Anybody have Bearded Dragons

[silverfox1961]

Last weekend, I took charge of a pair of Bearded Dragons after their previous owner couldn't look after them properly. The problem is, I'm not sure how to either.

 

I make sure they are fed and watered, let them out (individually) for a wander and keep the tank warm.

 

Questions

How do I keep crickets alive? I bought some (approx 70) at the weekend and some are already dead. Mealworms don't seem to be a problem. I do feed veggie matter too. I do use dragon dust as well

 

I am using desert sand in the base of the tank. Is there anything better (and cheaper)

 

From what I have been told, the female has laid 3 lots of eggs in the past but none have survived and the male ate them (cannibal:|). If the female gets up the duff again, what is the procedure for assisting live births. Do I need to get a separate incubator or can I wing it. How old do the babies have to be before I get rid of them (selling-giving away)

 

Any advice will be greatly grabbed

[rebel11]

Hi Silver,

 

http://www.beardeddragonguide.com/

[natalie]

Do you know how old they are?

 

Keeping the crickets alive, have they got food/water gel?

 

What set up have you got in the vivarium? How big is it? What lights have you got?

 

I wouldnt use sand, they can ingest it when they are catching their food and it can become impacted.

 

You will need an incubator for any eggs, (the best one I had was a hovabator for bird eggs)

 

This is the cheapest place I found for everything

 

 

they also have forums for advice.

Edited May 17, 2011 by silverfox1961
removed commercial link

[silverfox1961]

Thanks for the link Natalie. I have bookmarked it and removed it from your post (site rules eh!)

 

Gel? Food? I did crunch up some corn flakes and put chopped carrot in for moisture

 

I think the dragons are around 18 months to 2 years old. The male is (from nose to tail tip) about 18 inches long and the female is much smaller

 

Strange about the sand. Pets at Home advertise it as suitable for reptiles. What do you recommend as an alternative?

 

The tank (vivarium is a hard word) is 48x21x19 inches and it has two wooden houses, water bowl, food bowl, cricket house, climbing material, a strip light and a heat lamp.

[natalie]

I always used corn cob, but I've just read up and it seems play sand (the finer stuff) is okay to use.

 

Your set up sounds good, do you have a thermostat on your heat lamp? You need to keep control on teh temp and the best way to do that is with a dimming thermostat.

 

Once settled your male will start headbobbing, its a dominance thing and is quite amusing.

 

They are great pets to have actually, they are one of the few caged animals that will respond to you.

 

One word of warning, if you have children make sure they wash their hands etc after handling because they carry salmonella.

[silverfox1961]

This is fine sand they have. I was thinking of nipping down to my local beach and pinching some but I now know it is not suitable

 

It came with a Microclimate temp sensor but it is faulty so another one is needed. At the moment, I have the heat lamp on a timer so that it doesn't get too hot.

 

My nephews partner told me about salmonella so I do wash my hands after every handling.

 

Headbobbing! I had to drive them about 150 miles in my car and the tank got cool so they went in 'hibernation'(?) but once I got them home and warmed up, they were chasing around. I expected them to get stressed with the cold and the journey but they have settled in great. In fact, Spike (the male) headbobs against the glass when he wants attention-so cute. Dora (I didn't name her) bobs up and down very slowly and seems very laid back (except when it comes to food)

 

I will be going to my nearest reptile shop tomorrow (Lowestoft) to see what stuff they have. I will also check out that website you linked me to just in case I can scare the postman

[natalie]

You think they are mad on food now, get some locusts and watch them lol.

[locutus]

Eh? WHAT? oh, "Locusts" that's ok then

 

GL Foxy

[silverfox1961]

Eh? WHAT? oh, "Locusts" that's ok then

 

GL Foxy

 

 

Actually (according to the pet shop) they're not locusts until they are fully grown. Until then they are 'hoppers'

 

I let them both out this morning while I cleaned the vivarium and Dora, the little minx, left a nice smelly present on my rug

 

I didn't realise that dragon poo was so smelly.

 

Spike is suicidal! I open the door and he takes a flying leap to get out (only 15 inches to the floor) but then he is climbing up my furniture which is ok but when he tries to climb the back of my PC tower (using the air holes as grips) I had to take charge.

 

As to keeping Crickets. I followed Natalies advice and I got some bug gel and I feed them grated carrot and I have only lost a couple since. I did buy a Kricket Keeper and that has made feeding the dragons do much easier.

[janis6670]

I use bird cage sandpaper as substrate. It make sit so easy just to roll up and lift out when cleaning. They really are brilliant pets arent they--real characters!!!

[silverfox1961]

I never thought about using sandpaper as a substrate. I would imagine that would help keep their nails short (not looking forward to the clipping either) With a sand substrate, it is easier to clean the poo out though.

 

I now rest a beanbag tray against the edge of the vivarium for when Spike is out. He can climb back in on his own

[silverfox1961]

I'm sure animals were born to stress us out!

 

Spike has been on and off his food for the last couple of weeks. Not eating live food and only eating sporadically of the veggie matter.

Dora, on the other hand has turned from a laid back beardie, not that bothered with the food on offer to a vixen with a voracious appetite, eating everything in front of her.

With Dora, i could live with her mood swing but not Spike.

He started to scrape away the sand on the floor and just lay there so I thought he was ill so I offered live food which he refused, greens which he did and he only took water from a syringe so I really thought he was ill.

 

After doing a little online research, I discovered I was totally wrong with my assumption and I discovered a new word

 

Brumation

 

He is now in his little hidey hole, surrounded by bedding and has been for the last couple of days.

I check him and he is definitely still alive

[silverfox1961]

That's it, when it comes to Bearded Dragons, I am a total idiot.

 

Spike went into brumation a couple of months ago but didn't stay there. Instead he went two or three days at a time thern came out for a day or two then went away again. In that time he hardly ate so I was thinking he was ill. Wrong again. This is almost normal for them.

 

Over the past couple of days, Spike has been getting quite 'bossy'. Chasing Dora around and biting her neck. Each time he did it, I separated them but today when I separated them, Spike did a funny dance with his....loins (the best word I can think of) so the next time he did it, I left them to it. The dirty bu**ers were sh*****g on my carpet

[Janie1962]

Oooohhhh ..................... baby Beardies might be on the way, then?

[silverfox1961]

Oooohhhh ..................... baby Beardies might be on the way, then?

Maybe not. I think dora expelled his seed as she left a lovely white mark on my cushion the other day while she was having a wander.

 

Be nice if we do have babies though

[silverfox1961]

Spike has been helping me with my CAG duties

[Janie1962]

He's a handsome lad! Hope he's behaving himself with Dora...........

[Janie1962]

By the way. if Dora does need maternity tops, how will you know?

[natalie]

If she is pregnant you will notice very quickly that she is getting fat, and then if you lift her up and look at her tummy you will see the shapes of the eggs, then its a waiting game till she lays. Have you got a hovabator incase she is?

 

You need to carefully remove the eggs when she lays them (making sure you dont turn them upside down) and put them in the hovabator or they will get trampled on.

[silverfox1961]

By the way. if Dora does need maternity tops, how will you know?

Now you're just being silly

 

If she is pregnant you will notice very quickly that she is getting fat, and then if you lift her up and look at her tummy you will see the shapes of the eggs, then its a waiting game till she lays. Have you got a hovabator incase she is?

 

You need to carefully remove the eggs when she lays them (making sure you dont turn them upside down) and put them in the hovabator or they will get trampled on.

 

I do think she is as she is getting quite plump but no definite egg shapes as yet.

 

I don't have a hovabator. (assuminmg that's an incubator type thing) My advisor (the lady at the pet shop ) has told me of a cheap way of doing it using grills, tubs, vermiculite and heat.

[natalie]

There are loads of plans online to make homemade ones, as long as the eggs dont dry out (but dont get wet so watch out for condensation dripping) and stay warm you'll be fine.

 

When she is ready to lay you will know, the egg shapes are very apparent and she will hardly eat at all and might be quite grumpy.

 

Once you have the eggs you need to prepare for the babies, they can lay anything up to 40 eggs.. and let me assure you beardie babies eat one hell of a lot of food lol, one of mine had a clutch of 36 and they nearly bankrupt me.

 

I used a plastic crate to keep them in with a basking lamp and uv light, they dont need furniture and I used kitchen roll rather than proper substrate because it was jsut too messy and I had to clean them out too often. At least with kitchen roll you can take out the messy sheets and replace them pretty easily.

[silverfox1961]

FORTY EGGS! Ruddy eck!

I should be able to mock something up. good idea about the kitchen roll. the pet shop will love me. Buying loads of food. I should get my own back though as the pet shop will buy the babies.

 

Just had a thought. Can you imagine if the babies escape

[locutus]

FORTY EGGS! Ruddy eck!

I should be able to mock something up.

 

Large omelet?

[silverfox1961]

Large omelet?

 

No That's just wrong especially as I could get £15+ each when sold

[Janie1962]

Wow! Worth the price of letting them get jiggy-jiggy on your carpet, then!