Thanks a bunch! Caring for bugs isn't a problem for me. I've had to deal with chirping crickets before. But the roach idea sounds interesting. Would they be a replacement for the crickets or can I alternate? Where would I find roaches. If I did end up with a bearded dragon, I would probably breed my own insects seeing as they are expensive to buy. Seeing as I also have rats and sugar gliders that would probably enjoy crickets or other insects, it would make more sense to just breed them rather than paying 11c per cricket. And going through 25-30 a day per beardie, thats a lot of money in insects. So where could I get info on these roaches you speak of?

A question on substrate. I refuse to put any beardie adult or juvie on crushed walnut shell substrate. I've used the cage carpet before and its just a pain to clean. What others would you suggest. I'm worried about impaction so I would like to stay away from anything that could lead to that.

On heat elements and lights. Would using an infared bulb for the heating element be ok? That way I could keep it on all the time and use the UV light only during the day. I use the infared bulbs on all my tanked reptiles and it keeps temps in the correct zone. Would beardies require heating from below or are the bulbs ok to use?