Hi i'm somewhat new to reptiles and need help cause i wanna get a bearded dragon?

Question

Hi umm I currently have 2 lepard geckos and I used to have tons of amphibians.I feel like getting a bearded dragon and need some info from people who have either had bearded dragons or know REALLY good sites that hopefully doesn't have false info.PLEASE HELP!!!

Answer 1

And to continue from the above...

A full grown beardie will do well in a 40 gallon breeder - a breeder tank is what it is usually called. A juvenile will do best in a 20 long for now, but will eventually need the bigger tank.

They need lettuce available daily. I personally get mine from my garden, but at work we buy the Spring Mix - bag of lettuce. I also buy a bag of frozen mix veggies and thaw under hot water just a bit for him each day. I mix the viggies with the lettuce. The juvenile's will need the lettuce and veggies cut up really small so they can eat it.

They can also eat crickets, meal worms, wax worms, calci-worms, and super worms. It cannot be any bigger than their head or rule of thumb is from on eye to the other. If it is bigger than this it is too big for them. Whatever you use to feed him needs to be gut loaded...

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/reptilesg...

Do not feed it anything that you find outside in the yard, etc. Do not feed it grasshoppers, etc. Only what is listed above and other types of veggies. When they are big enough they can eat pinkie mice, but that is very messy and hard to deal with!

The best substrate to use is the finely shredded walnut shells - this is the safest because they can swallow it (eat it).

The lighting needs to be UVB, not just UV. They need at least 10-12 hours of thisa day. All UVB lights also have the UVA which they also need. They also need a heat source - a heat light. It is not good to use a heating pad, a basking light is best. The cool end should remain between 80 to 84 degrees, and the hot side should be 95-100 degrees F. They do not need humidity so only put a very small bowl of water at the cool end. The humidity inside the tank should be between 35 to 40 percent.

A book that really helped me out is Bearded Dragons by Philip Purser. You can also go to my page and view my questions as I have asked questions here as well.

Here are some sites that may help as well...

http://www.tfh.com/

www.beardeddragon.org

www.lizardhaven.com

www.petstation.com

www.kingsnake.com

www.anapsid.org

reptileforums.com

Answer 2

General Description -

The Inland, or Central Bearded Dragon certainly inherited their name in all honesty... it was derived from the way they can enlarge or 'blow out' a flap of skin under their lower jaw when upset or disturbed. Aside from blowing their beard out, they may also darken the color there to almost black which creates a bearded display. The Bearded Dragon is native to many different habitats and regions of Australia.

They thrive in deserts, grasslands and woodlands... in both unpopulated and populated areas. It is said by many herpetologists who have come across Beardies in the wild, that one can walk right up to one and the little guy would not mind... and possibly even pick it up with little or no fuss being raised by the animal. Their temperament is extremely docile and trusting, therefore making it an excellent pet - even for children and beginners. The adults can reach up to approximately 2ft in length, with the average being 18 - 20 inches. Hatchlings are approximately 3 to 4 inches in length (head to tail) and should be 5-6 inches at the end of their first month. By the end of their second month, they should be at least 6-7 inches in length with considerable more body weight. We have found that with proper care and a little luck, dragons can reach 9 inches within 2 months, with the average being 8 inches. From 2 - 6 months, we have found the average growth rate to be approximately 1/2 inch a week, with some weeks being 1 inch or more to 1/4 inch or less.

General Care -

Bearded Dragons need little care, beyond daily maintenance, once they are established in/acclimated to their new environment. Care should certainly be taken to emulate their natural setting to reduce stress to the animal... As should a schedule be developed for lighting and feeding for the same purposes.

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Selection -

Selecting the animal to be your new pet is one of the most important steps toward success in maintaining bearded dragons. When purchasing a dragon online, it is basically done through an 'honor system'. The animal you receive should be robust appearing with ample fat stores at the base of its tail (generally, it is possible to determine the overall health of all lizards by examining the base of the tail for fat stores). Beware of protruding bones at the base of the tail. Take notice to the dragons eyes in particular - are they noticeably recessed? If so, it is possible that the dragon is becoming dehydrated. A healthy dragon should appear alert with both eyes wide open and attentive to its environment.

Housing -

A hatchling up to 12 inches (ideally), should be kept in a 15 gallon tank. This will allow the lizard enough room to run around and exercise... and yet not have to run too far to catch its dinner. As the Dragon grows, so should its enclosure. I would recommend no smaller than a 55 gallon tank for one or two adult Bearded Dragons (M/F). This will allow each Bearded Dragon 'living-room', minimizing squabbles - yet encouraging their natural displays and interactions. I use a 4 ft (w) X 2 ft (d) X 2 ft (h) cage (eight sq.ft) for housing up to three adult dragons. Any additional dragons should be allowed approximately four sq.ft. of floor space per dragon.

**NOTE - All cage accessories that are collected from outdoors must be parasite free before introducing them to your collection. You can either soak them in 10% bleach / 90% water solution... or bake them in your oven for approximately 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Both of these methods will assure the death of parasites/bugs and their eggs.

Substrates -

Most shops also provide a selection of reptile bedding and sand. (We suggest following the 'prey size rule' when selecting a substrate.)

Reptile Bark/Bedding -

This is definitely not a good idea. Crickets can hide under the bark, resulting in the dragon not getting its full meal and the possibility of the crickets coming out at night and bothering the dragon. Another major reason is that the dragon could accidentally ingest a piece of bark, which would result in terminal ingestion.

Children's Play Sand -

We have found this to be an economically affordable and low maintenance substrate for dragons. Simply 'scoop' the p**p and replace the sand, as it is visually needed. For hatchlings, be sure to run the sand through a window screen to eliminate any tiny pebbles that they may decide to taste. (If you do not sift and your dragon ingests a pebble, it will most likely result in terminal ingestion) There are many types of sand available in different grain sizes. We use fine grain children’s sterilized play sand in our cages. Be sure that there are no silica warnings on the bag before purchasing it.

Reptile Carpet -

This works well and looks nice. It is fairly easy to clean also - even easier if you have more than 1 piece cut to fit in the cage. The only downfall is that dragons normall

Answer 3

To sort of touch on what Ruger stated... and make it a little easier to digest...

A full grown bearded dragon will need a 40 gallon tank to really be happy.

If you already own leopards, you should know that they need a heat lamp as well as UV.

Beardeds' need high heat, roughly in the 90-100 range.

As babies, as I suggest to get one, a 10-20L is best.  You don't want to put a baby in a full 30-40 breeder at first, as it's actually TOO much room for them, and they will get stressed out.

As far as bedding, cypress mulch is a fine enough substrate, but Ruger is right, there is a chance that they can eat it - but not a large one.  I've personally never had the problems with crickets, as you shouldn't put more than an inch of bedding, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

What I probably wouldn't suggest is play sand.  It's mostly clay based and unless you do get the sterilized version (which does have impurities and its clay based), isn't always safe unless its really for reptiles.

You definitely do not want to use reptile carpeting.  It can house bacteria and other micro organisms that can cause your reptile health issues.

Crickets are a fine food source as babies, when they get a bit older, collard greens, and dark leafy greens, and fruits become their diet.

They're easy to take care of and can be very tame, just like leopard geckos.