Getting a bearded dragon today!

[rubb3rchicken]

OMG im so excited!

OK, well i was planning to get one when im older and have a bit more room, but i was working in the pet sho yesterday and me and another who works there, who was also considering buying one, were standing behind the till. A man came in and said something along the lines of
'Hi, I've got 2 bearded dragons i need to get rid of, know anyone interested?'
So we looked at each other, looked back at the man and said
'YES! US!'
He was happy to hear this and said he would also give us the equiptment for one tank.

I rearanged my room, and now i have space to build him a tank.
Im going to meet the guy today and get myself a beardy! I wanted a beardy but babies are like £80 from pet shops.

Anyway i just wanted to tell somepeople, and il post pictures later.

;D

[deadmansfinger]

cool! remember they get between 2-3 feet depending on species so you'll need a big tank, at least 4'x2'x2'

here's my tank, it's 5'x4'x3.5'

www.fotki.com/deadmansfinger/bd

Also, what kind of UV lighting are you planning on using? I would recommend a Mercury Vapour Bulb to provide heat/lighting as they are far superior to the usual combo of heatbulb and UV tube.

I got my beardy the same way. I was visiting my friend in his petshop and a guy walked in with a 2 week old beardy (it was tiny) that his 8 year old daughter was fed up with already and asked if anyone wanted it. Why buy a kid a BD? Anyways from the link above you will see him now, he is 9 years old and just about 24" in length.

If you need any info or help just drop me a pm.

Brian.

[(¯`·._.·[Samm]·._.·´¯)]

No fair I wan'ted one....
Brian - Nice set up you have there

[rubb3rchicken]

Thanks guys.

Brian i love you setup, i will build a tank for mine, like my snakes, a normal viv with glass sliding doors. But i have a few questions:

how many and how often should i feed my beardy crickets?

what fruits and veg can they eat?

what lights do i need for it?
(I brought one for it today, its one which supplies heat, its a 60 watt reflector lamp.)

On all the websites I've seen they say that a tank 36"x18"x18" is ok for an adult. Do you agree with them?

Well heres my beardy, its a girl, the poor thing only has 3 feet and helf a tail Well im glad i get to give her a good home
She is sandy and orange in colour.





Shes so nice.

[erica]

ahhh, she's lovely - it's nice that she's going to such a good home. has she got a name yet?

[goose]

She's lovely - looks like she has had a bit of a rough life so far- thank god she ended up with you to pamper her!

[rubb3rchicken]

Thanks guys, yeh i named her peggy lol

[deadmansfinger]

rubb3rchicken said:

Thanks guys.

Brian i love you setup, i will build a tank for mine, like my snakes, a normal viv with glass sliding doors. But i have a few questions:

how many and how often should i feed my beardy crickets?

what fruits and veg can they eat?

what lights do i need for it?
(I brought one for it today, its one which supplies heat, its a 60 watt reflector lamp.)

On all the websites I've seen they say that a tank 36"x18"x18" is ok for an adult. Do you agree with them?

Well heres my beardy, its a girl, the poor thing only has 3 feet and helf a tail Well im glad i get to give her a good home
She is sandy and orange in colour.





Shes so nice.

it depends on its age how much it eats, let me know.
i've not come across anything they wont eat. mine loves peppers.

for lighting you need a UV tube (something like 5.0 uvb iguana light) and a heat lamp. Personally I would use a MV bulb. these are more expensive it would seem (around £50 each and need replaced every 10 months) but if you take a UV tube will cost you £30 and last same amount of time or less and then you need to buy heatbulbs on top of this then it works out the same. also you wont need a convertergear like you would need with a UV tube or a thermostat to run your heater if you use the MV bulb (these cant be put on a thermostat so you need to buy the exact size for you tank).
finally, i do not agree a 36"x18"x18" tank is big enough. The lizard is going to get at least 24" long so will not be able to easily turn in an 18" tank. I would say MINIMUM 36"x24"x24" but ideally 48"x24"x24". you have a decent sized lizard so are going to need to get it decent sized accomodation.

With regards to feeding, never feed a bearded dragon any food larger than the space between its eyes. It could put it into shock and kill it. see this link under feeding section:-
www.anapsid.org/bearded.html

Let me know what size/age it is and I will let you know about feeding. Do you have a tank just now? you need to get some form of UV ASAP though.

Brian.

Just wanted to add in that dragons reach there full adult length by 12 months old so if it is older than that then it wont get bigger, just bulkier. If it is younger than that then it will be fully grown by this age. they are the one lizard you cant say "i will get a small tank now and a bigger one later" as they grow so quick.

[deadmansfinger]

with regards to your heat bulb? is it on a thermostat? does it have a guard over it??

Brian.

[rubb3rchicken]

Ok well i have her in a tank for now, but i will build a bigger one as soon as i can, i will need to save up some money from saturday job for a week or two, or i could ask my dad to give me money and then build the cage with him and say that thats can be my early christmas present.

If i cant do that then i wil have to wait a week until i can build a new viv. And then buy uv bulb. OR i could get a uv bulb for her current tank and wait another week for bigger tank.

What seem better?


My beardy is about 2 years old and is pretty small compaired to others ive seen, i would weigh her but im letting her settle in.

I am fitting thge light this evening, i am going to make sure that she wont be able to come in contact with it.

[deadmansfinger]

rubb3rchicken said:

Ok well i have her in a tank for now, but i will build a bigger one as soon as i can, i will need to save up some money from saturday job for a week or two, or i could ask my dad to give me money and then build the cage with him and say that thats can be my early christmas present.

If i cant do that then i wil have to wait a week until i can build a new viv. And then buy uv bulb. OR i could get a uv bulb for her current tank and wait another week for bigger tank.

What seem better?


My beardy is about 2 years old and is pretty small compaired to others ive seen, i would weigh her but im letting her settle in.

I am fitting thge light this evening, i am going to make sure that she wont be able to come in contact with it.

if she is 2 years old then she wont get any longer. how long is she? maybe her growth is stunted do to bad care? any ideas? I would go for the UV tube quicker. Make sure you get a decent one which is going to around £30 for the tube plus the cost of the convertergear to run it. The tubes you get that are cheaper are rubbish and provide literally no decent UV light. So get a 5.0 up to 8.0 UVB light.
Once she gets some UV and some decent food (make sure to gutload the livefood with lots of calcium) she will quickly bulk up.
I give my dragon a plate of veggies each day and livefood about 3 times a week. I feed him about 10 giant mealworms each time and about the same in cockroaches. somedays he doesnt eat that much, sometimes you cant fill him up. I have found as he gets older he eats less and less fruit and veggies, no idea if this is the norm but just something I noted.

FYI i built my tank for £50 excluding the tiling on the inside so building your own is a good option.
I would use 2"x2" timber screwed together for the frame. if you buy it from a timber yards it costs a few pence per foot. I would then buy a sheet of plywood, around 6mm thick and this is around £15 to buy. This comes in 8'x4' sheets and will do sides, back and base of your viv. I would make whole roof mesh ( then you could position the heater on top of this) and then glass sliding doors and some runners and your done.
Inside is totally your choice. Paint is cheaper and easier. The tiles I did were simply for ease of cleaning but they were difficult and time consuming to do. Or you could do nothing as the tank will be very dry due to it being a desert setup. Also dragons very rarely drink from still water and instead get most of their water from their food so make sure the veggies and well washed when he gets them. I spray my dragon a couple of times a week and he drinks when I spray him. I also put him in the shower every week or two depending on how much he is shedding and let him have a soak and he drinks this water too.

Again, any info you need, give me a shout. You have got what I consider to be the best pet lizards available.

Brian.

[rubb3rchicken]

wow thanks for the help.

I am planning to get an exo terra 8.0 uv bulb, but how much of the tank does it need to cover?

I was told i should feed my dragon twice a day with insects.

I was going to bulid a tank by just getting 4 pieces of wood for top, bottom of sides, a thinner sheet for the back and then put glass doors on the front like the one i built for my snake,


I didnt quite understand what you said about how to build one. Do you have pics, sorry.

Thanks alot though

Peter

[deadmansfinger]

rubb3rchicken said:

wow thanks for the help.

I am planning to get an exo terra 8.0 uv bulb, but how much of the tank does it need to cover?

I was told i should feed my dragon twice a day with insects.

I was going to bulid a tank by just getting 4 pieces of wood for top, bottom of sides, a thinner sheet for the back and then put glass doors on the front like the one i built for my snake,


I didnt quite understand what you said about how to build one. Do you have pics, sorry.

Thanks alot though

Peter

the uv tube only need to be over her basking spot and no more than 10" away from her. the uv rays from these tubes doesnt travel very far.
twice a day is excessive. bowl of veggies everyday and livefood every other day is sufficient. morio worms are best but a variety is obviously best. locusts are good too.
that tank looks like one of melamine vivs that you buy flatpack. I have the 4'x2'x2' version for my snails. if you are building your own i would recommend building a frame like i said and attaching the plywood to it with tacks/nails etc
its not easy to just nail 4 bits of wood together and make a tank without it falling apart, thats why i use a frame for support.

Make sense?

Brian.

[cornbug]

thought this might help,when i got my corns i was looking for a new viv,was going to buy them a new 4t one and when i went to the reptile shop to get my mice they were having a revamp and was selling there vivs off,the one i brought was the one they kept there beardies in,its 5ft long you can see the 3ft on the top so very big difference.

[deadmansfinger]

same as my 4'x2'x2' one.
i got it off ebay delivered for £99


Brian.

[rubb3rchicken]

OMG please help, i came back in today and saw that my new beardies tank floor was scattered with dead crickets. I fed her some yesterday but none today yet, has she regurgitated them?

If so what should i do?

I will clean them out but should i feed her today?



They look like chewed up crickets.

[gabi]

How much crickets have you feed her yesterday? Maybe to much? Bearded dragons easily can eat to much on live-food. They eat, as long as you offer them, they literally would eat as long until they burst from live-food. Does she eat veggies too? I would suggest to feed her the next days only on veggies and then start out again on livefood.

My dragon usually gets only twice a week 3 subadult locust or adult crickets and feeds mainly on veggies (like in nature, they get pretty fat from too much livefood and get problems with their liver and die earlier).

If she does this regurgitation thingy again, please contact your vet that has experience with reptiles. A visit at the reptile-vet would at all be a good thing, as dragons often carry worms in their indegistiv-system and they cam harm or kill the dragon and that needs to be treated. This regurgitation could be a sign of this. And the vet can tell you, if you have really a girl or if it is a boy.

Is it a sure thing, that she is a girl? female dragons are rare and usually don´t get offered. My "girl" too turned out to be a male, that got hurt by another male in the same viv. They start to fight against each other around 1,5 years old (or earlier). He lives now happily on it´s on in his huge viv here.

Kind regards,

Gabi

[rubb3rchicken]

Thanks gabi, i think i will only feed her veg for the next day or two then i think it may have been because the crickets were too big.

The guy who i got her off had no idea what sex it was.

What veg do you feed your beardie?

And how big is it tank/viv?

Peter

[gabi]

The viv is 2 meters x 70cm x 110cm(height) with sand on the ground and a selfmade background where he can climb on and some cork-bark (large pieces and tunnels) and some wood in. I use T5 Biolight (4 lamps) and a spot (150 watt) and this spot is shining on a large stone where he sits for warming up and digesting. Under the spot needs to reach around 45 degree as he needs this temps for digesting the food (that´s the first thing, that is really necessary for your tank). If you don´t have such an hot spot he cannot digest and maybe this too could be a reason, why he had to throw up the crickets.
You need to find out, what watt your lamp needs to have to reach this temps.

Currently my one feeds on nothing as he is since an month doing his winter-rest. ;D

In summer he loves to have weds and flowers from outside like dandelion (flower and green of th plant), salads, choped cucumber, courgette, carrots.....I do feed him rarely fruits as he gets very thin poo from this. Banana´s does he like and handle well. But you need to find out yourself what your bearded dragon can handle/does like/ not like. Once a week I add some vitampoweder (dosage given from vet) to his veggie-plate. Calcium (chopped cuttlefish or reptile-product) is always available in the tank in a little pot and he licks from time to time on this.

Brians tipps here in the thread are really good and I agree with almost all of the things he has already perfectly said (only the live-food do I give different and in different amounts - but everybody handle´s this different and everybody will tell you something differnt lol ).

[rubb3rchicken]

Thankks gabi.

Your tank sounds great.

I will build mine a 4 foot tank in december.

And i will feed her some veg rite now

Peter

[deadmansfinger]

I just saw this and those are definately regurgitated crickets. BD's will literally as Gabi says eat until they burst.

Just realised what I wrote about feeding and it was a typo. I feed mine livefoods about 3 times a week and each time he gets about 10 giant mealworms or 10 cockroaches not both!!!

I would consider getting slightly smaller crickets for her just now, just to make sure she can fully chew them.


Sorry for the confusion.
Brian.

[rubb3rchicken]

Ok thanks brian, i got her some brown crickets.

She is obviously underweight, should i feed her more crickets 3 times a week, or just more often, or more veg?

Peter

[Val]

Hey nice dragon you have there, I'm sure you will enjoy spoiling her!!

Val

[deadmansfinger]

rubb3rchicken said:

Ok thanks brian, i got her some brown crickets.

She is obviously underweight, should i feed her more crickets 3 times a week, or just more often, or more veg?

Peter

I would try feeding about 6 crickets 3 times a week. make sure you dust them with a good calcium powder as she will need this to give her strong bones. I used to get one from my vets for all the rescue animals for about £10 a tub called Nutrabol. the tub will last you for ages. I would also make sure she has fruit/veg all the time so she can eat if she feels the need. Also make sure you give her the fruit and veggies wet so she doesnt become dehydrated. Spraying her every other day would be good too. I generally spray the mouth area and they usually tend to drink. they also love bathing so I would fill your bath will a couple of inches of water and let her bathe, she will drink some of this also.
Aside from this I would sort out the UV if you havent already, this is very important.

Again, any problems send me a pm.

Brian.

[gillianb]

What a lovely dragon you have. I am so jelous. It's so good you're taking care of her and caring for her and asking advice. My dragon, Basil was not so lucky.
A few months ago someone at work someone asked me if I'd be intrested in lizard. Of course I asked for more info on it (I didn't have the room or experience for a Iguana or something that big). I was told it was a beardie and it belonged to my work mate's daughter and son in law. They were moving home after having a baby and didn't have room to take their pet. I said I'd think about it but then I was told if I didn't take it it would be put to sleep. So of course I said yes.
Basil the beardie came with a massive tank (about 1.5 meters by one meter by one meter) and all the heating lamps and uv lights and decorations. I fit him into my flat somehow
But the only thing that Basil was missing was a previous owner who had the right knowledge of lizards to give him the right care. They loved him to bits but unfortently didn't know what care to give him to make his bones strong enough while he was growing. He's about four or five years old and almost completly crippled. When he was delivered they told me he had some arthritis in his back paws which is totally wrong. Basil has no movement in his whole back legs and his front paws. He holds himself up on his weak front legs with his paws bent under him. He moves like a snake does, twisting his body along.
If only his owners had looked up his requirments and asked questions he wouldn't be in this state. He's lived like it all his life and seems used to it. He climbs up onto his slate rock ledge and basks all day and goes mad for mealworms and crickets. But he will never put on weight and his bones will never regrow. All I can do is make his old age more comfortable and give him love.
A sad story but hopefully a happy ending for Basil. I love him and he's part of my mismatched family now.