Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi!

I currently have 2 leopard geckos and am actually incubating some of their eggs. After the babies hatch and are gone, I am interested in getting another type of reptile. I do love snakes (but those are out of the question) but I thought that a beardie would be a nice addition. There is a reptile show coming up in September and I am hoping to get my next pet there. But I have some basic questions to see if a beardie would be good for me.

1) I have a 20 gallon long tank. Would this be big enough for a single beardie?

2) I know that beardies require a diet consisting of insects as well as some vegetable matter...how often would I give the insects (crickets, mealies) and how often would I give the veggies? What are good veggies to give??? I use Miner-all supplement with my leos.

3) For daytime heat, I would use a basking bulb (w/UV rays) and for nightime would I use a night-glo bulb (blue or red)??? What would be the optimal temps for a beardie (warm, cool?).

4) For substrate, I'm assuming it would be sand for older beardies and paper towels or the like for younger beardies?

5) Cage furnishings....a branch for basking, a hide box, a water dish, and a food dish??? (that is what I have seen in others' setups).

Thanks for reading all this!!!

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

How much would a baby beardie cost? A juvie?

Thanks again!!!

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

depending on what you want, a baby can be very expensive, or inexpensive. Look to the classifies on kingsnake to get a good idea of range. There are a lot of good breeders out there...

www.jerseydragons.com
www.dachiu.com
www.sundialreptile.com
www.dragonsbynature.com

just to name a few....getting a healthy baby is most important, and at the 3 listed above youll get good looks and a good hearty kid

!

Hello!

Here is a caresheet i wrote for my webpage that covers some of the basic info. I was the same as you- i had a couple leopard geckos and i decided i wanted another type of lizard. Beardies just stole my heart =) They are awesome pets.
Bearded dragon caresheet

-----
~Melissa~

Melissas Menagerie

1) I have a 20 gallon long tank. Would this be big enough for a single beardie? For a baby yes, but not for long.

Plan on a 3 x 2 at minimum for one or optimally a 4 x 2 cage.

2) I know that beardies require a diet consisting of insects as well as some vegetable matter...how often would I give the insects (crickets, mealies) and how often would I give the veggies? What are good veggies to give??? I use Miner-all supplement with my leos.

Crickets 2-3x daily for young dragons, older dragons once a day or once every other day is fine. Veggies daily as well, concentrating on them more as the dragons get older. Pellets are a good addition to the menu also. Collard greens, turnip greens, escarole, some kale, just to name a few.

3) For daytime heat, I would use a basking bulb (w/UV rays) and for nightime would I use a night-glo bulb (blue or red)??? What would be the optimal temps for a beardie (warm, cool?).

You will need a basking bulb giving a basking temp of 105-115 or so, but you also need a uvb producing bulb such as the reptisun 5.0. You do not need nighttime heat if it stays approx. room temp at night. The cool side of the cage should be 85 or so.

4) For substrate, I'm assuming it would be sand for older beardies and paper towels or the like for younger beardies?

That would work fine, just use a washed childrens playsand, not the calci sand.

5) Cage furnishings....a branch for basking, a hide box, a water dish, and a food dish??? (that is what I have seen in others' setups).

You really dont need the water dish, you can mist daily which is a good way for them to get some water, plus their veggies, and also a weekly shoulder high luke warm 10-15 minute soak in water is good.

Good LUck, read some caresheets as well. You can find a whole bunch on the net.