Soon to be newbie! Help

[Longy]

Hi All

Hoping to purchase my 1st beardie beginning of November (going on holiday end of Oct so got to wait till then - its killing me!). Still doing loads of research, seem to be on this everynight sooo addictive. Just a few questions for now if anybody can help.
Basking spot - can you just buy a spotlight from supermarket or does it has to be a reptile basking spot? Was going to get a dimming thermostat, does that sound good.
Livefood - want to get in a routine eg when i buy the food, how many days feedings live food before feeding to beardie. How often do you feed the livefood?
Any good websites for buying equipment, looking for a 4x2x2 viv cheapest ive found is £80 which seems cheap but am still shopping around for other abits.
Any advice appeciated.

[Squonk]

I'm also doing my research for my first beardie. I got my basking bulb from B&Q, 100w spotbulb, believe it was £1.28 for 2, ive heard this is sufficient for a 4 x 2 x2 viv. I also have a dimming thermostat, Habistat branded, try ebay as they sometimes have them cheaper. I was told to feed the crickets the day before giving them to my beardie, feed them with the things you would your dragon like Spring green stalkes, dandelion, also you can feed porrige oats, crickets need water too but they tend to drown in bowls of it so either purchase bug gel which is a gel form of water or a small pieve of sponge or moistened kitchen roll to keep them hydrated. You feed your beardie 2-3 times a day, as many as it will eat in 10-15 mins. Removing all insects it doesn't eat as they bite the beardie. I bought my stuff from

Reptilekeeping The online Reptile Shop, Selling Livefoods Reptile Accessories and Equipment.

Ive found it to be very good price wise and everything's been fine, no returns. Im sure you'll get more advice from more experienced keepers as this is only what ive learnt over the last 6months. Anything else I can help with just reply on this thread or give me a PM

[maddragon29]

Originally Posted by Longy

Hi All, Hey, good luck when you get your new baby, dunno how you're coping with the wait at all =]

Hoping to purchase my 1st beardie beginning of November (going on holiday end of Oct so got to wait till then - its killing me!). Still doing loads of research, seem to be on this everynight sooo addictive. Just a few questions for now if anybody can help.
Basking spot - can you just buy a spotlight from supermarket or does it has to be a reptile basking spot? Was going to get a dimming thermostat, does that sound good. - I prefer the 80wt Spotlight from homebase. Its this one http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=20001&catalogId=1500000701&langId=-1&searchTerms=80W+bulb It does perfectly for a 4x3x2, so dont think you'd need a higher wattage.
Livefood - want to get in a routine eg when i buy the food, how many days feedings live food before feeding to beardie. How often do you feed the livefood? - I feed my live food every day, when i feed all of my salad eating animals their greens/veg, i just chuck a tiny amount in with the food. Unless it is morio's, which come with food. I just put calcium in their tub and shake it around. That way they are eating the calcium.
Any good websites for buying equipment, looking for a 4x2x2 viv cheapest ive found is £80 which seems cheap but am still shopping around for other abits. - thats really cheap for that viv, go for it. I'd recommend the dome fittings for the spot bulb, they are great and look good. just make sure if you want to get those bulbs that you get the screw fitting one.
Any advice appeciated.

Advice is remember you're supplements and that vets are now recommending UV bulbs get changed every 3-4 months!

[Longy]

Many thanks for the reply and for all the info. Let me know how it goes with your new beardie.

[Longy]

My hubby wants us to cancel the holday so that we can have beardie sooner!! Many thanks for the info, I'm sure you will see me soon with lots more questions!!

[Aunty_Lizard]

Good luck longy with your new beardie. If you need any help please dont hesitate to pm me.

Btw we always have baby beardies available and come up your way regulary.

Liz

[BeardieG]

Welcome to the club !

we've also recently accquired a Beardie (Godzilla) -like you there's a lot of advice out there - fand it's probably a bit of a cheek coming from a fairly new owner too ....
so in very general terms - from what I've read/gleaned so far...(as the saying goes - 'if you know different' - please feel free to update in a gentle way...)

Measure/ and check alertness signs for a healthy beardie...

But from what I've read so far - I think Household bulbs are okay - providing you.
have at least 1 source of uvb/uva light source - the other point to BIM is how hot the vivarioum temperature gets - about the 100F seems to be the most consist temperature guide for peak times - allowing it to drop to around 60/65F overnight (using timers on light) - so guage the Watts to what it raises the temp to...which will depend on the size of the vivarium...

Heating mats/ heat rocks - you'll see them on various sites and mention in postings - however they appear to be a no, no - Beardies like heat from above not below (ours came with a heatmat - but may move it out to the other side - as come winter - we may still have no heating at present) - and heat rocks tend to have 'hot' spots - rather than give ambient heat....

Feeding - this depends on the age - seems to be 3 kind of stages -baby/ juvenille/ adult - adults appear to need less live feeds and more veggie stuff (they are omnivores) - remember to dust veg with a multi vitamin powder and dust live food with a calcium powder (before digestion - some give a guide of 48hrs before - ours are normally dusted prior to eating..oops)
As a rough size for size of live food - measure distance between it's eyes - if it's bigger - it's probably too big to digest !

Again from what I've read - (still guaging how many crickets ours should be having as he's more of an adult -about 15" in length) - it seems a 'live' feed every other day is best (dependant on age ) - although we've been letting ours have an odd smallish one almost daily and increasing on alternate days to about 4 with an odd mealworm every now and then ..(if this is a bad practice or not enough - let me know)
I get the impression - that they could just eat more than required - 'cause it there...???? LOL

Also - most of the live food sites eg http://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/ or http://www.livefoodsbypost.co.uk - offer either bulk amounts of smaller containers (think the smallest batch we've found was 25) - also sell vivariums etc..

Bulk buying - you may loose some in the process of feeding - depending how many you feed your beardie -we've split our batch and have been feeding them various veg/ dry food ('gut loading) - to keep them going (and possible breed ?) - same with our mealworms (which we have copious amounts) - all they need is stale bread / dry matter like oatflakes/bran / crushed dog biscuits - both crickets/ mealworms having moist kitchen towel as a drink source

Do check out what veg is suitable - so far from advice I've read and been given on this forum - if your in the UK - staple green - dandelion leaves/flower (wash first)/ squash -grating seems to be easier to tackle ...
occassional foods kale - avoiding the chunky stalk/viens (we roughly tear it into small pieces - and various views on this)/ grated carrot// courgette/ red pepper/ runner beans (split and chopped small) - there are some great food chart lists - check following posting - http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/members/imp_reptile-forums.html - but as mentioned - I've been trying to seek UK based veggie stuff - which I maybe able to get at our local market...

Also place veg bits in a bowl - to stop too much sand/substrate being digested - same with any worm based food - place in bowls
Provide small bowl of water - some advise not tap water....
With live jumping food - best to make sure they're eaten before night fall - as I've read they may sometimes bit your Beardie....

Vivariums range in prices - but we might build our own as some of them seem to be very exspensive for what appears to a basic design - again lots of useful threads/ videos....and area for size of Beardie seems to be the most importance feature to consider....

Hope this gives you some 'feelers' - but check the forum or post questions - someone somewhere - will probably have a view...Good Luck

BeardieG

[shonny]

best of luck with ur new baby mate x