Thinking of getting a Beardie

[Mrs.Z]

Hi

We are thinking of adding a beardie to our new found love of herps. I have 4 rtboas and 4 boys. my sons really like the beardies and they seem to be pretty personable as compaired to the iggy that my aunt had. he was just plain mean.

what can you tell me about care, enclosures, size of enclosure, food and any other pertinent info. It'll be a while yet as I want to do full research first.

thanks,

Mrs. Z

[Mrs.Z]

Re: Thinking of getting a Beardie

Oh, most important....one or a pair??
Thanks,

Mrs.Z

[benttoe]

Re: Thinking of getting a Beardie

Beardies are a good choice. I never had one but always wanted one. as cages go a 20 Long can hold 1 adult but a 30 Long would be better. So if you got a pair maybe a 40 breeder would be nice for them as adults. Beardies are going to need a uv bulb such as zoo med 5.0 bulb and another bulb for heat to bask in. You could as use a UTH ( under tank heater) Any beardie that is a German variety is a good choice the German Giants are the most hardiest of all beardies. Also a Rankins Dragon is a good choice. Its a cousin to a beardie only a little smaller. Here is a link to a care sheet http://www.reptiletrust.com/reptile_...ded_dragon.htm

[kahaj]

Re: Thinking of getting a Beardie

Beardies are probably the best choice of all the lizards out there. They are VERY personable. We've been breeding them for a couple of years now. We have our pair of adults in a 40 gallon breeder. Benttoe had suggested using a UTH. I'm not sure how that would work w/ the sand though. I think that would be apt to trap out a lot of the heat. Plus, a bulb w/ UV is great for them cuz they love to bask. If you have any specific questions, feel free to drop me a note.

[benttoe]

Re: Thinking of getting a Beardie

where you put the UTH and using sand keep the max depth of sand under 1 inch. It has work fine like that for many of years. Leopard gecko keepers used that method. It provides ground heat beardies can sit or lay on that spot. They get the heat right in the stomach area where they need it most. b27.gif

[kahaj]

Re: Thinking of getting a Beardie

Hmm, never figured that would work. Alright then, I've learned my new thing for today.

[benttoe]

Re: Thinking of getting a Beardie

;D no problem thats how we all learn something new s9.gif

[LORI]

Re: Thinking of getting a Beardie

Beardies are great pets to keep IMO for kids. They are full of personality and easily maintained as far as husbandry for kids that are like 9 years of age or above IMO. Here's an in depth page of mine on their feeding criteria http://www.koalaskritters.net/feedingbeardeddragon.html

[___LEE___]

Re:Thinking of getting a Beardie

i disagree with kahaj about beardies being the best of all lizzies ... i personally think that savannah monitors are number one but that is my opinion they are really easy to care for you feed them basically like a snake i feed 4 fuzzies every week and maybe 50lg crix inbetween he loves it but i also had a bearded dragon and he was awesome i sent him to steve as a matter of fact. They are really sociable and love the attention if u get them as young and like any animal u interact with them alot they will be fine.

Lee

[tim24fan_18]

Re:Thinking of getting a Beardie

lee i agree with you on the savannah monitors.there very dosile,love to be held talked to played with and loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee to eat!!!!! but i dont think that i would be able to take care of a beardie.there so small when they are young i just to afraid that i would end up hurting the pore litle thing.dont get me wrong they are very cool animals.the way they stand there with that dont f@$k with me attitude.very neat.but im to into the monitors.not as fragile as the little ones.but i also had the nile that is M.I.A. still.but they are very aggressive eaters.hell i fed jet(the1 i got from steve) oh he ate up that poor little mouse.but its fun to watch them feed on crickets too.chace them all around the cage.pretty funny actually.....tim...