gothra's beardie question marathon...

[gothra]

I have so much things that I wanted to ask; some might be common sense or basic stuff, and I don't want to start a new thread everytime to bore everyone. So I'm going to group all my questions in this post. The questions will keep coming as soon as I think of them, please bare with me.

- Do we have to clip their nails? I see several posts on the subject, and wonder if everyone does it.

- Is it really ok to let them roam outside of their enclosure for hours (away from the lights)? My enclosure will be at ground level, I can section off one part of the room and leave the enclosure door open most of the day, so he can have more floor space to play around.

- About red lights disturbing their sleep - well, my beardie's enclosure will be in my gecko room. I walk in and out of the room at least 10 times every night. I need to turn on the red lights and a small desk lamp whenever I'm in there; and of course, I talk to my geckos all the time. Will I be disturbing his sleep??

- They can't be temperature sexed, can they? I wanted to start with a fresh hatchling male; so I can make sure he has my best care from the very early stage of his life; plus I don't have to worry about the "female laying eggs and not eating" type of things. But the person I'm buying from told me they can only be sexed at 6-7 inches (which is at least 2 months old I suppose?). So, I can't decide whether I should go for a hatchling or a juvi male. My problem here, is that I can't tell if the juvi male will be getting all the proper care. He could be on walnut shell substrate, with coiled UVB, and 3 crickets a day.

- The full black eyes of the translucent morph - are they light sensitive like the full eyes of leos? I suppose this is not possible since their nature is to bask under bright sunlight.

That's all for today! Thanks for reading.

 

[T-ReXx]

I have so much things that I wanted to ask; some might be common sense or basic stuff, and I don't want to start a new thread everytime to bore everyone. So I'm going to group all my questions in this post. The questions will keep coming as soon as I think of them, please bare with me.

- Do we have to clip their nails? I see several posts on the subject, and wonder if everyone does it.

- Is it really ok to let them roam outside of their enclosure for hours (away from the lights)? My enclosure will be at ground level, I can section off one part of the room and leave the enclosure door open most of the day, so he can have more floor space to play around.

- About red lights disturbing their sleep - well, my beardie's enclosure will be in my gecko room. I walk in and out of the room at least 10 times every night. I need to turn on the red lights and a small desk lamp whenever I'm in there; and of course, I talk to my geckos all the time. Will I be disturbing his sleep??

- They can't be temperature sexed, can they? I wanted to start with a fresh hatchling male; so I can make sure he has my best care from the very early stage of his life; plus I don't have to worry about the "female laying eggs and not eating" type of things. But the person I'm buying from told me they can only be sexed at 6-7 inches (which is at least 2 months old I suppose?). So, I can't decide whether I should go for a hatchling or a juvi male. My problem here, is that I can't tell if the juvi male will be getting all the proper care. He could be on walnut shell substrate, with coiled UVB, and 3 crickets a day.

- The full black eyes of the translucent morph - are they light sensitive like the full eyes of leos? I suppose this is not possible since their nature is to bask under bright sunlight.

That's all for today! Thanks for reading.

I'm no beardie expert but I feel I can answer most of these with confidence.

1-I really think it depends on the individual dragon. If kept on a rough substrate with enough stuff to climb on some wear their nails down just fine. Some are lazy blobs and need them trimmed. It's not hard, they don't usually fight and cutting the quick is difficult as long as you only take the tips off.

2-If the general room temp is good, I suppose that would be ok. Personally I wouldn't leave any reptile outside of it's temperature-controlled enclosure unattended for a long period of time, but that's me. Some people do it and it works out fine.

3-I'd cover the cage if you're really worried about disturbing him, but I've found diurnal lizards are very good at adjusting their sleeping schedules. Minor lighting not directly on the cage shouldn't be an issue. And unless you plan to be in there for the entire night, every night, he should be fine.

4-Nope, no temp sexing. I would get a juvie. You can be sure of sex and hatchlings tend to be more fragile. Juvies are past the delicate stage and also starting to eat more veggies. If the seller can't be trusted to keep the juveniles correctly, look elsewhere for a dragon.

5-Can't say for sure, but I don't think they are. Light sensitivity in leos is associated with a nocturnal animal that is also an albino, removing pigment from the eyes. A diurnal, non albino species like a beardie shouldn't have those problems.

 

[tlbowling]

OK...my turn

1. I have had my bearded dragon for 3 years and never had to trim his nails, although they are a little sharp, but without them he wouldnt be able to climb easily to his basking spot.

2. I dont let mine roam. I wouldnt really recommend that, and besides...when they are older...they really arent THAT active, it kinda made me laugh when you said "play around" and Im still smiling We have ours out (supervised) for maybe 15 minutes at a time, and even though he runs around a little bit, he's really not all THAT active, and he seems happy just to go back home to his basking area

3. They sleep pretty soundly, when Spyro's out...he's out. He's in my sons room and we have the lights on and off in there during the night (when Spy's lights are out) and he hardly ever wakes up (if he does, he partially open one eye, but goes right back out cold. Im sure he wont even know youre in there As long as you dont have a red lamp right over top of his enclosure all night. Im sure he'll be just fine

4. I got my beardie at around 5 or 6 inches long (from nose to tail tip) and my breeder knew he was a male...and he was right So you can still get them pretty small, and be able to get the sex you want Also babies eat like 35-50 crickets a day...not sure where your 3 came in, lol. And it's suggested to NEVER use crushed walnut. Also not sure about the coiled UVB, Repti-sun 10.0 (not repti-glo, be careful) is recommended by almost ALL. And Beardeddragon.org is a GREAT site for beardie info!

5. I'd say no to the eye sensitivity, but its a total guess...but I cant see how that could be since they do bask in the bright daylight

Hope this helps

 

[gothra]

Thanks for the answers, Ted and Tara!

Yea, Ted you're right; a juvi male will probably suit me better since this is my first dragon. It's just that the possibility of getting a freshly hatched baby and watch it grow is very tempting...but I know with my luck, I will most likely end up with a female if I wished for a male. :main_rolleyes:

Tara, for some reason, seeing how people talk about their dragon plus the pictures, give me a feeling that dragons are like little kids...thats where the "play around" comes from, LOL. Can't help that as I've seen blankets and soft toys in enclosures! :main_laugh:

Here is another question about shedding.
- Do they eat their sheds? I know they shed in patches, how long is the whole process? With my leos, I usually help them clean off all itty bits when they're almost done. Do you need to do the same with beardies?

 

[prettyinpink]

Beardies sheds are easier imo on shedding. Since they're from a dry climate. I've never had a problem with sheds, and my guy does eat his some times. If they're having trouble...which they rarely do just a nice soak in the bath is nice.
Since I always recommend bathing beardies this also helps them shed easier

I think people treat them like 'kids' and stuffed animals because they let you do basically whatever you want to them. They'll sit on your shoulder (adults) for hours.

I do clip my guys nails, only because a lot of people hold him...and he gives me pretty bad scratches. You don't have to clip them though, just something I do

As far as the light, yes they can see the red light. But it's just going to be like if you were to put a soft light on in your room. If you're worried just cover him. My guy will usually open his eyes or sleep through it.

As far as roaming around the house, they're not 'social' even though we like to treat them like they are. They'd rather be in their tank then outside 'playing'. You sure can take him out though for whatever reason you like. Not having heat/uvb isn't going to kill him for a little bit.

No, they can't be temp sexed. And I believe 5-6inches is a hatchling...that's when I got Kirby. He was only two weeks old. If you want a specific gender you're going to want to wait for an older one. Not sure where you're located but I'd go off one of the breeders off beardeddragon.org or fauna.

Hope that helps!

 

[gothra]

Thanks Erica! You solved my mystery of why we need to trim their nails - its for our own good. I was wondering if that was because the long sharp nails will make them uncomfortable to walk on hard ground, etc...lol.

...Geez, I was going to ask another question, but after I typed the above paragragh, I've completely forgotten what I was going to ask. :main_no:

 

[RyuuKirin]

Ryuu gets her nails clipped, but not very often. I only trim off the translucent part though. She lives on reptile carpet and is a lazy blob- so her's need trimming. I'm going to be upgrading her to the 75gallon this summer and hopefully will have her on tile, which should wear her nails down naturally as she scratches me pretty bad sometimes- I think the cat makes her antsy.

Ha! Speaking of stuffies in their enclosures....

As for baths, unless they drink from a water bowl, baths help keep them hydrated... plus *most* of them like it. Ryuu does every once and a while but most times she'll drink while in the bath, she loves the shower spraying on her.

 

[T-ReXx]

I agree, regular soaks are a good idea for beardies. It helps with sheds, often helps them poop if they're a bit backed up(it can happen every now and then) and keeps them hydrated. When I kept dragons I would soak adults once a month or whenever they were in shed. Some beardies eat their sheds regularly, some don't. It doesn't hurt them not to. As long as you watch the toes and maybe help them out with stubborn patches when they need it(shedding makes them itchy, so removing stubborn pieces brings some relief) and do the soak thing every so often there shouldn't be any issues.

 

[gothra]

Ah, I remembered what I was going to ask! How does leos and beardies react to each other's scent? Will they be uncomfortable sensing the presence of each other? As I said before, I will be keeping the beardie in my gecko room, with 8 male geckos in open glass tanks. Eventhough the scent in the air may not be very strong; but I do handle them a lot. So its very possible that they will pick up the scent of each other from my shirt.

The last time a male gecko picked up the scent of another male from my shirt ended up biting me. Is this going to happen between different species males?

 

[T-ReXx]

I highly doubt that will be a problem. Neither species comes in contact with each other in the wild and generally lizards have a poor sense of smell when it comes to airborne scents. Washing your hands between animals is a good idea for cleanliness alone, it helps prevent disease transfer between animals. Even if they aren't sick looking it does a lot to prevent disease spread in case one animal does get sick. Dragons will eat smaller lizards and I suppose they might smell something tastey if your fingers smelled like geckos but leos recognize predators by sight, not scent. Just wash your hands after handling either animal and you shouldn't have any problems.

I keep 10 different species of lizard and one snake species in the same room together, and several of them would happily eat the others. They ignore each other unless put in direct sight of one another. If I hold a baby crested gecko in front of a cage with a big tokay in it for example the tokay might get a little interested in the potential prey and the crestie might be a little nervous in the presence of that attention, but they are housed side by side and are oblivious to each other. My male ball pythons go off food when they start smelling ovulating females in the same room but snakes are much more oriented to smells than lizards are and beardies are based completely on sight and sound, they only smell things that they tongue flick directly.

 

[prettyinpink]

I also highly doubt that'll be a problem. Wow you sure sound very worried, which is a good thing! Good to always do your research before hand

I hold my leos and their tanks are almost right next to each other so if they're going to 'smell' each other I haven't seen any problems.

 

[acpart]

I'll weigh in on whatever I can add that's new. I have 1 beardie that I got as a 4 year old from someone. It's a female, never been with a male, and lays 4-5 clutches of eggs every year (last year as a 7 year old, laid 125 eggs in 5 monthly clutches). Where leos seem to nearly stop eating when they ovulate, I find my beardie eats a whole lot more. She also gets restless when she's going to lay. If you can get a male it's better; having to haul in the huge plastic planter so she can lay her eggs is a real pain in the neck.

As far as being out of the cage, sometimes she does try to climb the sides. When I let her out (supervised in living room and dining room with cats evicted and doors closed) she sometimes just crawls under something, in which case I put her back in her cage, or checks out the feeders --sort of like beardie TV for her, I guess. The only exception is in the summer when I let her out on my porch garden with me. Then she runs around sampling the produce and eventually settles in a sunny spot to bask.

Aliza

 

[gothra]

Wow big thank-you to everyone! You're all so nice to spend the time to answer my (silly) questions! It really makes me feel so much more secure for every extra detail I get on bearide care before I start to keep one.

 

[gothra]

Do you think its ok to keep 2 females together if enough space can be provided? The main enclosure itself will be 1800x750x750; but since it will be located at ground level on one end of my narrow gecko room, I can use a gate to section off the window end, and open their enclosure door during the day to let them make use of the whole front end of the room (including a bay window, I heard they like watching the street).

I'm sorry but I really cannot make up my mind on what I want at the moment!

 

[T-ReXx]

It's the same as with leos; some girls get along, some don't. You have to watch them and be sure. I'd stick with the single male if I were you, males generally are just better for handling in my experience, they don't have the risk of egg binding that females have and they're usually cheaper. Unless you're interested in breeding dragons(something I will never go back to doing, it's a hell of a lot of work) keeping a single male as a pet is probably going to be the most rewarding experience.

 

[gothra]

I managed to squeeze out more space for a second beardie enclosure; so I'm most likely going to get two males (as pet). Then I was thinking, if I have 2 males, how do I take them both outside for some natural sunlight? They're going to fight as soon as they see each other? Or am I suppose to take them out one at a time?

Anyone have 2 males? and how do you do it?

 

[gothra]

DECIDED!! I've come to my final decision! I'm going to get one male by the end of this year. Due to my mind kept fluctuating between whether to get 1 male, or 2 males in 2 enclosures, or 2 females in one huge enclosure; my gecko room remodeling plan was not able to commence. The builder that was going to do the work is now occupied, and will not be able to help us until at least a couple months later...sigh. Oh well, at least I can come up with my final decision. I've already named my future dragon, his name is Weet-bix, and he is a very light colored hypo that has faint pastel color on the back. :heart:

p.s. He is not born yet though...lol.