Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello everybody i was looking for a little advice on beardies and assumed this is the place to come. i cant lie im a snake guy myself and know very little about lizards, but my wife really like beardies and i know she wants one!! i wanna get one for her b-day but i have plenty of time its not till september...

anyways what does a snake guy need to know about them as far as wath to get who to get from what to look for??

i think taking care of it and husbandry shouldnt be a problem im planning on building a 4 or 5 level bookshelf style cageing unit out of melimine about 4'x2' however tall it needs. i can leave one part empty till i get my wife a dragon.

so any info for a first timer would be helpfull thanks alot!!
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-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?

more distant future hopefuls
1 or 2 of each maybe a breeding pair?
--anery boa (ooooh)
--jungle carpet python (love to have 1 or 2)
--dumeril boa (ahhhh)

slightly more wishful thinking
--hypo br rainbow boa (love em)
--anery br rainbow boa (oooh even better!!)
--motely boa (gorgeous!!)

As far as where to get one from, the Dachiu's get my highest recommendation. (Dachiu.com) You could also consider going to a reptile show and picking one out. That might be more fun than having one shipped. As far as care you should check out beautifuldragons.com and the Dachiu's have a good care sheet as well.

hey good to know thanks!

do you know of anything spicific to look for when buying as far as looks go? i see diff colored one and diff morphs, are these all the same just use personal prefs to color

also there are a few local pet stores that carry dragons is there any benefit for buying from a breeder instead of a local pet store maybe a good breeding line or better genral health?

i might be over analizing here just wondering basically if im better off ordering from a breeder for a healthier animal or just walk into a pet store and say ill take that one....
-----
-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?

more distant future hopefuls
1 or 2 of each maybe a breeding pair?
--anery boa (ooooh)
--jungle carpet python (love to have 1 or 2)
--dumeril boa (ahhhh)

slightly more wishful thinking
--hypo br rainbow boa (love em)
--anery br rainbow boa (oooh even better!!)
--motely boa (gorgeous!!)

There's a lot of heartbreak potential in buying from a pet store. You should get a dragon that is 4-5 weeks old or about 6" long. Pet stores sell hatchlings that are way younger. They also house them in less than ideal conditions. Many here will tell of pet store babies that died in a few days.

My opinion is that pretty much color is just a personal preference as long as you are buying from a responsible source that doesn't inbreed them. I get at least as much enjoyment out of my less colorful animals as the more colorful ones so to me it doesn't matter.

hey perfect thanks that helps alot i live in alburquerque and there are two repi shows that come around one in spring one in fall im thinking about picking something up then. prolly just a normal ive seen yello red and orange and i like the orange ones but this is for my wife so a norm will be fine i think if it where for breeding that would be diff but im only getting one for a pet thats all. thanks for the advice if anyone else has any more feel free to chime in
-----
-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?

more distant future hopefuls
1 or 2 of each maybe a breeding pair?
--anery boa (ooooh)
--jungle carpet python (love to have 1 or 2)
--dumeril boa (ahhhh)

slightly more wishful thinking
--hypo br rainbow boa (love em)
--anery br rainbow boa (oooh even better!!)
--motely boa (gorgeous!!)

I suggest asking the wife if she likes the orange ones the other color morphs, though normals are nice too.

There are plenty of great information on bearded dragons on this forum itself, so I definitely recommend reading back posts from a page or two. Read various care sheets as well, not all are good but most of the sites recommended here in the forum in past posts all have good information.

Even if the bearded dragon is going to be a gift, I do suggest both you and your wife read the information, this way she will know what to expect from a bearded dragon and know the care requirements (assuming of course she doesn't already know).

The cage size you are thinking is fine for a single adult dragon, 4'x2' of floor space, height should be 18-24". More floor space is better than height even though bearded dragons do like to climb.
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PHLdyPayne

i still have a while before im ready to buy plenty of time for research but it never hurts to start early.

you do have a good point about having her read up on it all to, ill go looking for some care sheets. thanks for the input
-----
-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?

more distant future hopefuls
1 or 2 of each maybe a breeding pair?
--anery boa (ooooh)
--jungle carpet python (love to have 1 or 2)
--dumeril boa (ahhhh)

slightly more wishful thinking
--hypo br rainbow boa (love em)
--anery br rainbow boa (oooh even better!!)
--motely boa (gorgeous!!)