Any bearded dragon owners?

[CheerfulYank]

We've just gotten this little fella today! He's a tenth birthday present for my DS.

He's really very cute and I adore him already, but I'm out of my depth with a non-mammal pet I think! There's so much conflicting advice online about what kind of set up you should have, etc. And he's so tiny, I'm worried he isn't warm enough. I need to get a thermometer for the tank.

If you have/had one, any tips? What did you use on the floor of your tank, for starters? The people we bought him from said only reptile carpet until he's bigger but it seems that can't be right as in the wild they'd live on sand or what have you, right?

[PinkFluffiUnicorn]

We hadn't an older one, we were told by a pet shop to use sand, but unfortunately not the right advice as he ended up impacted from eating the sand, and died aged 2.5. I think it's ok for a short time, as they do live in sandy places, just don't use it all the time, find an online forum will lots of bearded owners. Good luck it looks cute

[CheerfulYank]

Thank you Pink! Okay, no sand :) I have seen people advise a clay substrate stuff... apparently they can dig in it a bit and you can make them burrows and things but they don't (or can't) really eat it.

He just seems so tiny! I feel quite protective of him. :o I woke my husband at 4 a.m. because I thought his tank was too cold.

He's still nameless....DS thinks he will be Draco but isn't 100%. :)

[NoYouDontKnowItAll]

He looks awesome and Draco would be a great name if your son chooses it. Does he have to live alone or can you get him a friend?

[DeleteOrDecay]

We used to have a beardy, we unfortunately had to have him PTS at the beginning of the year because he was old and very poorly.

My DP did most of the caring for him but we used to get use sand from Pets At Home in his tank, never heard of reptile carpet but then again ours was an older dragon.

[gandalfspants]

We had two that a friend didn't want anymore. Both gone now though. We used play sand and wood chips (but they were older). I spent ages getting the temps right (one end should be warmer and the basking 'hot spot' should be warmest of all if I remember correctly).

Forums are great for more exotic pets. I'll see if I can find the foods list I bookmarked.

[gandalfspants]

Ah no, my bookmark is dead, but if you google 'bearded dragon food chart' something useful should be easy enough to find.

[sweetkitty]

The best advice I can give anyone with a beardie is join Bearded Dragons UK on Facebook, they are a fantastic group of experts who always help novice owners. The main guy has written the best ever Beardie guide free to download.

In the wild they live on compact hard clay not sand, beardie taste everything with their tongue and can ingest sand which causes impactation. I use tiles and fake grass much easier to clean when they poo.

For a teeny baby you'll need to get the temps in the viv right, buy loads of live food, I remember ours as a baby he was costing us £20 a week in locusts, that calms down a bit and you can order them cheaper online.

It costs a lot to get the correct set up but once you have it it's all good, they are fab pets but please read that guide.