PETCO IS HAVING A BEARDED DRAGON AWARENESS???

[sweetiepie9]

The care sheet on this site is good, except for the lighting. There is a really good article on lighting here, too. The best tube light is Reptisun 10.0. Please don't get Reptiglo, it can make beardies sick. There are also mercury vapour bulbs. We use Power Suns, but you have to get a lamp stand to hold the bulb. But we were able to use the Power Suns & not have to put the top on our tanks. The "furniture" in their tanks is all very low so they can't jump out. Mind you we have all adults now, but even when our youngest was a baby, we didn't put the tops on the tanks. They've never gotten out, which is great, so they get the full UVB spectrum with no mesh top to reduce the effect.

Mind you lights are the most costly besides bugs, when getting what you need for a dragon. But it is worth getting the best if you're wanting a tube. www.petmountain.com sells Reptisun 10.0 for about 1/2 the price of a pet shop, I know alot of people who get their lights shipped from them. There are other supply sites, too.

I wish you well with your caresheet handouts. When my hubby worked in a pet shop as a reptile keeper, we put together our own caresheets with info learned from this site & others, talking to other owners, and the moderators on this site.

 

[Jess]

Me and Dudley plan to be attending on the 5th. I'll probably take some GOOD caresheets along with me, and tell everyone why not to buy those kits and the Petco beardies. Everyone who meets Dud is amazed by how huge he is, so hopefully they will believe me instead of the Petco "expert", if my dragon looks healthier than the one that they have for everyone to pet.

Does anyone know if there is half off of any reptile supplies? There are these red squishy Nature Zone (I think?) Bearded Dragon Bites that Dudley actually likes, so I wanted to get him some!

 

[bambichik39]

I informed my mom about what was going on up there and she decided Pablo needed an outfit for the beauty contest... Here he is.. (before its been altered to actually stay on him correctly)

 

[drgnfly2265]

I just seen this yesterday that they are having it also at my local Petco. I am plan on going on 5th. I'm going to take Link and see what "advise" they give people :roll: But hopefully it will be correct information...

Seeing this on the first page of the event

http://www.petco.com/petco_Page_PC_reptilerally.aspx

"As omnivores, Bearded Dragons have a varied diet including, but not limited to crickets, worms, vegetables and even small frozen, thawed rodents as adults."

Well this will be interesting...

 

[Jess]

I know, I read that. Very disturbing.

 

[BadCon]

I really want to be there on the 4th and 5th, but my buddy just had to go and have his wedding on the 4th! Anyways, I'll be assembling my own bearded dragon care sheet...I'll post it here a couple days early so others can critique. I do plan on bringing care sheets for other common Petco reptiles, such as gecko's and iguanas. For those, I'll just find the best ones I can on the net and print them out. Whether people take me seriously or not is another matter...I will be very hungover after the wedding lol. I'm hoping Oscar, my male dragon, will change their minds. He's 24" long and roughly 800g...simply the largest beardy I've ever seen in person. Perhaps when they see him they'll realize a 20 gallon tank will not cut it, hell, he's almost as long as one!
I probably wont' take my female dragon. She's much smaller, but much more energetic. She's nursing an injured leg and I don't want her to hurt herself during her attempts to run around petco. Not to mention the chaos that would ensue if Oscar caught a glimpse of her. As it is I'm worried about other people's lizards and how he'll act. He really is a bully!

 

[FBradshaw]

and even small frozen, thawed rodents as adults."

One thing to remember, in the wild a beardie will eat whatever he can catch, including the occasional small field mouse or other rodents. While they are ok for a very rare occasional treat or where you have an extreme protein deficiency, they are not recommended as a staple feeder what so ever. I know someone that feeds the occasional pinky to his dragon and he loves them.

 

[Jess]

I'm hoping Oscar, my male dragon, will change their minds. He's 24" long and roughly 800g...simply the largest beardy I've ever seen in person.

My gosh, Oscar could eat Dudley for breakfast. :shock:
And I just might borrow your caresheet!

And many beardies will happily eat fireflies, rocks, pennies, and washers. Just because they will eat it doesn't mean it is good for them.
That's a whole other discussion though, LOL. :roll:

 

[Sashee]

I know the tank kits are half off and beardies are $49.99 right now.
Yoshi needs a new tank, but no luck with that. :-/
I was going to be put in charge of it at my store, but I have a church convention that weekend!!!!

LOVE Pablo's outfit!

 

[lauraj1055]

I'm going to go with my daughter and bring both Phred & Ollie with us.. Ollie is a year, and Phred is 9 months old. I wonder if anyone that buys these guys know how big they get? I would love to do a follow up on people that buy beardies from my Petco. I always hope they find this site.. I want to put a sticky on the price to direct them here :wink:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Our youngest dragon Rubi0, who's 3 yrs old, is about 22" long (there's a tail nip) and 804g, so I know what you mean about big dragons. And no, a 20 gallon tank will not do after 4 mo old. They grow alot as babies, but even more as juvies, as they're mostly grown by a year old. They might get an inch or so longer in their 2nd year, but mostly after a year they're putting on weight. Even a 40 gallon critter cage can be small for a big dragon. We have 5 dragons, the other 4 are in critter cages & doing well, they're much smaller than Rubio, but they also get out alot & run around a beardie proofed room every day. Rubio's in a 75 gallon, so has lots of room to run around. A good care sheet will do wonders, as people don't believe how expensive a beardie's upkeep can be. As adults they don't eat as many bugs, but still they can eat altogether about 30 worms a day, sometimes more if Sweetie (our only female) has laid eggs again, then protein intake goes up quite a bit. Plus, even if you get a tank for cheap, deals on "furniture", hides, wood to jump on, basking areas, etc, the lights will put a serious dent in a budget. The problem is, if they don't have correct lighting, they'll get really sick, then it's vet bills + new light. So expenses can get very high.

I'll be looking forward to the care sheet to see how our care matches up. There's nothing like a healthy dragon to prove how good care works! And they're all so different, too.

Rubio wanted to say hi!

(I know I'm showing him off, but doesn't he have a great smile!! :mrgreen: )

 

[BadCon]

Rubio sure is handsome! What is he, about 10" snout to vent? Looks very similar sized to Oscar. It really is amazing just how much bigger they are then your average dragon. I have an 18" 450g female that simply looks like a dwarf next to Oscar. That is, if I could actually get her anywhere near Oscar without him trying to eat her. He sure doesn't play well with others, and has the attitude to go along with his size. He's friendly and is easy to handle once he's warmed up, but talk about grumpy first thing in the morning! I know for a fact that if he could, he'd happily eat me. He really just wants to do his own thing most of the time.

 

[lauraj1055]

Is Rubio part German Giant??

 

[sweetiepie9]

No, Rubio was labelled citrus at the pet shop, so I have no idea where his size comes from. He was a tiny little thing & at 3 mo weighed 24g, which I'm not sure is a good weight or not. He'd been injured so didn't eat alot during the time he was in pain. Once he was healed up, he found a big appetite!. Issy, who we bought from the same place, different breeder & she was labelled part GG, yet she was 7.5" from snout to vent. Rubio is 10.5". So I'm not sure if they just didn't realize or is he just a throwback? Who knows? Even when he was 5 mo old he didn't look any bigger than any other 5 mo old beardie. From then until about 1 1/2 years old, he just grew & grew & grew. He eats the same food as our other 4 & they're all normal, and just a bit more than the others. So I have no explanation. His head is too big to be a GG, their heads are not as wide and sit differently. I have a friend who has a true GG beardie & her head is shaped differently than Rubio's, more in length & not as wide. Rubio has a huge head & when he puffs his beard out & black it's truly awesome.

I'm hoping & keeping all my fingers & toes crossed that your message gets out to beardie owners & that you're responsible for getting these beardies the best care by their owners. I should be a great day. I'll also hope for sunshine
Deb

 

[Sashee]

I told a girl at work that I can't have a pet that I have to feed another animal to, and she said, "So you won't ever give Yoshi pinkies?" I was like, :shock: "Uh, no."