Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all-

I have had all kinds of lizards over the years (iguana, sailfin dragon, golden tegu, egypticus uro, mali uro, etc.) and have always been intrigued by bearded dragons. Some questions for you guys:

- How much of a pain is it to get them to feed? I typically come home from work after dark. Will this be a problem?

- Keeping crickets gets to be a pain since they always seem to escape, or you end up spending a lot of time trying to keep them alive. Can beardies get by solely on worms? Which worms are best? If you buy in bulk, how difficult are they to maintain?

- I have a young son (3 yrs old). Will he be able to handle the dragon regularly? Or will he end up stressing the dragon out?

- How difficult are they to tame? How much handling do they require to remain tame?

- Do adults acclimate easily? Or should I get a baby? What are pros and cons of adults vs babies?

Thanks in advance for your help!

As a recent newbie having kept snakes previously, I think your really going to like this animal, especially if your an experienced lizard keeper. You can feed them the way I do before and after work. They are voracious feeders and need more than one feeding a day. You can/should leave greens for them in the morning and remove them at night. Mine likes worms of all types, meal, wax, butter, phoenix worms. However for a hatchling, wax and butter are too big and meal worms are hard to digest until juvenile age because of high chitin content. Phoenix are a very good option since they are high in calcium and at the largest size is only 3/4". However what the dragon may or may not eat can depend greatly on the individual animal so you may not be able to get away from crickets at least at first. The worms are easily maintained in bulk, put some feeder meal in with them and keep them in the refrigerator until needed. It is unlikely your 3 yr old son can handle a baby dragon with regularity as they allow handling but put up with it for short periods of time before they get antsy then they will literally leap out of your hand. An adult puts up with more handling. As for taming, biting is almost unknown they usually mouth gape and or beard when upset at you, but they get over these behaviors relatively quick with time and handling.

I have 14 dragons right now of all ages. Some are rescues with problems etc. I hatched 8 babies this year. They hatched on or about 8/8/07 from 2 females. My comments will be based on how I handle them. Adults are way easier to take care of but it's great to see the babies grow and they will be accustomed and friendly with you.

First off I have never been bitten by a dragon so I wouldn't worry about that. I have one that threatens but that's just because he was never handled by his previous ownwers.

I leave for work at 8 and return at about 6 or 6:15. I feed crickets at 7 before I leave, then put in a salad, then feed them crickets again at 6:30. Their lights come on at 6:15am and go off at 8:15 pm.

I think crickets are a hastle but a necessary evil with dragons especially babies and gravid females. Price wise they are the cheapest feeders. Adult males you can skip crickets all together and feed them superworms and salad with an occasional treat of some other live food if they like it. I never feed wax worms or meal worms to any of my dragons regardless of size. I breed my own silkworms, and have a dubia roach colony, they are a good staples and am working on breeding superworms. In my opinion, good adult dragon live food is silkworms, crickets, superworms, roaches, hornworms, and butterworms. I haven't had much luck with Phoenix worms. They are not well digested and are expensive for such a small food item.

My GF has a 3 year old girl. She was 2 last year. lol. I have her sit on the floor and she and the dragons are fine with each other. I have no worries that the dragons will hurt her, my concern is she may step on or injure the dragons if she is walking around etc. She is actually way better with the dragons than her mother. lol.

I think if they grow up being handled they actually like it and look forward to the interaction. The jury is still out on the one I have that was never handled. I have had him for 2 months and he still hates me although even he has his moments where I can pick him up and carry him around. But it's a far cry from the dragon that sleeps with me on the couch.

I love the babies. The downside for me is they just grow up too fast. The largest of my babies born 8/8 is now 18" and 290 grams. Oh well breeding season is coming around again soon. lol.

Thanks for your responses, guys! I really appreciate it. I'm still on the fence due to space and time constraints, but hopefully I can work these out and get new little guy.

Thanks again!