY delicate. The absolute youngest I would recommend is a 3 or 4 month old. At this age they are beginning to be calmer and are less breakable. As for the stress, it depends on each individual beardie. Some suffer from relocation stress every time they are moved, while others don't mind at all. I personally believe a beardie would get used to it (well most of the time) but you would have to watch for signs that he/she was becoming stressed.
For a young beardie I would recommend roaches. They are not difficult to feed. I know a lot of people use tongs to feed them, but I do will just use my hands. I'm sure you could find students who would be willing! Once a beardie is over 16", superworms can be used as a staple and I find these are much easier. In addition to bugs, every day I offer some type of green and usually a fruit or squash. Here is a list of good/bad foods. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html. One other note, beware of where you buy your feeders from. Some, like crickets, if bought at the wrong places (like pet stores) carry a high risk of parasites.
Salmonella is not much of a risk for bearded dragons. As long as they and their tanks are kept clean, their are rarely issues. That being said, hands should always be washed/ sanitized after handling.
Most nips do not cause problems for beardies. My boyfriend's has a tail nip and my girl has a toe nip. Neither have any problem from it. I would make sure that any nip is healed by the time the beardie comes to you as you don't want to be dealing with open wounds on a new pet. I would NOT recommend buying from a pet store and honestly, the prices on bearded dragons are any many cases very close to what I see at pet stores. Check the for sale section of this site if you have not already. Feel free to ask me any other questions that you have!
Sara

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Thank you so much for your reply! My main concern with the roaches is handling them, but, you are right. I'm sure I'll find at least one student that would be more than eager to feed them!

Also, that is great advice about the age of the beardies! I hadn't read that anywhere, so that is very good to know!

Where do you suggest getting roaches from? Do you have your own colony?

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Oh yes, I also forgot to ask about the lighting fixtures needed. From what I've read they need a UVB light which will provide most of the heat needed and also a basking area (which may be created with a basking bulb or a regular white light bulb). I've seen a lot of different light fixtures for the UVB type bulbs. Is the type of terrarium hood as shown in the link below the type of thing I need to get for the UVB bulb?

http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-light-fixtures/517203/zoo-med-naturalistic-terrarium-hood.html

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Hi there,
If this is a school project. Hit me up when when you get close to needing your dragon.
In the meantime feel free to check out this site as well as my site.
Cost of the dragon for the classroom wont be much over shipping cost, and we can leave it at that.
When it comes to lighting, I have a whatever works mentality.
You can sometimes get inexpensive set up on craigs list from people looking to get out.
I buy all my fixtures at wally mart. They are cheap and they get the job down. I double stick tape them right into the tank. Or wire them to the underside of the screen.
Best tube on the market is the reptisun 10. This will cover UVB. heat you can do with a standard household bulb.
Hope this helps.

Just a note on breeding. Mating a dragon 1 time can yield up to 140 FERTILE eggs. Thats alot of mouths to feed and homes to find.

 

[sara24354]

Sara gave you great advice!!! As far as lighting they do need UVB a long flourecent is best reptiSUN is the one recommended most as it is the best buying from pet mountain is cheapest. As for a fixture you can get one at wal-mart much cheaper than online,it's in the lighting section look for a flourecent light for under cabinets.They are about $10.00.Heat is also needed for proper digestion,etc......... a regular household bulb can be used,you just need to play with wattages until you get proper temps,100-110 for a young beardie. I also noticed that supplements haven't been mentioned yet,you need calcium powder and multivitamin powder.These make sue beardies get the nutrients they need to grow properly.Repcal brand is recommended. Calcium powder sprinkled on feeders 5 days a week one feeding a day vitamins 2 days a week one feeding per day. Ex. put roaches in a baggie or plastic cup in the morning add calcium powder Mon-Fri ,shake and feed to beardie,Sat-Sun.morning feeders in baggie or cup vitamins shake feed.Just one feeding a day though as you don't want to over do it.
Sara
Tom, Looks like we were posting at the same time. Thanks for everything.

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Thank you both very much! I have definitely found that this site is extremely helpful! I started browsing around 10 last night and before I knew it, it was already 3 in the morning! Ya'll are all so knowledgeable! I'm hoping to get my bearded dragon sometime between the 16th and 21st. I have been researching different tanks and have decided that I'm going to be building my own to help save on cost (especially since I have to set up one for school and one for home). I've also found a great DIY to build a platform. I'm very excited to get the thank set up and welcome a beardie home.

Tom, I will definitely get in touch with you in the next week or so to discuss dragons! That is so very nice of you to offer to help out! Your dragons are beautiful! And thank you for the note on breeding! I had no idea it could produce that many eggs! I will be thinking twice before I start that journey!!

Sara, are those type of fixtures safe to lay on top of a screen lid? Or do they need to be mounted? Also, from what I've seen, the amount of wattage I should try using is around 75 watts for the size of the tank I will have (36 x 18). Does that sound about right?

 

[sara24354]

Yes you can lay them on top of the tank those are what have sed the 1 1/ 2 years I've had mine and a 75 watt sounds about right.Please get a digital thermometer as those are most accurate.Wal mart also sells these accurite thermometer with a long wire and probe or you can get a temp gun.You need the long wire and probe thermometer,it will give you 2 temps and a humidity reading.Put the end of the probe directly on the basking spot and leave it for about 45 minute to 1 hr to get a good reading.You will need a log or rock for your beardie to bask on,I bought mine through the pet store,someone else can tell you how to get one from outside and sterilize it but I just bought mine to cut down on me doing something wrong and ending up not doing it right.

 

[spurlee01]

Just a couple notes-
I learned the hard way that it is very difficult for dragons to get enough UVB when their lights are on top of a screen. It filters out up to 50% of the rays and makes it difficult for them to get close enough. My actually has a very minor mouth deformity because I did not know this initially . I really would recommend mounting inside of the tank.
Roaches- I use www.thebugpros.com. I am NOT the person to ask about keeping feeders alive. I tend to neglect them and they die. My goal was to have a roach colony, but alas, it was not to be. I know a lot of people like to buy from Aaron Pauling (I think I got the name right). I believe he sells in the "for sale" section.
Temps- it is IMPOSSIBLE to judge what temps will be without a thermometer. In my 40 gallon breeder, right now I have a 40 or 50 watt bulb because I was getting temps near 120* with a 70 watt. That being said, my girl has a fairly high basking spot and my house is ridiculously hot. I do not buy the pet store bulbs, I just buy normal household bulbs (NOT energy saver) because I have to change them so often do to fluctuating temps. Most people do not seem to have as much trouble with temps, though, so don't worry too much!
Here is a blog one of my friends started about life with a beardie. http://mikestevedragontales.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html
He describes what you need for set-up, costs, relocation stress, etc. The dragon is actually's his 9 y/o son's so there is info about kids and beardies as well. Let me know if you have more questions!

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Thanks Sara! I had seen some people mount their lights inside the tank but I was worried that the dragon would climb up and get too close to the light. Does this not happen? I guess I would have some control over that by not providing any "furniture" that would get the beardie up so high.

Also, thanks for the feeder recommendation! I had been looking through the different posts on the site and came across "The Roach Guy" (or something like that, I think). I just checked out the two you sent, so I guess I need to start deciding which one to go with! Hopefully I'll have better luck keeping the feeders alive!

 

[spurlee01]

I've also heard great things about the roach guy! I haven't ordered from him, so I can't speak personally, but have never heard anyone complain. Almost everyone has better luck than me at keeping feeders alive . I have heard of beardies getting onto their lights, but I think you are absolutely right about not putting furniture where they can reach the light. I have never had any problems with my girl even trying to get her light, but she is older and fairly calm.

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Okay, so I've done more research on roaches and it seems to take a couple months to get a colony fully self-sustaining. What is recommended to use as a feeder until the roaches are going? I really don't want to use crickets because I do not want to deal with them escaping. I read about different types of worms they can eat and how to care for said worms, but I can't seem to find the care part anymore. This may sound completely wrong (and I may be dreaming it up), but I seem to remember something about one type of worm that tends to "hibernate" in a cold area (like a fridge) and come "back to life" when put out in the warm air. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Or am I losing my mind?

 

[AndyT]

You are most certainly not losing your mind. The worm that you are talking about there is a meal worm. These are usually available at pet stores as a feeder but should not be used as a staple( main food source), they can cause impaction because their shells are hard to digest, and your Dragon wouldn't get much nutrition from them. You can fed them occasionally, but not all the time. I think that silk worms and Phoenix worms can be used as staples, but you may have to order them, and it can get expensive. Roaches are supposed to be one of the best feeders and I plan to start my own colony soon. I'm not sure is anyone has mentioned substrate yet. NEVER use any kind of calci-sand or crushed walnut shells from the pet store. They say that both of these are safe to use and "experts" recommend them, but they cause impaction and even death in reptiles. Good substrates are newspaper, paper towels, slate tile, or repti carpet. Good luck and keep us posted!

Andy

 

[dragonbreederwannabe]

Thanks, Andy! Also, I had looked at using the calci-sand, but after being on this site this week, I saw so many people talking about how it isn't so great! I think I've settled on wanting to use tile to help with easy clean up!

 

[AndyT]

Great, I'm glad I could help! I'm actually going to be setting my guy up on tile next week, it seems to be the best substrate available.

Andy