# Bearded Dragons?



## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

I'm seeing a lot of bearded dragons for sale lately, and I just find them fascinating! Especially when they're full grown, they're so huge yet they look so laid back and friendly. My friend has a bearded dragon named Oscar, but I don't see him much because he lives over at her boyfriend's house. I don't know anything about them other than what she's told me about Oscar, but apparently she used to feed him by hand to get him used to human contact for when he got older, but her boyfriend made her stop so now Oscar tries to bite. I know she feeds him food pellets and occasional fresh produce and crickets, so I offered her my produce scraps since I cook a lot. Bearded dragon owners and enthusiasts, tell me all you know! Id love to see any pictures of yours as well. 


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

me and my friend share three rescues they are all missing tails and two are missing legs, all in all they are friendly and love to be looked at but due to loss of limbs arent overly excited to be picked up unless you hold them just rite, most baby dragons eat only bugs ive gotton mine to share rat salad mix (mix of different greens veggies and fruits) but they really just want crickets


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

How did they loose their tails and legs? 


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

probably from not shedding rite i read it will cause it or a fungus they were treated before i got them i dont know anything about there history before the vets office i adopted them there


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

How old are they? Their tank is really nice, my friends is pretty big now but hes still in his baby tank and now hes outgrown everything


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

im not sure compareing them to the 6 month olds at the pet store i would guess about 3months? ive had them for one and there in a 40gallon basic desert kit from petsmart they still have a lot of room to grow but i have money set aside to buy them each a tank like that when there grown or out grow the current one


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

Do they need or prefer to be in groups? Or are solitary bearded dragons ok? 


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

i would say preffered to be in pairs ours get depressed when we separate them but a lot of people keep them alone ours will be separated when big enough but will still spent a lot of time together when free rangeing or out and about, and you dont have to free range them but i love watching them run around and get into everything


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

I don't think my friend free ranges hers or even handles it a lot. Is that important? 


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## Penelepe (Jan 12, 2014)

They're solitary animals, loss of limbs and tails are due to territorial fighting. Its rare but it can happen that 2 females can live together. But males should never be housed together. 
They need fresh food everyday. Babies need a LOT of protein (crickets, super worms ect). The best is as much as they can eat within a 5 minute time frame 3x a day. Adults eat less protein, 40 a week I think. So its less expensive getting an adult. They need UVB source. The best UVB is a Repti-Sun10 or Arcadia 12% other brands put out too little or too much UVB rays causing lack of appetite and weight loss. I have heard of dragons dyinh due to faulty lights. 

So theyre expensive to get initially. Its the tank, tiles (sand has its dangers) UVB, Lighting, thermometer, food, protein source. Thats a lot of money. Expensive to feed if its a baby, but they are awesome pets. I have 3, I almost lost one with wrong info, and this site saved her: beardeddragon.org 

I had a rescue that was only fed the occasional cricket. When I got him he was so underweight, we couldnt save him sadly. The site above is really an awesome site for everything dragon related. Here is my one boy.







Ps. I know many people have kept their dragons togethee succesfully. But because of all the risks involved I never even thought about it. I only talk through my knowledge and experience with Bearded dragons. So please dont kill me if you dont agree with one of the above points. 
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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

She doesn't feed him fresh food every day, she feeds these pellets. Is that like a lab block for reptiles? She also doesn't feed him every day, she used to but then her boyfriend told her they only need to eat every couple of days so now she doesn't feed him every day. She says he was getting fat because she fed him a lot, but he also is in a tiny tank where he's got barely any room to move (she's hopefully getting him a bigger one this weekend). Do bearded dragons really not need daily food? Also, why is sand bad? She was talking about getting him sand when they get his new tank, so if sand is bad I'll warn her. 


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

i feed mine every day, and yes the pellets are like lab blocks and sand is bad for young but ok for older, mine are on sand and felt but i don't feed in there tank i feed in a travle tote


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## Penelepe (Jan 12, 2014)

The minimum size for an adult is 4x2x2 m for an enclosure. The pellets is like lab blocks yes but rarely healthy for them. Fat is good in a way actually. My one girl who is underweight because of parasites is 14" and she is 300g. overweight is around 700 g depending on size. Fresh food should be available everyday, theres a list on the staple diet somewhere. Beautifuldragons or something. 

As babies they should be fed everyday at least 3x a day some crickets or worms. Adults are every other day while fresh food is available. With a bath to hydrate them 3x a week. 

The thing with sand is heavily debated. Dragons "lick" to navigate and get to know their surroundings, they also ingest sand when they are given crickets and such. And because they cant digest sand it builds up in time in the gut and cause impactation, which can lead to death. It also harbors bacteria like crazy and is hard to clean. So tiles are easier to clean, safe, and just generally better than any substrate that has loose pieces in. There is also a type of sand that shouldnt even be on the market namely calci-sand. Apparently it has calcium in it so you dont need to supplement. However studies have shown that once the sand gets wet it hardens and turns into rock almost. So you can imagine what happens when a dragon ingests calci-sand. I play it safe and keep them on tiles or towels. 

I thought it was cheap to keep a dragon but after Queen got gravely ill and I realized all my mistakes I saw that its not that cheap. Now shes fat(ish) healthy and hyperactive. But the cuddles in the night make the expenses worth it. 
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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

Yeah he's really cramped, I think he's in like a 10 gallon tank right now. I'm going with my friend this weekend to the local flee market to look for one, what's the best size (in gallons) to get? He's probably a young adult now, last time I saw him he was over a foot long, bigger than a rat and he's probably even bigger now. 


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

i would do at least a 20 gallon preffered 40+


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## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

They do need fed everyday, my sister had 2 a male and female, they had quite a few babies but eventually the female died because an egg burst inside her, it was a shame and them getting put down is not a pretty experience. But they get fed fresh veg daily and 2 crickets everyday plus meal worms, they defo need fed everyday! She doesn't use lab blocks though! She puts calcium powder on their food also! Only a beardie who isn't properly cared for bites to be honest...


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

Yeah like I said above, she used to hand feed him to get him used to human contact but then her boyfriend made her stop so now he tries to bite when she puts her hand in his tank. They also don't put him in water regularly, I think a few weeks ago was the first time ever. She doesn't feed him fresh veggies daily either. To be honest I'm not sure she did any research before getting him.....he doesn't seem like an aggressive animal, honestly if I was him I would be bored to tears sitting in a tank all day with only occasional free time and limited human contact, and on top of that not even daily food to keep me somewhat entertained. I would love to play with him he seems so cool, I told my friend I would give her my fresh produce scraps for him to eat. Maybe I'll say that I looked up the stuff I had to make sure it's safe, and then mention this pretty good bearded dragon website I found


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## smyhls (Jul 28, 2014)

Bearded dragons are fantastic to have in the family and are relatively hardy. Yes, the set up is pricey, but they have adorable personalities! I let my oldest girl spend her day running around my house. In the winter time, she likes to sit on the back of the couch and watch the snow fall. If you want info on bearded dragons, check out beardeddragon.org. It's a fantastic forum like this one and is super active. Also, if you want to start off with a baby, check out LLLreptile.com. You can get a fantastic deal on crickets there, all diff sizes. I have found its a lot cheaper to order my crickets online and house them in a tote than it is to pay ten cents a piece at Petsmart.

I have had 5 beardies in total: two rescues, a petsmart, a trade, and a special morph I found on craigslist. 


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## smyhls (Jul 28, 2014)

@ksaxon this is going to sound crazy, but it works. To stop him from biting, you have to let him bite you. Put on a clean oven MIT and do things in his cage as normal. After he bites the oven mit enough, he will realize it's not a threat and he can't kill it. It's scary for you, but it doesn't hurt them at all. After that, you can start you handle him when he first wakes up and is cold, then when he is regular temp.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

smyhls said:


> @ksaxon this is going to sound crazy, but it works. To stop him from biting, you have to let him bite you. Put on a clean oven MIT and do things in his cage as normal. After he bites the oven mit enough, he will realize it's not a threat and he can't kill it. It's scary for you, but it doesn't hurt them at all. After that, you can start you handle him when he first wakes up and is cold, then when he is regular temp.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Oh no he isn't my bearded dragon, he's my friends and they rarely handle him or take him outside of his tank. Honesty I don't think they pay much attention to him :/. I would love for her to get him out more and bring him to her house so I could play with him, I've been asking her to get him on a harness (she said people do that) and bring him out, but since she doesn't interact with him much I doubt he's at all bonded to them 


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## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

To be honest they don't need water, your supposed to wash their veg with water and that's where their water source comes from. Also, your suppost to mist spray them everyday to cool them down and get them moist! Were always bathing mo (sisters beardie) he loves a good bath! Maybe since they aren't bothering with him you could offer to take him? Or even ask to borrow him to see what it's like for a while and then steal him (hehehe if only) you seem genuinely concerned for this little one! I hope you can talk to your friend and bring her and hopefully him around! Good luck


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

I think she likes him, she just doesn't really know anything about how to take care of him like she doesn't do any research. I think she got him because he looked cool, not because she knew anything about bearded dragons. I'm giving her some of my produce scraps today for him to eat, maybe when we got tank shopping for him this Saturday I'll ask her more about him to see how much she really knows 


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## smyhls (Jul 28, 2014)

If you are getting a tank for a beardie, make sure it's no smaller than a 30 gal wide. They should be able to turn in their cage without any problems. Make sure to get a repticarpet, too. That, or tile your tank. Sand can cause a lot of problems and wood is always a no-no.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Maybe you could talk to her and sort of take over her Beardie?

My friend had one, he was pretty awesome. The only downside was crickets, they constantly seemed to get lost in her house.

I thought I could never get anything that had to be fed live, but mealworms for the rats werent as terrible as I thought so I think once my number of animals downsizes (which will be sad and hopefully not for a long time) I will be getting some sort of lizard for my family.


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