What Was Your Biggest Hurdle As A Beginner?

[Jindujun]

Hey guys,

I am new here. I just thought after all these years of owning reptiles it could be nice to get in contact with other bearded dragon owners.

I´d like to hear how you guys got into the bearded dragon world and what your biggest obstacle was when you started. For example I had huge problems with my tank. I could not reach the right temperature and somehow I felt totally lost.

Bought the wrong bulbs and had no clue what a UVB bulb was and why I needed it. Sounds pretty naive, but on the other side I was very young when I got my first bearded dragon (His name was Ashitaka).

Also it was very important to me that my bearded dragon would get tame so I could hold him. I remember being worried that I might get one of the few aggressive beardies all the time. As I said, I was young.

So what about you? What kind of problems did you have when you started? Were you confused about the tank and all that as well or did you have an easy start?

Jindujun!

 

[BeardedHippy]

Hi and welcome to BDF, its a great question,
I had no previous experience with lizards and never even considered owning one as a pet, the most exotic pets I ever had were salamanders and an axalotl. I was definately more of a dog person, then when my last dog passed away she left a hole in my life that needed filling. I spent a long time procrastinating and pondering, something about beardies and their temperament appealed to me. First I needed to know everything I could about them, I wanted everything to be perfect and with as few suprises as possible. So I spent some time trying to sort fact from fiction and outdated information (of which there is a lot out there) and ended up here at BDF where the advice was fantastic.
Everything went extremely smoothly for me, the main reason being that I spent a small fortune and bought the best equipment available. I still havent had any major problems, I guess some luck comes into it too but I cant overstate how helpful this site has been, especially the sagely advice of PatsyB and Hdrydr31. I have no regrets so far...

 

[Hdrydr31]

I have always wanted a lizard at first I wanted a Chameleon but after lots of research found that they are on more of the side of not wanting to be handled..My next choice was beardies..I did TONS of research first and I think I did ok, I made lots of mistakes in lighting but finding this forum and under the guidance of Patsy!! I made up for it all..
Patsy and I have worked hard making sure that we give the best up to date info possible...

 

[KrissyLeigh]

Wonderful conversation starter! I used to rescue baby red ear slider turtles out of pool skimmers, raise them up a bit, and release them. For years I had sliders and painted turtles and never really considered another type of reptile... until I saw a beautiful beardie for sale by a breeder, a fabulous orange color (my favorite color!). It was love at first site, and the rest is history!

It also started a reptile obsession and now I have leopard geckos, cresties, hognose snake, red footed tortoises, African dwarf frogs, painted turtle, millipedes, and of course my beloved dragon. The turtle / tortoise group is still my favorite but my beardie is definitely my favorite pet!

 

[KrissyLeigh]

Oh, the only issues I had were heating the tanks and tank sizes / growth rate. I didn't realize how FREAKIN FAST they grew, so I ended up upgrading his tank 3 times very quickly. Figuring out the correct wattage for maintaining proper temp gradients for the different tank dimensions was a pain. Still is a pain! I had to change it up this winter because the house was colder.

Also, with regards to growth rate - people should be made aware that babies EAT!!! And it is EXPENSIVE! My little one was blowing through over 60 crickets a day and it was costing me a fortune until I started a dubia colony. I have talked with several people who don't feed their baby dragons enough, because it is so expensive.

 

[Letreze]

I am a new owner myself. Got Draco about 6 months ago and really havn’t had any issues except when I first got him and he wouldn’t hardly eat or drink the first 2 weeks. I remember being scared to death that something was going to happen to him. Since then he has been an eating fool....I buy crickets at Petsmart for .15 and Dubai’s for .25. I’m with Krissy....it’s freakin expensive. I’m thinking my dragon will slow down anytime and start eating more salad....but not yet.....lol
I believe the key to being a successful owner is reasearch reasearch research....I read and prepared for months in advance. I bought Draco from a reputable online breeder and stayed away from Petco/Petsmart. After researching I realized they were selling hatchlings which wasn’t healthy and truely was disturbing to be honest.

 

[PatsyB]

One of my bosses came home from Indiana with tadpoles from her mom's pond and gave me 5. I managed to get 2 to turn into frogs. They didn't live long because I knew nothing about them and couldn't get them to eat, but I was hooked. Since I had most of the stuff already, I went and got some White's tree frogs. My husband was a little jealous and wanted something for himself and started reading about bearded dragons. He was worried though that they would be too big and we ended up getting 2 leopard geckos. The geckos were difficult because they ended up being pretty sick. I started reading up on beardies myself and decided that when the geckos pass we would just get a dragon.

Dexter was my first and she was the easiest dragon, I don't think we had any major problems with her or her tank when we got her. I think the hardest thing is saying no to getting more! I have 3 now, plus a chameleon, a crested gecko, a pac man frog and still have the White's.