What's a good way to move a bearded dragon

[chameleonsound]

Hi,

My sister's friend is looking to give me her bearded dragon and we are currently trying to figure out to get him from Maryland to Florida. I've seen that you can ship them and I was wondering if anyone new the cost, a good way to pack them, good company to ship with, and if it is ok for the dragon? He's a huge dragon, around a foot long. Not sure how old he is.
Also looking for some advice on caring for these guys. I've had a chameleon in the past so I'm familiar with that type of care, but not sure on bearded dragons since they seem to be desert creatures. Basically just need advice on cage size and type, lighting, humidity control, and water source. I love to give all my animals the best care possible.

Thank you guys in advanced.

 

[kski]

Well I had mine shipped to me overnight from his breeder in California to Delaware. That was overnight and they packed him in there good so he couldn't move around much and also couldn't be jostled. Then they packed heat packs around him to keep him warm. Apparently he loved it because his colors were so bright at that point that I've rarely seen them that bright in the 5 years since. That was professionally done though.

When I moved from Delaware to Oklahoma and more recently from Oklahoma to Minnesota I simply put him in a smaller terrarium with only a couple basking rocks and his lights and seat belted the terrarium in the car. Not sure which method is safer. I wouldn't ship personally unless I really really knew what I was doing so he wouldn't get injured or killed in transit. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to him while he was trapped alone in a dark box.

As far as care goes, that's a loaded question and it's very late. There are infinite resources on these forums and books such as The Bearded Dragon Manual to get you started. Honestly I think research on your own then get tips from the remarkable people on this site after that to help you fine tune everything. Besides a lot depends on your particular dragon. My best advice with that part is to do all the research and get everything set up, actually set up, not just planned (basic enclosure, temps, preferred feed, supplements, proper lights, finding the closest/best reptile vet in your area, etc) BEFORE receiving the dragon. It will make your and the dragons transition as low stress as possible. With that I'm done, I fear I've rambled some. I'm not sure if I helped or not but I hope I did.

 

[ClydesGirl]

I know a lot of breeders use http://reptileexpress.com/ to ship beardies. In fact, I just received my guy yesterday that way! It's probably pretty expensive. The shipping for my guy was included in the price, but I would guess it's likely around $50?

As for your set-up, definitely just do your research here on this site. The basics are you need an enclosure with a minimum size of 18"x18"x36", which is the dimensions of a "40 gallon breeder" fish tank. But since you mention he's a big guy, the general rule of thumb is that you wand the enclosure to be at least as wide as the beardie is long, so they have plenty of room to turn around.

You will need two light fixtures. A dome-style fixture for the heat lamp, which can be a normal, clear, household, incandescent bulb. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, just has to put out enough heat to get the basking temp up around 100 degrees. I'd recommend a dome fixture with a dimmer so you can fine tune the basking temp by dimming the bulb.

Secondly, you need a T8 florescent tube fixture that will accommodate a bulb at least half the length of the enclosure. So if you go with a 40 gallon breeder, you would want it to accommodate at least an 18" bulb. Don't get one the full length of your enclosure. You need to have one end of the enclosure free of UVB so your beardie can get out of it if he/she wants. For the bulb itself, you only have two options: Reptisun 10.0 or Acadia 12%. You can get the Reptisun bulbs cheapest at http://www.petmountain.com.

The other main thing you will need is an indoor/outdoor thermometer with probe. You can get one at Walmart or any home improvement store. Place the probe on the basking spot directly under the heat lamp and place the base on the opposite end of the enclosure. You want the basking spot (outdoor temp reading) to be around 100-105 and the cool side (inside temp reading) to be 75-85.

Finally, the other super important factor is substrate. DO NOT use any loose substrate like sand, wood chips, etc. Use a flat, solid substrate like tile, reptile carpet, or my personal favorite: non-stick shelf liner.

There is soooo much more to tell you, but those are the basics.