Baby Beardie

[Lemon Jack]

Hey guys whats up?

Just wanted to share the newest member of my family with you guys and his new home I built.

His name is Mozzie. He is a 2-3 week old bearded dragon who really loves his crickets .

Here is the cage I built I tiled the floor and carved all the landscape from styrofoam. Then I covered the entire thing in grout to give it the rock texture then sealed it all to protect my little friend.


Here is the little guy in his new home, and another pic of him on my finger so you can really see how small he is.


We got any other beardie owners out there in MP?

:icon_smile:

 

[burner]

Nice Lemon Jack, I used to have one growing up. Named it Ace....he loved to just chill on the couch or on my shoulder...very relaxed. I had an iguana for a few years too, that thing would rip it up in the pool...awesome swimmer, but he got out one day and never saw him again.

 

[Lemon Jack]

Thats cool I had a couple Iguanas too one got really really mean though. The other one the exact same thing happened to me He got out and he was gone.

 

[Chewbongo]

Sweet set up u have for him

 

[Dr. Manny Bowles]

Super nice setup there LJ, he's gonna love that. My wife and I used to have 2 water dragons and I really enjoyed adding new stuff to their tank. Reptiles are awesome, it's amazing how much personality a lizard can have. When we had our dragons, we would sometimes just turn out the house lights and leave the tank lights on. Then just sit back, puff a few, and watch them interact. They liked to go at it like dogs or cats do, wrestling and chasing each other around. Good times.

 

[Lemon Jack]

Ya I cant wait till he gets bigger now currently the pups can barely see him lol. He is really friendly though and loves to be handled.

And yes there really interesting to watch . . . . especially at feeding time lol.
:48:

 

[bho_expertz]

Had one of those too. Nice lizards.

Also had some tarantulas and for fishes had some piranhas :hubba:.

That vivarium looks sharp

 

[Lemon Jack]

Thanks BHO it was alot of work lol

 

[Roddy]

Mine's about 8 years old, maybe 9...and a bit bigger lol. Advice on set-up, they love to be able to dig under the sand and rock to make hiding spots, I have about 4" of sand all across the bottom of my 150gal tank, am using natural rock I picked up in various places (Vegas...shhhhh). They love the heat rock/light even in the hot days, so give them a space to be able to sit on a bigger rock that is near the light/heat. The rock absorbs the heat and it's like the guy's natural environment.

Panoramic view of entire tank, the dragon is resting.
Note he's "standing" in the empty water dish, these guys don't need nor should have water as it causes issues if I remember correctly. I haven't put water in for him in a few years or more, all his water comes from crickets and the greens I feed him. Under the side nearest the lizard, you can see he's tunneled under the big rock, loves to hide there at times!
Closer to winter, I'll move the big rock from the other pics under the light, he'll make this his normal perch for the whole winter. Trick is to make sure he can dig under and around the stones without fear they'll collapse onto him....the big rock is usually settled to about 1" from bottom of tank so can't get fully under, only around edges.

As for feed, they love crickets (go to a local bait shop and save money), certain grub worms and of course greens...I pick broad-leaf weeds (dandelion greens for example) from the yard in summer, lettuce in winter. I've offered him apple shavings and such, not much though as this isn't the perfect diet, but they like it now and again.

 

[Lemon Jack]

When bearded dragons are young they have lots of digestion problems. It is highly recomended you dont use sand cause it can cause impaction in young beardies.

And I do believe they need water be it they take most of it in through bathing. My little guy loves to sit in his water dish.

You can buy crickets online really really cheap too by the way like 30 bucks for a thousand. And i believe your not supposed to feed them lettuces and such (being that it is mostly water) I think you should steer more towards cale or mustard or collard greens.

Im not saying your wrong obviously you have a healthy beardie.

 

[Roddy]

Hmmm...I was told by the lady I bought mine from (breeder) not to even have a water dish. Yes, the sand is said to be bad when young, except it is their natural habitat lol...but I truly can't remember if I added the sand after he had grown or not, seems I may have.

As for the lettuce, was a main staple at the breeder's home....I just followed her lead there. When I told her about apple shavings and other veggies, she told me in moderation, but more greens than anything.

Yes, mine's quite healthy and energetic, about 1.5' long from nose to tail tip...and always eating lol

Yes, online buying is good, what I do during winter months, but I can buy 500 for $5 at the local bait shop (I live on a lake), so cheaper in summer.

I'd guess there's many things that the books tell us we shouldn't do, asking trusted breeders and plenty of reading tells me that, much like MJ growing, there's alot of misinformation out there. I don't trust the books as much since talking with the breeder.

The reason for no water was because of respiratory infections, I believe I remember being told. They get infections easily because of the humidity caused by the water....going by memory here though.

 

[Lemon Jack]

I guess many have different ways the breeder we got him from had a watet dish in with them he gave me alot of info and told me about this web forum bearded dragon .org I learned alot there form alot of experienced beardie owners.
Thats an awesome deal on crix by the way lol you would never believe ho much they eat till you have one

I do keep check on the humidity in his viv and clean and replace his water dish twice a day.

 

[Roddy]

Looking good, great job on his environment!! Any plans on a bigger tank later on?

 

[Lemon Jack]

Oh ya Im sure he will need one in bout a year or so this was just an old piece of furniture we had I threw it all together for the beggining of his life. Later ill prob build one at least 5-6 foot long .