Looking to get baby bearded dragon. It'll be my first one.

[Elig15]

Hello,
I'm am looking to get a baby bearded dragon for my birthday. Can you guys tell me everything I need for them. I have a general idea. I am experienced with some reptiles. I have to veiled chameleons. But can you tell me tank size, best lighting, food, substrate, temperatures etc.
-thanks

 

[blue11]

Hello!!!

Exciting news!
Im just gonna give you a basic rundown so hopefully it sounds not so complicated - details can come later

Viv/Tank -
you can start a baby out in a 20 gallon but it will QUICKLY run out of room, they eat like crazy and they grow like lightning.
Best bet is to go ahead and ge your "for life" viv.

Sizes?
40 gallons standard is what some people go with.
4x2x2 viv - a perfect big and wonderful size for your dragon to live his full life in
You can make your own enclosures, have one made, purchase it
I got mine made for me dragons4you


Lights
You need two lights

One for heat/basking (can be a household bulb - not the coil energy efficient- can also be a petshop basking lamp, clear white bright light.

This bulb should sit right over the main basking spot, and as far as wattage goes, youre gonna have to play around with that to get your desired basking surface temp.
Purchase a digital thermometer with a probe to tape or stick to the basking spot to get an accurate surface temp reading.
Basking spot temps can range anywhete from 95 - 105 and with babies even sightly higher at 110.
Or yoi can purchase a temp gun. They arent very expensive, and thats what I use. Just aim and you get a digital temp reading

You will get to know your dragon and see what basking temp he is most comfortable with. Adult dragons usually will prefer a bit of a lower temp than babies, but thats not always the case.


One lightfor UVB lighting (artificial sunlight)

You want this bulb to be a long tube, and the two brands you will want to choose from are the ReptiSUN 10.0 or the Arcadia 12% - both need to be a T8 sized fixture to fit in the tube holder. You also want this tube mounted I side the tank - no plastic covering over it and no mesh top separating it- you will want it completely uncovered and unflitered so that your dragin gets the full, much needed UVB rays.

Beware of coil UVB lights or compact lights - stick with those two brands - these are well tested and prived ro provide nice, even UV spectrum lighting for your dragon, and the tube light is the ine you want.
Many bulbs can hurt or damge their eyes, so stick with either of the bulb brands mentioned.
Both can be bought online

Usually these are bought in 18 inches 24 inches and 36 inches - they do come bigger but for me personally, I dont want a UVB bulb streching the entire length of my viv, I just want it to stretch over the basking area and a just a little more.

The heat light and the UVB light are the two most important things you need off the bat, the dragon is most dependent upon these to function, absorb UV rays, digest, bask, and just do what they do best - soak it all up.

Substrate
I am going to say dont use any lose substrates like sand, gravels, wood chips, rock pellets, nothing loose that can be digested.

A towel, paper towels, newspapers, shelf liner, or tile. Heck, bare flooring is better than loose substrates in my opinion.

Tile is absolutely beautiful, and its what I use for my dragon Blue. For Lexi, I use one large towel and paper towels.
These are all easy to clean amd wash and replace. Simple is def best!!!

Decor
Honestly, dragons dot have to have fancy homes. Themes are cool, and you can have alot of fun doing thigs to the tank like making ramps and such. And figuring out the placement of everything too is fun.

For the heated basking side of the tank - A ramp, platform, log and/bridge is great, and if you can angle them so that the dragon is able to climb up and bask at like a 45 degree angle, even better. They like that Most seem to like to be above things, they do like to climb up a bit.

On the cooler side of the tank where you will have no lighting or extremly low wattage minimal lighting if you want that, you will want an ambient temp of 75 -80 ish degrees. Some may say a little warmer - you will figure out what you dragon likes.
Again, a digital thermometer or temp gun will get you accurate results. On this side you will want to provide another log, or a hide, a cave, or a box you can make yourself. A place where they can get away if they want.

Stay way from the stick on thermometers - they are only showing ambient temps and not actual surface temps. And they are often wrong anyhow

Feeding and watering

Baby beardies CHOW DOWN and need to be fed alot if protein daily. As much as the can eat in about ten minutes at a time.

For babies there are pinhead crickets, extra dmall dubia, pheonix worms, butter worms, wax worms, baby hornworms, and the very small superworms which can all be bought online as well,
When you buy from the petshop for crickets - youre going to be using alot of gas mileage for food!!!
Buy in bulk online. Its so mich cheaper and sooooo much more convenient. Keep the feeders small, like length the space between their eyes.

Rule of thumb
Babies and juvies - 80% live prey protein feeders/20% vegetation
Sub adults and Adults - 80% vegetation/20% lube prey protein feeders

Having said that, some babies and juvies just wont touch their salads. And thats ok, eventually they will come around. Mine never would eat her greens until close to a year old, she would pick at a salad once in a while, but eh.
What I did and still do is feed the feeders themselves collards, mustard greens, endive - what the feeders eat, the dragons eat.
Ive seen many videos of babies tearing up greens! Ummmm not mine. Very picky when she was young and whe she did actually try some, it was never in front of me.
I call it salad shy.

It is up to you whetther or not you decide to feed your dragon out of the tank and out him in a bin to feed.

There is no pkace for the bugs to hide in a separate feeding tank, and he can just chow dow freely until he is done. If you DO feed in the tank - get the uneaten insects out before they hide - especially crickets, they can and will bite beardies (and us!) And a cricket bite on a dragon isnt pretty or nice.

The feeders have been listed up so here are the greens you want
Collards
Mustard greens
Endive
Escarole
Dandelion greens
Basically dark leafy greens - but try to stay away from Kale, it binds calcium.
Butternut squash is a great add on to a lesfy salad!!!!

Lettuce is only water. Dont feed your dragon lettuce, a few pieces here and there are ok for water content, but its not a staple or a mainstay by any means. Pretty much just avoid it.
Dust you feeders with powdered calcium and a multi vitamin a few times a week

You do not need a water dish in your dragons home. Alot of them will never drink from it, often will poop in it, it can create a bacterial pool and not so much needed humidity. Thats not to say some wont drink from a water dish - but eh, it can get pretty gross and unnecessary.

Your dragon will get hydrated from its food, greens, and warm water baths you should give them a few times a week, were they will absorb water through their vent (poop hole) - and hopefully they will drink in the sink bath, or you can drop water into their nose and they will drink that way.

Any more questions feel free to ask!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[blue11]

God that was long, but I hope it made sense!!!!

I was going to start going into the details about their behavior when you bring/her home.

If you are interested in that, its pretty important to understand, jist let us know - everyone here is here to help

I would LOVE to see some pics of your baby set up

 

[Sadona]

The only other thing I can add to blue's post is that a great probe thermometer can be found at walmart for about $12.
Some tips from my experience:
For the first week or two, your lil one might not eat very much once you get them home: this is due to relocation stress and getting used to new surroundings. They should eat more as they get used to things, then be prepared to make emergency bug runs!
They eat small crix like popcorn, but I have also heard of babies eating about ten a day.
Once they start eating 30+ a day, if I were you I would switch to dubia - more filling and more protein and not as difficult/stinky. (I recommend breeding them if you decide to completely switch over)
And as far as tanks go, yes you can start with one big tank (their permanent housing) but if you have spare tanks lying around, you can work your way up. My lil guy started with a 10 gal.