siberian_wolf Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 Ever since I was little I've always wanted to keep reptiles, I absolutely love them! My first choice would be to get a corn snake or maybe a rat snake but Jamie HATES snakes with a passion so thats definately out of the question. We are re-decorating the house and Paul (Jamies dad) has built a large structure to hold the two aquariums he has just bought and there is enough space for another tank of about 4ft in length and they have said I can have that space to keep a lizard (they were very specific it had to be a lizard with visable legs!). I have been looking into a bearded dragon and have just read a book about keeping them as pets and was wondering if there is anyone here who has experiance with beardies who could give me advice. I have looked after beardies before both at college and for a friend and have experience for their general care and feeding, however this would be my first reptile of my own and before deciding to get one or not I want to make sure I have more knowledge than just the general care. I have read that beardies can be fed pinkies or fuzzies (size dependant) and was wondering if anyone her has fed theirs this and is it still required to supplement with calcium and pinkies and fuzzies have a better calcium content than insects? Also has anyone used the calci-sand? If so what are your views on this? I'd like to make the viv look as natural as possible but I'm not sure if I should go with the calci-sand or to stick with the normal sand you can get. If I get a beardie I would only keep the one as the tank will not be big enough to keep two adults but my other choice of repltile would be a Leopard Gecko however being a nocturnal species is what make me rather have a beardie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Miss Bump Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 hey amy, i know val has got bearded dragons i'm sure she'll be able to give you loads of advice xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 thats great hun i love snakes but Dave hates them so wont let me have any xxxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted July 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 hey amy, i know val has got bearded dragons i'm sure she'll be able to give you loads of advice xxx I thought val had but couldn't remember VAL!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Busted Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 we have 1 male and 2 female beardies, great pets and very easy to keep. People have there own ideas on how to keep and feed them. We put plain brown parcel paper on the floor of the viv, some say that if you use sand they can eat it with the food and get blocked up internally. As for food we try and vary it as much as possible, Green veg leafs, meal worms, crickets, locusts, also feed them on Dragon pellets and dragon flower mix. All available from pet shops, get the leaves from tesco/Asda, £1 mixed bags. Some great info on here http://www.beardeddr...umation/?page=2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 nice one steve +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted July 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 we have 1 male and 2 female beardies, great pets and very easy to keep. People have there own ideas on how to keep and feed them. We put plain brown parcel paper on the floor of the viv, some say that if you use sand they can eat it with the food and get blocked up internally. As for food we try and vary it as much as possible, Green veg leafs, meal worms, crickets, locusts, also feed them on Dragon pellets and dragon flower mix. All available from pet shops, get the leaves from tesco/Asda, £1 mixed bags. Some great info on here http://www.beardeddr...umation/?page=2 Thanks steve +1 I have heard about the sand clogging up their internal organs which is my main worry which is why I was looking at the calci sand as it's supposed to avoid blocking the beardies up but Im just not sure about the stuff. With the live insects I was going to feed by allowing them to forage for them and then after about an hour going back to pick out any left ones. Didn't even think about using brown paper It resemble sand, in a way, there's no ink on the paper which the beardie could pick ingest, like there is on newspaper, and like newspaper its easy to see wher the beardie has bee toilet and easy to clean, hmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 steve you shud post sum pictures ov ur beardies set up for amy 2 look at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 pic's are on here some where xxxxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 this is their female this is their male - he's gone black under his chin as he was showing off to the female lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 kool pics xxxx their lovely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid_Wolf Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 I have a beardie Easy to keep but what would the tank size be? 4ft x ...?? they need a fairly large space lol Umm pinkies n fuzzies shouldnt be a staple food, it should be about 60% salad and 40% insects. Pinkies etc should be a treat, once every couple of weeks. All insects should be dusted with calcium suppliment, they dont have enough calcium on their own, I use Nutrobal Stay away from calci-sand, its a death sentance really, it actually encourages the beardie to eat it for the calcium, then it gets impacted. I dont use any edible subtrates on any of my reptiles, I use kitchen roll. People say that sand's more natural, but not really, beardies live in the desert where the sand has been baked by the sum for god knows how many years, so its like concreate. If you want something which looks nicer, use slate tiles or rocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val (Zebedee) Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 we were thinking of tiles in our vivs, but found normal brown parcel paper ideal, roll it up, replace it, all in about 1 minute! DONE!! We've never fed ours pinkies, although I know people do. We have silk worms (as a treat) meal worms, locust, crickets but mainly different greens & fruits - as long as it's not iceberg lettuce, there is absolutely nothing in it for the beardie. We also have Calypso dust for ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid_Wolf Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 oh and avoid spinich and cabbage, think they suck the calcium out of the beardie and look for a good breeder, theres nothing more heartbreaking than bringing a lizard home from a pet shop to find its ill n theres nothing you can do My 1st gecko was ill, died a few months later, I got my 2nd one from a breeder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanya maggs Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 hello make sure you have a reptile vet near you and remember that it will cost a fortune if it gets ill magic medicine for Beardies is called Reptaid alot cheaper than the vets and cures almost everything i love my Beardie he is a very interesting pet i woud never use calci sand or give mine pinkys just locusts, crickets and veg good luck xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val (Zebedee) Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 make sure you have good temps in the viv, warm at 1 end with a heat mat & heat light, cool at the other, something to climb on, etc we have a heat rock in our vivs, they're on a thermostat so will never get too hot to burn the beardies' belly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 Think i'll just stick to dogs lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val (Zebedee) Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 I say that every time I get the tub of hoppers or locust out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 lol don't the dogs bother ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted July 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 Thanks everyone for your advice reps added The vet where I take my boys too have given me a name and telephone number for a reputable herp vet in my area and I'm going to phone them next week to get some advice from him. I'm still doing research into beardies and if we can afford, house, and look after one appropraitely. I can look after one but the big question will be if I can get someone to look after it when I am away. I shall keep you posted in the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Miss Bump Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 wow so much stuff to learn!!! good info everyone-if you get one amy don't forget the pics please!!! they are goooooooorgeous!!! xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val (Zebedee) Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 we are house-sitting a friend's two beardies at the moment, they've gone on hol for 3 weeks, so there's 5 in our house at present! such characters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Miss Bump Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 wow!!!!! pics please val!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 Oh Aimee they're lovely really active as well - at one point Kimba was ON the table to get a better look - he's soooo fascinated by them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb&Loki Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 I had a beardie aswell, and a californian king snake. I used calci sand for a bit and my beardie did fine on it but it was very expensive and found it pretty pointless in the end as I was dusting the crickets with calcium anyway. Also, it's worthwhile changing the uv bulb every 6 months or so as after this time I heard it's not as efficient. Mine hated salad when she was young but got there eventually. I also knew someone that had a beardie that got so addicted to strawberries that it wouldnt eat anything else, so I avoided them. I fed mine crickets and she had locusts as a treat every now n then, she loved them! I bought brown crickets though as the black ones are sooo noisy! Not nice when you can hear it chirping under the fridge all night! You also have to feed the crickets on food that's good for you're beardie and you should really supplement this aswell. They're really quite easy to keep and have such great characters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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