Bearded Dragons

[ExtremePeanut]

Heya I'v resently got a new baby Dragon. My mum finally gave in. And all i really know about them is what I'v read in books and I'v heard that this foum is alot more helpful, so i was woundering if anyone with them would be able to give me some tips and stuff.

thnx

[adamanteus]

I think several of our members keep beardies, Jonas. So you should get all the help you need. Good luck.

[flakgunner]

hey,
we have quite afew,as babies their not the easiest,to care for,what are you using for a substrate?I hope its not something thats loose,we use green reptile carpet.
Hope you're set-up is large enough,they'll will get quite large,unless you where lucky enough to find a Lawson's!you're baby could hit 2 ft.,it needs to be large enough for two temp.settings 95/100 on one side,85 cool down on opposite side,95 is a must to help in digestion,they should be fed 5/7 small crickets(1/4" size),crickets length should be the distance between theirs eyes.if their food is to large impaction will occur.Crickets will need to be dusted with calium w/ D3
they'll need a fresh daily supply of Veggie's,at first they probably won't seam interested in them but keep trying,here's a good site on care and feed,what they can and CANNOT have!!our newest ones,won't take their Veggie's from the dish,won't even look at them,but as soon as I start to sprinkle small pieces on their floor,they dart over and grab mouth fulls.
UVB-10 light is a MUST!!!
Two thermometer's,basking temp..cool down temp.

They love to climb,so driftwood pieces will be needed (make sure their no little pieces that can fall off,and be eaten,this is what happened to my little guy),and a hide away is not necessary,you could end up with handling problems later. When it goes to bed,it'll probably find a corner to crawl into,sleeping in some weird position,that will hurt your back,just to look at,just leave it,it'll be fine

Beautiful Dragons

one of my little ones ate a small piece of bark,he came real close to dying!a month ago,seizures,paralysis to rear legs.

Warm baths ,about every other day,90 degree temp.

First couple weeks,avoid excessive handling,let your little one get use to its surrounding,and feeding schedule.

Babies require drinking water,yet at times they won't drink,you'll need to step in ,and give water,drop of water on their snout,mist spray.
my little guy who's recovering,wouldn't drink water regularly ,so I found a way around this,while I give him he's daily bath,I put crickets in his bath water,when he grabs the crickets,he gets a mouth of water at the same time,and don't give them mealie worms,their outer shell/skin is very difficult for them to digest,wax worms are okay as a treat,their high in fat.
Every dragon is different,and you'll need to find what works best for your little one.
your little one should poop every day,at least every other day,if not,warm baths daily,for 15/20 minutes.it'll help.

Thier a lot of fun,but the care is daily!and is well worth it,the critical point,seams to be up to 6 mo. but you can never put your guard down.

Oh,and don't feed it ,just before bed time!!last feeding,should be at least two hours before bed time!you don't want un digested food sitting in it's belly,the food could rot,because at bed time you'll need to turn off or down the heat,good sleep temps are 80/85,and remember they need 95/100 to digest their food!
BECAREFUL of outside bugs!! some are FATAL!!are big beautie male ate one lighting bug (fire fly),he was dead with in hours!!on the pain!and theirs nothing that can be done.
If this is your first Dragon,and you need help.ASK! don't hesitate ,if you do it could be to late,don't rely on pet shop help.a lot of their employee's haven't a clue, on proper care,and their only concern is making a sale,and quik to sell you something you don't need or want!!
Don't let anyone sell you loose substrate,ground corn cob,crushed walnut shell or even worse Cal i sand !!you want something flat,like newspaper,vinyl tiles,green reptile carpet.

Joe

Welcome to the site!!

[zooplan]

wow joe,
that looks like advice!
its to much to me to read even because I would get no permission for them by my wife

[flakgunner]

Originally Posted by zooplan

wow joe,
that looks like advice!
its to much to me to read even because I would get no permission for them by my wife

hey,
you bet it's alot of info,and its only the beginning for him,hopefully he did some homework before acquiring one,and can be expensive,with the costs of crickets,between reptile shows if we needed crickets from a petshop,cost where hitting 20/25.00 per week!plus veggie's,we get our crickets from a supplier that attends the shows,1,000 crickets for 15.00,but another tank will be needed.plus cricket water and food(but these will last for quite sometime)there size max's out at 18 mo.,once they reach adult.care gets a little better,he can cut down on the crickets and increase the veggie's ,theirs also food pellets for dragon's,but not all will take these regularly,if at all.
Caring for these dragon's,is nothing like most snake,with snakes a warm setup,weekly feeding,fresh water,keep it clean,hiding places is all thats required.
We have three right now,but this could increase to five very soon,we got word that someone near-by got a pair(babies),and had no clue on their care,and is now looking to dump them,supposedly their not doing well,so quarantine will be needed,this happens alot.This is why,when you find a 9 mo. + old one at the shows,their quite expensive,all of the really hard work has been already done.

Joe

but they are a lot of fun!!! Are big GUY.that died,from eating one lousy lighting bug,would go bonkers when we walked into the living room,as soon as we opened the top,,he'd bolt up to the top,run up are arm.and sit on our shoulder for hours,we wouldn't even have to put the crickets in his setup.he would jump into the cricket container,and take his fill,right then.

OH!and another thing extremepeanut!!don't leave any un eaten crickets running around at night,they'll bite the hell!! out of your dragon,while it's trying to sleep.
If everything goes good for you,it'll grow 1/2" per week,so measure weekly and right it down,and shed about twice a month(again warm baths will help this).

[ExtremePeanut]

Thanks You Have all been a great help XD

[drache]

dragons are a bit labour intensive when they're little, but adults aren't so bad - less work than cats and dogs
I found the yahoo group pogona pogona : Pogona - bearded dragons very helpful when I first got my dragon a few years ago and I think they're still a good group
congrats on your new pet and welcome to the forum
you should really consider a garter snake, once you got the hang of the beardie thing
Joe - thanks for that dragon site - some nice info there

[Sputnik]

So what's going on here, Jonas? Posting from school? Tut Tut! Refreshing old topics? Double tut (tut)!

Rhea, Jonas is my son and his dragon, Draco, is almost a year old now.

[drache]

oops
I suppose Draco's big enough to be cruising around the living room by now

[jeanette]

Ha Ha posting from school, wish i could do that when i was at school.
ahh the good old days, when smoking behind the science block was the most fun we could have lmao