| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| kdlang |
Posted - 27/03/2010 : 17:25:37
i am considering getting another corn when I get back from holiday in July. However, i have also been considering a bearded dragon or leopard gecko. I love them both but I have one main worry.
When my sister moved into her flat she had a problem with bugs that seemed to be like crickets. It turned out the tennants of the flat next door had beardies or geckos of some sort. Some of the crickets must have escaped and bred and worked their way into my sisters flat.
I just wanted to know how you guys deal with escapees, how you stop them escaping and also how and where you store your food items. How do you transfer the crickets/locusts to the viv as I'm not so sure i could actually handle them despite catching grasshoppers as a youngster - I'm not that brave anymore.
I would really like a beardie or gecko and wouldn't like a worry over feeding to put me off. |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| kdlang |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 22:52:50
quote:
Originally posted by DannyBrown91
It wouldn't bother me feeding them to the lizzards, just if they managed to get out all over the place. Everytime i look at a Skink or a beardie i just have visions of Sasha running round like mad playing catch the cricket. Shes bad enough chasing leaves that blow in the wind when we are out on walks.
Edit = Spellcheck 
Hmmm thats a thought. If i had escapees I would just have to set my cat off chasing them. I don't have problems with flies, moths etc since i got Kizzy as she is a fantastic bug catcher. in fact once i had a moth flying around the kitchen light that was driving us mad so i picked the cat up held her up and she just swiped the moth straight into her mouth. Good job well done lol |
| kdlang |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 22:48:27
Thanks guys.
Don't worry about expressing an opinion Herriotfan. There may be people that don't agree with you but that shouldn't make you wish you had stayed quiet. The good thing about this forum is that differing opinions are usually discussed civilly and when occasionally things do get out of hand, the moderators are quick to step in and calm things down. It's one of the reasons i love being on this forum and why I posted my questions on here as opposed to the other pet forum im on.
I won't be making any decisions until the end of July at the earliest so i have plenty of time to research. I was kinda thrown in at the deepend when i got my corn and found this site to be a godsend. So i plan to be much better prepared if i get a beardie. Get ready for lots more questions and I will take everyones opinion on board.
While I'm at it, can anyone recommend any good beardie books so i can swot up while not having access to the computer? |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 22:33:53
It wouldn't bother me feeding them to the lizzards, just if they managed to get out all over the place. Everytime i look at a Skink or a beardie i just have visions of Sasha running round like mad playing catch the cricket. Shes bad enough chasing leaves that blow in the wind when we are out on walks.
Edit = Spellcheck |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 20:52:13
Darn it you make me want a lizard now! I love chinese water dragon but they need such a big space...
Same with my mum and my sister, they would to have one but it's just the bugs...plus as well some of the cricket loking things look huge and have really weird heads. Plus as well I think my dad would probably explode...I love the breaded blood red dragons and the sunburst. If I could get someone else to feed it for me or get over bugs then it would be no problem :) any of those two are unlikley to happen. |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 19:58:10
quote:
Originally posted by Sta~ple
The escape bug and them breeding is what has put me off lizards, as much as I would like one. I would hate it if someone or something accidentaly knocked over the container of bugs and they all went free about the house...bugs also poop a lot. I think read somewhere that some people remove the legs off the bugs so they don't go wandering about.
Then again I'm biased, I really hate bugs. We seems to get ants all the time in the summer so I just image replacing the ants with crickets or another big bug..
Yup thats why my mum is so against having a lizard in the house, although i would really love to have a few and will probably get them when i get my own place.
Lizzard Wish List
Crested Gecko's
Beardies
Blue tongued skink. |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 19:55:59
quote:
Originally posted by herriotfan
I knew I should have kept quiet.....you'll find lots of conflicting advice re keeping more than one beardie in the same viv. Everyone agrees that two males must not be housed together but any other combination will always cause debate ;) That's why I said look on as many forums as you can and in particular those devoted soley to bearded dragons. Not sure if I can mention one on here but you can send me a private email and I can suggest a really good one where this subject is often healthily debated!!
I guess it is the same as cohabbiting corns, many people do it with no problems but it also has its down sides. |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 12:06:30
The escape bug and them breeding is what has put me off lizards, as much as I would like one. I would hate it if someone or something accidentaly knocked over the container of bugs and they all went free about the house...bugs also poop a lot. I think read somewhere that some people remove the legs off the bugs so they don't go wandering about.
Then again I'm biased, I really hate bugs. We seems to get ants all the time in the summer so I just image replacing the ants with crickets or another big bug.. |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 11:06:34
I knew I should have kept quiet.....you'll find lots of conflicting advice re keeping more than one beardie in the same viv. Everyone agrees that two males must not be housed together but any other combination will always cause debate ;) That's why I said look on as many forums as you can and in particular those devoted soley to bearded dragons. Not sure if I can mention one on here but you can send me a private email and I can suggest a really good one where this subject is often healthily debated!! |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 10:55:29
quote:
Originally posted by Kehhlyr
Sorry, but I think that beardies are highly communal reptiles, but so long as there is either only 1 male, or none at all.
I currently have 4 adults and aside from the brief time when the boys were forced to share, I never had any issues.
I have also read that aslong as there is only 1 male they will share with no problems. Its only when you introduce more than 1 male that problems can start to occur. |
| Kehhlyr |
Posted - 29/03/2010 : 00:49:36
Sorry, but I think that beardies are highly communal reptiles, but so long as there is either only 1 male, or none at all.
I currently have 4 adults and aside from the brief time when the boys were forced to share, I never had any issues. |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 28/03/2010 : 23:38:23
Please don't get more than one beardie unless you have a spare viv to use in case you need to seperate them. Yes, lots of people keep more than one together but they are very lucky not to have conflict! Beardies are solitary creatures in the wild, apart from breeding time. Have a look on other bearded dragon forums too for more information. There are probably other beardie owners on here too that will give you advice. |
| eeji |
Posted - 28/03/2010 : 23:15:02
our beardie gets black crickets and locusts, most hand fed so theres none hopping around the viv looking for a way out.
Black crix also don't tend to breed in the house, whereas the brown crickets will breed like rabbits in the right conditions which is usually behind the fridge or some other warm dark place. |
| kdlang |
Posted - 28/03/2010 : 23:00:08
Thanks guys, think i might have a visit to the rep shops near me and see if i can arrange to be around during a feeding session. There certainly seems to be alot of different foods available so I appreciate your advice.
Another thing I have come across. A few of the care sheets, including the one on the mothership, say that beardies are communal reps and can be kept in small groups as long as there is only 1 male. But on another pet forum i go on, there were a few posts on there that said that beardies are solitary in the wild and should be kept alone. I'm not really plannin on having more than one, maybe 2 if they were both female, but it did make me wonder a bit. |
| Kehhlyr |
Posted - 27/03/2010 : 22:54:23
I have escapes of crix fairly often (whenever the missus feeds the lizards really) and I tend to deal with them a couple days later when one of the girls screams something along the lines of "There's one of those black things in here!!!!", although that normally has an expletive in there as well somewhere.  |
| n/a |
Posted - 27/03/2010 : 22:50:10
i have a 2 2'x1'x15" aquarium with a sealed lid on them one i keep locusts in and other for crix only ever had 1000 escape once they were everywhere but they die after a couple of days as cant handle our countrys temps as for them breeding those flats must be really warm for them to breed that only happened before i got the aquariums dog knocked the tubs off the side ahh well the beardies had fun tryin to catch them bagless hoover works treats for catching them.
i transfer them in a tall tub which i put powder in to dust them then i either shake them out or get the feeding tongs out
paul |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 27/03/2010 : 21:47:37
I use locusts for our beardie. I keep them in a kricket keeper and just empty a tube into a plastic bag, shake in some dusting powder then empty them into Izzy's viv. No chance of any escaping because the viv doors are closed and Izzy eats them all before we open the viv again. I prefer locusts to crickets for Izzy's sake too because any crickets that manage to hide away from her will come out when Izzy is asleep and they bite her...nasty things! Locusts have better nutritional value too. If you really want to use crickets then you can buy vacume packed ones for the freezer, much easier to handle. Izzy likes those too. You will probably find that if you get a beardie or leo you'll soon get used to dealing with the live food. I think most people are a bit turned off by the thought of them to start with but most soon become used to sorting them out. Good luck and let us know what you decide................ |
| lee2308 |
Posted - 27/03/2010 : 18:57:37
i feed my lizard Dubai roaches from tweezers,they cant live for long if they escape because their from a tropical climate,dont smell and cant climb smooth surface like other roaches can and are more nutritious |
| Figs |
Posted - 27/03/2010 : 18:18:26
i just open the box of bugs and shake them into my vivs - the viv doors arent open all the way so hardly any escape!
you could use other feeders instead of crickets too. As easy and cheap as they are they stink, they are noisey and are great at escaping.
I use lobster roaches and locusts now - they are more nutritious than crickets, dont smell, dont make a noise and arent really fussed about escaping. My geckos really seem to enjoy them too :)
For crickets though there is something called a 'kricket keeper' that apparently doesnt let crickets escape somehow by using tubes or something... i've never used one though so there isnt much more to say! |
