Whats the deal with BD's?

Hi everyone. I have been posting a lot in the Ball Python section because I am planning to get one soon. But it just came to my attention that a friend of the family is trying to get rid of their Bearded Dragon. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about your experiences with them, difficulty of care, can you handle them, feeding, enclosure requirements, and any other fun facts that you think I should know. Thanks!

Bearded Dragons are an absolute blast to have in my opinion. They can be easily tamed, and you can handle them, but because of their enclosure and cost of food, they arn't the best beginner lizard. They require UVA and UVB lighting (which need to be replaced every 6 months), and it's not unheard of for juvies to eat as much as 50 crickets in one setting. As adults, they switch over to a 80% vegitarian diet, with the rest supplimented by calcium and vitamin coated crickets or mealworms. The smallest enclosure that I would suggest for a bearded would be at least a 55gal tank (not sure what the tub demensions are). They are semi-aboreal, meaning that they like branches to climb on and bask, but they also need some ground space to run around on. If you don't mind an animal who's husbandry and feeding habits can give you a bit of a challenge as a keeper, then I would say go for it. But if this is the first lizard that you will have, I would go with a Leopard Gecko, or your first choice, the BP. Those are much easier to keep. But it really all depends on how much time and effort you are willing to put into caring for your animals (which I hope would be the same reguardless of what pet you choose).

thanks for the info. I am reading a lot of care sheets and other info online. Apparently it is already 2 years old and I would be getting all the equipment with it.

Beardies are awesome pets, I will always keep some, even if i don't breed every year. But they are very different from ball pythons. Given yours would be an adult and eat mainly greens, a good MVB bulb and the tank space and occasional bugs is more upkeep and money than a ball python. If you are aware of this and looking forward to it, go for it!
Make sure to look him over very well and ask a lot of questions before buying though. Make sure he hasn't been fed anything really high fat, especially after he was 1 year old, as FLD can cut down their life. and how old/often his bulb was changed. A good, healthy 2 year old should look like this and be at least 18" and have a 65-75gallon tank. Look for healthy fat pads on the head, tail, and fat 'chicken' legs. Bright eyed and willing to eat.
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/5/14719424295.jpg

hm, im thinking that is a little more cost/work than I am ready for at this point. I am going to be spending a lot getting the BP up and running and should probably put everything else on hold.