General Questions

[nakabaka]

Got a few things to add if this thread is still being watched, as I've bred beardies.

Everything above but here's a few added things. Look up which veggies are bad to feed even its food. Beet tops, spinach, kale, for example. They contain a compound that binds to calcium the lizard ingests in its digestive tract, much like D3 would, thus inhibiting calcium uptake and possibly causing MTB. Bad business. Some bugs are even poisonous, such as fireflies. If you haven't grown it yourself or can't get it "organic" I wouldn't feed it to the lil' guy. THIS paragraph goes for pretty much any lizard.

Have a dubia colony firing off the hook before bringing a beardie home, especially if hatchling. Those guys are like pubescent teenagers on your grocery bill, and having an overage in dubia production will only help you as it will eat 15-20 crickets a day, possibly nearly as many dubia nymphs. Keep in mind its the nymphs you want to feed a hatchling, and with how much it will eat, you still need nymph surplus to grow up and keep the breeding cycle going. Same as feeding the beardie, avoid those foods which will inhibit calcium uptake. What goes into its food will enter it.

About dubia roaches. Best darn feeder insect I've ever used. Doesn't bite, doesn't stink, doesn't make noise, if one gets out it'll just be filet migon for a spider even if it's preggers, extremely easy and cheap to maintain. Most expensive part will be the roaches. I like having about 13 females per male, and a 2nd box for the nymphs/juveniles as I clean their tubs out. Do not go cheap and just go ahead and buy the egg crates for their tubs, and don't forget the packing tape. You can find how-to's on YouTube.

If you can't get those sexy 12% UVB bulbs, go with a pair of 10% bulbs. Won't hurt one bit. Set up for its adult enclosure from the get-go and feed it in a smaller box. 40g breeder is absolute MINIMUM for adult, with footprint over height (have very LOW height if at all possible). He will use the footprint to move around, plus the shorter height means less wattage needed on your basking light for ample temps, and more UVB will penetrate to the floor of your enclosure.

Hope this helps anyone interested.

Oh, one correction to the above. Do NOT use sandy substrate. That might impact them as they have a habit of "testing" stuff to see if it's edible. Use reptile carpet, even over newspaper. Best thing you can put in there as a beardie substrate. Also, put a stone slate in there too. Not a tile, but a slate piece. It'll help with their claws.