My new buddy Trevor

[Trevorshumanbuddy]

Hello, I'm sorta new to having bearded dragons and I was just wondering if I could have some advice, I've had my beardie for almost a month now and I'm already thinking about getting him a friend (most likely a lady friend) and I just don't really know how to go about that, I'm building him a nice cage and its going to have a wall that seperates the two but they will be able to see eachother (but once they get used to eachother it will be hopefully removed) I just sorta wanted to know how to go about doing this only because the beardie I have now is full grown but very small looking, people tell me that he looks between a juvie and an adult. Please, I would like some advice. Thanks!

 

[NightmareDisco]

Alright, well first off, keep your beardies seperated all of their lives unless you are breeding them (if so, the female should be at least 2 years old). Beardies are solitary creatures and can and will become aggressively territorial. You should make it so they cannot see each other, this can stress them out and cause some aggressive behaviour, especially from the male.

Please give us a run through of your set up, what kind of lights do you have, what are your temps, what and how much are you feeding, what is your substrate? Pics would be lovely.

Good luck

 

[Trevorshumanbuddy]

Well, I am planning on getting him a lady friend, just to keep him company, if they breed thats okay by me, but thats not really why I was getting another one. My big problem is, is that I adopted him and he's really tiny and I just don't know what to do about his size, I really want him to get a little fatter/bigger before I get another one, just so he isn't a weakling and gets pushed around.

 

[NightmareDisco]

Ok, well I am not telling you what to do, I am just offering friendly advice. If you house 2 together, there is a very good chance that one will seriously injure or kill the other. Also, if they breed, are you capable of providing the incubator and housing all the babies properly until they are sold? It is a very expensive thing.
As far as him being small, could you post a pic and tell us about your setup? The set up may have something to do with him n ot growing properly. How much/often do you feed him?

 

[NCSUCarrie]

Definitely let us know about your setup in the tank, what kinds of lights, what your temperatures are, what you are feeding, and how much. You may just have a small dragon, but sometimes there can be husbandry issues that may contribute to them not growing correctly.
In most situations it's not recommended to keep 2 beardies together. They are solitary in the wild except at breeding time. There are many cases where one bearded dragon will dominate another one and limit his/her access to UVB, heat, or food. They can also fight sometimes and will bit off toes, feet, tails, or potentially much worse. If you do put a female and a male together and they do breed it's very stressful on the female and they lose a lot of weight with each clutch of eggs and may lay eggs every 2-4 weeks for a while.
If you did want to get a 2nd one, having 2 tanks is best, but if you have a big enough tank you can divide it down the middle as you discussed - I'd still recommend having that divider be something you can't see through though. Ideally each tank would have a minimum of 3 ft by 2 ft of space for each beardie.
Good luck with Trevor !

 

[Trevorshumanbuddy]

Well.. I don't know exactly what kind of light I bought for his UVA/UVB, as in type of lights but they seem to be working out okay, he has a repi-med basking light and nocturnal light, with a repi-med repti bark, he eats about.... maybe 5+ superworms everyday and alot of bananas (the only reason he hasn't had some greens is because I haven't been able to go to the store yet) and also, here is a picture for you, and one more thing, I've talked to some people (as in people that have beardies and/or had then for a while and a few people at petsmart and petco) and they said that a good thing to do is feed your beardie soft DOG FOOD that has a lot of protein, I'm kinda iffy on it, so do you think I should do it?

 

[NightmareDisco]

I have never heard of that and I personally think that, as a general rule, listening to pet store employees is just asking for trouble. But, here is a handy nutrition guide. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

 

[SlimeCounty]

...he has a repi-med basking light and nocturnal light, ...

if those are the only 2 lights he has, then you need to purchase a uvb/uva light, the general consensus is that reptisun 10.0 is the way to go(you will need both your basking lamp and the UVB at the same time, as a reptisun doesn't put out much heat), i've only had my beardie for 2 weeks or so now, but I know they didnt have him under a uvb light at the shop, and his colors and attitude have improved GREATLY since he has been under my care...reptisun 10.0 costs about $50 so be prepared, and apparently their bulbs may operate for a full year or more, but the uv coating wears off in 6 months time so be prepared to spend $100 on those per year. as for nocturnal lighting, I have been advised that it's not the proper way to keep up temps at night. From what I hear, the light still disturbs them while they try to sleep, so instead, a ceramic heat emitter is recommended, which can be had for about $20-they fit into a standard clamp light as well, just make sure the fixture has the ceramic backing.

I've had my beardie for almost a month now...the only reason he hasn't had some greens is because I haven't been able to go to the store yet...

Dude. You have had him for a month now...lol, go get some collard greens yo! :shock: -@$0.90 per lb, and more likely than not, your beardie wont eat 1/3rd of it, so you may want to try and include it in your diet as well!...but hey, it's $0.90!! you can find that in your couch.

...as a general rule, listening to pet store employees is just asking for trouble...

100% agreed, pet store employees often provide misinformation. My first ferret Lemmy went blind of a protein deficiency because the lady at the store told me that he shouldn't eat meat because it would make him too aggressive. ..Also, anytime I see a beardie or most any other reptile at a store, I never see them under UVB bulbs, and they most always are in sand. Do your best to read, and ask questions to avoid newbie mistakes that may harm your lil' friends. I'm still a newbie myself, and will most likely never stop asking questions.

 

[flnatv]

I got my first beardie at a pet store... recommended sand, etc. Learned very quickly on here that it is sooo very wrong (thanks everyone for everything). Once I did my research.... I found out the pet store knew NOTHING!!

My second beardie I got from a breeder

Both are extremely sweet. The one from the breeder is growing much much faster than the other.

As for the 5+ superworms :shock: Mine eat about 25-50 crickets each per day!! I go through 100 crickets every other day. I have fed superworms and they can eat an entire tub between the two per day. I have gone the rather expensive route on the greens.... they get the bagged spring mix greens and eat a bag between them in about 5 days... sometimes I can stretch it to an entire week.

Wizard is about 6months old and Stang is around 5months. They are both well over 12 inches and growing like weeds

The other group members are correct about housing them together... I have seen many body parts missing due to fighting. Having a clear divider will stress them out terribly. I even go to the extent of housing mine in separate rooms of the house. When you take on in the other room BAM stress marks galore. They do see each other about everyday, but I personally don't see me ever putting them together unless they were to be bred. I also thought about that since I am a biology teacher and I have a local reptile store willing to take all babies. I was going to make it a project for my students to learn about reptiles and husbandry... but when I found out she would lay eggs for months and have a total of about 200 :shock: My mind was changed. We could definitely afford it because it would be paid for through a school grant, but that is A LOT of work and babies when there are so many out there that are in need of a proper home... (that is the dog rescue person inside me coming out... sorry)

As for lighting... the other members are also right on... I have 4 different fixtures one of my habitats that is 4.5ftx2ftx2ft. 1 combination bulb UVA/UVB, Reptisun 10, Basking/UVA, ceramic heat emmitter. In the winter I have to keep most on to keep her cage warm enough, but as it is warming up I am turning off the combination light as it will get way too hot for her. I keep the ceramic heat emmitter on at night when our temps drop (my house was built in 1900 so it is drafty and the inside temp is around 65-68 at night during the winter).

Sorry this was so long, but I just wanted to welcome you and let you know that the people on this forum are a God send!!! I love you all for the wonderful advice, helpfulness, positive advice (even when I am wrong , and hospitatlity.

Have a great great weekend.
Neely

 

[Trevorshumanbuddy]

I said 5+ superworms only because I normally don't count how much he eats everyday (even though I need to) he DOES eat greens I have gone and get some but not a lot a lot for him, I'm super happy with Trevor mostly when he snuggles up with me at night! It's so cute! I love it