to ask for quick help on the bearded dragon we are about to adopt?

[milkmaiden]

A bearded dragon is coming to us in an emergency today. I have never kept a lizard. We have cats. We won't leave them unsupervised but we will attempt to introduce them safely.

I have questions I need quick answers to as I am backed up with work deadlines and have videos open but not the time to watch them properly before the dragon comes.

Is any quick help available to specific questions here or somewhere else?

He is coming with an enclosure (we will be getting a bigger one)

I think we need a UVB and a high output heat lamp right now? And we should definitely buy this in the morning if he doesn't have them, is that our main priority apart from food?

Is it okay to never give live bugs or will we definitely have to do this sometimes?

Can we give him leftover dinner or will that harm him? We are vegan so all our meals are fresh but can we give him leftovers or is that a no-no?

Can we let him roam free around our bedroom or will this cause issues?

Is it good to handle them often or would that annoy him? How much should we "pet" or handle him? Don't want him to be lonely or upset.

She's very cute!

@rainsunsnow thank you both. I was reluctant at first but apparently he needs to come here will be in a right pickle so I agreed.

I will set him up in our room tonight, which is quiet, but my little cat sleeps by me all night or bangs the door down so I will see whether or not she scares him. I feel for him coming to a new place but good I don't have to worry about food yet and can just settle him in the corner and hope he feels okay. We are very quiet at night so he will probably find it okay.

The pet shop I'm referring to is a special reptiley one and they were even caring for this huge tortoise at one time so I think he will have lots of information but I am off to the facebook group and the forum too :)

Thanks everyone.

I'm not sure where you are, but I volunteer with a reptile rescue in south London and could find a good home for home if you really get stuck. Please feel free to make contact.

If you pm me your email I can send you the info we give out to our beardie owners regarding light, heat, diet and care. (from reptile vets)

Lovely to see all the beardie owners stopping by.

Hope he works out for you OP. There is some good advice here my only bit of advice to add to this is go for hoppers/5th locusts rather than crickets for live food. Crickets stink to high heaven. Beardies do seem to like the way that Hoppers jump better so they have more fun hunting.

my dragon is probably 90% veggie you’ll probably be pleased to know

Hope the little guy had a good first night and is settling in well!

My beardie was a salad dodger. He would occasionally eat a little but much preferred bugs (especially morio worms which are like candy to a beardie).

Thanks everyone. He is here, he has his lights and has spent last night hiding away behind his rock. He has black on his edges which apparently is normal. We've not been bothering him too much, just put two live mealworms in each day in his tray and kept his water fresh.

We turned both lights off when we went to bed, he is in our room. Our cat who usually sleeps with us came in, looked at his cage, and walked right by.

We are giving him time to settle before we get around to offering him outside.

He's lovely! I really want to keep him :D

My DD is obsessed with a YouTube channel called Snake Discovery they give some really easy to follow comprehensive advice on caring for all kinds of reptiles. There was a bearded dragon episode she watched the other day talking about how they need the UVB lights as Bearded dragons cannot process calcium without it so even if you dust the food it's no use without the light and they can get a spine condition without enough calcium.

I'm hoping DDs obsession with the show doesn't turn into a demand for a pet snake as I have a phobia and just cannot have one in my house.

This is the video about Metabolic Bone Disease.

I'm very very new at beardies so won't give advice about the technical stuff but if he is coming from neglect I would definitely live feed as I think that is their ideal and natural diet and he might need the nutritional boost.

I know it's not exactly pleasant but it's like picking up dogs poo. If you want a particular pet you have to do what is best for them/their health no matter how much you may hate it. Just part and parcel.

DS who knows about these things says that actually their natural food is wild sage. We grow sage for ours, along with other salad veggies & the occasional insect, which he loves to hunt down. He had a raspberry the other day & loved it.

My son took on a neglected beardie a few years ago. When he moved out my daughter had to take her on. You have had lots of good advice but I just wanted to say that although the feeding of live food seems daunting you quickly get used to it. Our beardie isn't keen on her salad so would probably starve if we didn't give her live food. She had been tong fed so unless we put her food on the tongs she doesn't tend to go for it! She particularly likes cockroachs. My daughter feeds her these in the bath because in her viv they hide before she sees them! They really are lovely gentle creatures. I predict you'll fall in love!