Bearded Dragons.

[Little Yoshi]

Im getting one of these of a mate at work who has spilt with his wife.

I'm getting everything with it bar the tank.

As far as I know its about foot and half/2 foot long.

So any ideas on a tank? Also live in the middle of no where so know of anyone that delivers crickets and food for them?

Also is it worth getting a cricket keeper or is it just as easy to throw in some food for the blighters?

[PeanuckleJive]

Join a bearded dragon forum, My mate spent months researching it all when he got his, There's a lot of stuff to sort out

they're awesome if they're kept in the right environment, It sounds odd but they'll do sod all if there's just a tiny detail missing, when you get it right they're lively little buggers

[Adam-Griffin]

Rfuk

[How Original]

I would really do your research before buying one bud.

I quite recently bought myself a snake, and did a good 2 years research on them before I got one.

And just basically asked every question I could think of in forums and to my very good friend Nigel who's a snake breeder.

So yeah, look for forums and just ask questions.

Nothing wrong with been new to something, everyone was one day .

[Greetings]

They aren't difficult animals to keep, I've had 2 for over 4 years now.

A Dragon is a big responsibility. While they can go on without any attention for days, they need care when they are growing up. The other thing is that they're very social animals and just having one in the tank is not going to be nice for the poor thing. A mirror will work well for the first few weeks but once they figure out that it's not a real dragon in the reflection they start to ignore it. Mine spent at least a week non stop in front of the mirror when I put one in, then they just went off it completely.

In terms of diet, once they get older they will do with mostly a fruit/vegetable diet. Mine love soft fruit, berries, anything that's red and lettuce.

As for the tank, it should be fairly big. I have a couple, the tank is 150x40cm and 50cm tall. It's not big enough for them so they have to run around in the room.

Other things to consider - they need a UVB 8.0 light, vitamins and calcium.

Edited July 21, 2010 by Greetings

[Little Yoshi]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I know they need alot of room. I have a alcove thing in my room and once i get the right glass going to make that into one big tank for him and let him roam around when im in the room. Well the guy who had this had another one in the tank but this one killed it...so think i will need to be carefull with him.

And how much older is older? Mine will be about 2 years old.

[Greetings]

And how much older is older? Mine will be about 2 years old.

Pretty sure they're fully grown after 2 years but I could be wrong. They all need insects since it's their source of proteins. It's just that when they're grown, they don't need as much protein or calcium so vegetables and fruit will work. Just feed them both and at the same time always have a bowl of green stuff so it can eat when it's hungry.

There are a few things which you sould never give them like chocolate or cheese.

[Little Yoshi]

Pretty sure they're fully grown after 2 years but I could be wrong. They all need insects since it's their source of proteins. It's just that when they're grown, they don't need as much protein or calcium so vegetables and fruit will work. Just feed them both and at the same time always have a bowl of green stuff so it can eat when it's hungry.

There are a few things which you sould never give them like chocolate or cheese.

Yeah i'v been told never to give them choc or cheese. Thanks greet's youv been very helpful.

[forteh]

I dont keep beardies myself* as they dont really do anything for me, however off the top of me head an adult needs the following: -

4x2 tank, preferably wooden as glass doesnt hold heat well.

White reflector spot lamp connected through a dimming thermostat, I think the basking spot below the lamp should be about 105*F, I could be wrong on that one though. The stat probe should be positioned to give the basking temperature but allow the cool end to drop to around 80*F.

Full length UVB emmitting tube of at least 10%, change every 6-9 months, most people recommend the 12% arcadia tubes as they give more out and last a little longer. The dragon should be able to get to within 12" of the tube,

Turn all light and heat off at night time.

Feed live food daily (crickets/ locusts/roaches/worms), as much as the dragon will eat in 10-15 minutes. Live food should be gutloaded and dusted with calcium, a vitamin supplement such as nutrobal should be dusted onto the food once a week. Fresh greens should be available daily, (detailed lists can be found on most caresheets) generally avoid lettuce as it contained very little nutritional value, also avoid foods high in vitamin A as reptiles dont absorb it and can suffer from toxicity.

They are desert dwelling reptiles and do not strictly require a water bowl, however a shallow one can be added to help with humidity for shedding; they may drink from the bowl but they will get moisture from the greens.

Find a reptile specialist vets near you BEFORE you get the dragon, alot of vets will not even see reptiles. Rep vets can be expensive, make sure you can afford the vets bills, if not dont get the dragon.

Theres probably loads Ive missed out on, trawl through some caresheets and sign up on some forums and good luck

*1 corn snake, 2 royal pythons, 1 boa constrictor, 1 western hognose, 3 tokay geckos, 1 axolotl, 4 giant african land snails and about 600 roaches. My OH has about 30 crested geckos, 3 leopard geckos and a uroplatus henkeli

edit: live foods can be bought for cheap from most online suppliers, in their natural habitat locusts would more likely be a beardies staple diet, they are however very expensive to buy (about 10x the cost of crickets). I feed crickets to my tokays as they dont like locusts, I prefer black crickets despite them being noisy (you get used to the constant chirping) because they are meatier and generally slower than the brown silent type (that still chirp, just not as loud). For keeping crickets I use a large flat faunarium, feed them with bran and a small ammount of greens every couple of days - they are very susceptable to humidity and they will die very quickly if they arent kept dry. Dead crickets stink of ammonia, its really not nice.

Edited July 22, 2010 by forteh