help !

[Brandon.O]

i am really wanting a beardie right now but my mom and dad wont let me do anything unless i know exactly what to get for its cage and how much it will cost. do they need undertank heaters ? i know hot rocks are bad news and i dont use one for my ball but i dont know if beardies need them and i thought instead of buying a new cage everytime he outgrows it i would just buy the cage he needs now and not worry about it, is that a good or bad idea ? what kind of substate should i use for it ? ...............umm well i think thats all the questions i have for now. (please dont think im doing all my research here. i am checking all over the place but i thought i would ask here first since everybody seems to know everything !

[Alkaurkharim]

Well first off, Bearded Dragons need temps around 115* F, so more then likely you will need a light to maintain that, though it might be possible with a heating pad. I can get to 100* on Medium with mine, so I guess 115 shouldnt be too hard. But also you need to keep in mind that bearded dragons eat a ton of food, especially babies. Someone posted on here just today that a baby can eat anywhere between 18-24 crickets A DAY. And they poop an obscene amount o_O I'm sure others can answer your questions better, but since no one answered yet I figured I would throw some info that I did know your way. ^_^

[elevatethis]

check out the caresheet under lizards on the left tab of the page. That will answer ALL of your questions.

[Brandon.O]

thanks, im trying to find out everything i can becuase i want to make sure i can care for it they way it should be cared for. im not trying to say that snakes and lizards are the same but the whole heating and lighting is kinda simalar BUT NOT FEEDING ! haha i feed my ball once maybe twice a week and i guess everyday feeding isnt too bad, i mean, i do it with my fish,dogs,and hamster so thats not a problem. i just have to find room for a 40 gallon tank in my room, it looks like my dresser is going in the garage..lol

[JLC]

You don't want belly heat for a dragon...they need basking heat. If you put a basking rock (something ceramic, stone, or similar material) right beneath their heat-lamp, it warms up and provides all the belly-heat you need, plus they get the heat radiating down from above them when they are basking. If you tried to use a UTH (of any sort) to provide enough basking warmth, the bottom of the cage would get dangerously hot.

[Wizill]

beardie's are need uvb right?

[Alkaurkharim]

Thanks Judy, I wasn't sure about the UTH but it was sitting in the back of my mind that 115* would probably not be a good idea.

You give excellent advice though. I always see bearded dragon cages with a big rock right under the light so they can keep their bellies warm while basking ^_^

Brandon, you are definately going to have to get a seperate tank to house crickets also. With them eatting so much a day, you will need to buy a large amount and keep them yourself so you aren't running out to the store everyday for food.

I think you will also have to gut-load your crickets and dust them with calcium powder before you put them in there, or is that crested gecko's? Or all lizards? o_O

Gut-loading is feeding the crickets an hour or two I think? Before you feed them to your beardie. I think you can feed them dog food, but only Ol' Roy dog food ^_^ I read that somewhere here I think! I hope I'm not giving out incorrect information >_< Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, probably am somewhere in here T_T

i dont know about what kind of dog food, but i heard to gut-load them you can feed them dog food, cat food, potatoes.

and they crickets need to be gut loaded and dusted in calcium (easiest way, take a bunch of crickets [ the amount that you think he/she will eat] put them in a ziplock bag, add calcium powder [theres a lot of commercial ones, just look at a petstore] and shake it around, and they get covered, then feed them to your beardie)

ive been looking into a beardie also, want one for my birthday coming up, but my parents probably wont want to buy me one


i have a question though, well, a couple all into one:


how much does EVERYTHING cost? them, cage, lighting, crickets (they eat a lot so i was wondering) veggies/greens..


i think thats it, if i need anything else, could you add it in there?

thanks

[JLC]

Yes, Beardies absolutely need a high-quality source of UVB.

I think the easiest way to gut-load crix is with the special gelled stuff you can buy at the petstore. It provides both nutrients and water and doesn't require any advanced prep.

How much does everything cost??? That all depends on you, really. You gonna go for glass or plastic? How dogged are you in searching out the best deals on supplies? You can go to PetCo and buy everything you need, including the beardie, and spend $400...or you can shop around, figure out which things can be purchased at places like Home Depot...watch for sales...make some things yourself....find a good local breeder....etc. I spent about $200-$250 for my whole set-up, including all supplies, supplements, and beardie. Since then, I spend about $15 a month on crix and the occassional expensive light bulb.

[Brandon.O]

ok i found out that it will be a couple months until i can get one, so that gives me plenty of time to do lots and lots of research and buy the whole set up before i bring it home, but i still dont know what size tank to start with . i know it will eventually grow into a 4o or 50 gallon tank but i dint know if that was to big for him to start out with, is it ?