Thinking of getting an adult Bearded Dragon

[Barbaraathome]

Hi: I think that I posted this question in the wrong area as I am brand new to this forum, so I am re-posting it here. I have been offered a 6 year old bearded dragon and all the supplies. I have not owned a lizard before and was wondering if this is a good choice to get a fully grown mature Bearded Dragon. I was wondering if it would be able to bond with someone new at this mature age. I am supposed to be going to meet the present owner and the lizard tomorrow night so I would very much appreciate any advice that you might have to offer. I just don't want to make a mistake and end up with an unhappy animal and not be able to give it the home that it needs.
Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Gail]

As long as its a friendly dragon, I don't see a problem with adopting a older adult. while it might not bond quite like a baby would I doubt it will be unhappy with a new owner. It might be a bit stressed getting used to a new home and people but thats to be expected.
Make sure its healthy though, if there is any doubt then I'd pass it by. At 6 yrs old, its already middle aged and if it has health problems, it could really lower the life expectancy.

 

[Teage29]

I just got a 5 year old bearded dragon and hes awesome. He is my first also and if you spend time with it you will bond with it. Just give him/her time to warm up to you and its new home and family. Just remember that you are getting your new beardie half way through its life so you won't have it the 10-12 years, you will have it about 6-7 years. To me it doesn't matter has long as its healthy, friendly, and lives a great life.

 

[Lauram63110]

Like Gail said, if the dragon is friendly, it should not be a problem. Your new dragon will probably have a week or 2 of relocation stress, and you may be able to help that by putting a t-shirt that you've worn in the tank with your dragon so it gets used to your smell.

I am on my 2nd adult Beardie, and I can tell you that I have no desire to raise a baby. For one thing, babies are small and delicate and faster moving than adults. I also consider an adult cheaper to feed, because babies can eat between 50-70 crickets A. DAY. 50 to 70! That is a lot of crix! As babies, they eat approx 80% insects and 20 % fruit/veggies. After about a year, when they are mature, that reverses to 80% fruit/veg and 20% insect. Collard greens are cheap and easy to keep in the fridge! You'll still need to feed some insects, but not as many.

You may even want to think about potty training your adult. I potty trained both of my adults very easily. You can teach an old Beardie a new trick! :mrgreen:
Good Luck!

 

[Barbaraathome]

Thank you so much for the encouraging replies. I am really looking forward to meeting him tomorrow! I truly hope that it will be a good match. The owner is giving the habitat and all the supplies so I am hoping that this would reduce the stress as everything will be familiar in his immediate environment.
Would you suggest not handling him too much then at the start if he needs time to acclimate to being in a new house with new people?
Also with the age thing, if he doesn't mind that I'm middle aged then I won't mind that he is. :lol:
Thanks again. And if I do in fact get him I am sure that I will be back to ask all kinds of probably very silly questions. :?

 

[Lauram63110]

a few quiet days may not hurt him. Of course having his familiar things there will be good too. I was 50 when I got my first!

 

[lucyandbertha]

Hope all goes well with the meeting.

We got two adult Beardies, one was and still is a little skittish when you pick her up but we've only had them a few months and she is getting better. The second was really settled when we got her and is really calm and friendly.

 

[Teage29]

Hi did you go to the meeting yet? If so how'd it go? Did you get the beardie? Sorry for asking questions. I just hope everything goes as smooth for you just like it did for me!

 

[Barbaraathome]

I went to meet him but it didn't go quite as well as I was hoping for. For one thing it kind of seemed that the man was trying to discourage me from getting him because he kept telling me about all the work that is involved in his care. He said that if he poops on the carpeting then he has to take everything out of the tank and clean everything but it actually stinks the whole house up terribly when he does that. Plus the beardie gets very upset and somewhat aggressive during this process. Sometimes he poops in the water which is easier to clean but he doesn't go in there consistently. He kept talking about how disgusting his poop was. :shock:
He also was talking about how much the cricket container stinks as well and that they are quite a bit of work too. He was also talking about the expense of the lights saying that the two UVB bulbs cost $50 each and that they were going to need replacing soon. He also said that you can never leave him for a weekend even because the bulbs can't be put on a timer because they are florescent.
He also said that the spikes on his sides are so sharp that they draw blood when he goes to pick him up. His nails are also very sharp and scratch as well as getting stuck in your clothes so that you end up with holes in your clothes if you have him sitting on you. Are all beardies so prickly to hold?
It just did not seem that it would be a good fit for my family.

 

[Lauram63110]

I'm not sure what this guy was thinking. Maybe he was making things seem as bad as possible so you couldn't say you were not warned.

1. Poop stinks. None of it smells good. It's poop. If the Beardie has parasites it can make the poop smell REALLY bad. But if it's like that, you go to the vet with a sample and they give you something to kill the parasites. I can vouch for smelly poop. When I got my first dragon, I put his tank right outside our bedroom. The next morning, I woke to a horrible smell and my dog whining and sniffing in the direction of the tank. Yes, he'd done it! And was running back and forth thru it. And oh God! did it stink! I was afraid my husband would tell me to get rid of him, so I came here and started reading. I read about people potty training them to poop in a pan of water and then you pitch the water out.It really cuts down on the smell. That running thru the poop was him trying to get away from it. As a rule, they do not like to be near it, so that potty training thing seems to work because they want to avoid being in the cage with poop. It really worked for us. Also, keep in mind that when you move them, they suffer relocation stress and if they have even a mild parasite load, that stress can enable the parasites to multiply and that will give you STINKY POOP like you have never smelled!

2. Crickets stink. But there are other feeders. Dubia roaches are a favorite. Read up on them.

3. You can buy the necessary UVB bulbs from a site called petmountain.com. You change the UVB bulbs every 6 months, so for a 24 inch bulb, you pay approx $25.00, so that is about $50/yr for bulbs. You will also need a basking (heat) light, but that can be a bright bulb from Walmart for about $4 each. Figure 3 or 4 a year. My lights (basking and UVB ) are on timers; most people put theirs on a timer. If you do the timer thing, that can help you keep the dragon on a schedule, and that will aid that potty training.

4.If you are holding your dragon too tight or he wants to get away, he can make his spikes stand up and be rigid. Maybe I am too gentle, but I have never held a Beardie tightly enough to make his spikes draw blood. I never intend to, either. They do have claws that can get sharp, but there are ways to handle them. Instead of carpet, put slate or rough ceramic tile in the bottom of the tank. This rough tile will help to file his nails. You will probably still need to clip them from time to time, and it is not hard to do. I dont wear delicate clothes when I handle mine, so I havent had any shredded clothes.

As with all other pets, there are responsibilities with keeping Beardies. You will need to be prepared (financially) for at least 1 vet visit a year. Find yourself a good herp vet, and lay some money aside. Perhaps the guy was trying to convey that there is a significant amount of responsibility with owning a Beardie, but there is with any other pet. I have a dog, a horse and a beardie, and I refer to my Beardie -her name is Big Bertha- as The Good Pet. I can only wish that my dog's (the Evil Pet) potty training would be half as good as Big Bertha's. IF you have more questions, send me a Private Message with a phone number where I can reach you and we can set up a time for a phone conversation to answer more questions.

 

[Teage29]

That stinks that it didnt go we'll. If you keep looking and do what Lauram63110 said you should be good! I found my beardie on Craigslist. I was looking for a fish tank but got a beardie! Just keep looking and the beardie for you is out there some where!

 

[lucyandbertha]

I'm not sure what this guy was thinking. Maybe he was making things seem as bad as possible so you couldn't say you were not warned.

I agree with all of Laura's post,and that maybe the Guy was trying to ensure you weren't taking her on a whim. My kids handle the beardies (9,10 &18) and even though one was nervous when we got her we've never had a problem with them spiking or scatching us. :?

I've also got dogs and their poo stinks, as did my kids nappies- but you get used to it! Anyway they only poo every 2-3 days (unless they are young). Mine tend to poo in the same area of the tank and it happens to be where they don't generally lay so they've never got it on themselves.

I refer to my Beardie -her name is Big Bertha- as The Good Pet.

Coincidently we've also got a beardie called Big Bertha.

 

[Barbaraathome]

So I did it!! I got a little girl, 4 years old. We brought her home yesterday and I already just love her. She is just the sweetest thing. We ended up having to get her a new tank as hers was only 24". I got her a 36" one and she seems to enjoy the space now. She can actually turn around without having to do a 3 point turn. :lol:
She had her first bath today as she kind of smelled bad. I don't think that she got baths very much before as her previous owner had been very busy with her work. She seemed to love the water after the initial confusion of being put in that foreign place.
I am just wondering what is the best feeding regime for her. I have read so many conflicting things about how many and how often you feed crickets. How much greens and fruits and vegetables should she be eating a day? What about those disgusting superworms? So many questions???? :?

 

[Teage29]

Congrats!!! I'm glad you finally got one! Whats her name! And I heard that that once the beardie is 15 inches it can eat super worms. And meal worms are bad! For veggies i just estimate by what he has eatin before. Try differnet amounts of veggies and see how much she will eat, once you figure out this is way to much and this is not enough go in the middle. I feed crickets once a week and I feed 20 of them at a time. I would do more but im not allowed to keep crickets in the house unless in the tank. So I feed about 2-3 super worms a day, but the day after i feed crickets i dont give him any super worms. Most beardies love fruit but fruit shouldn't be given every day. Mine loves blue berries and raspberries! I hope this helps and good luck with your new family memeber!

 

[Lauram63110]

Yay Barbara!! You got your baby! She probably smelled icky because they probably had her on some nasty sand. Beardies dont usually like to be near their poop, and she might pick up potty training easily. Welcome to the world of Beardie.ownership!
Your heart will never be yours again, because by now she's probably got it wrapped around her scaly little finger! You have
Embarked upon a wonderful adventur!