thinking of getting a beardie!

[DeesBalls]

so, since i switched over to my racks, i will have 4 empty tanks. However, i will be using one of them to feed my BP in, since she eats live and a rat could easily jump over the tub..

anyway. few q's on beardies.

how big do they get, what size of aquarium could they live in, they need UVB/UVA lights right? are they people friendly,

thanks, any info would be awesome!

[2006gt]

try beardeddragon.org its a beardie dedicated site. anyway to answer some of your questions....

how big do the get they can get up to 20-22" some bigger some smaller. the minimum is a 40 gallon breeder for a single adult. the UVB light you want is a reptisun 10.0 nothing else thats the most recommended one, and for heat you could get a light that will produce a good enough heat to get a basking temp of 105-110. yes beardies IMO are one of the best pet lizards they are very people friendly and pretty easy maintanance. hope i helped. heres my beardie chomper...!! warning they love to eat hahaha



sleeping

[Reptile_Reptile]

handsome guy you got there. sorry i know next to nothing about beardies

[Lankyrob]

They are the "corn snake" of lizards in my opinion - tend to be a good starter lizard, are pretty hardy in terms of husbandry. We are thinking of getting one for my daughters birthday when she turns 5 (obviously she wont be in sole charge of caring for it, but it will be HER lizard).

My personal choice of lighting/heatinf for my lizards are Mercury Vapour bulbs - they provide heat, UVA and UVB all in one bulb. We turn ours on in the morning and leave them on till approx 9pm when they are turned off overnight (about 12 hours is the recommended amount for most lizards).

They eat meal worms, crickets, roaches or locusts depending on what you haveavailable but also benefit greatly from some greens in their diet (some flowers are good but also some are harmful, i need more research into this) but veggies etc keep them healthy.

They can be housed together but if you get a mixed group then sexually mature males are likely to fight (as well as the possibility of unwanted breeding)

[2006gt]

yes MVB's are good and last a long time but they are exspensive, dont use the powersun bulb it was blinding beardies. also greens are a must in their diet. they also grow fast so i would just start out with the 40 breeder. also if you want to feed roaches which is really good for them as long as you feed the roaches good, put them in a lil bowl and the beardie will go eat them.

and thanks reptile

[NennaMeerkat]

I want to add in my two cents about Beardies since I also own one. They can live up to 20 years I believe and make wonderful additions to any family. As someone else said you need a 40 gallon "long" (longer than taller) aquarium to house one adult in. I would suggest buying it from the get go even if you get a baby. Gives the young'in plenty of room to run around while they are still uber energetic.

Babies need to eat plenty of crickets, meal worms, ect. Though I prefer crickets compared to meal worms as they are more mobile and gives the lizard a chance to "chase" down some prey. Though when they get older they don't so much chase as just wait for one to come by (at least my lazy bum does). When they get older you need to add greenery to their diet and give them access to some sort of veggie at least every other day, though I never let my guy have a chance to not have something to eat on.

Now there are good and bad food, here are the good:
Alfalfa, Cactus Pear, Collard Greens, Dandelion Greens, Endive, Escarole, Mustard Greens, Phoenix Worms (obviously a bug), Silkworm (bug), Squash of any kind, Turnip Greens.

Things you should NEVER feed are:
Rhubarb, Wheat Bran, Avocado

Plenty of people, including myself in the past, have fed their lizard only lettuce (iceburg is the number one culprit) as a steady diet. However these provide little nutrition overall but can be fed with any of the other things above. I would NEVER feed my own dragon iceburg only cause it doesn't have any nutritional value for myself mostly just moisture if it is really fresh.

As they get older gradually switch to a diet mostly of veggies and then suppliment with crickets or what not whenever you feel. My dragon gets around 20 crickets twice a week and has access to some sort of "salad" every day. Of course water is a must all the time. Mine enjoys soaking quite often in his dish even though he is a bit to big for it now.

The bedding I choose is the Alfalfa pellets that 'Zilla makes especially for reptiles. Gives off a good smell, hides his poops smells well, and absorbs the poo pretty good. Not only that but if he decides he wants to chow down on it or accidentally eats some of it when eating normally it doesn't harm him and there is no chance of impaction like there would be with sand or just about any other substrate. You could get reptile carpet BUT I don't like to clean and my dragon enjoys digging out a ditch to rest in while he is sleeping.

[NennaMeerkat]

2006gt You got an awesome dragon! I wish mine was as big as yours. How old is he?

[2006gt]

Originally Posted by NennaMeerkat

2006gt You got an awesome dragon! I wish mine was as big as yours. How old is he?

Thanks!!, he turned 1 on october so he is 1 year 3 months. i got him from a breeder he is a citrus/sunfire. he only eats super worms and dubia he will not eat crickets for some reason, i think he is lazy haha. lets see a pic of yours

[NennaMeerkat]

Oh well that explains his size! If he is only eating super worms then that explains everything LOL Have you started him on greens daily yet?





My guy is older than yours and is on crickets twice a week with greens every day. He wouldn't eat a meal worm of any kind and never has.

Aren't super worms really fatty? I mean I would think them as a treat but I didn't think that they were *good* for them. Kinda like we can live off fast food but it isn't *good* for us kind of thing?

[2006gt]

fatty worms are wax worms those are treats, supers are fine they have a higher meat to shell ratio than crickets and he also eats dubia roaches too and greens everyday of coarse haha he will only eat celery,dandelion greens(his favorite) collards, and shredded carrots nothing else he is picky, but superworms are fine, and he loves em!!

and very nice beardie, i like the colors on his face/beard my guys was almost white/yellow when he was a baby thats why i got him all the others were more of a normal baby color here he is

[NennaMeerkat]

I think mine is a fire but the breeder we got him from didn't say. I just know that the bright orange/yellow/red isn't "normal". Also I have to admit I love Kyjinn's neck and how dark it is. He likes to show it off as well.

Okay and yeah I did have them confused...the worms that is. Did some quickie research. I did find many cases where the super worms, if eaten whole, can chew their way through the gut of the lizard. I dunno your procedure on feeding your guy them but *shrug* It might be just that freak thing.

[2006gt]

yeahh i feed him them whole he really like to chew them up so they die in his mouth haha. they can chew through like geckos and other lizards cause they dont chew as good.

[NennaMeerkat]

Gotcha ^.^ I knew my dragon chewed the heck out of his crickets, but I also know that every lizard is different and some might not chew. Congrads on having a fat happy dragon

[Reptile_Reptile]

i just wanted to add on the veggies part mainly just dandelion greens. if you didnt know its the foliage at the bottom of the plant and if you are harvesting it yourself from around your property then you want to wait for night because all the sap and nutrients in the stalk go into the base and its much tastier and healthy for the reptile (i know this cause my friend has a Russian tortoise and thats what we do)

kinda an insignificant insight but i hope it helps

[NennaMeerkat]

Never even knew "dandelion greens" literally meant the weeds in my backyard LOL Though since they spray for insect pests in our neighborhood I think I will just keep away. Wouldn't want even the smallest chance of something bad happening.

Still though interesting info!