Pre-buying Hints

[Japhrimel]

Hello Everyone,

I am looking at getting my first beardie in a little while and after looking all over the net I am getting a little stressed about it. I have read so many different things and I want to make sure I do things right.
1. My first question is, when I go to buy my beardie what should I look for? Are there any signs that mean I should avoid a certain beardie?
2. Would it be safe to house a male and female in a 20 gallon long tank? Should I go ahead and get the 40 gallon long tank?
3. Should I use the carpet style substraite?
4. What would be the most effective lighting/heating methods? Which lamps/bulbs/etc do you suggest?

Please feel free to give any other tips and pointers if you can.

I am very excited about getting my beardie that I already have a list of names and can't wait to get some pics up for everyone to see.

P.S. I have a 5 yr old and an 8 yr old that feel in love with a friends chinese water dragon and have no clue we are going to get a beardie. Not going to tell them. I get them every other weekend so I plan on getting the little guy/girl after taking them back to their mom and having everything set and going good for a couple of weeks before they see the beardie.

 

[Nuka042]

When buying a beardie, look for how healthy the dragon is (is the dragon intact? is the tail nipped and how? any toes missing and how? ask ask ask!), look at the living conditions the dragon was in (you want to make sure you are getting a healthy dragon, if it was living in filthy conditions, expect that dragon to come with some baggage), activity level (is the dragon alert, looking around, moving or is it lethargic and unresponsive). As for type, it's all on your personal preference, if you want a certain color or breed, search for that. How does the dragon take to being handled? And most importantly, do you just feel like that dragon is for you (I know I got that feeling when I saw my dragon, it's like being surrounded by puppies and that one puppy stands out and you just connect with most).

As for housing, do not house multiple dragons together, especially a male with a female, due to the chances of getting and unexpected pregnant female and overall dominance issues with the male (head bobbing, biting, scratching, etc).

Substrate is personally preference, read up on each different substrate and see which you like best. However with sand, avoid since most cases the dragon will end up with an impaction due to ingesting sand. I hear (very rarely) good stories of dragons on sand, however you don't want to take that risk. Tiles work amazing, they look nice and really easy to clean. If you want carpet then go for it, just remember to keep it clean from feces.

 

[lewisres]

You should also research breeders, never buy from pet stores they don't take care of their animals properly, all they use is a heat lamp. They need UVB Proper lighting and good amounts of food so if they house 10 in a tank there wont be enough food shared. Most pet stores only feed a group of 10 beardies 30 crickets a day. if not less. Best of luck to you and again make sure you find out EVERY question you have write them down and ask off the list to the person if you have to.

 

[jjh1]

Hello Everyone,

I am looking at getting my first beardie in a little while and after looking all over the net I am getting a little stressed about it. I have read so many different things and I want to make sure I do things right.
1. My first question is, when I go to buy my beardie what should I look for? Are there any signs that mean I should avoid a certain beardie? Looks for one that is the biggest healthy all toes no tail nips energetic try to look for ones from a breeder
2. Would it be safe to house a male and female in a 20 gallon long tank? Should I go ahead and get the 40 gallon long tank?
1 beardie to one tank and get a 40 gallon breeder , you never house a male and female together because males always mate with females dominated them causing them stress possible death. The rule is 1 beardie to one viv. I have 1 male and 2 females each have their own vivs and my vivs for my adults are each 4 feet long my baby will be in one when she is older which will also be 4 feet
3. Should I use the carpet style substraite? Yes repticarpet paper towel newspaper all work just great when they are young makes it easy to clean up thats what I have in my babys viv right now since the pooper goes everyday at least twice a day. When older you could go to tile NEVER use sand calcisand crushed nuts anything like that really bad for beardies
4. What would be the most effective lighting/heating methods? Which lamps/bulbs/etc do you suggest? USe repti10.0 tube not coil also you need to have a basking light I use a flood light that reaches temps of 105-110 for babies and then for adults I raise it up as they dont like it as hot so my adults like it around 98-100

If your getting a baby you will need to have lots of feeders crix they should be the size between the eyes of your baby, I personally feed my baby phoenix worms and 100 of them lasts a baby maybe 3 days depending , Babies have to be fed 2 times a day.
You also need calcium powder multivit powder and some calcium with d3, then you need the veggies they need to be finely chopped,this can consist of collard greens mustard greens endive arugala, parsely, sprouts,dandelion greens.

They also dont drink water so veg and the prey they eat is how they hydrate when they are alittle older not so small and you tame them they need a soak in the tube 2-3 times a week they hydrate through their vent and sometimes will take a drink of water. Water should be warm and only up to the shoulder.

So I hope this has helped you and good luck with getting a beardie
Joanne
Please feel free to give any other tips and pointers if you can.

I am very excited about getting my beardie that I already have a list of names and can't wait to get some pics up for everyone to see.

P.S. I have a 5 yr old and an 8 yr old that feel in love with a friends chinese water dragon and have no clue we are going to get a beardie. Not going to tell them. I get them every other weekend so I plan on getting the little guy/girl after taking them back to their mom and having everything set and going good for a couple of weeks before they see the beardie.

 

[tempusfugit]

You should also research breeders, never buy from pet stores they don't take care of their animals properly, all they use is a heat lamp. They need UVB Proper lighting and good amounts of food so if they house 10 in a tank there wont be enough food shared. Most pet stores only feed a group of 10 beardies 30 crickets a day. if not less. Best of luck to you and again make sure you find out EVERY question you have write them down and ask off the list to the person if you have to.

Every petco/petsmart I've been in had UVB lights. I bought a petco beardie that looked healthier than 90% of the dragons at the reptile show in san diego 2 weekends ago. I can guarantee there are breeders that care less about the dragon than your average pet store, so do your research and don't rely on blanket statements.

 

[jjh1]

You should also research breeders, never buy from pet stores they don't take care of their animals properly, all they use is a heat lamp. They need UVB Proper lighting and good amounts of food so if they house 10 in a tank there wont be enough food shared. Most pet stores only feed a group of 10 beardies 30 crickets a day. if not less. Best of luck to you and again make sure you find out EVERY question you have write them down and ask off the list to the person if you have to.

Every petco/petsmart I've been in had UVB lights. I bought a petco beardie that looked healthier than 90% of the dragons at the reptile show in san diego 2 weekends ago. I can guarantee there are breeders that care less about the dragon than your average pet store, so do your research and don't rely on blanket statements.

I have never bought a bearded dragon from a pet store so I am only going by what I know from my personal experience only all 3 of mine have been from breeders and the breeders here where I live in Canada are wonderful. Also was at the BCRC reptile show June 11 where I bought my beardie from a breeder and she is perfect same with the 2 others I bought from said breeders,I can only go from my experiences.
We dont have petco/petsmart here where I live but we have a PJ'sPets which is great with all reptiles but then they belong to the British Columbia Reptile Club which is an association I am a member of this as well.

Just do your home work where ever you buy your beardie from ....

 

[lewisres]

You should also research breeders, never buy from pet stores they don't take care of their animals properly, all they use is a heat lamp. They need UVB Proper lighting and good amounts of food so if they house 10 in a tank there wont be enough food shared. Most pet stores only feed a group of 10 beardies 30 crickets a day. if not less. Best of luck to you and again make sure you find out EVERY question you have write them down and ask off the list to the person if you have to.

Every petco/petsmart I've been in had UVB lights. I bought a petco beardie that looked healthier than 90% of the dragons at the reptile show in san diego 2 weekends ago. I can guarantee there are breeders that care less about the dragon than your average pet store, so do your research and don't rely on blanket statements.

First off I said nothing about Petco/Petsmart, I said Pet Store not a "Blanket statement" I have had personal experience from a pet store where I bought Twitch. He was 3 - 4 in when I got him 3 mo ago now he is 15in, he wasn't in proper lighting and there were a ton of babies with him. He looks as if he is 5 mo because he was poorly treated while in the pet store. He is about a yr old. I also never said TRUST EVERY BREEDER(If you read my post it says research breeders). What I said is that they take better care of the babies, because this is how they make their money not by selling everything for pets. So before you come out and say I make a "Blanket statement" don't read between the lines to put words in my mouth.

 

[Jamiedog]

Certainly, there are some superb breeders right here on this site.

 

[Nuka042]

I got Roku from Baltimore Beardies. The breeder is Tom and he is very knowledgeable and very nice. Idk if he has any up for sale right now though.

 

[SamusTheDragon]

Everyone hit the basics. But thats really nice your getting them pets

 

[Japhrimel]

Thank you to everyone who has responded.

I actually found a couple of breeders here in Georgia and am going to look into them. The PetSmart down the road from my house actually has a really nice set-up going on. I have been watching the beardies (and other reptiles) there for a long time and getting to know the employees that take care of them. The two people that are mainly in charge of them have beardies at home and are very knowledable. I have never seen more than 3 "baby beardies" in the tank at a time. It is always clean and they actually use the carpet substrate. I have gone in and help multiple beardies over the past few months. None of them were missing toes or had any nips that I could tell of. They all seemed very light in color and I was wondering about that. They all seem to be pretty well fed and healthy. One of the employees that I talked to was pushed a few facts with me. She made sure that I knew not to use sand or the crushed walnut shells, told me not to use mealworms, and was very helpful with the accessories that I would need.

I honestly can't wait to get my beardie.... thinking of naming him/her Ragnorak, Kronos, Seriph, Japhrimel, or possibly even Bob. (LOL) By the time I get him/her I will probably have too many names running through my head. My wife is already getting a little tired of hearing me talk about it, but she is just as excited as I am.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

There is also going to be a repticon show around atlanta on the 9th and 10th.
You may want to check that out. I know there will be some breeders there that you can talk to face to face.

 

[Japhrimel]

:? I was looking at the photos everyone has posted and have a question. I don't know if I am seeing right but some of these beardies seem huge. Am I just not seeing the size in scale? Can some of you share the size, length and weight of your beardies, possible post a pic so I can have a better understanding? :?

 

[jjh1]

:? I was looking at the photos everyone has posted and have a question. I don't know if I am seeing right but some of these beardies seem huge. Am I just not seeing the size in scale? Can some of you share the size, length and weight of your beardies, possible post a pic so I can have a better understanding? :?

With my male he is from snout to tail tip 21 inches long his weight is 420 grams he is 1.5 years old

With my female from snout to tail tip 20 inches long 400 grams she is 1 year old Female are and can be heavier then males.

My baby is growing I havent weighted her yet but she is 7 inches long

If you have facebook my link is posted in my signature I have all my animal pictures posted there

Joanne

 

[pyrovamp]

hi hi looks like everyone covered everything and i live in GA as well though very south though my beardie who i got at petco was the big and head of the tank. hehe i saw him and was like yup ur going home with me. but like the others say options are always good down here there arent that many though im glad i have my little guy
my male is just bout 12 inches idk the weight and i think hes bout 4 months maybe almost five