Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am gonna try starting a colony of beardies and I want the best of the best. So, please help a fellow herper out and rate some products that you LOVE or HATE... Thanks in advance

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Rebel, my bearded dragon has been confirmed as a female. We all thought she was male Anyways, I couldn't be prouder....

Products i love. . . Zoomed's can O' crickets, and Juvy Formula that comes in Refrigable can. Rep-Cal growth formula Dragon pellets soaked in 100% Welch's juice(she's eat it like crix). ZooMed Repisafe Water conditioner. Eco-Terra substrate. Any generic brand of Lizard hammock. Power connecter Surge protecter/MultiPlug Timer thing.
Nuetral- Strip thermometers, heat rocks (used only during the night), Hidey Huts.
BAD- Sand(too much to worry and take care of), reptile carpet, non- hinged tank tops (very fustrating).
-Sara

PS, just my opinion and limited experience!

Products I HATE. Calci sand , Vita sand or any loose particle substrate. Any ESU brand UVB bulbs, they put out little if any actual UVB.Hot Rocks, they can cause thermal burns. Strip thermometers, they aren't accurate.

Products I LOVE. Non-adhesive shelf liner,very easy to clean. Digital thermometers with probe,accuarate and easy to use. exo-terra reti-glo 8.0 UVB bulb (MVB are better).

Cockroaches and silkies, much better then crickets. bearded dragon pellets, great as a supplment and emergency food.

AVOID hot rocks of any kind...The can cause serious thermal burns...A UTH is a safe substitute...Or if you're relatively handy; heat tape...

A simple water purifer hooked up to your facet (you can get these from walmart) if you're very concerned about your water quality...

ReptiSun 8.0 UV bulbs...

Washed/Screened playsand for your adults...Paper towels for the babies...

Vermiculite for the nesting boxes...

Perilite for the incubation containers...

There are lots of product reviews at www.beardeddragon.org they are from experienced bearded dragon owners.

first thing first...as i always say...if you are going to breed, make sure you can get rid of them. Unless, that is, you plan on taking care of 100 dragons.

to get to the point...
products i like are are pretty cheap:

for an incubator, get a hovabator for each female. they can fill up pretty quickly.

i make my egg laying box out of a plastic tote the size of a shoe box, and fill it with a mixture of unfertilized soil and vermiculite.

have many cages! you'll want to seperate a gravid female so that she isn't so stressed and becomes egg-bound. my favorite cages are the ones that i build myself. You've seen what a "good" cage looks like. So start drawing some plans and start building.

for food, don't get anything that is prepackaged. fresh, LIVE insects are the way to go.

for the past five years, i've always used reptisun 8.0 UV bulbs. well, i'd have to say that the 8.0 have only been out for like two years, before that it was the 5.0 bulbs. anyway, now i am tring out the powersun MVB on my new hypopastel. So far i like the powersun most because i only have to plug one light into my on/off timer! my other cages have an on/off timer with a three way hook up so that i can plug in two heat lamps and the UV reptisun. i see the potential fire hazard and therefore like the powersun!

feel free to ask more questions.
jake
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon