our first Beardie

[eamonnschevy]

Hi Guys/Girls, my wife has finally convinced me that it would be a good idea to get some beardies as pets, she wanted a snake but sorry but i don't do snakes, fine to look at behind thick glass but i just don't like the feel of them and couldn't bear to have one in the house (one day i might change my mind) but anyway i digress, Heidi wanted a snake and convinced me to go to our local reptile shop to find out more about them (snakes that is) however while looking at snakes out of the corner of my eye i saw this cute little lizard waving at me, to which i said to my wife now that's a reptile i could get to like, within a few minutes we were both "sold" on beardies. we immediately ordered a vivarium 4ft x 2ft x 2ft with all the lights heaters rock sand and stuff we'd need to keep them happy and healthy.
well we collected their house on Wednesday and have set it all up ready for the beardies arrival today, we are getting 3 one male and a couple of girlfriends for him lol we're both getting quite excited as are our dogs Chevy and Blazer who keep looking at the vivarium waiting for something to move... they used to watch our aquarium when we kept tropical fish (until the bracing bar broke off and fell into the tank along the light fittings, not good for the fish) and rather than repair the aquarium and start again we decided on reptiles.
I've been reading this forum for about a week now and learnt a lot about beardies and how to keep them happy and healthy..THANKS
no doubt i will be on asking questions when we get them home and settled in.
we've decided on a name for the male "Fonzie" from happy days as beardies look so Cool!!!! but still looking for names for the girls.

sorry to have such a long first post. i promise i'll keep future posts a bit shorter.
Thanks for reading i'll post photos of Fonzie and his girls when i get them home.
all the best for now
eamonnschevy

 

[shortygirl]

Hi there & welcome to the forum & the wonderful world of beardeds.

If I may, I'd like to offer a couple of suggestions...

That tank is GREAT...for one. One adult bearded needs a minimum of 8 sq. feet of floor space. In addition - beardeds are solitary animals by nature & crave "alone time". Having more than one to an enclosure causes stress, illness & can lead to dominance, fighting & possibly death. The only workable combination is female/female & even then, you have to be super careful. Having the females in with the male will lead to stress, breeding (they don't understand "HEY - you're too young for that & she doesn't like you, stop it!"). Stress in a gravid female can lead to egg binding & other issues.

<takes a breath>

OK - sand. Sand is an acceptable substrate for adults ONLY - IMHO, and even then...why? It's dirty, stinky, expensive & can cause a host of health problems. The "specialty" sands are the #1 preventable death pof dragons (besides Fatty Liver Disease) and is completely avoidable. I personally use ceramic tiles & non-adhesive shelf liner in my kids tanks.
Here's a shot of my girl's tank set up:

It's way easier to clean (I used sand before, I couldn't get rid of it fast enough, still have to clean out my adults tank, but he's burmating & rather grouchy). I just wipe down the liner & once a week, stick the tiles in the DW for sanitizing. Sand is a highly debated issue, so be sure to weigh all the PRO's & CON's & make an educated choice.

OK - now for the fun stuff...

Beardeds are awesome, and I can TOTALLY understand why you want more than one. But honestly, I'd start with one, get him PERFECT & when you can get the other enclosures, get more. Beardeds are like pringles, you can't have just one, lol. Heck, I have 4 + a host of others. Total Herp-a-holic.

Please, feel free to ask questions & confirm & read the care sheets here, thay are excellant, and on other forums. I would suggest reptilrooms.com & beautifuldragons.com as well, personally. Again, welcome (sorry for the long winded responce! )

~Michelle

 

[bdragon]

Hi eamonnschevy !!!
shortygiirl is correct on every single point...Dragons are very solitary by nature and 3 in one home will probably lead to major stress and health problems...I know you're excited about getting your 3 new babies, but I cannot stress enough how unhappy 3 dragons will be in the same viv...That being said, You are going to SOOOOO love beardies !! And please do away with the sand unless the new arrival is an adult...Then the only healthy sand is childrens sifted playsand...The stuff that is sold by pet stores is actually quite deadly...You see, dragons "sniff" with their tongues, and they smell EVERYTHING...The pet store sand (that the pet store tells you is safe) actually clumps when it's wet and when your dragon ingests a little at a time it turns into cement in his little tummy...You get the picture, that's an awful way to die.........
I don't want to burst your bubble here because having a dragon in your life will bring you SOOO much entertainment and lots of cuddles
GOOD LUCK !!!! Luci

 

[Catalyst]

The tank you ordered will be perfect for a single adult dragon. Just to echo what the others have said, dragons don't do well together and you certainly don't want to mix genders (regardless of what the petstore may say). There's also the matter of how expensive and time consuming babies are - they'll eat upwards of 100 crickets a day each while they're growing and that adds up pretty quickly.

Which UV and heat lights did you order? Some of them are great and others are junk. For UV lights - the flourescent tubes Reptisun 10.0, 5.0 or Reptiglo 8.0 are all good lights. ESU are junk, and so are the coil UV lights. There are also MVBs (mercury vapour bulbs) like MegaRay or T-Rex Active Heat which are great. For heat, you don't need any specialized equipment. A normal household bulb or halogen flood light (my preference 'cause it kicks out more heat per watt) does the same job for less money. Under the tank heaters are unnecessary and heat rocks are dangerous.

I also use ceramic tiles in my tank. They're very easy to keep clean and present no risk of impaction.

Feel free to ask any questions you have We're always happy to help.
-- Catalyst

 

[Alex]

Heaters? Not heated rocks, I hope. You'll find that most of the stuff the petstore sold you at inflated prices, you could have gotten at a place like Wal-Mart for half the price. Catalyst gave you some good advice on UVB bulbs, so hopefully the store hooked you up with the right ones. I read quickyl, but have you been advised to set the hotter basking side to a temp of about 105 degrees, with the cooler side around 75 degrees? And, to use a good digital thermometer and not some stick on?

Have you decided what you will feed your new friends? Crickets are to be smaller than the space between your dragons eyes. Silkworms and phoenix worms are fine to feed as a treat, or as a staple if you wish. You should also get some Rep Cal calcium supplement with D3, but without phosphorous, and to get a good mutli vitamin with Beta Carotene, not Vitamin A. Too much vitmain A can be toxic.

Your new little guys may not eat much for greens yet, but here is a good site for info when you need it:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Make sure your dragons can get within 6-8 inches of their UVB light as well. And, since they're coming from a petstore, it may be a good idea to get a vet check. It's best to catch any problems early.

Hopefully you aren't suffering from information overload. Enjoy, and handle them often.

Best of luck with your new family members.

Alex