ok i have the option to get a bearded dragon i need help making the decision. what are they like are they easy to care for. what kind of food do they need? what kind of care do they need? anything i know nothing about them. i have a leo right now. i have to make a decision soon. please any info will help.
anyone? i have been reading about care so i have an idea on that. what about personality? the lady that has it got it for her son and he is scared to touch it. she is going to send me a pic of it and the set up so i am not sure what kind of set up it has. can they eat Dubai roaches and phoenix worms? that is what my leo is eating.
I've had 3, (2 currently, Brother passed away last year) and they're wonderful and sweet, and once they get used to it, they love human attention. However, if they haven't been handled much, or if they're young, they can be skittish, so you might have to work at it daily (just basic handling and gentle care and attention) so that they warm up, if they're skittish. My girl, Auzzie, was a total chickenshit, hated being touched, would run away from EVERYTHING, and I've been working with her daily, and she now accepts beard pets and everything. It's taken a long time, but then, she's more fearful than most, I think. (got her when she was maybe 4-6 months old) Baby on the other hand, my boy, he's a creampuff, because I had him from 2 months of age, handled him every day, hand fed him, and he'll take any kind of handling and attention. Do you have a set up for it already? They need at minimum a 40gal tank, larger is preferred, and they'll need a basking spot, cool end of the tank, hiding place, and if you can, try to keep one corner of the tank clear of furniture, because sometimes they automatically pick a corner and always poo there. (Not Auzzie, but Baby does this) They can eat dubia roaches and phoenix worms, but make sure you don't give it too big of food. How old is the beardie? If it's very young, you'll want small bugs. (I don't have much experience with your bugs, I've fed crickets and superworms, but phoenix worms and dubias are really healthy, so good) Also, they'll eat veggies. I give mine collard greens, and occasionally mustard or dandelion greens, but they can eat a wide variety of veggies. More bugs when younger, more veggies when adults. Also, what kind of substrate can you use for it? I use bath towels that I cut to the size of the tank, and they work great. When I clean the tank, I take the towels outside, shake them out, then run them through the laundry, and then pull off any loose strings from the edges and roll them right back into the tanks. Beardies are really great lizards, but any info you can provide on your supplies/set up for it will help determine what you'll need for it, if you're missing anything! If you ARE able to take care of it (beardies live 7-12 years on average, sometimes longer, with good care) I would say go for it, but only if you know you can keep it for all that time. They're wonderful, sweet, they have great individual personalities, they're comical and fun, and utterly endearing. My life wouldn't be the same without them, but if you aren't able to devote everything it needs, then don't take it unless it's just to find it another permanent home. You've got a leo, so I'm sure you already know the basics, so if you are able to, I would say go for it, because beardies are, in my opinion, the best. : D
Saw your post in the What Do You Do for Work thread, and figured I'd post my response to your post there here, too, in case you don't see it there: Wow, you've got your hands full! Sounds like you're on top of everything. XD Just saying though, if your kids have already been exposed to all those animals, they'll probably be great with the beardie, if you get it!
yeah my son seen an adult beardie at a pet store he wanted it or at least to hold it he is the 4 year old. it is suppose to come with a complete set up i will no more when i get the pics.
Glass tanks; the mesh will be a pain in the rear to meaintain a proper temperature gradiant and they can tear more easily. Be VERY Cautious about the complete setup at the pet store... most of the time pet stores provide you with useless, expensive materials. It is absolutely imperative that you get the proper UVB producing bulb, size enclosure, and other proper materials. I will elaborate on this and what Wren said in this post. If you are getting an adult, things will be a little easier for you. I may repeat a few things Wren said in this post, but just want to reinforce any main ideas and make sure we get all the bases covered = ) Juveniles are a lot of work, and if this is more of a sudden buy I would highly recommend against it and doing more research to prepare. For some reason, the idea of bearded dragons being great beginner pets floats areound, and while they have absolutely amazing personalities and are hands down one of the best lizards for handling and human interaction, they are a TON of work compared to a leo. Juveniles will consume immense quanitites of insects... it is not uncommon for a baby beardie to eat in excess of 50-60 insects in a single day in addition to salad items. This can make feeding quite costly, and you would almost have to order bugs online or begin breeding your own unless cost isn't much of an issue for you. Time demands due to this are also much greater - They will need a salad made every morning, and juvies need 2-4 insect feedings spread throughout the day allowing them to eat as much as they can in 10-15 minutes. If you are very busy, young dragons will not be an ideal option. Adults are significantly easier though: An adult dragon will be eating mostly salad in the diet...roughly 75% plus. I only feed my adult a few insects every other day or every couple of days and rely on the salad as the main food source in addition to some Rep-Cal pellets. Baby beardies grow incredibly fast and put all of their food energy into growth, while adults will begin storing fat around internal organs such as the liver if fed too much fatty food. Once the setup is complete, adult dragons don't require nearly as much time to care for. Just making a salad every morning, spot cleaning daily, feeding bugs every now and then, and interaction/handling. As Wren said, a 40 gallon breeder tank is the bare mimum - but they would really prefer a 65 or 75 gallon that has the extra foot of length (48" x 18") to create 6 square feet of floorspace if you can accomodate it. Unlike leos, they need a UVB producing bulb. These can be costly, and need replaced every 6 months if you get a flourescent,or every 12 months if you get a Mercury Vapot Bulb (MVB). They also need things a lot hotter than your leo: basking temperature should be ~105, with an ambient gengeral warm end of about 90 and a cool end of around 80. Adults can handle a slightly cooler basking temp due to their mass while babies like it hotter... usually the ideal basking temp for adults is 100-105 and for babies its about 105-110. Enclosure decor can be fairly minimal - but it is very important to avoid sands and other particulate substrates. Honestly, I'm not even all that fond of keeping adults on sand even though most say that this is 'ok.' Bearded dragon anatomy ruins them for impactions - they way their stomach empties into the intestines is very poor compared to other herps like leos, so much less sand or particulate is needed to cause a backup and result in impaction. Use non-adhesive shelf liner, slate tiles, paper towel, carpet, etc. Devor really only needs to be a basking spot, you don't want it too cluttered but you can provide a hide or some other structures, but leave room for roaming. Most beardies spent the vast majority of their day on the basking spot - just make sure they can get within 6-8" of the UVB producing bulb if its a flourescent, or within 12-15" of an MVB. Here are some very helpful links that I'll assign you for homework, not only are they full of good information, but they provide easy and essential information that you will need to care for the animal and set up the enclsoure. They are all quick reads, and things you should bookmark to reference throughout the time you have the dragon = ) How to decide on a UVB producing bulb: http://www.reptileboards.com/threads/uvb-basics.64396/ How to decide on Substrate: http://www.reptileboards.com/threads/beardie-substrate-101.64836/ What salad items and insects to feed your dragon (GREAT site, I still use this all the time for references. Color coded for staple salad items, occasional, rare, and things to never feed): http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html In addition I'd recommend reading all of the "Stickied" threads at the top of the bearded dragon forum, they are highlighted in blue. These are all useful. And as always, if you have ANY questions, ask away! We are here to help you with anything! = ) But on a side note, if you can accomodate the space, cost, and time demands of a bearded dragon they are absolutely wodnerful pets. They truly can enjoy human interaction and will often crave it, and they can recognize different people. Their personalities are unmatched in my book, which is why so many people recommend them as pets despite their greater care demands.
Jeff is waaaaay better at explaining their needs than I am, clearly. XD They are a LOT of work, especially when they're young. I tend to forget about that now, because mine are out of the baby phases. XD But even though they require a lot of love and attention and work, they are worth it! And it's really true about recognizing individual people. They're so incredible! And silly. Auzzie is out and about-she just ran across my lap and typed this, 'x ,q ' AS WELL AS TURNED up my volume, and clearly she turned on my capslock too. XD She's a good girl.
