Weird question for those experienced with reptiles. I've come to find that Bearded Dragons are adorable. There is one up for adoption in our store and I am so very tempted. The question is do they do okay as only critters or should I get another as well to keep him company? I could make a space for a tank in our bedroom. Also are they good with being handled? The ones at work seem to walk right up to say hello when I'm near them.
Never had any kind of lizard, though I love them - snakes too. If he's used to being alone, perhaps he wouldn't tolerate another male. Though clearly I am no expert! I would imagine that as long as he gets lots of human attention he would be happy enough on his own (unless you get a lady dragon to keep him company!)
Yes I have lots of experience. Beardies are solitary animals so much better on their own and should never be housed together (that is the reason so many have toes, feet or tails missing because they have been bitten off by tank mates). A vivarium should be a minimum of 4ft long x 2ft wide with lots of substrate to dig in and decor to climb on. They need special bulbs that provide both UVA and UVB lighting, these bulbs need to cover the whole vivarium and the blub should be no higher than 30cm above the "floor" level of the substrate, UV bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months as they start to lose the full effectiveness of the UV rays after this time. They also need heat bulbs, you could use either a light basking bulb or a ceramic bulb which should always be run on a dimming thermostat (or ceramic can go on a pulse stat I believe), a piece of decor like a bit of slate or a branch should be under the heat source so that the dragon can sit underneath it and bask properly. Baby and juvenile beardies should have 20% veg and fruit and 80% livefood (bugs including crickets, locusts, mealworms, morio worms, cockroaches, silkworms and lots of others), and adults should have 80% veg and fruit and 20% insects. I will add a link about food below. They also need to have a calcium supplement dusted on their veg and their bugs can be dusted in multivitamins such as Nutrobal a few times a week. http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-diet.php
Thank you!!! Between dogs, cats, rats, fish, plants, human children...I'm trying to resist temptation. But he's sitting in the stock room all alone and...
I think Kitkat pretty much covered it all but I will post the basics anyway. Beardies make fantastic pets if they are well handled from being young but they are by no means cheap to keep. They should never be kept in pairs, in the wild they are solitary animals that would only come together to mate, males are extremely territorial and once they reach maturity will fight, often to the death. Keeping male and female is also not advised as males can be extremely rampant and would pester her to death, many females will not lay eggs unless they have been mated and constant mating and egg laying will do her health no good. The best and most sensible flooring to use is reptile carpet not substrate, whilst many of the sands claim they are for reptile use they really are not. Sand can get onto food which is often then ingested and can cause impaction, it is one of the most common problems reptiles have to be taken to the vets for and often results in death. Calcium deficiency can be a common problem too and can lead to metabolic bone disease. For this reason it is best to dust live food with calcium powder. You will need a heat mat on a thermostat to help regulate the tanks temperature which should ideally be in the high 30's / 40 degree mark. You need a UV bulb which should be operated on a timer to simulate day and night and a heat lamp to bask under.
One more question in the meantime...my birthday isn't till July...we do however get animals dropped off all the time. If another beardie comes through before then I'll adopt it the same day. The question...how on earth do you tell boy dragons from girl dragons? Also is there an average size they grow to or does it vary?
