Another thread with beardie questions...

[serenaphoenix]

So, like almost everyone else i want one of this seasons gorgeous beardies but they sound like more work than baby humans... feeding twice a day, dusting, calcium, vitamins, chopping up vegies, UV... this is why i'm a snake person... throw a dead rat in once a week. Anyway - I'm determined to at least find out whatever i can before dismissing the idea?

Can you feed hatchling beardies silkworms as their main insect diet instead? Anything less gross than roaches? Read in another thread that crickets aren't such a good idea for hatchlings - and besides they would make an awful racket wouldn't they?

Should i keep it in a large click clack for the first couple of weeks/months? I have a spare fish tank i can use as well- just wasn't sure which was better. Also, how much is feed per week estimated to be?

I've hit the search function and read up on the basic caresheets but as always experience is invaluable.. let me know what you think.

 

[serenaphoenix]

Nothing? Have my beardie dreams come to an end? Here's my bump..

 

[Leigh]

beardies are work, but they're equally rewarding, im not the best expert, but in the end its pretty basic caring for them, and they're full of personality and all that crap. you'd enjoy it. but due to not so much experience i wont answer your questions.
sorry, but dont wanna put any incorrect ideas out there. my vote is buy a beardy or two,

Josh

 

[serenaphoenix]

I think i gave the thread a bad name - no one cares...

 

[Leigh]

well, i cared...

 

[Miss B]

I haven't done it myself but I am pretty sure you could raise baby beardies on a diet of appropriately-sized silkworms, they are apparently more nutritious than other feeder insects and dead easy to breed. I breed crickets for my beardies, it can be a little time consuming though so I am considering switching to roaches. Crickets are perfectly fine for young beardies so long as they are the right size (no larger than the space between the beardie's eyes). I have hundreds of them in my herp room (which is next door to my bedroom) and the males do chirp at night, but to be honest I barely even notice it.

I am not really sure how much you'd be looking at in feed per week ... but if you can breed your own insects that will save you heaps!! My beardies are on a diet of Rep-Cal beardie pellets, greens (bok choy etc), and crickets.

 

[Jenny]

Send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you my care sheet.

Beardies are the best fun and you'll never regret them. They are only hard work when they are little and then it gets easier as they get bigger and more and more interesting. Yes, I have pythons and they are SOOOOOOO BORING in comparison.

Cheers

Jenny

 

[Miss B]

That's true Pythons are very cool and easy to look after, but nothing compares to the personality of a beardie.

 

[serenaphoenix]

I know - they seem such a "best friend" animal.... I guess if i could feed it silkworms and crickets that'd be okay... is it alot of effort to breed them - or do you just chuck scraps in a bucket? do you keep the crickets/ roaches in like, a click clack or are you supplied with a container at the pet store?

Leigh - i'm sorry i didn't mean to sound ungrateful - i think i posted that at the same time you posted your comment - because i hadn't read your reply yet... thanks for caring

Miss B - so those pellet things are fine? i was under the impression they weren't really a very good food source - kinda like living off maccas or something? that would make things easier as well... and i'm a huge vegie eater... so i would endorce eating their greens anyway...

Do you keep baby beardies in click clacks like pythons (With a hide, water bowl, heat matt and UV/basking light above)? or should i put the little guy straight into a 3ft (Long)x2ft (Wide) x1ft (Deep) fish tank with a lot of hides (and of course the UV/Basking light and river stones to absorb the heat)?

 

[Jenny]

Like I said, I'll send you my care sheet if you PM me your email address. It covers all the basics and answers your questions.

Cheers

Jenny

 

[serenaphoenix]

Wow, there's like a hundred threads on this for this week.... must be all the hatchy beardies around... oh well - more reading for me..

 

[cris]

You can feed them virtually any insects, spiders, worms etc. IMO I would avoid bees, wasps and redbacks though especially for the little ones. As babies they should eat mainly invertebrates and as they get older you can feed them a variety of other things such as veges and occasionally small quantities of lean meat, cat/dog food or rodents.

I wouldnt recomend using river stones unless they are far to big to be swallowed as they may cause impaction. They will also be fine in a fairly large enclosure from the start you just need to make sure they can find the basking site easily. They are great lizards to keep and one of the few reptiles that could be described as a pet IMO. They are not overly bright but i think that adds to their character.

Im sure if you do a google search you would come up with a few hundred care sheets for them. Here is a very good page on beardy food http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

 

[Miss B]

The Rep-Cal brand of pellets are great, in fact I use them as a staple diet for my adult beardies. They also get greens and crickets, particularly the gravid girls, and also a fuzzy mouse every now and again to keep the condition on.

Once you get through the baby stage it'll be smooth sailing. Babies eat about 80% insects and 20% greens, whereas for adults the ratio is reversed.

 

[Brettix]

I feed myne on silkworms,crickets and roaches.
Now all the silkworms have turned to moths and now no worms to feed
and i have noticed there growth rate slow down alot.

 

[Miss B]

Oh, when my silkworms morph into moths I let the moths lay their eggs, and then I feed the moths to the beardies. They love them!

 

[serenaphoenix]

Should i be getting an older beardie then? I just really want one of your reddy yellowy orangey ones miss B.... lol

I like the idea of silkworms - we have a mulberry tree!

 

[serenaphoenix]

what the poo situation like?

Chris - i use the river stones in my snake enclosures (on top of marine carpet) - they're very large (5cm width across the diameter) and hold the heat sooo well. and wonderful to clean.

So now i ask... is this a huge cleaning commitment?

 

[Miss B]

I like the idea of silkworms - we have a mulberry tree!

Ohh, I'm jealous! I have to go driving around the neighbourhood to find mulberry leaves :lol: Silkworms are very easy to breed and look after, and they lay HEAPS of eggs! Oh ... the Rep-Cal pellets also come in a smaller size especially for juvenile dragons. They're really easy to prepare - just pop them in a food dish and soak them with water for five minutes, then drain.

It's not a huge cleaning commitment, no. Just a quick substrate change once a day, and a full clean (spray, disinfect etc) once a week. I use newspaper 'cos it's cheap and dead easy to change, and I've got a fair few enclosures. But back when I had just the one beardie, I used astroturf. This is how I had his enclosure set up:

 

[serenaphoenix]

So was that heat light you had a UV and heat in one then? that'd be great - looks like i can do this after all... and you don't need a cage for the light? are they good climbers/jumpers?

oh, and this is actually the most ridiculous question on APS (except for maybe when someone asked if they had to defrost the mouse before feeding) but, can i freeze insects and feed at a later date? like snake feeding? i could start my silkworm colony now then.... get a supply started...

 

[dragon lady]

Yes read the care sheet that was sent to you....& i'll add,
the reason why we feed a combination of live feeds to a dragon of any species is like snakes they as us have a jaw & need to use it....if you constantly fed a snake pinkies ,the snake wouldnt get the nourishment it would need to grow healthily...& it would form jaw problems...alas so would dragons.
Thus we feed them crickets,woodies,rodents,mealworms,earthworms& silkworms as live alternatively with a array of veg also mixed as not to give them the same each feed.