Bearded Dragons

rabidcatfan

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Jan 25, 2003
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Anybody on here have a Bearded Dragon as a pet?

We've recently decided on getting one for our 9 year old as a birthday present. One of my wife's co-workers got one for her 11 year old last year as a b-day gift and he loves it. I spent the better part of the last two weeks doing research and learning everything I could about them to make sure we get the right setup for it and create the perfect environment since they have such finicky temperature and diet requirements.

I was just wondering who else on here might have one and their thoughts on them as pets?
 

Bill Derington

Well-known member
Jan 21, 2003
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lol bearded dragon roast cat


Thats hilarious! I can't quit watching it, that lil f*cker loses it!
 

Dig Dirkler

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Bearded Dragons suck. Period. However, their heads do make decent targets for sighting in a .22 rifle.
 

rabidcatfan

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Wow...not a single serious, helpful reply in 15 tries. Now I remember why I love this board so much...:thumbsdown::flush:
 

bluelifer

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I feel your pain OP. Reminds me of the time I came here for advice on how to clean my old rusty trombone. That sucker was nasty.

As you might guess, the Paddock was of little help.
 
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Dig Dirkler

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Wow...not a single serious, helpful reply in 15 tries. Now I remember why I love this board so much...:thumbsdown::flush:
Hmmmm, a dumbass knowingly posts on a board filled with admitted smartasses and asks a dumbass question about a fu##ing glorified lizard -- and is surprised he doesn't get a serious reply?

Shocker.
 
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thabigbluenation

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it is essentially like growing indoor pot. you have to create an environment with regulated heat and humidity. heat lamps, uv lights and a water source. perfect for growing weed or housing reptiles lol. you have to keep a good heat source or they could die pretty easily. they eat a lot of insects but also vegetation. if you don't create an environment where they regulate their body temperature they can rot from the inside out with undigested food. pretty nasty ****. so take your new found knowledge and do one or the other, grow some kick *** weed or get a reptile.

p.s. a snake won't eat your pot plants, a lizard will chew on the leafs and maybe ruin your stock. just saying. depending on which you choose, Willy may or may not be looking to get your number.
 

Robcatt24

Well-known member
Sep 17, 2005
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Just don't get people who want lizards, snakes, tarantulas, etc. as pets.

Those varmints are to be killed, not loved.
 
May 6, 2002
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I had one in the past when I was going through a phase where I wanted a more unusual pet. They are great if you handle them all the time, but mine got aggressive when I stopped handling it very often. You want lower humidity levels and around 105° temperatures I believe (slightly lower for an adult in the mid 90's) during the day from a basking light and a infrared bulb for nights to keep them warm without the bright lights. I setup automatic lights to make it have a steady day and night.

Don't use a heating rock for them. Just make sure to get something for it to climb on to get closer to the light. You probably want 2 different thermometers. One on the hot side and one on the cooler side (I believe in the mid 80° range) of the enclosure. Also give it some type of cave to hide in on the cooler side of the tank. I occasionally sprayed mine with a water bottle when it started to shed to help it get the dead skin off. They will shed quite frequently.

I believe the diet is supposed to be mostly insects starting off. I mostly fed mine mealworms until it got bigger and then switched to superworms. Crickets are probably the best thing to feed them, but they are a pain to deal with. You are supposed to gut load them first so the dragon gets more nutrients from eating them. The biggest issue I had was the cost to feed it crickets. I believe it is around $0.12 a piece at the pet store and it would eat like 10 or more at a sitting. It cost more to feed it crickets than dog food to a dog in a month. Plus crickets are noisy and stink in groups. Unless you have a place like a garage to raise your own, I only would do crickets occasionally.

It is much cheaper when you can buy green vegetables and use that as a large part of it's diet as it gets bigger. You can get a mixed bag of collard, mustard, and turnip greens for like $3 or $4. I fed the greens to the mealworms to give them more nutrients as well. Just don't give them lettuce. I also gave mine pieces of strawberries as a treat. You probably want to give it vitamins as well. I believe they need vitamin d3 and calcium. The d3 can come from sunlight if you give it plenty of sunlight and those vegetables I mentioned have calcium in them, or you can just give it vitamins from the pet store to take care of both.

Also make sure the enclosure is big enough for it. You can start with like a 10 gallon aquarium for a baby, but it will outgrow that quick. You probably want at least 3 times that for an adult. Not the tall fish type tanks. It needs to be wider so they can turn around easier. Bedding can be an issue as well. I preferred to put a tile on the floor. It helped retain heat and made for easier cleanup. Sand and other small materials can be accidentally eaten and cause digestive issues. Well that is about all I can think of off the top off my head. Hope this is a little more helpful than most of the other replies
 
May 6, 2002
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Here are a couple of old pictures I still had uploaded.

Enclosure I built. Had to add a 3rd light for the infrared light. The middle light was a light to simulate sunlight (special fluorescent bulb for that) and the left bulb was the basking light. Much easier to take care of with sliding doors on the front over opening it from the top.


Picture of it when it was young. Don't have any of the pictures as it got older anymore.


Switched it out of that aquarium to the enclosure I built shortly after that. To much humidity was getting in the aquarium from the air in the house.
 

funKYcat75

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Apr 10, 2008
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Ok, real f'n talk. Every kid I knew in elementary and junior high that had a lizard/snake was a freakin weirdo. Nothing wrong with being a weirdo, in retrospect, but they were all the most awkward kids in the class. Maybe it builds character or whatever, but there are my two cents. I'm drunk on girl drinks, so TIFWIW
 
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dgtatu01

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Sep 21, 2005
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I thought this thread was going to be about a cool new rock n' roll band. Very disappointing, although I laughed at the funny bearded dragon wearing a top hat picture.
 

Anon1711055878

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There are probably hundreds of dogs available in your home town. Could bring the family happiness for years, and be the most loyal companion your son could ask for.

Nah, let's get the boy a reptile. A cold-blooded, no **** giving, reptile. That should help him develop socially.

Congrats on having the weird kid, OP.
 

Anon1711055878

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Ok, real f'n talk. Every kid I knew in elementary and junior high that had a lizard/snake was a freakin weirdo. Nothing wrong with being a weirdo, in retrospect, but they were all the most awkward kids in the class. Maybe it builds character or whatever, but there are my two cents. I'm drunk on girl drinks, so TIFWIW

This is the truest story ever told. Even in college, 'snake guy' was a weirdo and did a lot of drugs. Not cool drugs either; we're talking air duster type stuff.