Ready for a beardie...I think! :-)

[Travis1102]

Hi all,

Background about me...I'm a guy in my 30s with a good job, home and etc married with 2 kids (2 and 6). I've had a ball python now for close to 12 yrs, a dog close to the same age and 2 leopard geckos that I've had for a few months. I had pet turtles and etc as a kid as well so I'm not completely new to animals or reptiles.

I've made the decision that I want to get a bearded dragon and have been reading just about everything I can find about their care. Some times I think, oh, this isn't so bad and others I am terrified I'll do something to hurt the baby when I get it!

I've decided I want to go with a young / small beardie and will most likely end up getting it from either a local pet store, a breeder if I can find one that's reputible or possibly one of the box stores (Petco / PetSmart). Most of the pet stores I have been to in my area have healthy looking animals so I'm not too worried about getting a sick one. I have seen a couple that I will not buy from because of the general conditions of the cages of their animals.

Before I make the plunge and buy one, I want to be sure that I have everything I need to get me through the first several months while the baby grows. I have read that it's not good to start with the 'big' tanks with the babies since they can get lost and not find their food, water, etc so I have a 20L Zilla Critter Cage (20"x12"x12") with a slide on screen top which should give the lizard enough room to move around while it's younger as well as allow me to ensure a good degree of temperature variant within the cage without being overly large. I actually bought this cage intending to move my two leopard geckos in once they had both gone through a few months of quarantine (bought from different places) and have been housing those in separate 10 gallon tanks. I can continue doing that until the bearded is ready to move into my breeder tank (used for ball python that I'm planning to rehome). That tank is 36" long x18" wide x 17" tall which I believe should be large enough. That tank has all the right lighting built into the hood with the exception that I will add an additional dome basking light.

Now, back to preparing the Zilla cage...What lighting should I use for that? Obviously, I need a basking light. Is a 5.5" dome with a 50 w bulb enough or should I go bigger / more watts? What type of bulb do you all recommend? There are so many horror stories of blinding lizards or burning them! Then, I will need a UVB bulb as well. For a cage that size, It doesn't appear that there is a hood intended for it and I noticed the recommended setup on the forums here showed a $9 fixture from Wal-Mart (Hey, cheap is good by the way!) mounted inside the cage. Would I just need to get a reptisun bulb and one of these $9 fixtures? Any risks involved with having the light INSIDE the cage with the beardie? I'd be afraid that as he gets bigger he could somehow break the glass or that as a baby it would manage to find it's way onto it (e.g. climb across the screen at the top) and somehow get injuries that way.

I plan to use either newspaper (or similar paper without print) or paper towels which is what I use for my geckos until the beardie gets large enough to move to sand.

Of course there's all the "normal" items such as decor for the dragon to climb on for basking, food / water bowls, rocks, etc.

Anything I'm missing or that I'm completely wrong about with my plans? I appreciate any advice you all have!

Thanks!

 

[NicoleLynn]

Even once your Beardie gets older, I wouldn't use sand. The pet store told me it was okay, but it's really not. Rocko now has orange feet because of it, and they can get impacted from the sand. I've watched my Beardie, and he licks everything, so even if you would feed him in a separate tank, he could still ingest it. If I were you I would use tile or reptile carpet. The newspaper/paper towels are fine though. I just wouldn't use sand.

 

[Tonja]

Hi
I kept my baby in a 20 gallon that I put a reptisun 10.0 18 inch in with a in tank fixture from walmart 7.00. Make sure the fixture is a t-8 <under cabinet mount works well> I hung it with industrial strength velcro and its up to stay with the velcro. My basking bulb is just a crystal clear 60 watt and seemed to keep the temps for basking up to 107 degrees. Now both of my babies are in 40 gal breeder tanks with in tank reptisun 10.0 and neither have bothered the light. I keep the basking lights on top of the screen 6-7 inches from their basking spot and they do well..still use 60 watt bulbs and both tanks are at 107 degrees to 110. I do not keep water bowls in my tanks as Im afraid they will drown in them..Emily is only 5 inches long from snout to tail tip. Geico is 13 inches from snout to tail tip. You dont want to raise the humidity by keeping water bowls in the enclosure. I have rough ceramic tile for both of mine, as it helps to dull the nail tips and its so much easier to clean and I dont have to keep buying shelf liner or paper towels for them. For hydration mine get a bath daily where I drip water over their snouts for them to lick and they drink from their bath as well as absorb the water through their vent. They both go potty in their bath so it keeps me from having to clean up their vivs of poo. Even though both arent that interested in salad..I do keep offering salad every day to both along with dubia roaches, crickets , butterworms and other worms. I do not feed mealworms as they can cause impaction <hard chitin shells are hard to digest.> I dust my feeders once a day 5 times a week with calcium with d3 and 2 a week with vitamins. Both of mine are fed 3 times a day..two feedings a day without the supplements. I also take my beardies out in a serlite tub they cant get out of, for 20-30 mins of fresh air and natural sunshine to help them utilize the calcium and for them to make the d3 in their skin. Both of mine have hides in the warm spot <90 degrees> and hammocks on the cool side 75-80 degrees, to rest on and sleep in at night. I have ceramic heat emitters for night since I keep my house cool in fall. I do not use lights at night of any type as they will disturb their sleep. Feed them as much as they will eat in 10 to 15 mins and remove any live feeders afterwards, especially crickets as they will nibble on your beardie. For accurate temperatures I use two acurite probe thermometers from walmart in each viv..one probe on the cool side and one probe on the basking spot. Nutritional chart that most of us go by and is color coded is at http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html hope some of this helps.

 

[zeusthedestroyer]

petco isnt that good last time i was there their was 5 beardies in the tank which was tiny the food dishes overturned no lights on and dead crickets everywhere but everything else seems good maybe not sand though he/she may get impacted good luck with the beardie!

 

[Travis1102]

Thanks everyone for the tips! I will look into the tile suggestion. Is there particular tiles to use / not use? Any concerns about porous / ceramic tiles holding bacteria or etc?

The Petcos / PetSmarts in my area seem to vary store to store. Most of the stores have clean cages with fresh foods / water avail to the animals every time I visit and the animals are alert, active, look healthy and have no issues. One of my geckos is from Petco and she is awesome. However, I went in a couple of stores the other day (one Petco and one PetSmart) and felt bad for most of the animals there. I regret not asking for a manager at the time, but I let my timid personality get the best of me. If I go back this weekend, I will say something as well as take photos and contact the corp offices.

That all being said, what types of prices are typical from breeders? Obviously the high demand morphs Are more than plain morphs. I would like a beardie that will show some oranges, reds or yellows and not be just brown. From what I've learned from talking to the folks at the pet stores and reading, there isn't a way to know what they babies will look like as adults unless they are specifically bred for ther colors. Any clues to look for in the random beardies at pet stores which could help me know what I'm getting?

 

[Tonja]

I just use 18 6 inch ceramic tiles that are rough they cover the floor of a 40 gal breeder tank...I keep them clean with diluted ammonia or diluted bleach then rinse them well and let them air dry till there is no more smell to them..they arent grouted in so they can be remove for a good cleaning. I got Emily at petsmart a couple of weeks ago, shes <best way i can describe her> is chocolate and tan with coral patterns on her back, sides and down both sides of her tail, her stripes are showing a lavender blue grey color along her spine..shes dark but the coral color is striking against the dark of her. She has shed twice now since I have had her and her colors just get brighter in the lavender and coral and darker in the chocolate and tan coloration.

 

[shrambo]

About five months ago I started working at Petco and decided since I worked there, I might as well get some kind of reptile or something. And got a beardie. It can be overwhelming, but they're pretty awesome once you get everything established.
At first, I was buying the crickets from Petco, and even with my discount, they were killing me financially. But now I order 1000 crickets from Ghann crickets. They all have arrived alive in my experience and they last him about two weeks. with shipping it's about $40.00. (So it's $80.00/week).
As for substrate, I think the best by far is non adhesive shelf liner from Walmart. Just cut it out so that it fits in your tank and bam, looks good and cleaning poo is easy.
I would definitely recommend having them in a 40 gallon breeder or bigger. My guy has been there since I got him. And I feed him in a 20 gallon long. I wouldn't dare put crickets straight into his main tank. They hide until night comes and then come out and wreak havoc.
I've done SO MUCH research on beardies. Every little thing he does I used to freak out about and would thoroughly research. So any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Plus this site is amazing. It helped me out sooo much.

Oh, and as for breeders, I got Dexter fron TND Dragons. Go to tnddragons.com and check it out. The dragons are usually 125-150ish. And you can check out the parents. Plus, I got a leatherback which is what I preferred, so he's not so bumpy and rough looking. I went and picked up Dexter personally at the guys house. His setup is really good and clean and he's very reputable. I'm not sure what you wanna spend, but I know he has more beardies than what is posted on his website. His beardies are usually orange.
This is Dex when I got him:

He's been really great and with every shed he's becoming a brighter orange.

 

[psychgrl]

Hi!

Congrats on your decision to get a bearded dragon! Like you, I had some other reptiles first and ended up taking in an unwanted beardie adult. Well, at that point I was sold and wondered why I hadn't looked into them before. I think moving from nocturnal to diurnal reptiles can seem more complicated and expensive at first but we found it actually wasn't that bad. And it sounds like you have all the vivs you'll need, which is a big part.

I recently got a baby from a breeder and I started him in a 40 gallon breeder but I'm sure the 20L will work for a while if you want to do that. For the basking light I just use a flood light (don't remember wattage off hand) in a hood with a dimmer to adjust the temps. I live in the northeast so I use a regular household light bulb on the cool side to maintain temps around 80ish. I also use a ceramic heat emitter at night, again, since it stays cooler in our house. I use the $9 Walmart fixture with the Resptisun and it works just fine. My older beardie sometimes gets super hyper and will jump on the fixture with the UVB and, as long as it is secured well, it doesn't pose a danger.

For substrate, the baby gets paper towels for now but I have slate tiles from Lowe's or Home Depot in my adult's viv. As was said before, sand is not a good idea. Too much risk for my taste. The slate is nice because it is easy to clean and keeps his nails somewhat worn down. For the basking spot, I have a square ceramic tile on about 5.5" to 6" dowels attached with Liquid Nails. I found a flexible wooden ramp in the rodent section of Petco that works great for them to get up on it. I check the temps regularly and haven't found any issue with the ceramic getting too hot. Also, with that much basking space they tend to position themselves for whatever level of heat they want.

As for where to get your new baby, it is personal choice. We only have a Petco nearby and it is really not good at all for animal care. Typically Petsmart tends to be better but it still depends on individual stores. You can actually find really nice, healthy dragons from breeders at reasonable prices. My baby came from Rio Reptiles/Yellow Room Reptiles (also known as Beardeddragons.co). They have some really nice babies right now at quite a range of prices, from $40 for pet quality up to about $150. Even the pet quality ones look like they're going to be more colorful than most big box pet store babies, not that there's anything wrong with a nice normal colored dragon (my adult is a pet store boy). My new guy is only about 4 months but he's already showing some nice red/orange/tangerine color. They have a website but their Facebook pages are more up to date.

I have also heard nothing but great things about Tom at TND Dragons so he'd be a great choice too. There are a lot of great breeder recommendations on here.

Good luck with your search!

 

[Travis1102]

Thanks again for all the info / advice. I'm still looking for *my* dragon, but decided against the Petco / PetSmart dragons. I've also decided against one of my local pet stores after going in the other day and seeing a dragon that looked like it was dying. It was laying in the sand with it's head on it's side...one eye into the sand, the other up. At first, I thought it was dead but it moved it's eye. Do they usually lay like that? That pet store just buys from random people anyway, so probably not the best option either.

I'm waiting to either go to an expo (one is coming up in Dallas the week after next), buy from someone local that isn't a breeder but his dragon had a clutch which have nice colors or possibly buy from online and get the dragon shipped. The downside to online is the extra amount spent on shipping for a dragon I can't "hold" first. I'll be sure to buy from one of the reputible breeders though.

As far as my viv goes, I have the tank and will get the lights this week as well as some tile. What qualities should I look for in the tile and avoid? Anything there that would be harmful for a bearded dragon like certain materials or etc? I assume I want something not glazed so that it works to file nails as they walk on it?

 

[1968dart]

Hey for the tile you should get a textured slate not smooth flat tiles. The texture gives them grip and helps keep there nails from getting to sharp. Make sure that your dragon can get within 6inches of the uvb light because outside of that range there effectiveness drops off bigtime. Go with the tube as well not coil compacts. when your picking him out its better to take the biggest most dominate healthy looking baby not the one the little runt hiding in the corner of the cage. Anyway everything else you can read in care sheets. Good luck.

 

[ohmybandit]

I have textured slate tile that's the color of sand and it makes it look realistic and nice and I got it at home depot for only $7 (in the 40 gal). When I check her toe nails they're always all filed down. I bought my little lady from a Petsmart and she's probably the best impulse buy I have ever had, lol. Petsmart and Petco aren't all as awful as people say, as long as you find a reptile that is alert and active and their eyes/mouth are clear of any substance.I bought mine at the end of July and she went from 6 inches to now approaching 10.5 inches .

 

[1968dart]

That's great... I just picked up my third Dragon last week. He's 9week and 8 inches. Check him out on the introduction page the thread is called Rusty. Cheers.

 

[Travis1102]

I just took the plunge and ordered a beardie from Cheryl at Rio Reptiles and he will get here tomorrow morning! I'm both excited and nervous at the same time! I feel like I have so much to do to prepare for a new baby and don't want to screw something up.

I have the cage and lizard (on the way), but I have to get the lights / fixtures, tiles (may just use paper towels for now depending on my time this evening) and basking spot tonight as well as pick up some food for him.

What else do I need that I may be forgetting? Suppliments?

By the way, here is his pic that Cheryl sent.

 

[cmh3988]

Congrats!!! He's very pretty! You'll have to post some pics when he arrives tomorrow

 

[FranktheTank]

How exciting, he's adorable. I can't wait to see more pictures when he arrives. Do you have a name picked out yet? How's shopping going, where you able to get your reptisun 10.0 uvb, and a basking bulb? Those are the two most important things he absolutely needs for survival. He will also need supplements, repcal calcium with d3, and herptavite vitamin dust. The care sheet on this forum provides an excellent guide on what you need for your new baby. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, we are here to help. I am so excited for you, I think you'll be just fine.

-Kaleen