Bearded Dragons

DosGattos

New Member
We just acquired two bearded dragons. We have been doing some research on them and learning about them. If anyone out there owns one we could use some advise and more knowledge about them.

TIA!
 

morningbell

hmmmmmm
We just acquired two bearded dragons. We have been doing some research on them and learning about them. If anyone out there owns one we could use some advise and more knowledge about them.

TIA!

Mine just passed away Monday :bawl:

He was a sweetheart.... do you need some meal worms?
 

DosGattos

New Member
I'm sorry to hear that. If you don't mind me asking...How long did he live for? We would definately appreciate some more worms. They eat alot!
 

morningbell

hmmmmmm
I'm sorry to hear that. If you don't mind me asking...How long did he live for? We would definately appreciate some more worms. They eat alot!

3 1/2 years... he stopped eating so much when we moved, IDK if that had anything to do with his death.... I have heard they live longer, the guy at corner Critters in L-town knows a lot about them. He was easy to handle, he would sit on my shoulder while I did the dishes, LOVES the fish tank and tried to jump on it all the time :lmao: I even had a leash for him. I was never afraid to pick him up, he never bit....

PM me where I could drop off the worms.
 

mizteresa1965

New Member
My best friend has 2 bearded dragons. They are pretty cool....... But I agree, talk to the dude at Corner Critters.....he's VERY knowledgeable about all his animals.
 
We have one that we got a couple of months ago from PetCo. He has grown like a weed! We feed him gut-loaded crickets (his favorite) dusted in a vitamin/mineral power, some pre-made bearded dragon cubes, and romaine lettuce. He has easily doubled his size in less than two months. That's not saying we'll be able to keep this up, but he seems pretty happy.

We have a setup with a heat lamp & heating pad that keeps his cage at about 95degrees during the day and 80 at night. Also have a UV light on him - it was whatever came with the cage setup that we bought (seemed the easiest thing to do, since we are rookies). We have crushed almond shell bedding that is easy to clean. All in all, he is a pretty happy creature (although he hasn't gotten crickets yet today b/c we're waiting for the FedEx man to bring them, so he stared at me crankily when I only gave him cubes & lettuce!)
 

morningbell

hmmmmmm
We have one that we got a couple of months ago from PetCo. He has grown like a weed! We feed him gut-loaded crickets (his favorite) dusted in a vitamin/mineral power, some pre-made bearded dragon cubes, and romaine lettuce. He has easily doubled his size in less than two months. That's not saying we'll be able to keep this up, but he seems pretty happy.

We have a setup with a heat lamp & heating pad that keeps his cage at about 95degrees during the day and 80 at night. Also have a UV light on him - it was whatever came with the cage setup that we bought (seemed the easiest thing to do, since we are rookies). We have crushed almond shell bedding that is easy to clean. All in all, he is a pretty happy creature (although he hasn't gotten crickets yet today b/c we're waiting for the FedEx man to bring them, so he stared at me crankily when I only gave him cubes & lettuce!)

Had to stop feeding him crickets.... they ended up EVERYWHERE :lmao:
 

Pandora

New Member
Had to stop feeding him crickets.... they ended up EVERYWHERE :lmao:

I wonder WHY that is? We snapped the lid tightly and they still end up chirping around the house. :lol:

We have a Water Dragon and a Skink, both have gotten HUGE!

And another :yay: on the guy at Corner Critters. He said both the Water Dragon and Skink are ready to eat small mice. I haven't done that yet. I still have issues with the worms and crickets.... like touching them... blah... :faint:
 
I wonder WHY that is? We snapped the lid tightly and they still end up chirping around the house. :lol:

We have a Water Dragon and a Skink, both have gotten HUGE!

And another :yay: on the guy at Corner Critters. He said both the Water Dragon and Skink are ready to eat small mice. I haven't done that yet. I still have issues with the worms and crickets.... like touching them... blah... :faint:
The SKINK is ready to eat mice? BIG skink. I take it you did not catch it in your backyard.
 

morningbell

hmmmmmm
I wonder WHY that is? We snapped the lid tightly and they still end up chirping around the house. :lol:

We have a Water Dragon and a Skink, both have gotten HUGE!

And another :yay: on the guy at Corner Critters. He said both the Water Dragon and Skink are ready to eat small mice. I haven't done that yet. I still have issues with the worms and crickets.... like touching them... blah... :faint:

Up until a few months ago I wouldn't touch the worms ICK!
For the crickets we even had a cricket keeper which was great but it's when they got in the cage with the Beardie, somehow the lil suckers got out :confused:
My Beardie ate pinkies from time to time, he loved them :drool:

BTW I will NEVER buy an animal from PETCO.... they don't last, and that goes for PETCOs in other ares as well. We got Beardie from the Reptile Expo in VA a few years back.
 

AeroTaken

New Member
I have a beardie that is almost 3 years old. Got him from a private breeder, he is a cross between a standard and a sunfire. So he has a lot of orange, but not as briliantly colored as a pure sunfire and is about 15 inches long. He has always been very friendly and loves to ride around on my shoulder and look at himself in the mirror, LOL. I was able to buy (off of craigs list) a 75 gal bow front tank with a stand for $125 (it had leaked and the guy repaired it with silicon on the outside BUT I didn't need it to hold water so perfect for me) and a friend built a screened lid with a door for the top. He's got his ladder and hammock that he likes to lay in, his big stick and his rock. Heating with the underneath heating pad, the heat lamp, and the UV lights. Also has a night light that is like natural moon light.

We feed him gut-loaded crickets (his favorite) dusted in a vitamin/mineral power, some pre-made bearded dragon cubes, and romaine lettuce.

Everything I have learned is that any type of lettuce is not ideal for them, no nutritional value. If you can get him to eat Kale THAT is great for them. Iggy LOVES his kale and also eats shaved carrots, peeled grapes as a treat, and of course the vitamin dusted gut-loaded crickets. I had been ordering them online for a while, but then it was to much of a PITA to have to feed and clean the big tank of crickets to feed the lizard. And a lot of them would die so I wasn't really saving anything money wise except a trip to Corner Critters. I won't even feed him the worms at all (can't even stand to look at them) and he is NEVER getting a pinkie!!! EWWWW. I tried the bearded dragon food cubes and he wouldn't eat them. He also wouldn't eat the dry BD food that comes in a jar. I even tried hiding it in his kale and he would pick through it and leave it all in the bottom of the dish.

Any questions feel free to ask, but like others said too the guy at Corner Critters is a great source for info.
 

Dakota

~~~~~~~
The SKINK is ready to eat mice? BIG skink. I take it you did not catch it in your backyard.

.... no... It is a Schneider's Skink. But recently, I have learned that it is his cage that the crickets are escaping from.... He doesn't eat them and Skinks are rather slow, so he has been eating meal worms.

Here is an Internet picture of what ours looks like.
 

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Dakota

~~~~~~~
Our Chinese Water Dragon got sick. The vet said that we'd be wasting our time even attempting any treatment, so they put him to sleep. This was in November.

So, after speaking with the guy at Critter Corner's, we ended up getting a Bearded Dragon. The very next day, our youngest wanted one too. So, we got him one. They were both about the same size, in fact, our now larger one was slightly smaller. They are housed in different tanks. The smaller one was in a 80 gal. and the larger one in a 29L. After doing some research and speaking to some others, I swapped tanks and put the bigger one in the larger tank and the smaller one in the smaller tank. This place has a lot of information and if you are on facebook, there are a few groups that can help.

Bearded Dragon . org • Index page

Here is a picture of the size difference. I put them together just for the purpose of taking a picture and showing others the size difference. The larger one eats everything. She'll eat all over her veggies, meal worms and crickets. I was concerned I was overfeeding her and the guy at Critter Corner said let her eat; she'll stop when she doesn't want any more.

If I don't see growth with the smaller one. I am going to move him out of our teenager's room and put him in the Living Room where we all tend to be. I am open to suggestions here....
 

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forceofnature

Guest
Bearded Dragons are very cool critters. I have never owned one but if I had a lizard that would be the type. Good luck with them.
 

Dakota

~~~~~~~
Bearded Dragons are very cool critters. I have never owned one but if I had a lizard that would be the type. Good luck with them.

They really are... I can easily spend an hour a day hanging out with them in the evenings. The head bobbing and hand waving is completely entertaining.
 

renegadeslave

Obsidian Salamander
Yay for me being late to the party.

I had a beardie for about 6 or 7 years (purchased at Corner Critters), then gave it to a friend of my father's for his boy scout troop. Don't know how long he lasted after that.

I bought a new one in July from Petco, cause I live in Calvert Co and wasn't quite up to the trip to Leonardtown just for a lizard. Never going to do that again. The poor guy was skittish and unfriendly and was not used to eating veggies at all. He just died on Monday (not really sure why). He hardly grew at all. I plan on going to Corner Critters in a few weeks to get a new one.

How is it going with yours?

Anyone ever ended up with a female?
 

Dakota

~~~~~~~
Yay for me being late to the party.

I had a beardie for about 6 or 7 years (purchased at Corner Critters), then gave it to a friend of my father's for his boy scout troop. Don't know how long he lasted after that.

I bought a new one in July from Petco, cause I live in Calvert Co and wasn't quite up to the trip to Leonardtown just for a lizard. Never going to do that again. The poor guy was skittish and unfriendly and was not used to eating veggies at all. He just died on Monday (not really sure why). He hardly grew at all. I plan on going to Corner Critters in a few weeks to get a new one.

How is it going with yours?

Anyone ever ended up with a female?

I'm pretty sure I have 1 female. She is the biggest of the two I have and the most aggressive eater. My other lizard, the smaller skittish one, is doing a bit better. He is gaining a little bit of weight but not at a normal ratio, IMO. I have moved him to a smaller tank and feed them all Goliath worms a couple of times a week and crickets and meal worms, daily.

I'm sorry to read yours died, especially when it sounds like 1 of mine is having the same problems as the one you had. I don't get it really. Our other beardie is growing like crazy and our skink just finished shedding again and is getting huge. I spend equal amounts of time with each and feed them all as much as they will eat.

These lizards are really my children's lizards but some how, some way, I ended up being the one caring for them. :jameo:

Right now, I don't think Critter's has any babies in stock. I'd call before you make the trip.
 

AeroTaken

New Member
Yay for me being late to the party.

I had a beardie for about 6 or 7 years (purchased at Corner Critters), then gave it to a friend of my father's for his boy scout troop. Don't know how long he lasted after that.

I bought a new one in July from Petco, cause I live in Calvert Co and wasn't quite up to the trip to Leonardtown just for a lizard. Never going to do that again. The poor guy was skittish and unfriendly and was not used to eating veggies at all. He just died on Monday (not really sure why). He hardly grew at all. I plan on going to Corner Critters in a few weeks to get a new one.

How is it going with yours?

Anyone ever ended up with a female?

If you are still looking for a Bearded Dragon I know someone that has some hand raised/fed, friendly juveniles. Send me a PM and I'll get his contact info to you. He is the guy I got mine from and lives in Prince Frederick. My Iggy never had any problems with socializing or adjusting to his new home. Thats because they are handled and socialized by the breeder that I know on a daily basis. An employee at California Petco told me a couple of years ago that he would never buy one from a chain type store because they generally have problems with adjusting.
 

lnmarsh

Love * Luck * Faith
We just acquired two bearded dragons. We have been doing some research on them and learning about them. If anyone out there owns one we could use some advise and more knowledge about them.

TIA!

Hey! Yea... sorry I'm a little late! The best thing you can possibly feed them are gut loaded crickets dusted with vitamin/calcium powder, shaved carrots :cartwheel, broccoli and kale (NOT spinach, just to clarify). Dont even bother with lettuce... theres just not enough nutrients. I dont feed meal worms at all. They are incredibly high in fat, have almost no other nutrients and their exoskeleton is really hard to digest. They are almost like dessert for beardies lol. If they get used to eating them all the time, they will almost dismiss all crickets and not even touch their veggies. Yea, meal worms are cheap... but so are Banquet TV dinners. That dosnt mean they're a good choice of food :roflmao:

Make sure that they have a water source that is big enough for them to fit in; mine likes to take full-blown baths lol. Give them something to hide under, something to "sun themselves" on (placed directly under the heat lamp) and something to climb up. They need a heat lamp (I also use a under-tank heater) and a UV lamp. The UV bulb needs to be replaced no more than every 13 months. This is CRUCIAL - My first one, named Longstreet, died because I didnt realize how important UV light is. :dead: Without the light they can develop scoliosis and Metabolic Bone Disease which is usually fatal. After Longstreet died I spoke with a exotic pet specialist (NOT an employee at PETCO!!! Dont listen to a thing they say). Now the one I have, Longstreet II, is THRIVING. :yahoo:

I use terrarium "carpet" for substrate. Its washable and not messy. Beardies also do good in sand. If you choose sand make sure you get a brand that is calcium enhanced. That way when they dive for crickets they will get a dose of calcium with any sand they may ingest.

And other questions, feel free to PM me! Good luck
 
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