Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am considering getting a BD. I have the chance to get one for free tomorow. They are about 1-2yrs old and are in (they are seporated) 40 and 50 gallon tanks. I know that they need high temps to thrive. I have some questions: What things should I take into consideration before picking this guy up? What
things should I look for as far as health goes? What is the best substrate to use? What is the best food to use? Oh yeah, how long do they live? I know that this is a lot but I just want to make sure that I give my little friend a good home and a long happy health life. Thank you all so much!

1. First off, the tank sizes they're in aren't large enough in my opinion. I never put my beardies in anything smaller then a 100 gallon tank. That's one beradie per tank. I never pair them up for stress purposes.
2. There are alot of beardie care sheets out there. I recommend you do a Google search on 'Bearded Dragon Care Sheet.

Best of luck!
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Lindsay//
::Beardeddragons.ca::
lindsay@beardeddragons.ca

Thank you for the info. I will start thinking about caging (construction/buying one). Thaks again!

Some things to consider are the live foods you will have to keep, and the amount that they require. Crickets, can be purchased over the web. For two beardeds this is the way to go, because if you bought from a pet store you will find your self sending there kids to college on the amount of crickets you need.lol. At a dollor for 12 you would be spending more for the dragons food then yours. On the web reptilefood.com sells thousand count boxes for $9 plus shipping. Dragons can eat up to 25 crickets a day each, more if younger. Super worms, wax worms, and mealies can be used once in a while. They also need a mixed green salad daily. Collard greens, mustard greens, escarole, endive, dandalions are all good dark leafy greens. Squash, sweet potatoes, mixed frozen veggies can be put on top of the greens. They also need a good calcium with d3, and multi vitamin suppliment to be dusted on the greens and live food. Water with a spray bottle or soaking. Most will not drink from standing water. Uvb needs to be provided. Repti-sun bulbs are good and give off uvb. Also a regular house bulb can be used for heat 105-110 basking spot 75-85 cool side.

As far as health. Make sure that the people were feeding them properly. Offering greens and live foods. Make sure that there poop is firm and formed and not soft. this is a sign of parasites. If kept properly they should have good weight to them.
If kept properly, and healthy dragons in captivity can live 7-10 years.
As far as housing goes. A good substrate is the repti carpet, or plain paper towels. People do use washed play sand, or wheat bran. I personally don't. I find the paper and repti carpet safer, cleaner, and easier. No risk of impaction. A half log or some thing for them to hide under to feel safe.

Thank you very much for the info, especialy the sighns of good health! I will keep all of those thins in mind. Ohh yeah, the cricket thing was nice too. Even though I work in a pet store I would still be spending a lot of cash on them in the future. Thanks again!