Turtles and Dragons....

[swingonthespiral]

Hello People,

OK i've made the decision..... Wasn't very hard actually.... I blame all you people on this website posting pics of everything!!!!! :lol:

I want to eventually get a turtle and a beardie (please recommend suitable breeds) i have a 2ft and i also have a 4ft that aren't being used for snakes.... could u please give me some advice on the set up and costs and also a good book/s to start me off.

Cheers!!!

 

[liasis]

as for the beardie get a central bearded dragon (pogona vitticeps)

 

[sxc_celly]

For the turtle id reccommend a short neck murray river turtle. Very hardy. All turtles will eventually grow to at least 25cm diameter in shell (like a dinner plate).

 

[bunnykin]

yeah go the beardies not hard to fall for them as for the turtle i am lucky enough to be the proud owner of a mary river sorry have to gloat about my little Robert. Anyhow, the painteds are gorgious and i think the smaller breed ( check that and only by alittle if im right) But oh my lordie the saw shells are so freaken cute sorry not too helpful oh wait don't forget ( though im sure you know) turtles live for yeeeeeeeaaaaars 70ish

 

[swingonthespiral]

bunnykin ur not helping i want them now cos of u lol.... bump

 

[olivehydra]

Macleay River turts are the smallest of the "available" species. ELNs are my fav though. I think eastern beardies are prettier than the showy vittis, although some think they are a little harder to keep.

 

[hornet]

i would get a black soil beardie, and neither turtle nor beardie will be able to live in the 2ft permanently tho

 

[dragozz]

I agree with hornet on that one, neither will be able to live in a 2ft when they are adults. Only when they are small.

Central Beardies come in different colours which might interest you. They are a good size too, not too small not too big

 

[bunnykin]

inland beardies are the prettiest

 

[swingonthespiral]

yeah i figured they would not be able to live there thier whole lives..... anyone else answer the rest of my questions?

 

[swingonthespiral]

gimme a B U M P

 

[bunnykin]

sorry forgotted....Expansa1 has a really good caresheet for turtles.
as far as beardies the bearded dragon manual is ok there is tones of info online but regardless of what you read like most animals there is tones of rubbish too.

Set up for dragons is sinple tank ( they can jump so make sure your tank is about 2 and half deeper than the dragon is high. Your substrate I will leave that up to you that is one of the biggest issues where owners but heads .. you can start of with paper , I love astro turf and slate but do put a corner where they can play in pebbles however they do not eat there. Furniture I use plastic plants that can be sterilised and depending on age you can have a pool( hatchies have been known to drown) you will also need a mist spray. Heatting should be 35-40 no more on the basking side and 25 ish on cool side. UV which is the most important thing to a beardie absolutly cant stress this enough should not be a coil bulb and the dragon should be able to bask 4-6 inches (no further) underneith it. The best I myself have come accross is the reptiglo 10. Now another thing is there are tones of uv lights said to be the top line just for beardies and they are 50 worth of bollox so be bloody careful. Diet, hatchies eat pinhead crickets which should be guttloaded AND sprinkled with calcium and even then with hatchies you may want to give woombaroo a few times (depending what the pooh tells you ) and right from day dot you should offer them salad they may not eat it but they need to know its there. erm make sure you use a thermostat! and use only digital thermometers!ok nearly forgot, wait i did forget let me ponder for a minute....

 

[bunnykin]

ok do not buy the coloured lights with a picture of a beardy on the front! BEARDED DRAGONS CAN SEE FULL SPECTRUM!!!" and i will fight people on that one another waste of money use a ceramic heater . Now this part i will say because i have seen the damged caused by these things after owners 'who have had dragons for years blah blah blah' ..... heat rocks are a nono for berdies ( they tend to not get off them as they sense heat from on top) and the same goes with heat pads! however you can use a heat pad on the side of a tank if you have problems keeping temps ( cold regions).

 

[bunnykin]

If you have any more qs please ask ( about beardies) turtles im so green to