# FINALLY! got my beardie



## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Finally hooked up with my boss's son today and got her. I think it's a her, I'm not sure. I know what to look for but I'm still not %100. The other one he had was a definite male and one mean sonofabitch! I'll post a pic of his/her junk later and see what you guys think. Right now, she/he is getting used to the new diggs. 
I felt sorry for this critter. While his big aggressive male (about 20") was in a 35g in full display, this little guy/chick (about 12") was crammed in a 15g and hiding. The tank was near the floor in a closed in shelf with only one way to look out. he did have adequate lighting and heat, I'll give him credit for that. 
Now that I have her (a little skinny), she's in a 30g, she's out in the open and she ate right away and she's checking everything out. Can't wait to start the handling!


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## khmerboiRED (Jul 15, 2008)

Nice pickup! I always wanted a beardie but still need to do alot of researching on how to care for one. What do they eat? I know crickets and stuff. Do they eat mice? I seen a HUGE one at a LFS around my home. They look awesome!


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## skarrow33 (Nov 15, 2005)

i feed my dragons a mixture of: mustard greens, collard greens, romaine lettuce, raspberries, crickets, super worms, phoenix worms, shredded carrots/summer squash every so often and dandelions when they are in season.

congrats on the pick up, bearded dragons are a total blast....


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

nice pick up. looks real nice


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

ABOUT TIME!!


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Thanks guys. About time indeed! I took her out last night and she threatened with mouth agape. I took her out tonight and she was more relaxed. A total mainstream lizard, but there's a reason for it. Beardies are cool!


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## skarrow33 (Nov 15, 2005)

mouth gape? i swear somewhere i read that a mouth gape can also mean regulating body temp...? even tho im sure it could be interpreted both ways, anger/body temp

either way she looks sweet, i loved my dragons when they were that size


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

congrats serra. nice pickup


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

It's regulating body temp if she's under the basking spot and not being moved/touched. If she's out of the tank, or being handled, she will do the mouth gape thing and trust me it's different, heh.

How is it that I end up with an etb, a notoriously moody and mean snake, that is as sweet as can be, and you end up with a beardie, who have reps for being placid, that likes to gape at you and potentially bite? Go figure.

And yes, beardies may be mainstream but they are amazing. So it's with good reason.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

skarrow33 said:


> mouth gape? i swear somewhere i read that a mouth gape can also mean regulating body temp...? even tho im sure it could be interpreted both ways, anger/body temp
> 
> either way she looks sweet, i loved my dragons when they were that size


"Little sweetie", threatened me with a gaping mouth, she wasn't regulating body temp, she wanted to bite! And, that's ok, I understand, she's had no handling since juvi. And I'm not afraid of lizard bites unless it's from the bigger monitors, tegus or iguanas.



> How is it that I end up with an etb, a notoriously moody and mean snake, that is as sweet as can be, and you end up with a beardie, who have reps for being placid, that likes to gape at you and potentially bite? Go figure.


The world works in mysterious ways...









All in all she'll be just fine, and tame down just fine. I'm not concerned. Thanks for the comps, all!


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Ive got about 3yr old female. Shes pretty happy now cuz last weekend i just picked up 100 silkworms. There a fun pet to have if you have the time. Somethign i do is if im in the room, i let her out to run on the floor (watch were you step) and just lock the door or somethign so peopel cant get in and the door wont swing open. It will allow then to run around even if you arnt directly spending time with them. Also remove the sad frow the tank. I use simple outdoos carpet i got from a hardware store for 10$ and it covers a 75g tank with 3 sheets i can alternate. Another option i may change to is tile since it would be easier to clean, however i just dont have the tools to really cut it.


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Sand's just fine to use as a substrate. She looks big enough to handle a mouth full if she misses a cricket. I wouldn't be worried.

I'm planning on putting my beardie on sand soon. I just need to get a couple more pieces of decor to make his cave.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Yeah, it's calcium sand anyway.


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

I think calcisand is the one type you _don't_ want to use.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Mettle said:


> I think calcisand is the one type you _don't_ want to use.


Hmm..why? Not from the research I've done. From my research it's highly reccomended based on a general consensus. Crushed walnut is what I've heard to stay away from. What are you hearing about calcium sand?


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

I don't know where you've been doing your research... but a friend was telling me that calcisand is one of the most frowned upon substrates to use. Basically, it's like turning your beardie's stomach into a cement mixer since the calci-sand cannot be digested and when mixed with their stomach fluids and basking tendencies. Severe impaction results. Check this out:

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/impaction/?page=3

(The pic there shows a beardie that was kept on calci-sand/playsand.)


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Also. Apparently there is a class-action lawsuit being waged against one of the makers of calcium sand. I couldn't find anything anywhere on the net about it, though. So I don't know. I'm sure there's some info somewhere on it.


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## skarrow33 (Nov 15, 2005)

i have also heard that calcium sand is a bad idea. i used to use it, but now use black tile... i find it a easy to way help keep the floors warm and that way when my dragons are just laying on the bottom of the cage their bellies still get warmed up... no under tank heat pad necessary


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Sonofabitch! I paid big time for this crap! Must be old sites and books I've been reading. Thanks for the headsup. I'll change it out tommorow. My checking account is dwindling thanks to this little creep!









Also, she's not eating her fruits & veggies. I'm offering strawberries, blueberries, kale, spinach, peas, all she seems to want is superworms and crickets. Is that a big deal?

Thanks again, guys!


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

She seems young, so when young, they tend to really concentrate on the protein side of things. Some never grow out of it. But generally they cut down to simply getting their greens daily and other foods two or three times a week.

Try skipping a day or two of bugs and only putting in the mixed food.

As for what you're feeding, it's a bit heavy on the fruits. You want the main selection to be greens. This is a really great comprehensive guide to different foods and how much you should be feeding each of them:

http://www.exclusivedragons.com/CareInfoLi...al_Content.html

My beardie's daily greens are usually some mixture of dandelion, collard greens, butternut squash and some other random stuff. Depends on what I have on hand. I also only ever use fresh. I never use frozen stuff. And I use almost exclusively organic. (I don't know that the squashes I use are organic though.)

If you want something cheap and effective for substrate just use paper towel or newspaper for now. I personally have been using paper towel. It's not super pretty, but it works well. And is simple to clean.

Ceramic tile has become the substrate of choice for the hardcore beardie keepers out there. Many still use sand, however, only when the dragon is an adult.

EDIT: Forgot to add that you should be dusting her food with a calcium powder most of the time and alternating with a mineral powder every so often. You don't need the Cal w/ D3 for beardies though as they produce their own D3 through basking under the uvb lighting.


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## ...Jay... (Nov 2, 2006)

Just to chime in and beat a dead horse, I've also heard nothing but bad things about calci sand. Sand of any kind can kill a baby, but as adults they can deal with the occasionally sand covered tongue from missing a cricket/roach. The problem I've heard of with cali sand is that some beardies will actually eat the crap on purpose until impacted and dead.

And I agree with mettle on the diet. babies eat mostly bugs with a little greens, and slowly turn to mostly greens/veg with little bugs as they mature. He's plenty old enough to be taking lots of greens on some level though. When I was breeding them not to long ago they would start taking greens within a week usually. The older they get, the harder it is to get them to eat them for the first time. Alot of people say to just not feed bugs and they will come around before starving themselves. But I've also heard of pig headed beadies that went up to a month without food and wouldn't cave to the point of having lost alot of weight. My suggestion is this. Lower the cricket/roach/silky food to almost nothing, and quit misting him/her all together. That has worked great with a couple of stuborn babies that I've had. Basically they get most of their h2o from the greens/veggies they eat in the wild and a little bit from the bugs, but misting often keeps them in high supply. Offer fresh greens daily wether he's eating them or not and dont mist him at all. He will quickly become dehydrated and start scarfing greens. Also, dont bother with veggies at all until hes taking the greens well, then start mixing squash(their fav veg) into the greens later. Once he's taking the mix you can start offering other items. You gotta baby step them sometimes.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

> EDIT: Forgot to add that you should be dusting her food with a calcium powder most of the time and alternating with a mineral powder every so often. You don't need the Cal w/ D3 for beardies though as they produce their own D3 through basking under the uvb lighting.


Yup, I'm ontop of that situation already. I'm using the same calcium powder that I'm using for the tegu...who does need D3. So, it is D3 enhanced, will that be a problem?



> Try skipping a day or two of bugs and only putting in the mixed food.


Did that. She either ate some frozen peas, or just scattered them. I didn't see.



> If you want something cheap and effective for substrate just use paper towel or newspaper for now. I personally have been using paper towel. It's not super pretty, but it works well. And is simple to clean.


I've also read about using rabbit pellets (feed) as a substrate. Thoughts? I think it would be pretty ugly and subject to decay...not sure.

Thanks, mettle...thanks, Jay...informative posts!


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

I wouldn't use the pellets. Seems kinda silly.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

I wouldnt use any sand regardless of size

Pros of sand:
looks more natural

cons
-smells if not cleaned farily regularly
-has to be replaced or at least washed well
-can lead to impactation and death. Rock is rock, if enough is ingested it can cause death. Being larger means it takes more sand to clod insides, but it doesnt mean it cant still happen. Calcium sand is supposed to avoid this, however liek heard it is just as bad if not worse
-food.. can get mixed in it and make it look ugly

Like i said earlier i would do tile or a reptile (or even outdoors carpet like i do) for the ease of cleaning, plus it looks nicer then paper towel and is cheap. Any loose substrate (bark, sand, crushed walnut, dirt...) should be avoided especially for lizards like beardies who constantly eat and chase prey.


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## ...Jay... (Nov 2, 2006)

The thing I liked most about sand was being able to use a pooper scooper for quick doo doo removal.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Mettle said:


> I wouldn't use the pellets. Seems kinda silly.


That's what I thought...even though possibly functional.



> I wouldnt use any sand regardless of size
> 
> Pros of sand:
> looks more natural
> ...


This is my first beardie, but not my first lizard by a longshot. Just how delicate are these guys? I mean compared to the countless other agamids I've kept in the past...who never had an issue with substrate. I think I'll go with standard sand and feed her in a seperate tank. Whew!


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

They're not THAT fragile.

Feeding in a separate enclosure is a nice, simple way to solve the issue at the end of the day. I feed in a separate bin. My beardie knows when lunch time is, that's for sure, haha. (Or bath time, SURPRISE, as it's the same bin for that too.)

People baby their beardies a lot... Do some die of impaction? Sure. But those are also usually small beardies, kept at improper temps so they can't digest/pass their food properly, and they're probably dehydrated as well a lot of times. For every one that dies of impaction hundreds don't. Something leads me to believe it might in part also be related to natural selection.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

> They're not THAT fragile.


I didn't think so.









She's doing great so far, but, is still refusing her veggies. I love how keenly aware of everything she is, the eyes are always moving.


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## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

i have been keeping both my dragons on crushed walnut shells for a few years now and i have zero problems with it. i have a pooper scooper thing and it works like a charm for daily maintaince. if you stay on top of its waste, your substrate should stay nice a clean for a long while before you will have to change it completely with fresh substrate. i use it on all my desert snakes as well. love it. i feed them in theyre enclosures and like i said i have never had a problem.

i found substrate like carpets and paper towel to be more time consuming and a pain then keeping them on a sand type substrate, you cant just scoop and walk away you need to take everything out in the case of paper towel because you need to replace the whole sheet almost everytime it poops and carpet the same thing due to the fact that the waste soaks into the material.

i feel that impaction is a result on multiply things that are wrong (which i think mettle touched on), in the wild what are they on?? sand, dirt etc. they are going to eat sand and dirt in the wild there is no one babying it, i think as long as they are highdrated and healthy, getting proper lighting you wont have a problem keeping them on sand in your home enclosure.

as for food, mine always like the dry diet food you can buy at the pet store. but i like giving them fresh food so theyre diet is greens (collard, dandelion greens, boc choy etc) mixed with tomatos if i have some and de-thawed frozen veggies (peas, califlower, broccoli etc), and chopped up fresh fruit on an almost daily and once or twice a week some added bugs. they are adults so the majority of theyre diet is greens. as young little dragons i still provide the same veggies and such but fed crickets daily or every other day

sorry if i might have repeated what others may have said, i didnt read all the post kinda skimmed though them all, trying to remember so main topics. hope this helps


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

dark FrOsT said:


> i have been keeping both my dragons on crushed walnut shells for a few years now and i have zero problems with it. i have a pooper scooper thing and it works like a charm for daily maintaince. if you stay on top of its waste, your substrate should stay nice a clean for a long while before you will have to change it completely with fresh substrate. i use it on all my desert snakes as well. love it. i feed them in theyre enclosures and like i said i have never had a problem.
> 
> i found substrate like carpets and paper towel to be more time consuming and a pain then keeping them on a sand type substrate, you cant just scoop and walk away you need to take everything out in the case of paper towel because you need to replace the whole sheet almost everytime it poops and carpet the same thing due to the fact that the waste soaks into the material.
> 
> ...


Excellent!


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