Anyone here have Bearded Dragons?

I want another Reptile outside of my breeding project as a pet. I have had some interest in Leachianus Geckos, Spiny Tailed Monitors and Blue Tongued Skinks but all are a bit pricey. I haven't wanted to have any lizards that require a mainly insect based diet. Crickets stink I don't like to have to take care of them and they make a lot of noise dusting them is a pain in the butt and they escape and get all over the place. I have been thinking about settling on a Crested Gecko but feel I may be overall disappointed with the small size of the animal. So even though I have a general distaste for the keeping and care of insects I have been seeing a lot of cute Bearded dragon videos on YouTube. When I was a kid Bearded Dragons weren't even popular yet and I cut my teeth on tokay geckos, leopard geckos and box turtles things like that. When they finally did hit the scene they were than as now kind of laughable to seasoned hobbyists as "just a beginner pet" and "not exotic enough for me" because of their huge popularity and availability. I have always felt the same that I liked the more advanced stuff and when they came around I was moving on to monitors and boas. Well anyways now just seeing how interactive they are in general and their relatively easy care and good nature small price tag and not too small but decent size I think I might want one after all since the things I really want are a bit expensive and probably won't be anywhere near as fun as far as being anything close to an actual "pet" type pet. So any of you ladies and gents out there have any of these and do you think it would be worth my while? Should I just save up for a blue tongue an ackie or a leachie?

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Originally Posted by gtrdeath87

I want another Reptile outside of my breeding project as a pet. I have had some interest in Leachianus Geckos, Spiny Tailed Monitors and Blue Tongued Skinks but all are a bit pricey. I haven't wanted to have any lizards that require a mainly insect based diet. Crickets stink I don't like to have to take care of them and they make a lot of noise dusting them is a pain in the butt and they escape and get all over the place. I have been thinking about settling on a Crested Gecko but feel I may be overall disappointed with the small size of the animal. So even though I have a general distaste for the keeping and care of insects I have been seeing a lot of cute Bearded dragon videos on YouTube. When I was a kid Bearded Dragons weren't even popular yet and I cut my teeth on tokay geckos, leopard geckos and box turtles things like that. When they finally did hit the scene they were than as now kind of laughable to seasoned hobbyists as "just a beginner pet" and "not exotic enough for me" because of their huge popularity and availability. I have always felt the same that I liked the more advanced stuff and when they came around I was moving on to monitors and boas. Well anyways now just seeing how interactive they are in general and their relatively easy care and good nature small price tag and not too small but decent size I think I might want one after all since the things I really want are a bit expensive and probably won't be anywhere near as fun as far as being anything close to an actual "pet" type pet. So any of you ladies and gents out there have any of these and do you think it would be worth my while? Should I just save up for a blue tongue an ackie or a leachie?

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They are very rewarding pets to have! I own a rescued beardie and she is my love http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...6980deaac6.jpg
She is very friendly and I take her out and we cruise around the house together. I'm going to buy a reptile leash for an outdoor adventure soon. Beardies CAN eat a majority insect diet as babies, however my girl eats mostly sald. I give her ten mealies a day and 10 crickets along with a salad. My cricket setup is simple and to the point and I don't lose any because I use tongs to feed them to her. I honestly think it's worth it ^^

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If you have any doubt about wanting one I would pass. Let me put it into perspective like this for you. I have 2 blueys, a tegu, and a beardie. I spend more money each week feeding my beardie then I do on the blueys and tegu combined. On another note (this is my personal opinion) I love all animals, I don't want to sound as if I am putting down beardies, they will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first lizard I owned as a child. That being said my BTS are way more rewarding IMO. They have such unique personalities, they have a decent size to them, are very intelligent, interactive, but don't require the same level of care as say a monitor or a tegu.

Ya I was watching some stuff that said you can pretty much get away with feeding the blue tongues dry dog or cat chow and wet cat chow as a treat. When you say interactive do they seem to actually like attention? The thing that has been turning my head on the beardies is they seem to act like scaly puppy dogs. The blue tongues just seem a bit more sedentary. How are your blue tongues as far as energy? Pretty lazy or somewhat playful?

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I absolutely adore dragons. Friendly, outgoing, love attention, animated, so yes, the puppy dog of the herp world for sure. They will even snuggle with you at bedtime, and fall asleep.

Babies like bugs. These days, dubia roaches are really taking over as the staple bug. But as they get older, Rep-Cal pellets are a good choice if you don't want the hassle of salads. I have raised several dragons both ways, and they were all healthy as horses. Just add a little calcium and vitamin dust to either.

They do need a UV light, and a heat bulb. Around 95 on the warm side, 80 on the cool side. They don't need belly heat.

Water in the cage isn't necessary, but they love a good soak once a week. Some of them swim!! They will drink water while they soak if they need it. Also, an extra soak or two while shedding helps.

So they aren't super high maintenence. But they have super high personality.

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Originally Posted by gtrdeath87

Crickets stink I don't like to have to take care of them and they make a lot of noise dusting them is a pain in the butt and they escape and get all over the place....now just seeing how interactive they are in general and their relatively easy care and good nature small price tag and not too small but decent size I think I might want one after all since the things I really want are a bit expensive and probably won't be anywhere near as fun as far as being anything close to an actual "pet" type pet. So any of you ladies and gents out there have any of these and do you think it would be worth my while? Should I just save up for a blue tongue an ackie or a leachie?

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I had a Beardie until I moved and couldn't take him with me (NOwhere in Vegas allows reptiles.) A few pointers. Crickets are a pain in the ass. They do stink, it's gross when they die in their little cage. However I only had ONE escape out of thousands, so I'm proud of that. I wasn't just taking care of my Beardie, I was also taking care of 150 bugs at a time. That got old. They're also pretty high maintenance - their diet is tricky to get right and can get expensive. I fed him a lot of different things. That being said he was absolutely wonderful and I miss him every day. I just will hesitate to ever get one again because of how expensive and time consuming they are.

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Originally Posted by gtrdeath87

Ya I was watching some stuff that said you can pretty much get away with feeding the blue tongues dry dog or cat chow and wet cat chow as a treat. When you say interactive do they seem to actually like attention? The thing that has been turning my head on the beardies is they seem to act like scaly puppy dogs. The blue tongues just seem a bit more sedentary. How are your blue tongues as far as energy? Pretty lazy or somewhat playful?

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I don't like feeding blueys cat or dog food, a lot of people do it, but I don't agree with it. I make a months worth of food for them at a time, freeze it and thaw as needed. I am able to feed my tegu the same thing. If you decide to go down that route I can provide greater detail, but again not a fan of cat and dog food. As for your other questions. Each reptile will be different. The beardie I have now is the laziest animal I have ever owned, but the one I had as a child was very active. Blueys have short legs so its not like they will dart across the floor, but mine come up to the cage when I walk in the room, will climb out in my hands. The perch up on my shoulder when I walk around and will explore the house when I let them roam. They are very intelligent lizards that benefit from environmental enrichment (changing up their cage, allowing them to burrow, hiding food around the cage). You also have to consider there are different bluey species that require different husbandry.

Ya I think a Leachie or a Blue Tongue would be a lot easier to feed but a lot less personality. Definitely no real personality on the gecko but I like geckos in general especially the arboreal ones. I always liked my Tokay more than my leopard geckos and I couldn't even touch him but watching them crawl around the glass is something else.

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My Beardie's personality was fantastic. I was a teacher at the time and had a smaller tank at school I'd bring him to every once in awhile. My middle schoolers adored him. I'd keep him zipped up in my hoodie when I lectured sometimes. He was such a snuggler. Greeted me when I came home or turned on his light in the morning. Loved him to death.... but I do think back to the diet and shudder a little. It was so expensive.

5 Dragons, Curly Tail, Armadillo, Red Iggy, Leopard Gecko, and a Savannah Monitor.
All of them have different personalities and handleability.
Personally I really like the challenge of the Sav, bite hurts like hell though.
All my dragons are easy to handle and will kick back and watch tv with you.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

All my dragons are easy to handle and will kick back and watch tv with you.

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Yes, Yoshi did this, too!

Ya I have had 2 Savannah Monitors when I was a kid and a teenager but mine never bit me. That would really suck lol.

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Originally Posted by gtrdeath87

Ya I think a Leachie or a Blue Tongue would be a lot easier to feed but a lot less personality. Definitely no real personality on the gecko but I like geckos in general especially the arboreal ones. I always liked my Tokay more than my leopard geckos and I couldn't even touch him but watching them crawl around the glass is something else.

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I can't speak for Leachie's, but I literally just replied to your question about personality with Blueys...next to my Tegu the blueys have the most personality out of any reptile that I have owned.

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Originally Posted by gtrdeath87

Ya I was watching some stuff that said you can pretty much get away with feeding the blue tongues dry dog or cat chow and wet cat chow as a treat. When you say interactive do they seem to actually like attention? The thing that has been turning my head on the beardies is they seem to act like scaly puppy dogs. The blue tongues just seem a bit more sedentary. How are your blue tongues as far as energy? Pretty lazy or somewhat playful?

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And here was my follow up to you

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Originally Posted by gtrdeath87

And here was my follow up to you

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SMH, read post number 7 on the first page.

Whoops sorry didn't realize we were on page 2 here I missed a lot of stuff gotta go back.

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Whoops sorry I wasn't disregarding what you had wrote I just honestly didn't see it. That was weird. Ya man they sound pretty cool. The blue tongues that is. What do you feed your blues?

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Originally Posted by gtrdeath87

Whoops sorry I wasn't disregarding what you had wrote I just honestly didn't see it. That was weird. Ya man they sound pretty cool. The blue tongues that is. What do you feed your blues?

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No worries. I provide them a mixed diet of protein, fruit and veggies. Total cost at the grocery store is around 45 bucks per month. This feeds 2 adult blueys and a growing tegu. That being said this is my basic recipe, I modify at different items go in and out of season (it sounds like a lot of work, but it takes me about 20 minutes per month):

1 pound of lean ground turkey (no seasoning), gizzards and hearts, mango, papaya, banana or pear, blueberries from time to time, radishes, carrots, dandelion greens/mustard greens, bok choy, 3 eggs, squash (butternut, acorn, yellow depending on the season) and some snails (zoo med canned) I grate up all the fruit and veggies, throw in the eggs shell and all, chop the greens and meat and mix it all together, freeze it in separate containers and thaw as needed. I supplement with some calcium powder. (on a side note I also provide a lot of who prey for my tegu, not so much for the blueys though, they don't really take to it). Those are the basics I use, and like to switch it up from time to time. I have had a lot of success with this diet, they seem to get a good balance of nutrients. There is an entire food chart that I will link for what you can make your "mush" out of. http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html

If you have any other questions feel free to ask. If you decide you like the idea of having a BTS, the next question you have to ask yourself is what species you like, you have the northerns which come from Australia, and you have the different Indo species, which require higher humidity in their cage, all are a joy to work with.

Ya I would try to find a northern would be my best bet since I live in a desert myself and I have heard they are the bigger of the species.

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Bearded dragons can be fed easily and inexpensively with the right plan. First, stay away from crickets. They stink, make noise, and die too quickly while waiting to feed. Some places are selling different cricket varieties now and some of these are extremely aggressive...like little insectoid piranhas.

Dubias are the way to go as the primary food source for babies and the primary protein source for adults. Get a little critter keeper, put in top of something that puts off a littleheat, and invest $30-40 for a small colony. This one time purchase should be sufficient to keep your single dragon with dubia for it's lifetime. Supplement as needed with mealworms, superworms, waxworms, etc. but these should not make up a regular part of the diet, that's what your gutloaded dubia are for... they are perfect.

Do you cook? When you're chopping vegetables up for yourself, chop a little on the side for the dragon. Throw your scraps into the dubia colony. If you don't cook and even a quick wash and chop is too time consuming, buy a bag of prewashed dark leafy greens each week, it's not much, and throw some in. A whole head of dark green lettuce is 99 cents but you'll need to give it a quick rinse. Buy some other vegetables or fruit when they're on sale. Your dragon will get a variety of veggies this way and it'll be inexpensive. Yellow squash, zucchini, shredded carrots, strawberries, blackberries, are all very inexpensive, easy to prepare, and are top on beardie's preferred list.

so i have 3 bearded dragon(just had a clutch of 16 today) but i used to do crickets i made the mistake of ordering 100 one time. never happened again, i now have a dubia colony and if you decide to go with a beardie i will tell you its the only way to go. i love my beardies and they can be expensive to feed if you go the cricket route

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Originally Posted by Dube

so i have 3 bearded dragon(just had a clutch of 16 today) but i used to do crickets i made the mistake of ordering 100 one time. never happened again, i now have a dubia colony and if you decide to go with a beardie i will tell you its the only way to go. i love my beardies and they can be expensive to feed if you go the cricket route

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Congrats on the clutch! Not to derail the OP's thread but just want to quickly advise to make extra sure your newborn beardies are getting enough to eat. They don't do as well starting out on dubia and will nip like crazy if they aren't extra spread out and fed around the clock. Something about the jumping motion of crickets triggers them that the dubia doesn't. As much as I hate crickets, I used to order thousands of 1/4'' each week until the newborn beardies hit the 4 week mark or so. You can feed them dubias only as new hatchlings, but it requires more work than crickets, just fyi.

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Originally Posted by Jabberwocky Dragons

Congrats on the clutch! Not to derail the OP's thread but just want to quickly advise to make extra sure your newborn beardies are getting enough to eat. They don't do as well starting out on dubia and will nip like crazy if they aren't extra spread out and fed around the clock. Something about the jumping motion of crickets triggers them that the dubia doesn't. As much as I hate crickets, I used to order thousands of 1/4'' each week until the newborn beardies hit the 4 week mark or so. You can feed them dubias only as new hatchlings, but it requires more work than crickets, just fyi.

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yea i figured as much and i didnt wana wipe out my baby dubias with it so i was planing on ordering some closer to the hatch date, so i have plenty of time seeing as they were laid less then 24 hrs ago. but THANK YOU for the info!

Ya I totally don't care if you guys "derail" anything. As far as I am concerned the post doesn't "belong to me" how ever many people who want to talk about anything the more the merrier.

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Originally Posted by Jabberwocky Dragons

Bearded dragons can be fed easily and inexpensively with the right plan. First, stay away from crickets. They stink, make noise, and die too quickly while waiting to feed. Some places are selling different cricket varieties now and some of these are extremely aggressive...like little insectoid piranhas.

Dubias are the way to go as the primary food source for babies and the primary protein source for adults. Get a little critter keeper, put in top of something that puts off a littleheat, and invest $30-40 for a small colony. This one time purchase should be sufficient to keep your single dragon with dubia for it's lifetime. Supplement as needed with mealworms, superworms, waxworms, etc. but these should not make up a regular part of the diet, that's what your gutloaded dubia are for... they are perfect.

Do you cook? When you're chopping vegetables up for yourself, chop a little on the side for the dragon. Throw your scraps into the dubia colony. If you don't cook and even a quick wash and chop is too time consuming, buy a bag of prewashed dark leafy greens each week, it's not much, and throw some in. A whole head of dark green lettuce is 99 cents but you'll need to give it a quick rinse. Buy some other vegetables or fruit when they're on sale. Your dragon will get a variety of veggies this way and it'll be inexpensive. Yellow squash, zucchini, shredded carrots, strawberries, blackberries, are all very inexpensive, easy to prepare, and are top on beardie's preferred list.

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You aren't wrong. I remove uneaten crickets because I have personally seen them pick up and DESTROY live mealies in minutes.

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What's the thing with Dubias?? My fiancee says EW GROSS lol

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Originally Posted by gtrdeath87

Ya I totally don't care if you guys "derail" anything. As far as I am concerned the post doesn't "belong to me" how ever many people who want to talk about anything the more the merrier.

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Welcome to a public forum :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::r ofl:

They're illegal in Florida 😢

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Feed them meal worms then?

I have owned a pair of iguanas, male and female (Rex and Lou), and got my bearded dragon after I moved in with my husband. If you want a challenge and are willing to bite the housing costs, iguanas can be pretty cool, but if they aren't properly socialized they can be a little too much of a challenge. Despite being herbivores, they have lots of very sharp teeth and can give a pretty good whack with their tails when they're feeling grouchy. My male was a sweetheart and could be taken out and handled with ease except around the breeding season when he would posture and puff up all the time. My female was a nightmare that refused human contact from start to finish despite my best efforts and intentions and was exceptionally talented at snaking out of her enclosure when we would go to feed her. Still, I liked having both of them around even if Lou was really only a "look at me" pet.

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...03&oe=56D0A842
https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...65&oe=56942A56

Our beardie is another story. She's smaller than my igs, which is actually kind of nice, and much more docile and laid back. Her personality is sweet and charming, even if she can be a bit finnicky sometimes. Their care is certainly much easier than an iguanas, since almost nothing you can buy at major pet stores comes in a size big enough for an adult iguana (who max out around 5-6 feet). It seems like an adult bearded dragon is about the biggest thing Petco or Petsmart can equip you for, which works if that's what you're looking to get.

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...b1&oe=5685FEA1

In the end it's all up to you. There are so many options and so much variation in a single species that it's a hard decision to make based on other's experience.

Ya I am thinking I will probably be getting a blue tongue when I get a chance.

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