Some Beardie Questions

[TheRedDragon]

I will be getting a bearded dragon soon, but, before I do, I just want to verify some things.

First off, it's a baby female, I was thinking of starting her in a 10 gallon tank with a screen top and overhead UV lamp. Would this be a recommended enclosure, or would something else be more adequate?

Also, what do you guys use for substrate? I don't want to put them on sand, as I'm worried about impaction.

I know that beardies are omnivorous; is dusted lettuce, crickets, mealworms, and carrots good enough for a varied diet? Do they like fruit?

Thank you in advance for any information provided. :)

[herpslave]

I would start a baby off in a 20 long. It would be much easier to make the temps how they should be as well basking spot in a 20 long. You will need a basking light that makes the basking spot atleast 105-110 degrees. And the temps should be in the high eighties or low nineties on the other side of the tank. A second requirement is probably and overhead long tube like flourescent bulb. Reptisun 5.0 or higher.

If you are afraid of impaction, like me. Use papertowels, or adhesive shelf liner. Both look quite nice.

Lettuce is never safe for a beardy. Nor healthy. It causes diahreah, and is mostly made up of water. Neither are carrots as they contain too much vitamin A and cause edema I believe. Some good things to start her off with are collard greens, radish greens, yellow and butternut sqaush and sparce mustard greens as they bind calcium. Fruit for a baby and adult is nota good way to start. It can cause renal failure. Which will lead to death. Maybey a very small piece of raspberry a week to clear out the digestive system.

You will not want to feed your beardy anything larger than the space between they're eyes. This risks impaction, death, and parlysis. Mealworms contain chittin, and alot of it. So you will not want to feed your beardy these, unless they are freshly molted and a small size. Even for adults they can cause impaction. Crickets or appropriatly sized silkworms should be the only feeders you should feed your beardy at a younge age.

[Joses Hut]

Everything that "Herpslave" said is accurate. We have 20 beardie's at present on paper towel. They are fed collards and dandilion greens, with the occasional addition of acorn squash.

You are more than welcome to visit our site for more information, as well as a caresheet. We are sure that you will enjoy your Bearded Dragon as much as we enjoy ours.

Jose's Hut (http://www3.telus.net/public/storm866)

Sean and Laura

Jose's Hut

[Will]

As for the screen top/overhead lamp, that's what I use and it works well. I actually have two heat lamps - one over a perch, and the other is over a home-made hide. The perch lets him get right up under the heat lamp, and he uses it alot, since they like warmth. The second is over a hide I made by taking some broken pieces of floor tile I had lying around and siliconing them into a sort of cave thingy. The tile holds heat and if he wants to hide(he rarely does), he's got that. It's a 60g tank, and he's been in it his whole life(even as a hatchling).

They do like fruit, but you can't give 'em too much, I'd wait 'til he was older. Mine loves grapes, and raspberries. Stay away from citrus - hard on the stomach or something like that.

One thing mine LOVES is dandelion flowers/greens. We're out in the country, so unsprayed dandelions are literally everywhere. If you get these, they're a great source of food.

Also, for the first bit of life, they are mostly insectivorous, and gradually move over to being more omnivorous. When adults, they eat mostly veggies/pellets, some insects. Until he's probably a couple months old, it'll be almost all insects and as he grows, he'll start eating more greens and less insects. So, it may be a while before he'll actually start eating salad for you. Some people(myself included) get concerned when their baby beardie refuses to touch a salad.

[TheRedDragon]

Thank you so much for all the information! I want to make sure that I can give my little girl the care that she deserves. :)

[drewlowe]

I would also reccomend at least a 20 gal. to begin with, these guys grow at a VERY good rate. Within the first year they should be almost adult size.

As far as salads go stay away from lettuce and stick with dark greens like collard, kale, mustard, turnip, dandelion, endive, bok choy, i also use, carrots, squash (butternut, yellow, and acorn are what i have used) green beans, snow peas, red or green bell peppers, sweet potato, things like that. Usually i pick 2 greens and 2 veggies and rotate them every week for variety.

I also use the beardie pellets by rep-cal, along with crix, butterworms, silkies, and wax worms (treats).

When their babies they will eat more insects and less greens and as they become older you will not need to feed as many insects. My adults are feed around 80% veggies, 5% fruits, and 15 % insects for thier diets.

Fruits should only make up a very small part of thier diet and you can use almost anything. As said above i would stay away from all citrus fruits. I usually feed them mango, kiwi, honeydew, cantalope, strawberries, blueberries, raspberrys, and grapes.


As far as substrate for me i choose wheat bran. The only bad side is if it gets to wet it will mold, but if your prepaired for that then you know how to deal with it. You can either section off a spot for the water dish, or mine get enough water intake by thier salads (i mist them down a little) or pellets that should be softened by water or apple juice. If you decied to use wheat bran i suggest cooking it in a cake pan on 350 for 15-20 mins to ensure you don't have any stowaways.

Jamie

[Will]

You can either section off a spot for the water dish, or mine get enough water intake by thier salads.

I forgot about that. I stopped putting water in his cage years ago. He gets all the water he needs from his food. I give him an occasional bath(every few weeks or so, if he's dirty) and once in a while, he'll drink then, but 99% of his water is in the food. They've adapted wonderfully to water-scarce environments, and I found it to be a waste of time/effort to maintain fresh water in the cage when he never used it anyways. When he was a baby, I left water in there, as I always worry that babies are more prone to dehydration, but after 8-12 months or so, the water was gone since I never saw him use it anyways(and i mean 'never' as in 'Not once'.) .

If I were to do it again, there would be no water from the start, since as mentioned, this could lead to problems(ie spills that develop mold, etc). He was so enthusiastic chasing down crix, that often the water was everywhere by the time he was done. Instead, I would opt for weekly baths. Often he'd sit in the tub, and if the faucet was left on just enough to dribble, he'd go there and get nice, big drinks.

[atw]

Will,

I agree with your water comments. I have stopped offering water because I have never seen them drink it. It is also too much of a pain and those stupid crickets drown in it. I mist the beardies when I notice they are about to shed. I also mist once a week or when I think of it. The female will lick the water up and fans her back out... she really likes it. The male hates it.

I also think it is safe to keep them on sand once they get a fair size because they have excellent aim. And again, it is a lot easier and the crickets cannot hide in it. With paper towel, you can mist around the edges of the enclosure so that it sticks to the bottom of the tank/rubbermaid and as a result, it is harder for the crickets to get under it… especially when they are ½ inchers or smaller. I hate crickets.


So, it may be a while before he'll actually start eating salad for you. Some people(myself included) get concerned when their baby beardie refuses to touch a salad.


Yes... I agree and feel the same. :)

Adam