Soon getting my first beardie, a couple of questions

[Viggo]

Hello everyone!

In about a month I will get my first bearded dragon, and I'm preparing for his/hers arrival. I'm trying to read up regarding care, feeding and diet and so on, and I have a few questions. Woult appreciate any help I can get

*Age: Should I get a young or an adult bearded dragon? I can choose either, and from what I've read it's often a better idea to get an adult bearded dragon when your'e a beginner, as it requires less care/less frequent insect feeding. Correct me if I'm wrong.

*Food: I'm considering breeding Dubia roaches, as I've read that they are easy to care for and nutritious. I'm wondering, how many should I get to get the cultivation going for either a young or fully grown dragon? Also, what care does Dubia roaches require? I'm having somewhat of a hard time finding good information on their diet (as I suppose it matters what they eat as they will be consumed by the dragon?), other than that they require no light source but breed better in temperatures a few degrees over room temperature.

As mentioned, appreciate any help

 

[timbalan]

Babys do require more care but it allows you to get to know your dragon and see it grow and change which is pretty neat. If you can spare a little time in the morning and afternoon to feed i would recomend a baby.im ny opinion its not a whole lot different a couoke more feedings and higher heat otherwise there isnt a while lot dif. As for the dubia if you get an adult dragon than i wouldnt get to many roaches because an adult eats more veggies than bugs but if you get a baby than you need a few females and a couple males usually a good ratio is 5-1. if and when you do get them you can buy roach food online as i do or make your own. I buy it cuz i have kids and stuff so its just easier. I have them in a rubbermaid tote with egg crates a dish for water crystals and a dish for food. For heat i use a heating mat without an autoshut off which are hard to find now. They are in my closet so they stay pretty warm i keep them at about 80-82. They breed pretty good. Also orange slices helo ti stimulate breeding. They also get the scrap greens from my beardie which they love aswell. And just an fyi when you order do it soon because it takes a couple 2-3 months to get the colony established enough to feed out of on a daily basis. When i got mine i got about 1000 extra small dubia to feed with until my colony was ready. Its kind of costly but once you buy it you should never have to worry about buying food again. I think i have about 90-100 dollars invested but thats a small price to pay if you do get a baby dragon as they can put away a lot more food than you think. And they sure will. My guy eats about 10-20 1/2" dubia a sitting. Hope you can absorb all this.lol anymore questions just ask

 

[Viggo]

Ok thank you for yout help! Will order dubias tomorrow in that case. What insects do you keep for your adult dragons?

 

[timbalan]

Well right now mines about 7-8 months or so, he doesnt eat any greens yet never really has since ive got him so he eats dubia and some super worms or horn worms or what ever treat i buy at the time. But adults eat the same stuff just less bugs and more greens. Go to beautifuldragons.com they have the best list of fruits and veggies you can feed them.

 

[ilovebeardies]

Well right now mines about 7-8 months or so, he doesnt eat any greens yet never really has since ive got him so he eats dubia and some super worms or horn worms or what ever treat i buy at the time. But adults eat the same stuff just less bugs and more greens. Go to beautifuldragons.com they have the best list of fruits and veggies you can feed them.

Your expense for food must be sky high! You should try to interest your beardie in some veggies and fruits. Because its harder the older they are shake some leaves with a tweezer they think its a giant bug or something! Or don't just saying

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

Best way to get them to eat their vegies is to mix with some worms. Age ius a personal preference

 

[timbalan]

Ive tried hand feeding them he just wont eat them. Ive also put the dubia in with the greens but he just picks them out and leaves the greens

 

[PatsyB]

I agree with timbalan, if you have some time during the day to feed then I would go with a baby. It's so fun watching them grow and develop their personalities.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[diegothediggy]

Hello everyone!

In about a month I will get my first bearded dragon, and I'm preparing for his/hers arrival. I'm trying to read up regarding care, feeding and diet and so on, and I have a few questions. Woult appreciate any help I can get

*Age: Should I get a young or an adult bearded dragon? I can choose either, and from what I've read it's often a better idea to get an adult bearded dragon when your'e a beginner, as it requires less care/less frequent insect feeding. Correct me if I'm wrong.

*Food: I'm considering breeding Dubia roaches, as I've read that they are easy to care for and nutritious. I'm wondering, how many should I get to get the cultivation going for either a young or fully grown dragon? Also, what care does Dubia roaches require? I'm having somewhat of a hard time finding good information on their diet (as I suppose it matters what they eat as they will be consumed by the dragon?), other than that they require no light source but breed better in temperatures a few degrees over room temperature.

As mentioned, appreciate any help

Hi and welcone to the forum. As for the age of the beardie u want to get well that depends on urself. Some ppl like to get them.really young others aibt bothered. When i went to pik my first beardie i didbt have a age in mind. A few things i looked for was how alert the beardie was. How well he/she eats and to be honest just one that catches ur eye or u bond with. I wudnt go for a beardie that is really yound under 8weeks only coz the first few weeks r the most important so if they healthy after then they shud b in the long run if well looked after. As for the food a younger beardie they do eat much more bugs. Its hard to say how many ur beardie will eat it depends on the beardie some eat more than others u shud offer ur beardie as much as it wants in 15 mins. Takin out any uneaten bugs. A gut loaded bug will fill ur beardie more so make sure ur bugs r well fed. I feed my beardies hoppers (lucus) only coz i dnt like crix and they can bite ur beardie. They eat less bugs when they r older n more salad.

 

[Kayla]

Baby dragon all the way! But not too tiny! When I got haze her body just about fitted in my palm, she was small but I could still handle her pretty easily (photo below) My mum then got a beardie a few months later and hers was literally half the size of mine and was so tiny! I didn't like this as he was even faster, and even more delicate & we didn't end up handling him much at first purely because we were so scared he'd run off or get hurt being the size he was!
But if you have a baby you can see them grow up and it's the best feeling knowing that you're the one that's given them that life, and you're the one that's raised it! Like your own little baby
Never fed my dragon anything crazy apart from locusts, mealworms & crickets but that's all I can seem to find around here apart from tinned grasshoppers but haze won't eat dead food!

 

[smokejunky]

Look up Brett Roaches and CJ Brimmer on fb for all your insect need both are amazing people.
For food for the dubia I feed my breeders nothing but fruit and dubia food I bought off of ebay.my feeders I feed fruits and veggies and the chow.
U should look into buying super worms to breed.there pretty easy once u get them started and a hood source of protein too.there alot more healthy than meal worms also.
I've bought from babies to adults and everything in between. It's just preference babies if u order can become Ill fast that's even if u buy from a store too . adults can be mean or laid back just determines if the breeder handled often.i would recommend a sub adult like a teenager for a beginner.u still get to watch it grow and change colors and get to have a spunky dragon too that u won't feel like your going to break it when u hold it like a baby would feel.
I know so very great breeders if your interested and I should have some pretty vibrant babies coming soon too

 

[diegothediggy]

How the beardie.hunting.goin