thinking of getting a beardie! [Archive] - sSNAKESs : Reptile Forum

2006gt

01-16-11, 02:45 AM

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
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/osmbr/005-6.jpg
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/osmbr/005-5.jpg
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/osmbr/036.jpg
sleeping
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/osmbr/041-1.jpg

Reptile_Reptile

01-16-11, 05:54 AM

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

Lankyrob

01-16-11, 07:11 AM

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

01-16-11, 12:11 PM

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

01-16-11, 12:22 PM

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

01-16-11, 12:24 PM

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

2006gt

01-16-11, 02:05 PM

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

01-16-11, 02:21 PM

2006gt

01-16-11, 03:34 PM

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
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/osmbr/1007092056-001.jpg
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/osmbr/1007092056-001.jpg

NennaMeerkat

01-16-11, 03:45 PM

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

01-16-11, 06:24 PM

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

01-16-11, 06:36 PM

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

01-16-11, 08:22 PM

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

01-16-11, 08:51 PM

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!

bo2as

01-16-11, 09:10 PM

hey
Ive had 4 beardie. I LOVed them! unfortunatly i had to get rid of them because of a landlord :( the can get to about 1 to 2 ft with the tail. they are very pple friendly. i used to put mine on a specialleash and bring them almose everywhere when it was hot enough :) theres ALOT of color phases to choose from. some of them are just breath taking! for what u need, well a 35 gallon tank should last you pretty much all their life. i liked coconut chips better than sand for the bedding. my dragons stayed nicer becaus it made less dust. also it doesnt stick to the crikets or food as much when its wet therefor less chances of impaction. a heating pad under the tank. I dont think heat rocks are a good idea because the dragons can easily burn themselves on it (some ppl debate this). a uvb lamp so they can bask. also having a viriety of food is good too. ex feed them crickets and all sorts of worms. when they are older they eat more greens (no iceberg letuce, romaine letuce or spinage) than bugs, so having vitimin powder and calcium is good to have also. mine loved rasberries ;P. a water dish of corse. themometers to check the heat ( very similar to snake temps) and of cours some time everyday to spend with them. if you are a long period of time away and you cant ahndl them they might become a bit shy.. any way i hope you have fun with this new pet. youl see they are just great:)

DeesBalls

01-17-11, 12:37 AM

1st of all, thanks everyone for replying and helping me out with my questions. I am still talking to the fiance about getting one and she did not come right out and say "no" so that is a good sign. I dont want people to think shes controlling, its just we are saving for wedding/honeymoon and dont want to spend the money now. I will already be adding 2 more snakes to my collection this year as well, one being an albino ball, and the other still up in the air, ( pastel ball, miami phase corn or sunkiss corn, or a albino king snake) so we will see.

If everyone could post pics of some set ups so i can see what they look like, that would be awesome!!!!

thanks!

Nafun

01-17-11, 09:07 AM

I don't know if my beardie is an exception, but compared to all of my lizards (tegu, iguana, beardie, and water dragon) he is absolutely the most docile. He was completely tame right out of the box. When we brought him home, he chilled on my shoulder while my wife got his enclosure set up. Then he immediately ate for us.

The only thing I caution is, if you do not have the means to buy insects in bulk (ie: if you have to buy crickets from a pet store at like 10 cents each), he will eat you out of house and home. They are insatiable eating machines. A beardie will eat 30 appropriate sized insects three times a day if you let him. They're actually cheaper to feed once they get a little older and start eating greens in addition to insects, but when they're in that early super fast growing phase (mine went from about 3 inches to about 16 inches in about 8 months) they have the appetite of a black hole.

NennaMeerkat

01-17-11, 09:29 AM

I would take a picture of my setup but it is in the middle of Work in Progress mode. Slowly getting it to where it needs to be so right now it would make people on this site BAWL at me. If no one else posts something soon though you can at least look at mine and generally see what a "plain" setup looks like. Or one you don't want to have all the time.

DeesBalls

01-17-11, 10:59 AM

thanks again for all the replys, and whenever people can get some pics that would be awesome!

as for substrate, i would be using alfafa pellets. thats what i have so far!

lol thanks!

2006gt

01-17-11, 05:17 PM

i just use aspen because i have alot of it and he likes too sleep on it he used to sleep on his rock. didnt look comfortable so i put some aspen in and now he sleeps on it all stretched out.

DeesBalls

01-31-11, 01:08 PM

so i will be getting my beardie next week ( hopfully ) i'm gong to start them off in my 10 gal aquarium, just for now till i can get a 30 gal.

30 gal tank
either aspen or alf alfa pellers
2 hides
2 food dishes
1 water dish
100 watt heat bult
and 10.0 uva bulb...

anything else?

infernalis

01-31-11, 01:17 PM

A roach colony ;) you will never regret it.

Lizards love roaches.

NennaMeerkat

01-31-11, 01:19 PM

I know my guy doesn't like hides. He will push them aside and use the space where they were to "dig" a pit and just lay flat out in it all stretched out. I wouldn't worry about hides overly so. They also make heat bulbs that have the UVA with it as well so look for that, I use it with my guy.

Alfalfa pellets, though not like Aspen, still allow the dragon to comfortably stretch out and dig in to rest in. And when they poo it basically breaks apart and absorbs the liquid in the poo making a clump (kinda like some of that expensive kitty litter will do) so you can just easily scoop it out. Wish the smell of the Alfalfa you won't have to worry about the stink the poo can make especially when they get on veggies.

And why 2 food bowls? Just curious.

Lankyrob

01-31-11, 02:15 PM

We arere going to use Mercury Vapour bulb when we get our beardie, they are heat and uva and uvb all in one bulb. We are planning to use a mixture of repti sand and repti bark as we do for our other lizards..

Just waiting for our roach colony to start reproducing ypung ones and then we have a "free" food source.

DeesBalls

01-31-11, 05:05 PM

A roach colony ;) you will never regret it.

Lizards love roaches.

lol talk to my fiance about that one....i am ready and prepared to stop daily and buy food for my new beardie :) like previously stated in old thread i work about 30 sec. from a pet store :)

I know my guy doesn't like hides. He will push them aside and use the space where they were to "dig" a pit and just lay flat out in it all stretched out. I wouldn't worry about hides overly so. They also make heat bulbs that have the UVA with it as well so look for that, I use it with my guy.

Alfalfa pellets, though not like Aspen, still allow the dragon to comfortably stretch out and dig in to rest in. And when they poo it basically breaks apart and absorbs the liquid in the poo making a clump (kinda like some of that expensive kitty litter will do) so you can just easily scoop it out. Wish the smell of the Alfalfa you won't have to worry about the stink the poo can make especially when they get on veggies.

And why 2 food bowls? Just curious.

I will probably put a lil cave or something in there just to be safe, and give a lil more decor... im leaning towards the alf allfa pellets just due to the fact i hear if they eat it, it is good for them since it is a source of food any way. I did see that my pet store i go to ahve a light/uvauvb bulb all in one, i may end up getting that, its only like $15!

OH and 2 food dishes: 1 for salad 1 for worms/roaches ect...

We arere going to use Mercury Vapour bulb when we get our beardie, they are heat and uva and uvb all in one bulb. We are planning to use a mixture of repti sand and repti bark as we do for our other lizards..

Just waiting for our roach colony to start reproducing ypung ones and then we have a "free" food source.

Do they sell these in the states?

NennaMeerkat

01-31-11, 05:54 PM

Lankyrob

01-31-11, 05:54 PM

I assume they sell them in the states, i see no reason why they wouldnt. The brand we use are solarglo. A 150w creates a 115f hotspot in a 4foot x 2.5foot x 2.5foot viv just for an idea.

DeesBalls

01-31-11, 07:35 PM

Its unlikely your guy will eat it on purpose when you give him live food and fresh veggies. Also unless you plan on killing roaches/crickets I wouldn't worry about having a food dish to put them in. The little buggers can get out easy. Besides "hunting" will be fun for your dragon I know mine looks forward to his 20-30 crickets he gets every week just so he can fumble around the tank I have him in to catch them. He loves to chase them.

i was meaning if her/she ate it on accident. like going to snack on a cricket and getting some substrate...

maybe i wont use 2 food bowls... just the 1 for salad (MAYBE 1 for meal/wax worms)

thanks for all info

I assume they sell them in the states, i see no reason why they wouldnt. The brand we use are solarglo. A 150w creates a 115f hotspot in a 4foot x 2.5foot x 2.5foot viv just for an idea

ill check it out and see if i can find one.

NennaMeerkat

01-31-11, 07:42 PM

Good luck! I hope you get your beardie soon! Sounds like the one that is lucky to be gotten by you will have a great home.

DeesBalls

01-31-11, 09:27 PM

Good luck! I hope you get your beardie soon! Sounds like the one that is lucky to be gotten by you will have a great home.

well thank you for the boast of confidence !! hope to get him/her soon!!

Lankyrob

02-01-11, 07:21 AM

In terms of eating substrate the sand our lizards are living on is a calcium based sand substrate taht if they eat actually adds calcium to their diet. We have an area ringed with rocks with sand in it then on the other side of the rocks the substrate is repti bark.

DeesBalls

02-01-11, 09:38 AM

Lankyrob

02-01-11, 11:01 AM

All our four legged reps get four footx 2.5 by2.5 foot vivs with plenty of climbing or burrowing opportunitys. the two we have at the moment seem to really appreciate the running around space.

NennaMeerkat

02-01-11, 11:25 AM

I heard that the calcium sand can cause blockage over time. True one mouthful won't hurt but if your lizard is particularly clumsy at eating (ours often just gets a mouthful of his alfalfa when chasing crickets) you could end up with an impaction situation. Something about the shape of the sand or something I think...

Lankyrob

02-01-11, 01:42 PM

Because the sand is only on one section of the viv the occurrence of tehm getting some in their mouths is rare. The locusts we feed tend to stick to the bark area cos there are moree hiding places. Not sure how/where the roaches will prefer whe. We get round to feeding them off.

NennaMeerkat

02-01-11, 02:17 PM

Ah so half your beardies home is sand and another half is bark or is it all just mixed together?

Lankyrob

02-01-11, 03:03 PM

At the moment there is no beardie but our other two lizards are setup with a calcium, repti sand corner and the rest as repti bark, when we get the beardie it will have the same setup.

TeaNinja

02-01-11, 03:12 PM

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?

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/589/kyjinn2.png

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/492/kyjinn.png

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?

that is a really nice looking beardy. my friend has one that is named Johnson (after the character from halo 1 lol) and he has no tail, and lives in my friends entire room. he pretty much hibernated and ate NOTHING for a full year or two or something, and ONE day i went hmm i wonder if he's hungry. and he ate like 20 meal worms then took a huge crap lol. ever since then he's been eating and scuddling around the room. i call him scuddles half the time lol. he's awesome though, i love watching reptiles that have free roam lol.

DeesBalls

02-03-11, 04:48 PM

Okay, so.before work, I stopped and looked at my bearded, I help it for the 1st time and it was lathaegic, and lazy, is this normal?? Should they be a little more active? Also it looked a wee bit under weight, should I wait till I find another one? Or is this one just being lazy?

Lankyrob

02-03-11, 04:52 PM

Did he seem really alert but not moving?? Or just limp and unresponsive. The one i have held have eother been really active or just laid there but been really alert and looking around, reacting to movements.

DeesBalls

02-03-11, 09:59 PM

He was sorta alert, just not active.

Lankyrob

02-04-11, 07:39 AM

Could be ok - hard to say without seeing it first hand. With all the lizards i have handled it has been similar - that they are either running all over you trying to get away or just very very very alert and reacting to movement and sound but not actually moving.

belovedboas

02-04-11, 08:28 AM

Hey guys nice beardies If ya dont mind heres my big guy Hugo aka BIG BOY lol :) its the only pic I have so ya get my ugly mug too lolhttp://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1224.snc4/155644_1713003663464_1189333004_31975936_7174664_n .jpg

DeesBalls

02-05-11, 01:17 PM

nice looking beardie!!
the one I have my eye on is going good still, it was more energetic last visit.

will have one soon!

Sapphyr

02-05-11, 03:36 PM

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!

Mine is people friendly, loves to be held. They get around.. maybe a foot long, mine is somewhere around there and I've had him for around a year now.. but he's older than that. I got him as an adult from one of my mother's friends. She wanted to hand him over to us since her daughters didn't like him and were scared of him..

Not sure about UVB/UVA, but I personally supply my lizards with such anyways just to be sure they get all that they need.

Mine's in a 20g tank, but I'm thinking of upgrading to a 30g soon.

Edit: Wow, after reading every comment here, I'm a little ashamed to say he's in a 20g, but that was what the previous owner had him in. Well, should have known that she was wrong because she was using jungle bark for substrate, and last I checked, that put off humidity... Ah well. Will definitely be upgrading soon, then.

DeesBalls

02-05-11, 10:04 PM

I will just be starting off in a ten gallon, them I'll get a thirty.... unless I feed my bp in a ten gallon...?

NennaMeerkat

02-05-11, 11:19 PM

Honestly I would just start off in the larger tank. We started ours off in a 40 gallon and he had no problem and enjoyed the space.

DeesBalls

02-05-11, 11:58 PM

i wont have the space as well.... i could use the 20 gal taht i use for my BP feeding, but it would have to sit on the floor..

all my reps are in a room where no one comes in, so traffic wont be a problem.

would it be okay to feed my BP in a small 10 gallon? she eats only like 2 times a month. she eats then i let her sit for about 20 min. would a 10 gal be okay for that? if so, ill start off in a 20 gal.

Lankyrob

02-06-11, 06:27 AM

Feed you BP in its viv on a plate - then you have TWO tanks available for new reptiles :) ;) :)

TeaNinja

02-06-11, 07:21 AM

i feed my bp in a shoebox from some boots i bought a while ago :)

i feed small snakes out of viv and large snakes in viv.

DeesBalls

02-08-11, 04:27 PM

Feed you BP in its viv on a plate - then you have TWO tanks available for new reptiles :) ;) :)

she eats live... and shes in a 41 qt tub, so the rat can just jump out lol...

i feed my bp in a shoebox from some boots i bought a while ago :)

i feed small snakes out of viv and large snakes in viv.

i use to feed all them in their viv, not i feed them all in their tubs ( all eat frozen beside my female BP, not sure what my new pastel will eat hopfully frozen )

but i will just use a spare 10 gal to feed her in, i have 3 lol.