Beardie or Uromastyx?

So I would like to add another reptile to our family. I would like to set up a nice desert vivarium that would be visually pleasing. I am interested in a bearded dragon or an uromastyx. I like how the uro is more or less vegetarian, but I like how personable the beardies are. Even though I'd like a "display" animal, I do want to be able to handle and interact with our pet.

I have read up on the care sheets for both these species and have done extensive research so I am confident I can properly set up and meet either's needs, but I'm having trouble deciding which will make the better pet. Any thoughts from some experienced keepers here???

A couple thoughts to consider:
- Uros - no insects which is definite plus, require higher temps and so maybe can't spend as much time outside cage (???), friendly but maybe not quite as friendly as beardies, maybe not so forgiving of husbandry errors.
- Beardies - puppylike personalities, can tolerate more temp fluxuations, does eat crickets, hornworms, etc which I'd rather not but it's still really not a problem, requires occasional soaking/bathing.

A couple questions:
- Do either of these species tend to "mess up" their homes? Do they dig profusely or scrabble a lot and tend to tip rocks or dig up cacti? I would make sure anything in their habitat is secure, but it is good to know this sort of thing.
- Are Uros really that temperature sensitive? Could I have one out on my shoulder around the house for a little while without having to worry about his body temp falling too much?
- How do you keep your crickets??? :P

Thanks in advance for any advice you all can give!! Much appreciated! ;)

Idk about urns but as for beardies they may dig a bit in sand but i don't see them digging up plants or rocks......BUT as a baby they try to eat EVERYTHING. My bearded licked and bit at the water bowl, wood log and rock cave. So idk if a cactus is a wise move (maybe one without spikes).
As for crickets they can be keep in any, may need to drill a few holes but that's it. Just need water and calcium powder. It's pretty easy.

Thank you! I plan on getting a juvenile or sub-adult and not really a baby. But I had heard that beardies like to "taste" everything, lol. For that reason too I was thinking about fake cacti. They make some really nice fake stuff now that looks pretty darn real. Anything else anyone can think of is most appreciated!

Another thing to keep in mind is that the different uro breeds/colors have different personalities, where as no matter what morph/color of breaded pretty much will have the same sweet personality.
As well as bearded require UVB bulbs and should be within 7 inches away from the basking spot. I was told by david over at Carolina classic dragons that over head bulbs don't do a thing for the bearded needs of UVB.
As for the crickets it's a money saver to set up a tub and buy the 1000 count box. Or raise up a roach colony. I personality do crickets with a special gut load and they last about a month at 16 bucks for the box.

Before I got into Boa's and Balls, I had 4 bearded dragons. They are really amazing reptiles. My male would tend to digg a bit in the sand but mostly they liked to purch up on a branch in the UVB "which they MUST have". I don't know anything about Uro's but I know that Beardies make amazing pets. I kept my crickets in one of those insect keepers that they sell at petstores. I didn't use them as much as I did mealworms. I would feed mostly mealworks and the occasional hopper mouse and all mine were in top shape. I would handel mine daily and never had a problem. On Sunday's my male "Lynyrd Skynyrd" and I would sit on the couch and watch the Saints lol. He would eventually fall asleep on my lap :rolleyes:. I miss them sometimes :tears: lol. But anyway goodluck with your decision and keep use posted :gj:

Roaches - no way!! :O LoL, I'll stick to the crickets... :D What do you mean about the UVB bulbs not working if they're overhead? I hadn't heard that yet. How else would you provide this? Or do you mean that the bulb just needs to be within 7" of the basking spot? I could do that....

Jon, did you feed live or f/t hoppers?

Still thinking... I tried to handle the adult captive bred Uro at our local petshop today. He was, of course, super skittish so no luck with that one. On the other hand, the itty bitty baby bearded hopped right into my hand with a look like "who the heck are you???" He was cute. I think I'm leaning that way..... :P

Thanks again guys!!!

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

Roaches - no way!! :O LoL, I'll stick to the crickets... :D What do you mean about the UVB bulbs not working if they're overhead? I hadn't heard that yet. How else would you provide this? Or do you mean that the bulb just needs to be within 7" of the basking spot? I could do that....

Jon, did you feed live or f/t hoppers?

Still thinking... I tried to handle the adult captive bred Uro at our local petshop today. He was, of course, super skittish so no luck with that one. On the other hand, the itty bitty baby bearded hopped right into my hand with a look like "who the heck are you???" He was cute. I think I'm leaning that way..... :P

Thanks again guys!!!

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I would feed them live. I would do hoppers only to my adults and I would feed pinkies to my sub-adults and mealworms/crickets to the babies. I never tried frozen being that they have an insane feeding response. :taz:. I think what Evenstar was meaning was the UVB light needs to be farily close to the basking area. They spend alot of time in their basking spot so you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone by putting the lights farily close. I hade all my beardies in 422d Boaphiles and i put the UVB in myself right in the middle of the tank and It worked out fine. I would also change the UVB bulb every 6 months being that they are not very expencive and they do put off less UVL as time goes by.

Thank you! That would be doable...... I like insane feeding responses, lol. Ella, my bp, is crazy for her rats! :banana:

HAHA yea it was aways crazy to watch them

I have both and I can say that though I love all my animals....my beardie is my favorite. Much more interactive than the uro. I think the uro when warm is go go go....and when it gets out of that temp range it just sleeps. Uro's are also NOT at all bright. So...I have more fun with the beardie much bigger personality. Now when the beardie gets to be an adult it should eat 20% crickets and 80% greens. That is if they were consistently fed this while young and got use to eating it. I keep my crickets in a 10 gallon aq. with some egg carton and just throw wet greens in every 3 days. The thing w crickets is you want to make sure you totally clean the cage every week so that it doesn't smell. Also dead crickets release some type of toxin that kills other crickets???? I WILL NOT TOUCH crickets as the totally ick me out so I just use little tubes to catch the crickets ....that way no touchy touchy...lol:rolleyes: Also I do not use sand....we use laminate tile in our beardies cage and she poo's in the same spot each day. She HATES if it is left there so we clean up as soon as we catch it. Beardies are very clean....well at least mine is.

Thanks Michelle! That's very useful. I think I am really leaning toward the beardie. I really do want a critter that can be handled and interacted with. Ella, my bp, has a much bigger personality than I ever imagined was possible from a snake - she's wonderfully inquisitive and tame. But even so, she IS just a bp and she does what most bps do. I love working with and spending time with my animals and I think a beardie will be a more rewarding experience than an Uro. I'll have to deal with the crickets and worms etc.... :P

BTW, have you (or anyone else) fed your beardie "butterworms"?? I found a site I would be interested in ordering worms from - decent prices and good variety - and they offer butterworms in addition to silk and hornworms. Here's the link. Any thoughts?? http://www.mulberryfarms.com

I don't feed anything other than crickets and greens. Have been told my many breeders mealworms have a tendency to cause impaction. I don't know too much about other worms though.
Before a year crickets up to 3 times a day (I do 2) and green given in the morning and picked up by atleast 6 pm.
Once they get to adulthood it's switched, more greens and less crickets.
Greens are easy............Trader Joe's sells a prepackaged bag in the salad section. It has collards, mustard and spinach. Spinach is not a huge no no for them but is not good in large quantities, so I pick out as much of it as possible before I put it in a food processor.

I have heard wax and butters are high in fat therefore I feed as a treat. I do mostly stick with crickets unfortunately. You can do Dubias (roaches) that is suppose to be the best of the best but I can't get over the roach thing personally. (clearly have bug phobia...:rolleyes:)

I also wanted to tell you about the night cuddle...its the best. Every night Princess Bob likes to be covered in her blankey and rocked to sleep. She LOVES that and it lets me spend more time with her. I too LOVE to spend lots of time with my reptiles....with over 20 of them now...I am rarely without one....lol. The only bummer is that she is currently in brumation...it stinks as she is just sleeping all the time and when I do wake her up she just looks at me like...."really". :tears:

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

I have heard wax and butters are high in fat therefore I feed as a treat. I do mostly stick with crickets unfortunately. You can do Dubias (roaches) that is suppose to be the best of the best but I can't get over the roach thing personally. (clearly have bug phobia...:rolleyes:)

I also wanted to tell you about the night cuddle...its the best. Every night Princess Bob likes to be covered in her blankey and rocked to sleep. She LOVES that and it lets me spend more time with her. I too LOVE to spend lots of time with my reptiles....with over 20 of them now...I am rarely without one....lol. The only bummer is that she is currently in brumation...it stinks as she is just sleeping all the time and when I do wake her up she just looks at me like...."really". :tears:

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Yeeeah.... I really can't get over the roach thing either.... I can handle the crickets and worms, but roaches - no. :P

Too funny - night cuddles with your beardie! :D I love it! And I thought it was neat having my 75lb German Shepherd in my lap......

Thanks for the tips guys! I really appreciate it! So now my problem is to decide if I want to go ahead with a beardie or get another bp or two ('cause you know how they're like potato chips......). :rolleyes:

I'd personally go with a Dragon over another BP. I love my BP's but dragons are just much more fun and have a MUCH bigger personality.

....And I might just do that. But we'll see. I can always get a beardie later on and I've really been wanting a black pastel bp too. And I love my bp - to me, she's really fascinating - and I wouldn't mind another. But I'd like a beardie too. Decisions, decisions... :P

I have to say if you don't have a beardie...get one. I did not understand just how much I love my baby. (love my snakes too) But ya know that sad feeling you get waiting for the darn 48 hours after eating to pass...... Well the beardie fills it perfectly....lol.

Pretty soon you will be like me....lol...I made a bed w pillows and a blankey....and a play pen for mine....:rofl: She is such a princess....

beardie, I used to breed leathers they are amazing. very fun creatures

I bred dragons for a few years and I loved them, they are a lot of fun. Mine loved to be out and about. The only issue I had with mine was how much it cost with lighting, and food. I had over 80 of them and I went through crickets and greens like they were going out of style, not to mention bulbs. Now I have balls and I have to say they are cheaper to keep and some of my snakes love to be out and hang on me. I think if your just looking for a pet I'd go for dragon just because of the personality

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Originally Posted by Paradox81

I bred dragons for a few years and I loved them, they are a lot of fun. Mine loved to be out and about. The only issue I had with mine was how much it cost with lighting, and food. I had over 80 of them and I went through crickets and greens like they were going out of style, not to mention bulbs. Now I have balls and I have to say they are cheaper to keep and some of my snakes love to be out and hang on me. I think if your just looking for a pet I'd go for dragon just because of the personality

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:O:O I cannot even imagine!!!

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

BTW, have you (or anyone else) fed your beardie "butterworms"?? I found a site I would be interested in ordering worms from - decent prices and good variety - and they offer butterworms in addition to silk and hornworms. Here's the link. Any thoughts?? http://www.mulberryfarms.com

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Silkworms are actually a very good choice. I completely agree with BP Eliz about the other worm choices though. I switched from crickets for baby raising to silkworms because of the lower fat content and much higher protein.

Silkworms also contain more calcium than crickets, which is always a plus. I still dusted though with the fine repcal.

It has been a very long time since I dealt with Mulberryfarms, but they had terriffic customer service. I remember having a couple bad cultures which they replaced no questions asked. Here is a couple things I found on silkworms with a link:

Protien: Silkworms - 63.8% Crickets - 11.4%
Fat: Silkworms - 10.6% Crickets - 22.7%
Silkworms are also a good source for Calcium, Vitamins B1, B2, and B3, Protein, Iron, Magnesium and Sodium.

About silkworms
http://www.buyfruitflies.com/silkworm_info.html

Also, yes go with a Beardie! :gj:

EDIT: Also less chirps around the house :) Crickets are still a fine choice though, people just tend to lump silkies with the other worms...and they are different.

Thanks for the added tips everyone! Still having a time deciding between the beardie and the bps. My hubby is such a dear - he doesn't mind whichever I choose and he doesn't even mind if I decide to breed my bp later on! What a guy... :P Only problem is he doesn't give me much input, lol...

<<< I made a bed w pillows and a blankey....and a play pen for [my beardie].... She is such a princess.... >>>

Oh my lord, Michelle - this is hysterical!!! :8:

I think you need the bp AND the beardie....:D

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

I think you need the bp AND the beardie....:D

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Actually, that is my plan! I just don't know what to get FIRST...... :D;):D