Bearded dragon

[chickenlover210]

getting a 7-8 month old beardie soon. what do i need. what kind of floor covering, and the basics. please help

 

[Dar]

it is a male or a female?

I breed beardies...

for one dragon i would suggest a tank no smaller then a 30 gallon of course bigger if you can

you will NEED
a heat lamp (depending on where you are depends on how much wattage you will need)

a UVA/UVB bulb **must have so dragon can properly absorb calcium and vit D for healthy bone growth and prevention of metabolic bone disease

some sort of bedding... I have always used play sand with no problems, you can usr calci sand from a pet store it is expensive and not necessary if you ask me, you can also use newspaper (i would recommend this for the first little while so you can monitor the poop), you can also use repti turf...its like astro turf/indoor out door carpet (this is washable but its nasty to wash)

you need a temperature probe or thermometer to monitor the heat

some dragons like a place to hide



what would be "nice"
tank decorations

programmable timer for lights

PM me if you need to know the basic care

food

any questions

enjoy yr dragon

 

[Epona142]

Hi!

The first thing you need to know is hatchling beardies are a TON of work and can be expensive for the CORRECT and healthy set-up.

Please do not be fooled by the pet store employee who will often try to sell you things that are NOT healthy for a beardie.

Let's start with things you do NOT need.

Mealworms - too much chitin, beardies have a kinked digestive tract and there are hundreds of reports of beardies dieing from impaction after eating mealies.

Sand of any type - While adults are often housed safely on playsand, babies should NOT be. Beardies taste everything in their environment and will often become impacted by sand. Do NOT buy calci-sand! This stuff is NOT digestible and is dangerous. This has been proven time and time again to cause serious issues in beardies.

Things you will need.

A large enough enclosure. - A hatchling can live happily in a 20 gallon long for a while, but beardies grow fast when fed properly. An adult will need a forty or fifty gallon BREEDER tank.

UVB light. - This is ESSENTIAL to a healthy bearded dragon. They MUST have UVB to grow properly. Lack of this can cause MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease). You will need at least a 10.0 Bulb, and the dragon must be able to bask within twelve inches of it.

Heat. - A heat lamp, separate from the UVB. Beardies need a very high temperature basking spot, approximately 101 degrees Fahrenheit. The ambient enclosure temperate should be around eighty.

Temperature Probe - Please don't use the little stick on thermometers. They are pretty useless. The best thing to get is a probe for meat to measure temperature.

Substrate - What goes in the bottom of the tank. With hatchlings, you NEVER want to use a particle substrate. Do NOT use aspen, walnut shell, bark, sand, etc. Use papertowels, reptile carpet, astroturf, or the most recommended, non-adhesive shelf liner that you can find easily at wal-mart.

Hides - He will need a place to hide. A half log works well.

Diet - Hatchling dragons need LOTS of food, mostly insects. Recommended insects are crickets, phoenix worms, silkworms. They will eat A LOT of food. You would be better off ordering online. If you need help finding a place to order, just tell me and I will help you out. The baby should also get salad. NO iceburg lettuce. You will want to feed dark greens (except spinach) and stuff like shaved squash is always nice. As the dragon gets older, it will eat more salad and less insects. The prepared diets you see at the store can be mixed with the salad and eventually given as the bulk of the diet.

Calcium powder - You can get this at the pet store and the insects being fed should be dusted with this around three times a week.

The beardie - I personally would recommend you ask about some online breeders and order from them, but if you must buy a beardie from the store, look for one that looks alert and bright eyed and is larger than the others.

There is MUCH more to know! But you will not regret it, beardies are among the best lizards you can have. I love mine with a passion.

This is an excellent site. I am linking straight to their care sheet, and their forums are a WONDERFUL place to start learning about bearded dragon care.

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/

GOOD LUCK! Don't be afraid to ask questions, I have been working with and rescuing reptiles for about fifteen years now, and there are several other experienced reptile keepers on here as well.

 

[chickenlover210]

ok-so i have 1 quick question on breeding- is it hard to breed and if so would it be a good project? i'm looking at making a very large glass incloser/reptile thing. ive read that babies can hatch at room temperature in a dark place-is that true?

 

[texas_chick]

As flooring I found I like Reptile Liner the best. It's heavy paper that comes on a roll so you just cut off what you need. It's got knobs on it for traction.
In fact I even use it right now for my baby chicks.
Look like this:

 

[Dar]

Quote:
no its not...

you need humidity and lots of it its just like hatching chicken eggs...there are things that must be done and other things you cant do... you can not turn the eggs or the babies will die..

it is not a good project!!!! beardies are (pardon the expression) a dime a dozen...to make sure you have great homes after your experiment is really hard the babies are a LOT of work and a lot of the time getting crickets as small as what you need (pin heads to 1/4") are really hard to get

if you want to learn about hatching a clutch of dragons go to a local breeder and ask if you can study his/hers most of them will be flattered by the request.

I have stopped breeding because the market is so saturated with unwanted reptiles that it was unethical to continue

if you want pictures of baby dragons minutes after a hatch let me know i have a ton

but please do NOT breed and hatch a clutch just for a project...you need to have a real love of the dragon and understanding of the needs
breeding can pose a very real danger to your female...egg binding like in chickens is a very common problem which can set you back hundreds at a herp vet.

 

[Andora]

I have a beardie, and he's so much fun!

We had the wrong kind of UVB light for his first year, and as a result his growth is stunted. The pet store told me the wrong thing to get and I didn't know any better. Do not get coil lights! We have a 10.0 bulb now and he's actually grown a little since getting it.

Beardies need a salad every day and adult beardies need around 50 crickets a week. I give mine worms for treats--occasionally meal worms (I know about the skin...), silkworms, etc. I order different kinds of worms for him online every now and then. He loves butterworms! For the salads, no lettuce because it's mostly just water that will cause diarrhea and has little nutrients. No spinach either, it binds calcium away. My beardie loves basil, mustard or turnip greens, carrots, acorn squash, berries, apples...bananas give him scary stinky poop lol.

You don't want to feed him anything (bugs or salad) larger than the space between the eyes.

My lizard is in an 85 gallon tank. It's really tall, so we went to Lowes and got concrete landscaping blocks and concrete glue and built him different platforms. He can get up close to the basking light, or go under the platforms to hide.

Beardies need to be misted or sprayed on the head (not the entire cage) once every other day or so.

They like to be bathed in warm water once a week.

For substrate I have tiles laid in the bottom. I just lift out the tiles he poops on, disinfect, and drop back in.

 

[Epona142]

What mjsdhs said. You'll spend way more in caring for the babies than you ever could make back, if you manage to find them all homes even.

 

[chickenlover210]

I'm lucky- where i'm getting my dragon, they don't eat crickets, she has like 40, so she feeds them all chicken- perfect site.

 

[Epona142]

What?

Care to share this site? PM me if you like.