My housemate is looking to get a beardie sometime in the near future but has some questions.

He has his vivarium on order and it will be arriving in the next few days. The guy he ordered it from and the guy in the local pet shop said that as long as he had a 100w bulb in the viv, he would not need a heat mat...is this true?

My housemate wants to ensure that the beardie has everything he/she needs. What would you recommend for food?

Also, we have 2 cats...will the beardie feel awfully threatened by them?

Thanks
Cheryl

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Felix
Wish You Were Here

Well, you would also need an AV light in there, and yes a heat matt would be good, so at night he doesnt freeze, also you would need a thermostat conncted up to the light to make sure the beardie doesnt get to hot! For food, you would need crickets, veggies and calcium... the calcium would go on the cricket 1 every 2 days! I hope this helps....

As Sahunk has said you will most certainly need a UV bulb, I use an Exo terra repti glo 10.0 on my Blue tongued skink. A heat mat is highly recommend as this will help to provide a suitable temperature gradient, remember that all heating devices should ideally be connected to a thermostat.

have to be careful with heat mats as beardies search for heat using sensors on their heads and so can burn their feet. neither of mine or others i have had to care for have ever had them. mine just have the heat lamp for heat attatched to the thermostat. the UV bulbs need replacing every 6 months ish because they loose their effectiveness and you may well notice a change in the beardies behaviour. mine start to loose energy.

young beardies need to eat more crickets/live food then veg but as adults dont need as much live food but should always have fresh vegies and leaves. sometimes you will need to use a syringe to give water as not all beardies like drinking from a bowl, also baths or water sprays help them soak in water. veggies they can eat are kale, parsly, spinach, rocket, corriander, carrot tops, other herbs, dandilion leaves, even grass they also like fruit such as grapes, mango, papaya and apple. meal worms crickets and locusts can be given regually and wax worms can be brought on occasion as a treat.

you need to make sure they go toilet regually, mine at the moment are not. (babies should go daily whereas adults can go a couple of days) mine are now having a warm bath (i use a large storage crate) every three to four days to help them pass their poops. think it might be the heat.

beardies can be upset by other animals, having said this both of mine get on with my rabbits and dogs. one of them is ok with my hamsters in the ball the other is not. you can slowly get them used to pretty much anything as they are quite hardy pets.

anything else you need to know just ask.

Unless your house gets really cold at night, heat mat's are unnecessary. Depending on the size of the viv a 100w bulb will be sufficient at keeping up the temps. This needs to be on a dimming thermostat.

I personally don't like crickets. I always feed locusts - mainly because they have a higher gut loading content than crickets, but crickets are nasty little things, they can nibble on beardies tails and toes should you happen to leave any in the viv and they escape from just about anything.

My Ozzy is not phazed by anything. He used to walk around with my dog. He watches my rats and Guinea Pigs a lot, just out of curiosity more than anything.
My viv has always been on the floor, so he soon got used to animals running by. Maybe if you do this too, he can see the cats walking around but still feel safe in his viv. Of course, don't leave them unsupervised together, but I think they will be fine.

You mean a uvb light? I read AV light somewhere around here. Heat mats aren't necessary if you have proper basking lights.

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1.1 bearded dragons
2.1 african fat tailed geckos
1.1 leopard gecko
1.0 green anole
1.0 mali uromastyx, X, my pride and joy

So...we went shopping today and my housemate purchased the following:

30W 10.0 UVB strip light & fitting
100W Heat Bulb & fitting
Water dish
Food dish
Basking stone
Thermometer
Calcium Powder

Is there anything else he needs? The pet shop man said that putting newspaper or kitchen roll down whilst the beardie is a baby will be ok...is this true?

Also, how does he introduce crickets to the viv? In terms of preparation? How many crickets should the beardie be fed? When and how often?

Thanks guys!

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Felix
Wish You Were Here

for a baby yes newspaper is good



jordan hudson 98

The basking stone is just an ordinary stone yes, not a hot rock?

You will also need some nutrobal, which is a vitamin/mineral supplement to dust on food.

I personally don't use fancy bowls, feeding my hand builds up more of a bond between you and I only offer water occasionally out of a small plant pot drip tray.

Yes, it's very important that you don't use a particle substrate - most say until they around 12 months, but I say not at all.
When a beardie goes to eat, he can take in a mouthful of substrate too, which will clog up his insides and can be fatal.

I use floor tiles which are grouted in between at the bottom of my viv, it looks great and is really easy to clean.

Bearded Dragons don't actually live on sand anyway, so putting them on it is not only risky but unnatural.

Yes it is just a big rock. Sorry for the confusion.

I think newspaper sounds like a good idea then. The tile idea sounds good too!

Is the calcium powder not to put on the food?

Thanks MissG

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Felix
Wish You Were Here