Thinking about getting a Bearded Dragon!

[hunter94]

So, Iv been doing a LOT of research on these little cute creatures and wen't down to Seattle Reptiles and Fish in Everett and they had 4 Beardies. 1 grown female for 200-300 Dollars and 3 Babies for 79.99 each. If you could suggest any short good books about Beardies I could read please do. Here is some of the information Iv researched and learned so far about these.

They need a Basking area of 100 Fahrenheit. And the rest of tank should be 80-85. And there should be thermometers in both the basking area and the rest of the tank. They need Basking Lights and UVB Lights for Vitamin D3 all the lights need to be secured with fixtures. There food needs to be shook up in Calcium Dust, they are not picky eaters. They can eat Roaches, Grass Hoppers...ect they also can have pinkies as a snack but its not recommended cause they are high in fat another really important thing is to have fresh greens in there tank at all times. They need a large water dish, large enough for them to lay in, they need fresh water all the time because they tend to defecate in there water. The tank size should be around 30-40 Gallons. A good bedding would be Crushed Walnut Shells the bedding needs to be watched frequently and cleaned. Another good idea would be to keep a spray bottle with fresh water in it so you can spray its fake plants/logs and tank down so he can lick the water off. (This is because some Beardies don't drink out of there water dish.)

Thats really about it, I know more stuff but its not really useful for the care and to keep a Beardie healthy. But please post and tell me if thats a good amount of knowledge. And please post good short books I can read to increase my knowledge about Beardies.

Thank You
Hunter Davis.

 

[Buggsy]

Ok its really good that you are being sensible and researching first, but many of the books are very outdated, and wont be of any use really. All the info you need is right here on this web site!

But there are a few things i thought i should point out for ya!
Firstly the type of thermometer is very important. You need a digital one with a long wired probe. Acrite make a very good one and i think most people get it from walmart or other similar stores. You can leave the box in the cool end to read that, and place the probe on the basking spot to read that. Other types can be up to 20f off!

Secondly UVB is very important and there are many brands out there that can be harmful to beardies. If your in the US the reptiSUN tubes are good. Make sure not to get any coils or compacts, or get confused with the retiGLO as they are also bad.

Thirdly you dont want to have water in the tank. It can raise the humidity and beardies can get respiratory infections from having them in there (and they very rarely drink from it anyway) Misting plants etc is also not recommended for this reason. bathing them in luke warm water three times a week gives them all the hydration they need!

Tank size should be a 40 gal breeder minimum. Most of us upgrade to 4x2x2 ft tanks eventually!

Crushed walnut should never be used and i personally think it should be banned! Particle substrate such as sand and shells can impact your beardie (like deadly constipation) and should be avoided if possible. Shells are particularly bad because they also cut up the digestive tract on the way down. Textured tiles are very good, easy to clean and nice looking, but paper towels or reptile carpet are other good alternatives.

I think thats it, i might have missed a few things. Also for that price i would look into buying from a good breeder in your area. Pet shop beardies are often not well taken care, if bought from a good breeder you are more likely to get a very healthy and happy scaly friend!

 

[ChellyBeans]

I totally agree with her 100%!

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Im just sayin Hi and welcome to your new addiction...lol

 

[ChellyBeans]

Don't be friends with Tom. He's a bad influence. :lol:

Seriously though. If you decide on getting a beardie, I HIGHLY reccomend him! He has some GORGEOUS poopers. Check him out.

 

[Buggsy]

Indeed! lovely little things, very jealous im this side of the pond!

 

[hunter94]

Ok its really good that you are being sensible and researching first, but many of the books are very outdated, and wont be of any use really. All the info you need is right here on this web site!

But there are a few things i thought i should point out for ya!
Firstly the type of thermometer is very important. You need a digital one with a long wired probe. Acrite make a very good one and i think most people get it from walmart or other similar stores. You can leave the box in the cool end to read that, and place the probe on the basking spot to read that. Other types can be up to 20f off!

Secondly UVB is very important and there are many brands out there that can be harmful to beardies. If your in the US the reptiSUN tubes are good. Make sure not to get any coils or compacts, or get confused with the retiGLO as they are also bad.

Thirdly you dont want to have water in the tank. It can raise the humidity and beardies can get respiratory infections from having them in there (and they very rarely drink from it anyway) Misting plants etc is also not recommended for this reason. bathing them in luke warm water three times a week gives them all the hydration they need!

Tank size should be a 40 gal breeder minimum. Most of us upgrade to 4x2x2 ft tanks eventually!

Crushed walnut should never be used and i personally think it should be banned! Particle substrate such as sand and shells can impact your beardie (like deadly constipation) and should be avoided if possible. Shells are particularly bad because they also cut up the digestive tract on the way down. Textured tiles are very good, easy to clean and nice looking, but paper towels or reptile carpet are other good alternatives.

I think thats it, i might have missed a few things. Also for that price i would look into buying from a good breeder in your area. Pet shop beardies are often not well taken care, if bought from a good breeder you are more likely to get a very healthy and happy scaly friend!

Thank you much for the advice. I'm pretty sure the Seattle Reptile and Fish have some healthy Beardies. I looked at their mouths, eyes, body for anything wrong and I didn't see nothing at all wrong, another thing I looked at was the awareness of the little fellers, I moved my finger in front of their faces and they fallowed, their belly's were off of the ground a little which I read was a good thing. They also give life time advice if you buy one of there pets. And Crushed Walnut Shell doesn't impact, he said thats why they use it, the Crushed Walnut Shell was really lose in the cages. I still need to some more research though. =)

 

[ChellyBeans]

Crushed walnut is terrible and it can and will cause impaction. A search on google can easily prove that. Aside from impaction, mold easily grows on it which is very deadly.

Why risk something that doesn't need to be?

We swear against it on this site. The members here simply want to see the best life possible for the beardies.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Reptiles-704/2009/3/Impaction-1.htm

Check out that link. There is a prime example of everything you don't want to do with your beardie.

http://www.draconian.com/dragons/bearded-dragon-care.php

The above link even has a disclaimer specifically for crushed walnut.

http://www.reptilesdownunder.com/reptile/reptilesAsPets/enclosure/substrate/

Last but not least, here is a third reference explaining good and bad substrates and it also mentions crushed walnut.

Reptile carpet is cheap, looks clean and neat and there is NO reported deaths caused by carpet. The same for paper towels and tile.

Makes sense... right?

 

[hunter94]

Crushed walnut is terrible and it can and will cause impaction. A search on google can easily prove that. Aside from impaction, mold easily grows on it which is very deadly.

Why risk something that doesn't need to be?

We swear against it on this site. The members here simply want to see the best life possible for the beardies.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Reptiles-704/2009/3/Impaction-1.htm

Check out that link. There is a prime example of everything you don't want to do with your beardie.

http://www.draconian.com/dragons/bearded-dragon-care.php

The above link even has a disclaimer specifically for crushed walnut.

http://www.reptilesdownunder.com/reptile/reptilesAsPets/enclosure/substrate/

Last but not least, here is a third reference explaining good and bad substrates and it also mentions crushed walnut.

Reptile carpet is cheap, looks clean and neat and there is NO reported deaths caused by carpet. The same for paper towels and tile.

Makes sense... right?

Yea, makes tons of sense, thank you so much for the information. I now plan on using Reptile Carpet.

Do you think it would be ok if I built my own tank for my Beardie?

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

Building your own tank would be fine. You can look at the DIY portion of this forum for lots of advice and ideas. Also if you google Crossfire Dragons, they got a really simple and easy to follow guide for making a Great Viv. I would highly recommend going with the crossfire one and then use your ideas from the DIY section to custom design the interior.

http://www.freewebs.com/crossfireenclosures/ <--- is the link to the crossfire dragons enclosure.

also as far as a dragon goes, you might wanna check out RioReptiles or Yellow room reptiles before you make your final decision on a dragon. They have great beardies and take excellent care of them. Plus the pricing isn't half bad either.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[hunter94]

Building your own tank would be fine. You can look at the DIY portion of this forum for lots of advice and ideas. Also if you google Crossfire Dragons, they got a really simple and easy to follow guide for making a Great Viv. I would highly recommend going with the crossfire one and then use your ideas from the DIY section to custom design the interior.

http://www.freewebs.com/crossfireenclosures/ <--- is the link to the crossfire dragons enclosure.

also as far as a dragon goes, you might wanna check out RioReptiles or Yellow room reptiles before you make your final decision on a dragon. They have great beardies and take excellent care of them. Plus the pricing isn't half bad either.

Hope this is of some help.

Thats and extremely nice looking cage. Ty, for the advice. =)

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

Anytime, That's what we are here for on this forum. To share our unique knowledge and experience with each other in order to help each other.

 

[ChellyBeans]

I'm not sure how handy you are, but my husband bought some home carpet from Home Depot and actually carpeted most of my viv. I have a basking area that has tile on it. It was cheaper to buy a bit of carpet and have the tank carpeted. I go in and vacuum it once a week and I have a small hand held shampooer (designed for small carpet stains) that I run in there a couple times a month. It looks really neat in there.

Good luck with building your viv. We need pictures.

Ps. It's always a good idea to have EVERYTHING you need before you get your beardie. I wish I had my first viv set up before I got Phoenix. I must have tweaked her viv 3 or 4 times before I got it right. Thank goodness she never got relocation stress or else she would HATE me.

If you do buy from a breeder, make sure that you know the age of it and look around and see about ordering your feeders online. It's cheaper that way and you get more of a variety that will most likely live longer.

Just some advice that I wish I had before I bought my first...

 

[hunter94]

I'm not sure how handy you are, but my husband bought some home carpet from Home Depot and actually carpeted most of my viv. I have a basking area that has tile on it. It was cheaper to buy a bit of carpet and have the tank carpeted. I go in and vacuum it once a week and I have a small hand held shampooer (designed for small carpet stains) that I run in there a couple times a month. It looks really neat in there.

Good luck with building your viv. We need pictures.

Ps. It's always a good idea to have EVERYTHING you need before you get your beardie. I wish I had my first viv set up before I got Phoenix. I must have tweaked her viv 3 or 4 times before I got it right. Thank goodness she never got relocation stress or else she would HATE me.

If you do buy from a breeder, make sure that you know the age of it and look around and see about ordering your feeders online. It's cheaper that way and you get more of a variety that will most likely live longer.

Just some advice that I wish I had before I bought my first...

Thank you much, I think I decided not to build my own for now. I might later on when my beardie is older but I don't think its a good idea atm. Another thing is would a 30 gallon breeder tank be big enough for a full sized adult? Another thing is how many crickets would I feed my beardie each day. Trying to figure out how much it will cost to feed it each month. =)

Oh yea, and would I have to feed the feeders?

 

[ChellyBeans]

It depends on the age of your beardie when you get it. Babies eat about 75-100 crickets a day whereas they slow down on live feeders and concentrate mostly on salads when they get older.

Depending on how many feeders and the type you get, you may have to feed them as well. If you find a good bug person, they may include some food in your order, but you always want to provide a variety of feeders to your beardie as well as salads.