Bearded Dragons - Need Info!

IwantanewPC

IwantanewPC

IwantanewPC

Permabanned
Joined
15 Jan 2006
Posts
388
Hey guys, I've noticed quite a few of you are Lizard owners so I though I'd post this here. I'm planning to get a bearded dragon soon and I'd like some info, all the info I can get infact. I'm planning to buy a book but I thought I'd ask here too, because I am sure there are things you guys can tell me that no book will.

My mate had a Chinese Water Dragon, so I'm not completely alien to owning a lizard, but I can see the two species are quite different.

I looked in my local pet store today and they are selling babies there for £80, is this a decent price? They all look perfectly healthy and were climbing over eachother and playing up at the glass!

Don't have a huge amount of room in my bedroom right now, but I plan to change that in the future. What size tank could I start out with now, and how long will it be before I have to change? The Bearded Dragons in the shop are about 5 inches long.

Heating... I know about a basking light but what temperature should the tank be kept at and should I turn it off at night? Also is a heat-proof mat required/recommended?

Pretty much know about feeding, but any tips there would be helpful.

Finally, how tame are Bearded Dragons? It said on the tank that they are a good pet because they form good bonds with people and I've read that before. Obviously I realise this is a Lizard we are talking about, not a dog and a cat, so there should be a limit on handling and what not, but how much is too much? Would getting it out everyday for 30 minutes or so be too much? Would the lizard ever come to you when you slide the tank door open?

So many questions lol. :D Sorry.
 
I have a gecko, so the conditions for keeping them should be similar.

80 quid sounds in the right region, I think they are 65 in my local shop, so possibly a touch high, but I would recommend always going to your local pet shop as they will be able to offer advice and take a quick look if he/she has any health problems.

You are probably looking at a 20 gallon vavarium (not tank :p) to begin with and you need to keep the temperatures around 90C during the day and falling to the high 70's at night.

When I started off with my gecko, I kept the floor of the vavarium covered in kitchen roll for a couple of months before moving to sand (you can also use wood chippings). He eats about 3 large crickets every 2 days, but you will probably want to start him off on small ones. They cost £2.50 for a tub of about 30 locally from me.

You also want to get a plastic tub that you would often get chinese takeaway in and cut the front off, put kitchen roll inside and keep it moist every day. This will aid shedding.

Reptiles can be quite sociable animals and mine is quite happy to be handled, but if it becomes apparant he is adgetated (in a dragon I would asume he flares his beard) then it may be best to leave him, or rather than picking him up, leave you hand in the vavarium and see if he comes to you.

Remember, although a lot of this advice is probably applicable, I have a gecko, so make sure you do your own research as well :)
 
Anyone else got any more info?

I'm thinking about going in to my local pet shop tomorrow and reserving one so I have time to set up it's enclosure. They seem to be selling quite quickly.
 
Quite easy to keep. a pair can be kept in a 3x2x2 foot viv, though larger is better.

they cost a fair bit to keep though you can buy young for £25 - £1000+ depending on the morph/colours

find a petshop/trader that can supply you your food, buy a viv, lights, heat mats etc and away you go :)

Jon
 
starscream said:
You are probably looking at a 20 gallon vavarium (not tank :p) to begin with and you need to keep the temperatures around 90C during the day and falling to the high 70's at night.
Click to expand...

90 degrees centigrade?? :eek:
 
mate,

i have two beardies and love them to bits

DSC00004tn.JPG

DSC00015.jpg


Please add me to MSN and we can have a chat, theres a lot more to it than youll first think........

[email protected]

Cheers
 
Jolteh said:
Haha, I was thinking that. Are you cooking them or keeping them as pets? :D
Click to expand...

Tank temp should be around 95f, basing spot up to 105f and nightime can drop as low as 60f.

Theres gotta be a temperature gradiant and also some shade and an area to bask, you gotta have a UV bulb etc etc.

We started with a 3x2x2 tank and they outgrew it within a year.

Theyre now pretty much fully grown and are in a 4x3x3 viv with 1x60w spot, 1x40w spot, 1x60w ceramic (also provides nightime temp), 1 32" UV.

This is all controlled by 3 timers and a habistat thermostat.....

Our boys only eat locusts/veg and it costs us around £15 a week, we buy locusts in bulk and seperate them into daily portions (cheaper than buying from pet shop) and they eat rocket/carrot/butternut squash.

Its a lot of work keeping them properly but theyre amazing and give you loads back. Ours are currently running around the living room floor :D
 
Bearded Dragon help

Hi all
i am an experienced bearded dragon keeper
i have had more than 1 bearded dragon bout 5 now and if you need anymore help and i can provide if you want we can talk over msn which will be easier for both of us
my msn addy is
[email protected]
bearded dragons can be the best form of liard pet as they can be easy to look after and dont cost that much to keep clean unlike a "royal python" which i now have
bearded dragons should be at a tempreture gradient tank (1 side hot 1 side colder) so they can go on what ever side they wish to. they should have plenty of hides to hide under. the overal tempreture should be 85f-90f during the day and 75f-80f during the night. lights MUST NOT be kept on during the night as they will become stressed and can lead to depression. food is easy as they eat pretty much anything but most bearded dragons relish "hoppers" or "locusts" but brown "silent" crickets are ok they will alos eat meal worms. alll food "apart from vegies" should be coated with nutrobol which is a form of calcium to help keep there calcium high. vegtibles are perfect for as it is about 40% of there overal diet "fruit is 10% and meat is 50% (crickets and other meat sourses of food)" i hope this helps in anyway at all. another thing when feeding vegitables this is a warning you must NOT feed them ice berge lettice as it has to much bile in it and will kill them almost instantly as it will affect there digestive system and it also has posions in it which kill them ver fast so you must do this. if you need anymore help you have my msn addy contact me via that if need be
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom