A couple questions

[lidjamay]

So I had a beardie a few years ago that I ended up having to re home due to finances but I was looking to get another one once I get my BPs settled. But I have a few questions before I jump back into the beardie world. I always had trouble gut loading my crickets and just plan keeping them alive long enough two feed them to my beardie. Is there a trick to this or is that just one of those things you have to deal with? Also I have heard that pet stores are not supposed to sell a beardie when they are under I think they said 4 inches? Maybe thats just a Virginia thing but I was wondering if that was true? And lastly can anyone link me to a really good Beardie care guide? I have found a few but none of them seem to have everything just parts and I don't want to have to refer to 6 different sites to find what I need.

THANKS!!!!

[Anatopism]

What do you mean you had trouble gut loading?

As for pet stores selling them, I know Petco's minimum size requirement is 5 grams.. which is a very very tiny beardie.

[lidjamay]

I couldnt get the crickets to actually "eat" the stuff i put in the cage with them. They mostly just died off without ever coming out of hiding Its been years since I had my last beardie so details are foggy

[AkHerps]

Gut loading means feeding them nutricious stuff before your animal eats them. So I give my roaches a bunch of fruits and veggies before feeding them off. Crickets sucks, dubia roaches and other types are the way to go!

The caresheet on this forum is pretty good. Really beardies just need a hot spot, a good uvb/uva bulb and then the rest is just detail, like how you want to set up their cage, what you want to feed them, etc.

Babies should usually be fed twice a day.

[lidjamay]

Awesome! I'm thinking about finding a juvi instead of going the baby route. So should I feed them just as often. Thanks i'll look at the care sheets on here!

[mues155]

When I get my crickets I keep them in a large critter keeper (depends how many you will have at one time) I like to keep them on an edible substrate. I use alfalfa pellets so even if I skip a days feeding or they run out they can munch on the substrate as a last resort, this keeps them from dying off. They key is making sure they have a constant water source too, they die off quickly if they dont.
I feed them all sorts of things, collard greens and other dark green veggies, apples, oranges and other fruits, any table food scraps high in protien. Its really not hard to keep them alive or feed them.
For crickets they like a cool and dark place, I usually keep them in the laundry room for most of the day.

Can i suggest a breeder for you? I would not reccomend getting one from your local dept pet store (petsmart, petco)
I got my beardie from Tamara at http://www.rainbowbeardeddragons.com/
She has AMAZING beardies, she takes awesome care of them and she is certified to ship. If you want to spend the extra money for shipping its so worth it. She has babies, sub adults and adults for sale all the time.
This is my beardie "Riddley" that I got from her...