bearded dragon

[naturalman91]

so lately i've been thinking about maybe getting a bearded dragon but i'm finding a lot of conflicting info does anyone have a beardie that might be able to tell me the setup or better yet show me like what is substrate what kind of lights how hot during day how cold at night etc i would really love to see some pictures of enclosures

 

[lisa127]

I have a rescue beardie. He was rescued from a teenage boy who just didn't have time for him anymore. I have him in a 40 gallon breeder, which is the minimum size. Bigger of course is better. I use just newspaper sheets as substrate. I keep the tank very simple. He has a basking rock under his basking light and a half log on the cool side. The only other thing in the enclosure is one flat piece of slate. He has a Reptisun 10.0 tube running the length of the enclosure. His hotspot is kept at about 110 degrees and the cool end of his enclosure is usually about 80 degrees. I feed him a salad each day. His favorites are mustard greens, red bell pepper, chopped raw green beans, blueberries and strawberries. I have him on a staple protein of superworms. It works for him as he was underweight when he came to me. They can be too fatty to be a staple for some beardies though. I usually feed him 3 superworms per day after his salad.

 

[naturalman91]

would there be any harm in using a real substrate i like my animal enclosures to mimic wild condition's and would i want a MVB? also if i were to start from a baby how would i go about taming it?

 

[lisa127]

I don't like to use loose substrate for any of my lizards. My beardie constantly licks at the floor so it would make me nervous. However, you can get some cool looking slate tiles to line the bottom. That would look more natural. And yes, you can use an MVB if you want. I don't just because I don't like them. But you could. As for taming, I did not have my beardie as a baby. He is 4 years old and was already tame. It's too bad we don't live near each other as mine is up for adoption now that I got his weight up.

 

[naturalman91]

is there any one species that is more aggressive then the rest so i know what to watch out for?

 

[lisa127]

of bearded dragons? what do you mean species?

 

[naturalman91]

well from what i've read there are 9 different types such as leatherback dwarf and western

 

[lisa127]

oh, ok. the leatherback is a morph I believe. The Inland bearded dragon is the common pet dragon, with different morphs. I don't think the morph should matter in friendliness though. Honestly though, this guy I rescued is the first beardie I have had though I've been keeping reptiles for almost two decades. Just a warning, if you get a baby they eat tons of insects per day. So many that you would probably need to order online to save on cost.

 

[naturalman91]

yea i've read you have to get them interested in greens and it's hard to do as a baby i just figured baby because i want to watch it grow and have it trust me

 

[hodged02]

I have a breading pair, male is a rainbow tiger, and the female is a Sandfire/citrus cross, they have produced some nice orange tigers as the babies, will upload some photos of my setup as soon as I can