Beardies in Durban

[Sh1rk3E]

hey guys,

I'm new to the whole internet forum thing and have been poking around this site for the last few months reading up on as much as I can about Lizards.

So a bit about me...17 from Durbs ...love animals!! looking to go into Vetinarry sciences next year.

A few months back on the drive home from Sun City ( much to my inexperience) I Purchased a Flap neck chameleon as a pet. At the time i had no idea about laws and legalities with regards to these amazing animals and after returning home discovered ...much to my despair that they where not allowed. so a trip to the local reptile park soon helped correct things with the Chams going to a home where people who where qualified to keep them, did.

But that experience light a spark inside me and I want to get a new reptile ... something a bit more legal and friendly. I'v stumbled apon many Bearded dragon's that where for sale in and around Durban but wanted to know if anyone could recommend a place to get babies? and if not is it okay to get grown lizards? will they be aggressive towards me?

I'm a real newbie at keeping reptiles so are they easy to keep?

what would be a recommended enclosure for them? indoors? outdoors? sizes? I have quite a large yard that could easily host a wire mesh permanent outdoor enclosure...

Also what would be a recommended price for one of these babies?

I understand you cant keep two males together so how do you sex them?

I'm sorry if I carried on for myself a bit. Really new to this but keen to learn!

all comments will be greatly appreciated!
thanks!


P.S. I've been breeding crickets for years and selling them to my friends as a pocket money making thing so feeding them will not be a problem

[aleena_angel]

I am by no means an expert, but from what I've read if it's pretty warm year round where you are an out door enclosure works best for beardies. They are very friendly at any age, just a bit skittish when they're younger. I have an Italian Leatherback female that I bought when she was already a year old and we've worked out just fine! I've also gotten them as babies, and that works out great too. They are the friendliest reptiles I have had the pleasure of knowing, and they usually try to avoid pooping on you. We've only had 2 accidents with my more aggressive female and she probably did it on purpose. Mostly you just want to make sure the babies are very alert, their eyes are clear, they don't have any nips or are missing any toes or the tips of their tails, but that goes for the adults as well as the babies. With babies unless their sunning they shouldn't be too sleepy. A good pet store owner should be able to sex them for you once they reach maturity, but it's not recommended to sex them as babies and there really is no outward sign of what they will be until they get older.

[Sh1rk3E]

Thanks so much for the reply Aleena_Angel. yeah it rarely drops below 20C here.

I'm getting a pair of hatchlings preferably 2 females or a older female.

are the UVB lights and heat lights necessary with outdoor temps like i have?

How much do the UVB and heat lights sell for?

also how do i get them to start eatinf veg? do thet do it naturaly?

the spikes along the back of the dragon , are they sharp?

[shadowfoot]

For prices you should check reptilecity.co.za
I have bought from them and they are really helpful if you need any advice.

[Sh1rk3E]

Thanks, will do!

[aleena_angel]

Don't get an older female with a hatch-ling! She will eat it. Just want to clarify that's not what you were intending to do , but it doesn't sound like it. Prices differ so much in the US from over seas I wouldn't know what to tell you on those, sorry! Just chop up the veggies really fine, some red leaf lettuce, maybe some carrots and different things just so they have a variety. They'll go eat em if they're hungry and nothing else is available, but their primary diet should be bugs and calcium filled goodness! As long as it doesn't get too cold at night you don't need any extra lighting other then the sun I wouldn't think. Ask the pet store owner what he thinks, or if someone else here knows better... sounds like shadowfoot knows whats going on. But the sun is the best possible source of UV for them. I've heard it said in places in this forum that beardies like to be alone... wish I had known that before I bought my other female. I have to have my Italian Leather back female Cleopatra in a separate cage from my Citrine female Castiel. Castiel likes to assert her dominance over the cage and is always biting on the poor Cleo! I had been told by the pet store owner that multiple females in a cage were fine but only have one male in a cage. My Gabriel is a male beardie and he is the only one who can tolerate Castiel's dominance. What I meant by them being friendly was to humans. They don't like each other much so be forewarned!

[Sh1rk3E]

thanks for the reply angel.

Im planning on getting a 4month old one, just so that his not sooooo skitish

I have a quick question do i need a uva and uvb lamp?

I've been advised to get both by a certain pet shop and yet other pet shops say ill only need uvb and a heat lamp.

also are heating pads in the tank a good idea? heard something about beardies being unable to sense heat under their belly's and burning themselves on them.

what would be the ideal temp of the basking rock and the temps of the hide?

are the bites from these dragons severe? just curious because my dragon that Im getting hasn't been handled that much and i anticipate a few nips and nibbles

do i dust the veg in calcium powder as well? or is it just the crickets

how often should u change the substrate and must i use sand or can i use critter carpet?

thanks for all the help guys i really appreciate it!

[brentton kyle]

hey sh1rk3e welcom to the site, im also based in durbs and if interested i hav a trio of 1 year old beardies for sale, one of the females is a sandfire morph, im asking 1200 for the trio, they are nt skittish at all and hav great character. let me know if u interested

[Sh1rk3E]

Hey Brentton

yeah i most def am! would it be possible for you to pm/email me some pics? esp of the morph

kind regards
Shahil

[Westley Price]

Guys, your language here is appalling!

Please use proper English or I'll lock the topic.

[kfc223]

Wow

Grammar and spelling guys. Its very basic. Have any of you heard about capital letters?

[brentton kyle]

Are we writing poetry here or are we just talking on a website,,, I'm not writing and english exam here,, I understand what u guys are saying but if u can understand what I'm saying what exactly is the difference,,, and to be honest I don't understand what the fuss is all about,, every single site I go on talks this way,, its not just called mxit talk, this is how people talk on computers all around the world,, and if u think its degrading the site then this site hasn't entered the real world yet,,but once again I'll apologise and try remember to talk properlike english,, and shahil please wil u pm your contact number and I'll send u some pics,, thanks and once again I apologise to ANYONE who was offended by my typing,,, jeez I feel like I'm back at school

[aleena_angel]

I have a quick question do i need a uva and uvb lamp?

also are heating pads in the tank a good idea? heard something about beardies being unable to sense heat under their belly's and burning themselves on them.


are the bites from these dragons severe? just curious because my dragon that Im getting hasn't been handled that much and i anticipate a few nips and nibbles

do i dust the veg in calcium powder as well? or is it just the crickets

how often should u change the substrate and must i use sand or can i use critter carpet?

Hey, no prob. I definitely have areas where I need help too. A uva is a basking lamp . If you use a heating pad, put it on the side of the tank, it depends on how warm you are able to get your enclosure with just a basking lamp. I'm in Fahrenheit here and I was never good at translating F to C so best if someone else answers that question, but you need a hot spot, a warm spot, and a cool spot... which makes long tanks ideal. Bites from the babies are not severe and I've heard that they don't hurt very bad, none of mine have ever bitten me they're not very prone to biting humans. If you pick them up from the side rather then above it will make them a lot less nervous, because predators pick them up from above. There's vitamins to put in the veggies and calcium to put on the crickets. Babies should not be placed in sand substrate as it can cause impactation and they could die. As for how often... when they poop you clean it up. They will eat it if you leave it laying around! It's not good for them. It stinks therefore you really want to clean it up if you have to be in the room at all anyway. The feces often times has liquid in it, so if you're using newspaper or paper towels for your baby, change it as it starts looking dirty if you're picking it up when they have a bowel movement. I've heard different things about critter carpet... I'm curious to try it myself but not quite brave enough as I have heard in places on this forum that it can cause breakage of toes and claws, but that is a topic that was debated in different areas of the forum, so different keepers thought differently.

[Sh1rk3E]

Hey guys,

I apologize for the grammar and spelling, I was posting from an Ipad which is not the most ideal for typing and being a teenager everything is done in a rush.

So once again my sincerest apologies.

To angel,

Thanks so much for all the feed back!! It’s really helped me in getting my enclosures all set up.
I defiantly plan on cleaning out their cages often... preferably once a day. I was looking into the carpet just because it would make cleaning the liquid faeces a lot easier.

I have since decided against that idea as this being my first dragon I don't want to do anything that could possibly hurt them.I have since knocked together a 3ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft wooden enclosure with a removable top and base for easy cleaning with a plexiglass sliding front door. I’m currently waiting for my UVB tube holders and tubes to arrive and just need to fill in the substrate and a very handsome/pretty dragon!

Would Astro turf be a suitable substrate? I'm going to test it today to see if it can handle the temps that my basking lamp is putting out. Just wondering if anyone has tried it before?
Maybe Astro on one side and like a gravel rocky, gravel substrate on the other?

I’m not a fan on the dessert sand after seeing how it is cleaned and considering how quickly dragons can mess it up again.

It really doesn't get that cold here at night and the dragons will be housed indoors.
What I could do is place a heating pad under the gravel substrate if the rocks would be to cold

I'm just shooting out ideas and would really appreciate your opinions and feedback on this.

Thanks so much for the help and offers so far, its helped in leaps and bounds.

[aleena_angel]

Sure, no problem. Considering I have a teenager, I'm amazed I'm getting a thank you . Sounds like a nice project you've put together, I'm jealous. We're stuck with glass right now but I've been jonesing to go get one of the nice big wood ones I've come across. I want one of the ones with a front opening, I hate opening the tank from the top as it is so much harder to grab them from the side and assure them that you come in peace. I don't know anything about astro turf, you can probably use the search function here and get some responses. I've opened a topic with no luck on the best substrate to use and no one answered me. The only consensus I've heard from pet store owners and vets is that you don't place babies on sand, and don't place the dragons in with bedding that they can't digest but can fit in their mouth. Gravel is a really bad idea, it will block up their digestive tract and kill them. Wood chips, things of that nature are the same thing, they will eventually be curious and try to eat it and pay the ultimate price. I'm sure it would be different if they were in the wild and not looking at the same things day after day! Just forewarning... the sand after used for a couple weeks even if you're fairly diligent in cleaning it will start to stink. It's pretty expensive, so really not worth it to throw it out every couple weeks or once a month!