Reptile pets, anyone?

[crabbymelt]

So I have been seriously thinking about getting a bearded dragon from a reptile rescue, but I've never had one before. I've never had anything but fish and cats and dogs. I know that it's fairly expensive to set-up, but the costs are comparable to having a dog. I want to do this right, so I'm taking my time before I snag one. It's amazing that people get these creatures and treat them like crap and dump them like they're stuffed animals. 

Anyways, anyone have a reptile or grow up with some? How were their personalities, and what were the issues that came up? 

[Gecko]

I've had plenty of lizards over the years (I currently have Tokay Geckos), never had a Bearded Dragon myself, but they are a good place to start. They're relatively simple to look after, don't need any extra special set up, and they tend to be quite friendly as far as reptiles go.

It sounds like you're planning on doing you research beforehand, rather than getting it and then asking questions, which is a good thing to read.

I will be back tomorrow (when I'm not half asleep) with a whole bunch of thoughts / info and other things for you to consider.

[OldDirtyBernie]

I've had a lot of reptiled.
Make sure you do a LOT of research.
Bearded Dragons DO require a regular heat lamp as well as a UVB bulb as that's theit main source of calcium. If it's a younger dragon, you can supplement the calcium intake by dusting their crickets with calcium dust, but as bearded dragons get older they eat more greens than crickets so that UVB bulb really is necessary.
Also if you're getting a younger one it's best to use simple paper towels as a substrate and keep enclosure decoration to a minimum so they have an easier time finding the crickets. The paper towels rather than something like sand or specialty reptile substrate allows them to eat the crickets without ingesting the substrate, which can cause them to become impacted if it builds up too much in their system and cause health problems.
A good rule of thumb for cricket size is that the crickets you are feeding should be no larger than the space between their eyes at the top of their head.
Once they're larger, bearded dragons are really docile as well but small ones are quick and finicky.

[Deleted]

Be very careful with them. Reptiles, amphibians, & exotic fish are much higher maintenance than your standard dogs and cats.

My brother has had a ball python for a decade now. He loves it very much & gets upset when people talk about how evil snakes are.

[OldDirtyBernie]

May 7, 2017 20:51:49 GMT -5 @jdogindy said:

Be very careful with them. Reptiles, amphibians, & exotic fish are much higher maintenance than your standard dogs and cats.

My brother has had a ball python for a decade now. He loves it very much & gets upset when people talk about how evil snakes are.

I absolutely hate ball pythons because they can be difficult to get to start eating when they're very young. We had one die on us for that reason.
Red Tail Boas, on the other hand, are wonderful pets and I feel the same way when people speak ill of snakes. Red tail boas are very much like dogs after they've formed a bond.

[Deleted]

May 7, 2017 21:28:43 GMT -5 OldDirtyBernie said:

May 7, 2017 20:51:49 GMT -5 @jdogindy said:

Be very careful with them. Reptiles, amphibians, & exotic fish are much higher maintenance than your standard dogs and cats.

My brother has had a ball python for a decade now. He loves it very much & gets upset when people talk about how evil snakes are.

I absolutely hate ball pythons because they can be difficult to get to start eating when they're very young. We had one die on us for that reason.
Red Tail Boas, on the other hand, are wonderful pets and I feel the same way when people speak ill of snakes. Red tail boas are very much like dogs after they've formed a bond.

Same problem we had. Lost two pythons due to feeding difficulty. My brother got an older snake that had learned how to feed because the pinkies were a real issue.

[The Legend of Groose]

I would not have one as a pet but that's just me. I mean fighting him at the bottom of The Pit and not being able to block, not to mention getting a Double Flawless Victory.

[Gus Richlen: Ruffian]

May 7, 2017 21:44:02 GMT -5 The Legend of Groose said:

I would not have one as a pet but that's just me. I mean fighting him at the bottom of The Pit and not being able to block, not to mention getting a Double Flawless Victory.

True, but he does have his good qualities:

[Heartbreaker]

I kinda want a green gecko. Other than that... nope. No offence to any snake owners here, but I hate them so much. That's what happens when you live in a country full of ones that can kill you.

[ritt works hard fo da chickens]

If you don't have a reliable source of insects, (big box pet stores usually have awful ones) seriously look into breeding your own roaches. It will probably up your initial costs 50 to 100 bucks, but it's a one time purchase and you can actually sell off surplus and get in with other reptile owners. Blaptica Dubai is best but Hissing Roaches work well too, this was my best investment when I had reptiles and they are almost a secondary pet.

[MC Blowfish]

I had a Bearded Dragon for 12 years. He was pretty cool and really easy to take care of. Like others have said, get a UVB bulb and a heat lamp. Also get two thermometers, one for the cool side and one for the hot side. I had a water bowl in mine and I also misted him daily.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

I used to have a pet anole when I was in like middle school.

The person I bought it from told me all manner of incorrect information... which was fun.

Luckily I had a book on caring for it that I read... and realized the stupid stuff before causing any real damage to it.

It let me pet it, but I usually let him hang out in the terrarium usually on his rock ... or occasionally the roof.

[EyeofTyr]

I have a beardie and I know a few others that do too.

The initial set-up cost is probably the biggest hurtle in terms of putting money into it that you'll have. The price of the dragon, the cage, the lights, the water dish, the basking spot you get them, it'll take a nice dent out of you. Not much more than just buying a cheaper end dog though.

After that the cost is laughable in comparison to the cost of maintaining a dog or a cat even. I can't speak for others' experiences, but mine has been more or less pocket change for getting proper food for him and what not. The most expensive thing are the light bulbs, but they are usually in the ballpark of $11 to $15.

Only word of advice I'd give is look around, some people charge crazy prices for cages and beardies. And, look around because you'll want a cage ideally that your beardie can live in for his entire life. A common mistake people have is getting smaller one that more fits a baby beardie's size, and then having to get a bigger one later on when the beardie has obviously outgrown it. Having too little of space can make them grumpy and distress too, which can lead to illness and death.

Food wise, figure out what they like, it's a bit of a process. My beardie loves crickets, but hates worms and roaches, whereas I know a beardie that loves worms and crickets, but hates roaches too. Every beardie I've met likes different kinds of fruits and vegetables too, though there is some slight overlap. Make sure you're careful with that too, there are only certain things they can digest properly.

Feeding, I would advise what a lot of people do and that's feeding them the live critters outside of their cage, maybe in a smaller containment. It makes it easier for them and it saves you the worry of one of those suckers living and causing trouble in the cage, like when the beardie's asleep.

Lastly, some beardies, especially store bought ones, can be skittish when you first get them. It just means their breeder didn't socialize or handle them a lot. The best way to make them more chill is simply take your time with them, handling them at least once a day. Feeding time can be a good time to get some handling in too, same as when you bath them. Once they're more comfortable with you, one of the best ways to bond with them is to have them sleep with you, if you don't move too much in your sleep. They tend to wiggle into a comfortable spot on you or curl into a circular shape like a dog. They're very loving, caring creatures once they've bonded with you.

Bathing, make sure you bath them either in the bath tub or the sink about once a week. You want the water to be on the warmer side, but not scalding and you want it so that it goes up to about their front legs' elbow joints. Initially you want to bath them for about fifteen minutes, helping them bath by pouring water over them and scrubbing them a little. If you have an old tooth brush or something similar, it can be great for them. Eventually though as they grow older you want the baths to last longer, around the half an hour mark. It just helps keep them healthy and helps the shedding process, and bearded dragons typically just love the bath.

If you end up getting more than one, be careful. Bearded dragons are great animals to humans usually, but not so much to each other. They'll bite each others' toes, tails, and more off, even going so far as to try to kill each other. Not just the males either, unless it's mating time the females can even be in danger. All the more so if one is bigger than the other.

[Gecko]

Right, I'm sort of awake.

Setup

First thing, have you got the space? Going off memory you're probably looking at 4x2 foot viv as a minimum for an adult to have a decent amount of room.
UV lighting is important and they do need replacing every 6 months or so. You'll also need a basking light, this is one of the items where you can go buy one with a picture of a lizard on the box or you can go anywhere else that sell light bulbs and get the same thing without the picture for a lot less.
Depending on how cold it gets at night, you might need another heat source other than the light.
Any heat source needs to be on a thermostat as well. You'll need thermometers to check the temperatures (hot end, cool end, and basking spot), I'd go for the digital ones with the probes rather than the dial type. Make sure you have everything up and running a week or 2 before you get the beardie so that you can get the temperatures right.
Decoration and substrate (stuff that goes on the bottom) is really down to you, Beardies live in dry, deserty type places, but more rocky than sandy. Find pictures of what other people have done and steal any ideas that you like. If you want to save money, avoid stuff marketed for lizards. I can go buy a "reptile" 1 foot trailing plastic plant for £10, or 3 bigger ones for aquariums for £10. I also recently bought 72 feet of vines (in 6 foot sections) for wedding decorations for the same price, twisted a couple together and ended up with something similar only there were a lot more of them.

Food
As well as eating live food (you're fine with handling them as well, right?), Beardies also eat veggies. This is where your research comes in to find out what you should and shouldn't give them. A bonus here is that you'll be able to feed this stuff to your live food as well. Feeding your live food means that a) they live longer and b) you won't be feeding what is essentially empty shells to your beardy.

You've got your setup all looking pretty and everything is great and you've just brought your new pet home. What's the first thing you do? That's right, you leave it alone.
Just like any other pet, give it time to settle in and get used to it's new surroundings. Don't go chasing it round and grabbing it, you'll only stress it out and extend the time it takes to settle in and get used to you.

Possible issues
It's probably not a problem in this case, but check that it was captive bred. Wild caught ones have a whole range of problems that come with them, including parasites, stress from being captured then shipped all over than being stuck in a much smaller space than they're used to.
Have a check round your local area and see what the situation is with vets. I had to take one of my geckos a couple of years back. It was a bit of a trek and I passed several other vets on the way, but the guy who treated her was confident in what he was doing.
If after a few months you think, "aw, it must be lonely, I'll get another one to keep him/her company", don't. It isn't lonely and trying to introduce another is just asking for trouble.

I've probably forgotten a load of stuff, but I think that's a decent amount to get you started thinking about stuff.

It might not be as obvious as in a dog, but they do all develop their own personalities. My 2 older geckos, well... we've come to an arrangement where I take care of them and they don't attack me if I look at them. As for the others, 1 will tolerate getting handled but she doesn't really like it, 1 always wants to explore and gets quite vocal when I don't let her, and the other is ridiculously calm, he'll quite happily sit on my shoulder, around my neck, in my pocket, etc for hours at a time.

[Mozenrath]

I had a turtle for a few years. Yellow Bellied Slider, liked having her, but she didn't have a great previous owners who had no idea she was aquatic, so she was in real rough shape when I got her. I tried to do right by her, but ultimately she never entirely bounced back and passed away.

It does make me happy to see you doing your due diligence here.

[OldDirtyBernie]

...also, be prepared if you look into online forums for your research. First, there can be a lot of conflicting information (I don't remember a lot of this with beardies, but it is out there.) Also, unless something has changed in the past few years, some of the communities can be not so welcoming. It's only an issue with most if you're coming in for advice after already having purchased and they feel you've not done your due diligence, but a few of them can be harsh (not to scare you off, most are just fine.
You'll probably be welcomed even more if you've rescued an animal. )

Also, if it hasn't been mentioned, if you're going to purchase an animal -
If you're going for a rescue organization, try and look uo reviews and make sure the org. is reputable.
If you end up purchasing otherwise, try and find a local breeder or look for a local reptile show before going with a pet shop. As said above, captive-bred is preferred plus they'll most likely have been better taken care of than in a pet shop.