is keeping beardie difficult?

Discussion in 'Bearded Dragons' started by teiryklav, Jan 6, 2009.

  1. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

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    793
    i've always wanted a beardie but i'm considering about some difficulties about keeping them,

    few question, is a beardie a lizard for advanced or begginer?

    i 've known that beardie need a quite large place, could you tell me the minimal possible place for a bearded dragon? (L x W x H)

    how many times should i feed a baby beardie a day and with how many crickets?

    and for adult, how many greens should i give per day? how many crickets per week?

    for lighting and heating, for how long should a beardie bask? and from the beardie to the uv light should be how far to be safe? (height)

    should i use sand for substrate for adult?

    thank you :D
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. MimC

    MimC Moderator

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    Beardies are AWESOME lizards to keep - they can be a great beginer lizard - provided you have the time and space to properly commit to them.

    Most of the questions you are asking are anwered already in the beardie forums - if you read some old posts you will find all that info and more. Also, check out the caresheets on this forum, as well as www.beautifuldragons.com.

    Ok...

    1. Tank size. An adult beardie needs a minimum of a 75gallon tank. Babies can be started out in 20-40g tank, but they grow extremely fast so they will need the adult tank by the time they are a year old.

    2. Baby beardies (up to about 6 months) should be fed crickets three times a day. You should let them eat as many crickets as they want at this time. Depending on the age/size of the dragon - this can be quite a lot of crickets. Currently my 5month old eats upwards of 100 crickets a day, depending on the size of the cricket. The best way to do this (and most cost effective) is to order insects in bulk offline and keep them at your house, otherwise you wills pend a fortune on petstore crickets. Babies should also get veggies daily.

    3. Adults should get a large bowl of veggies daily. Insects a couple times a week.

    4. Beardies are pretty big baskers, so they will bask a large portion of the time. However, if your basking temps are appropriate (110-115degrees) you should see your beardie being quite active - spending some time basking but other times running around, eating and sitting on the cool side. You want to have a brightly lit cage with basking spot available all day. The UVB light distance depends on the brand of bulb.

    5. Sand is acceptable for adults older than one year - as long as your ok with cleaning it often. Most people prefer to go with tile, shelf liner, reptile carpet, etc etc. If you use sand, make sure its washed, fine grain play sand

    hope this helps!
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

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    the height is not really a problem, i'm a bit confused on counting gallon, so could you just give me the minimum long x width?
    shall an adult fit in 40 cm x 60 cm terrarrium?

    HOLLY COW!! 100 crickets a day?! thats a much!

    the uvb light even in day? could we just let it bask in the sun and at night with uvb?

    thx :D
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. stacesam1

    stacesam1 Member

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    when Elliot was a baby he ate about 20 or so crickets 3x a day... not too bad. Also as far as the UVB...the tank should be dark at night and light during the day. Timers help control his/her environment. There should be no light on when he/she sleeps. If you can get your dragon out in the hot sun daily for a good amount of time, that would be fine.. but having a UVB bulb in the tank to keep it warm on one side is essential. A digital temp gun would be a good idea too seeing as you need to ensure that the proper temps are kept at all times.
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

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    oww this is soo harrdddd!!!

    my parents wont let me keep crickets in house!!

    :D :) :huh: :huh: :huh:

    can a sub-adult or an adult go without any crickets?

    how many crickets should go for an adult beardie once feed?
    maybe 2 times a week?
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. bruno

    bruno Moderator

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    Hello,

    I believe you live in Indonesia, is this correct, I think you mentioned that in another post.

    An adult beardie needs a vivarium or tank 120cm (L) x 60cm (W) x 60cm (H). A baby could live in someting smaller but only for one year, so it would be better if you started with the big viv, it would save you money.
    The basking spot should be 41C at one end and cooler at the other. If the beardie is kept in the house all the time a spot lamp (for basking) and a UVB lamp should be used 12 hours a day and no lights at night.
    If you were going to keep it outside in the day time, a glass tank would not be good as the beardie would get too hot. You would need a cage that is well ventilated and a lot of hides, shade so it could cool down when it wanted to.

    Have you a place outside where you could keep the crickets, a glass tank with a tight fitting lid but ventilated would be good. Would your parents let you keep roaches or silkworms, these are also good for beardies, instead of crickets.

    All baby beardies up to one year old DO need some kind of insects, after that they often wont eat any or not as many.

    Hope this helps you.
     
  12. stacesam1

    stacesam1 Member

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    748

    Just get a cricket keeper... keep it in your garage or somthing. I hated the thought of keeping crickets in my home too, but got over it fairly quickly. Good luck!!
     
  13. MimC

    MimC Moderator

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    Even adult dragons will need some insects in their diet - it doesnt have to be crickets, it can be silkworms, superworms or roaches or something - but they do need insects a couple times a week.

    If you have petstores that sell insects in the area then you can just go to the store a couple times a week to buy crickets - this eliminates having to keep them in the house.
     
  14. Nessi

    Nessi Member

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    That's what I do. I live down the road from a pet store I trust and I just stop frequently to get the crix. I don't mind keeping silks and supers in the house, but crix freak me out. I also have a hard time keeping them from the cats. They are so fascinated and they love to get into the crix. I have raised a baby on teenie tiny silks. It's pretty expensive but she didn't take to crix when she was a baby so I had to find something for her. Will they let you have worms?
     
  15. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

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    793
    because everyone knows i live in indonesia, let me tell you something about it, there're nearly no petshop!, and even though there are some, some would rarely sell reptiles, maybe just 3-4 petstore in my town (capital) sell reptiles and they're equipment (not including turtles) many pet shop are just "store without name" and its not near my house,

    and for roaches, my mom are so so so afraid of roaches, she wont let me do them, and worms????
    i cant imagine that.. :) :D i dont like worms either,, is keeping cricket difficult? more difficult than worms?
    why?
     
  16. Nessi

    Nessi Member

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    I think keeping the silks is the easiest and you can keep them the longest. You just buy a couple of pods a month and they will usually last the whole month. They come in a nice little container with food, use tweezers to pull out several a couple times a day and voila! They sit in the dish until they are lunch...or dinner. For the baby beardies, they are really tiny so you get more per pod. Bottom line is, beardies eat insects of some sort so you have to feed them insects. I was very squeemish at first but after a while, I got used to it.
     
  17. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

    Messages:
    793
    please no..!
    yes i believe that i will get used to worms, but,
    my parents wont let me, if keeping bearded dragon (and the insect) so difficult my parents wont let me keep a beardie either,,
     
  18. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

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    793
    btw can we go with catterpilars?
    i see that they're very sensitive to pestiside, they will die if we put some pestiside there,
    so it must be clean, but can beardie eat them?
     
  19. bruno

    bruno Moderator

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    1,677
    Hi,

    In view of our different locations around the world.

    To avoid any confusion here when we talk about "worms".

    The one's we refer to are all beetle larvae, NOT the one's found in the garden.
    Silkworms, waxworms, superworms etc are all specially bred for reptiles.

    Some places do sell "earth worms" or "lob" worms, as they are sometimes called, but they commercially bred and are usually used for fishing. I have tried to find on the web the nutritional value of them but have had no success. I would be very wary of using them.

    My advice is do not feed ANY insects, worms or caterpillars found outside as these may have pesticides or other toxins in their systems. They could be fatal to a beardie.

    It sounds like you would have great difficulty getting regular supplies, so I don't know what to suggest, as beardie's DO need them as part of their diet.
     
  20. MimC

    MimC Moderator

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    1,602
    If you are having that much issue with the insect thing - i would suggest going with a different reptile thats herbivorous.

    A small tortoise such as a russian or a hermanns would be great for that.

    A uromastyx would also be great as they dont need any insects.
     
  21. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

    Messages:
    793
    yea, i dont think i can find beardie in my country either :)
    maybe there are, but i dunno,,

    i dont really like tortoise,,

    maybe uro, btw what is uro like? like beardie but with strange tail right?
    how big can they grow?
     
  22. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

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    793
    i've fallen in love with beardie first :)
     
  23. teiryklav

    teiryklav Member

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    793
    btw mimc i read in the uro forum that they're not BEGGINER lizard since its my first case with lizard is that good?

    maybe for an adult BD i can get much cricket..
     
  24. kephy

    kephy Moderator

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    In my personal opinion, bearded dragons aren't beginner lizards either. They are very expensive and high maintenance. The babies are actually very fragile. The adults are hardy it's true, but to me that doesn't mean they are easy to take care of. I don't think they are for beginners. I find geckos and snakes to be far easier for a beginner.
     
  25. MimC

    MimC Moderator

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    1,602
    I think the statement "for beginners" is very up to interpretation. Both Uros and Beardies are extremely hardy animals - providing that you do the proper research and give them the specific care requirements that they need. So in this respect - they can be "beginner" lizards...meaning that if you do the right research, make an educated purchase and provide all the necessary requirements they will thrive, be good eaters, grow readily, and live a long time.

    They are not "beginner" in the sense that they can be purchased and thrown into any old set up with inadequate heat/light/diet etc - but then again, no reptiles really can.

    Whenever looking to purchase a reptile make sure you understand the commitment you are getting into - make sure you have the correct tank size and set up and are prepared for the adult size etc. If so, then you are set up to succeed. If provided with the proper set up and care than both beardies and uros are extremely hardy and relatively"easy" lizards.
     

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