Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's been 2 yrs since i had a bearded dragons. My last one passed away after 11 yrs. I was at the show in PA last wknd and I am itching to get back in the swing of things. I dont plan to get one till next yr when hatchlings abound. Since I have been out of the loop so long I am amazed at the color morphs that I have seen (Angels R Us had some beauties). My main concern is housing. My last go round was a learning experience. I had too many in a small cage (3 in a 30 gal long). I was looking at a very nice cage by Cage by Design 48"Lx48"Tx24"D. I want to house at least 2-3 in this set up. I am looking for a set up that would go well in a living room. Can anyone give me any pointers, I would greatrly appreciate it

Contrary to what I have heard, I had males that grew up amicably together. I am not sure if breeding is in the future since i am still in an apt and only foresee buying a condo for now. If any experts can give me some feedback plz let me know. Thanks.

imno expert but i to was at the philly showlast weekend and boy sandfire ranch hadsome nice dragons ,i think breeders for a couple hundred- they were all just sittin there on the table no cage or any thing, i bought a dragon fromthere hes been throuh a complete shed since then.actually i think its a she but i gotten to used to saying he. lol anyways good luck with yourset up but i thought 3 was tomuch for a cage of that size or am I wrong maybe it could but im new

JIM

I was there too and bought one from the same guy. How old/big is the one you got?

Christina

dont know how old but hes about 8 inches nowmaybe a few months?
you?

The guy there told me he was 4 weeks old then. Right now he/she is 5 inches from tail tip to nose.

Christina

great they take great care of there dragons mine settled in real nicley of course my mom fell in love wit him/her and now she takes care of her/him when she is home and im at school and me being a freshman and all all the teachers hate me and im always in detention so my mom really helps out alot when im late. haha alrite hope you and your dragon do well, cya
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0.0.1 beardie 1.0 curly tail lizard 1.0 whites tree frog 3.0 rabbit 0.0.1 chipmunk

AIM: LilJim24W

the cage you described is not the best for bearded dragons. Dragon cages don't need to be that tall. 48"x24x24" long is ideal for a single adult dragon, maybe two. Go with more floor space with some height cages than really tall ones. 5'long by 2' wide and 2' tall would hold two dragons fine, maybe three.

I've lately been interested in how reptile husbandry has changed (especially with beardeds). Were cage sizes different when you started? Meaning, was a long thin cage standard back then? Or did people get the ones that are at least 18" deep? Also, have there been any changes in lighting over the years? Anything else you know that has changed over the years?

11 years, wow. Can you give me a sort of brief run through on how you cared for your beardies, because it's not all too often that you here about one that breaks the 10 year mark.

Basically, as has been said, go for 4'x2'x2'. The 4' tall cage will be too hard to keep hot enough, and even though beardeds seem to like to climb, I have a 70 gallon tank (3' long, 18" deep, 25" tall) and my little guy has a branch that goes up almost to the top, yet he rarely gets more than a foot off the ground. Plus, if the dragon basks too low they won't benefit from the UV light as much (don't know what you used before, but zoo med reptisuns seem to be the standard now, though there has been some success with cheaper ones and now they make UV/heat bulbs that are much more intense). They need to get I think within 16" of the UV light regularly in order to benefit from it being there, but 12" is much better, and 6" is best.

You probably know all that already though.

later

LOL. Now you make me feel really old. Well when I started these were the up and coming pets in reptiledom. Many poeole at the show I went to in PA told me that my 11 yr old was really unheard of in terms of longevity. I happened upon one quite by accident in a place called New York Reptilia (not sure it even exsists now). Back then the only only options were fish tanks and custom made enclosures. I went for tanks with mesh screen the usual set up and logs. I have learnt a lot caring for them in that span of time. At one time he injured a tank mate (learnt the hard way dont house 2 adult males especially if they never grew up together); that set me be back a bit with vet bills (2 broken legs). As for substrate, I started off with news papers and went to some natural clay like product which never seemed to interefere with his eating. As for lighting Reptisun still seems to be the leader. I hear of 5.0 versus 8.0 (5.0 was it for me). I mean regardless of which ypu use if you dust your live food with calcium and use any of the major UV emitting lights available you will be fine. The UV heat bulbs are something new to me though(I will be trying to get more info regarding that). As was stated earlier the optimum distance the lizard has to be from the light source has not changed over the years (roughly within a foot to fully benefit). The one thing I have seen change is diet. Back then crickets ruled as the primary food source along with giant meal worms. Now I hear about pellets and silk worms. I was on 'Beautiful Dragon' website and she did a wonderful job of listing appropiate veggies and fruits to feed dragons (kudos to you ).

Anyhow, I won't be getting any animals till next spring. Until then I plan to get as much info as I can regarding housing and care. Feel free to ask questions as I am sure we both can benefit from the answers whether I or some1 else can reply.