| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Oh How Original |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:06:09
Well I am buying a bearded dragon tomorrow.
He is 2 years old, fully grown, and seems rather placid and friendly, I handled him today no problem.
I am also building him his cage/tank instead of paying a fortune for one.
I was just wondering if anyone had any pointers on keeping them and feeding and such like?
Anything will be appreciated :) |
| 19 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Oh How Original |
Posted - 15/11/2010 : 14:19:45
That's all I was bothered about was crushing them.
I didn't realize they had such a strict and constant diet lol.
But I am sure I will get used to it, although I'm not too sure about keeping too many tubs of crickets/locusts.
I presume he doesn't need to have them everyday, some days are OK with just veg/fruit?
Got to think about cost too, £14 weekly plus veg/fruit if I was to give him them 7 days a week at 1 tub per day. |
| hayleyb93 |
Posted - 14/11/2010 : 19:42:58
my amazing word of wisdom is to watch when someone is holding it with their nails painted, my beardie loves to have a little nibble on anyone who goes near him with nails painted. with regards to the bug thing i think you can get a wee tank for crickets and other insects with like two wee tubes in it which some of them crawl up, all you do is take the tube out and shake it into the tank. thats the case with my crickets anyway as i dont want to touch them in case they squish when i grab them :p |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 14/11/2010 : 11:34:49
Beardies are cool. Great characters, you'll love owning one. Don't worry about the crickets, locusts and worms etc, you soon get used to dealing with them.  |
| Mort13 |
Posted - 14/11/2010 : 08:50:40
I used to put the whole tub in and just check to see if they've stopped moving,it doesn't take long. That way they all had food. The only time I put them in the fridge was to put food in and I let them warm up well and get active before feeding them to my beardies.
When it came to feeding I just lifted the lid a little and let a few come out.
Oh,and if you use bran for the crickets as stotty recommended then you can use it for the mealworms too. |
| Kehhlyr |
Posted - 14/11/2010 : 03:33:50
I go through 2 tubs of black crix every other day.
I keep some greens/veg in the vivs at all times, because when it comes to feeding now, they usually have a few hand fed to them then the rest of the tub poured in.
The greens/veg are tastier to any uneaten crix than a sleeping beardie, so no bites from crix to beardies either. |
| stotty01 |
Posted - 14/11/2010 : 00:21:13
beardies come from the australian outback so they will feel more at home with sand :) my friend just leaves his crickets outside in a fish tank with some water and bran so they can still stay healthy plus it will be cold outside so will make them last for longer :) |
| Oh How Original |
Posted - 14/11/2010 : 00:12:23
Thanks for the help, I was told at the reptile shop to use sand, but I thought about the swallowing of it and whatnot, I was going to use wood chip anyway.
I will be careful not to let him get fat lol, he seems a good size for his age and stuff too.
I hadn't thought of putting the crickets in the fridge first, how long do you put them in the fridge for?
And this might sound stupid, but do you put the full tub in and then the others your not giving the beardie just come out of hibernation or do you take them out of the tub into a seperate one or what?
Appreciate all the help by the way follks :D |
| stotty01 |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 23:43:14
there great pets :) if i had money and space i would have one for sure :) |
| Inkygirl |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 23:20:13
our bearded dragon Gino loves crickets, hoppers, mealworms. veg wise he has corriander, parsley, brocolli and watercess. i wouldnt use sand as substrate as previously said they may eat it. we have had gino on wood chips and hes been grand hun.
congrats looking forward to pics theyre fab little things x |
| Mort13 |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 22:23:59
Be careful with the amount of meal worms you feed,I has a pair years ago and the female became overweight on them so I had to put her on a diet. Crickets will eat various greens/veg peelings and slices of apple and orange etc are good for water content for them. If you're worried about them escaping while you put the food in the tub try putting the tub of crickets in the fridge first,they go into hibernation mode so you can put the food in with no worries of them escaping. Its a good idea to dust them with some calcium powder too.
You'll find you have to replace the fruit/veg for the bearded dragon daily as with the heat in the viv it soon goes off.
I started off using sand with mine but switched to wood chip as after my female had had her 2nd clutch of eggs I noticed she got fat again quick and was worried she'd become pregnant again. Took her the vets where she was x-rayed and thats when I found out the meal worms had made her put on weight. The x-ray showed that she'd ingested some sand also.
Ps.Congratulations,they are amazing animals. Friendly and full of character. My male was a darling,never will forget when he was prowling about in the lounge and he came across the tv guide. He stopped and proceeded to try and eat the letters of the pages bless him |
| tehbunneh |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 21:06:46
My brother has three females, all around a year old, and they eat a staple of morio and meal worms, black crickets, locusts when they are lucky, watercress and rocket (their absolute FAVOURITE), some carrot (another favouite) occasionally some kale (but they don't really like it) and the odd bit of sweetcorn. They are also bathed every week for exercise, hydration, help them shed and also help with digestion/passing poo - it works VERY well, so be prepared to run a few 2-3" baths for them at room temp so they don't re-ingest that! They live on sand, with a UVA and UVB light, and a heat pad as well, just to make sure they are kept at a good temperature (my brother tends to have his room really chilly - he's a large lad, doesn't like to be hot XD). They are all thriving very well, so I assume he's doing well and isn't giving them anything that is poisonous!
With the morio and meal worms, some scraps of newpaper keep them going for months. Crickets and locusts, you can buy something called 'bug grub' if you wish to breed/keep them long term, though I'm not sure how cost effective it is, in relation to somewhere real cheap, like 'livefooddirect.com'. My bro tends to feed them more of the morio worms as they are easier to keep alive, and his girls don't tend to like things that don't wiggle, lol! |
| Oh How Original |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:33:45
Ahhh, what kind of price would 1000 be and what the hell do I have to buy them to eat lol? |
| Oh How Original |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:32:16
I assume it's not like feeding a snake were they get like 1 per day (week for snake obviously).
Do you just put a few crickets or mealworms in and and some salad and veg for it and just leave it in a few days then change it to stop it going mouldy obviously? |
| eeji |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:32:01
try him with black crickets, they're meatier and move slower :) ...you will probably find it cheaper buying them in bulk (500 or 1000 at a time) with the amount beardies eat. |
| gmac |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:27:37
one or the other is a good meat staple or you could vary, also another one to consider is mealworms, but make sure they get their veg, meat only is not a good idea so supplement with fresh veg daily. |
| Oh How Original |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:24:59
So you would suggest crickets instead of locusts then?...
Or will it need both? |
| gmac |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:22:03
thats the easy part, crickets dont generally try to escape the tub, locusts on the other hand are a right sod to keep in the tubs |
| Oh How Original |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:20:13
Thanks a lot buddy, only thing that's phasing me is having to feed it live crickets and what not.
Putting the things up lol and making sure they don't do a runner when the lids off. |
| gmac |
Posted - 13/11/2010 : 20:14:46
hey have a look at the care sheet from thereptilian.co.uk (mother site to this) reptilian beardie care sheet also have a look through the section on dragons from the site, heaps of info in there mate |
