'ello everyone (including the beardies)

[Fidget Midget]

My girlfriend, roommate, and I have a mini-zoo in our house. Two cats, a leopard gecko, a turtle, two small snakes, two 6ft snakes, two dogs, and the most recent additions are my two 5 month old (I think female) bearded dragons, Tango Figment and Scuttle Spunky. I initially gave them just their first names... but as they got older I felt they needed more, so yay for middle names Tango got her name because she loves to place her entire belly on the glass and wave her little arms around while moving from side to side-kind of like she's dancing. She got "Figment" added because my girlfriend thought the purple in her skin was similar to the Epcot dragon... and she loves Figment. Scuttle has a pretty obvious reason for her first name because she frequently scurries and dashes around the cage. She obtained the name Spunky by jumping from her basking rock into the glass, over and over and over, just like Spunky from Rocko's modern life who is always running into walls. :
I've had them for 4 months and I'm totally in love with them. So much so I spoil/ed them. Before I took a 4 day trip to South Florida, they both refused to chase their food; Instead they wanted me to hand feed each cricket. >.< Luckily, my roomie and gf took over the feeding responsibilities and now they scamper all over the place to catch their crickets. They live in a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft tank. I have part of it sectioned off so they aren't overwhelmed... but I really am having trouble waiting to let them have the entire cage plus more rocks. Btw, anyone know what kind of plants I could/should put in there?
Anyway, here's a plethora of pictures ;D

Can you spot the bearded dragons?

Whoa! Talk to your dragons about steroids!

Scuttle is shedding so she's more gray than usual

You can totally tell the color difference in her legs and the base of her tail.

Their awesome cage

Fully opened

 

[KAJA]

Wow, your setup is amazing!

I do have some questions and concerns, but would rather take parts of it and move it to the correct categories so I will try and do that later (or you can post some of your questions in the individual categories - maybe based off of some of what I am about to include), but for now...

You said eventually you might have them in the same cage? There are numerous concerns about that due to their very territorial nature.

I know we have had some posts about plants, but I have had little success because of the other worries that come with it. One plants tend to dry very quickly due to the dry heat (we have tried jade based on reptile shop owner recommendations). Two if you try to water the plants the fear of having too much humidity created.

Lastly, with a large viv they will love the space, but with 2 feet, what type of lighting do you have. It looks like they might have some height to their basking area which would be good but most UVB lights have a 12" saturation level at that is it. With no screen, maybe 18", maybe.

Anyway, welcome to the forum which is what this topic is about. Glad to see the pics, you have a great family

 

[Fidget Midget]

Thank you ;D

"You said eventually you might have them in the same cage? There are numerous concerns about that due to their very territorial nature."

--- I hope to keep them in the same cage, especially if they are both female. I've done research on it and I read that the most problems occur between two males or 1 male and 1 female (once they hit puberty). If its the latter (I'm really unsure about Scuttle's sex) then I'll put a divider in the middle of the cage, get another heat lamp, and they'd have to deal with the semi-avg space of 3ft x 2ft x 2ft.


"I know we have had some posts about plants, but I have had little success because of the other worries that come with it. One plants tend to dry very quickly due to the dry heat (we have tried jade based on reptile shop owner recommendations). Two if you try to water the plants the fear of having too much humidity created."

--- That's what I figured. But I was looking at another introduction and the pics of the viv included plants... which I thought may be more aesthetically pleasing to my babies as long as I got the right ones. But I might not go through with the plant idea.


"Lastly, with a large viv they will love the space, but with 2 feet, what type of lighting do you have. It looks like they might have some height to their basking area which would be good but most UVB lights have a 12" saturation level at that is it. With no screen, maybe 18", maybe."

--- I know, that's why their basking spot is so high... and I'm going to put a bigger top rock soon so it'll reach a little higher and definitely wider. It goes about halfway up the cage right now and is always around 100 degrees. I have one heat lamp, one uvb bulb in a rounded fixture (to help aim the light downwards) and one long uvb lamp.

So do you think they are old enough/big enough to have the entire 6 ft opened? Or should I wait?

 

[renich]

Hi, Fridget Midget and welcome to the forum. Your babies are adorable.

Personally, I think it would be ok to open up your entire viv for them. I also would caution on having them together. Yes, there are success stories. Just pay close attention, which it sounds like you are doing. If you notice one becomes more docile and does not eat, then it is time to separate them. But if they both feed together and don't fight, you should be safe.

As far as plants, I did it once with jade. It dried up. Some folks put fake plants in there for decoration. You can find it in the reptile section of most pet stores.

If you do go live with plants, make sure you water it for about 2 weeks outside of the viv. This will get rid of all the toxins the store put in. You don't want your beardies eating these chemicals.

 

[KAJA]

Well it certainly sounds like you have everything under control. It is great that you have been doing so much research and that is what makes great beardie parents.

--- I hope to keep them in the same cage, especially if they are both female. I've done research on it and I read that the most problems occur between two males or 1 male and 1 female (once they hit puberty). If its the latter (I'm really unsure about Scuttle's sex) then I'll put a divider in the middle of the cage, get another heat lamp, and they'd have to deal with the semi-avg space of 3ft x 2ft x 2ft.

I understand where you are coming from here and it is great to watch them interact with each other. To elaborate on Renee's advice a bit to keep a watch out, you can read some of the posts on our forum about people finding out a year or so later that their he's are she's and vice versus, so you just don't want to find out the hard way. What many people do is to cage them separately and bring them altogether when they can be watched, mostly in the open home or something so that if one is acting territorially they others can move away as opposed to being trapped.

Regardless, you have done your research and you have outlined here for everyone else the proper mixture if someone does want to enclose multiple beardies in the same viv.

So do you think they are old enough/big enough to have the entire 6 ft opened? Or should I wait?

To add to my previous reply while answering this question, absolutely! Especially if there are multiples in the larger viv.

We had a 75 gallon terrarium for one beardie which was 4 feet (48" x 18" x 18") for one beardie and he loved it. As he (well really she we found out later - my earlier point) grew up it was still a bit tight around corners. When we bought it the shop owner told us we were nuts to spend the money, but everything we had read said they loved the space if they can get it as would any animal that is natural to such open desert.

We really need to split this out to the habitat section because there is a lot of good info in this thread. Don't be surprised if that happens. You will see a redirect in this thread, but just so you know.

 

[Fidget Midget]

Thanks for the advice and super-quick responses! No offense to the other forum, but I'm already loving this one more.
And I don't have a problem with it being split out to the habitat section

 

[renich]

Well, thank you. We really have great forum users. Everyone is so dedicated to caring for their little ones. It is refreshing to see such responsible people in all the chaos we call life.

 

[beardielover]

adorable babies. luv the pics!