beardies seem like a lot of work

[CraniumDesigns]

i know they're awesome pets. but i read on a beardie care sheet that u gotta feed them insects 2-3 times a day. who with any sort of life can do that? or WANTS to?

i'd love to get one, but they seem like wayyy more work than cresteds.

[cml3.0]

I don't know who's care sheet you were reading but when they are babies they get crickets or roaches every other day, veggies, and the beardie food. My adults only get live food as treats, they are mainly vegetarians.
You may want to read around a bit more, or find a better care sheet. I love my beardies and they have great personalities.

[ReptileChick]

Actually, babies need too be fed everyday 2-3 time a day, however many crix/roaches/silkworms he/she will eat. They need the protein. And you offer greens (collard, mustard, NO lettuce) everyday. They may not eat it, but they will eventually and will need to as when they become adults they only get about 25 crix (or 9 silkworms...don't know about roaches though) every week. Everything else is greens. The beardie pellet food doesn't have everything he/she will need. You will also have to supplement their food. calcium with d3 6 days a week on feeding of insects and 1 day a week with multi-vit. PM me for a GREAT forum to go to with experienced bearded dragon owners and breeders.

[CraniumDesigns]

PM me for a GREAT forum to go to with experienced bearded dragon owners and breeders.

u already referred me there ;) thanks.

[waldo]

They are alot of work, especially in the first year when they are eating so many bugs. I feed my babies all they can eat twice a day plus a salad. My adult gets around 10 adult dubia a week, salad daily.
They need UBV, high heat, a big cage, supplements, regular vet care and time out of their cage daily. Very awsome pets but expensive and time consuming.

[AggieHerpLover]

I love my beardie and wouldn't trade him for the world. But, I do have to admit that they are A LOT of work when they are juvies. They consume a TON of food and make big messes.

If you have the time and the resources, a beardie is a very cool herp to keep. You might consider purchasing a sub-adult or young adult. There are pleanty out there to choose from. I have also seen them up for adoption through Craigslist, etc.

[cml3.0]

I guess I just don't consider it work when you love them, I enjoy giving them food and playing with them so... :)

[DDReptiles]

Its not that beardies are hard....its just cresteds are easy.

[ReptileChick]

Exactly Derek! When I got my first crestie I was like..."What? No heat lamp for a basking spot in the 100's? Powdered food? No UV needed?" I was out of it! I was so used to beardies but even though they are a bit expensive and such, they are GREAT! I love my beardies. They are my babies, as well as my geckos.

[peublan]

Derek is right on! After keeping cresteds for a while I have become spoiled by their care requirements. I almost got got back into frilled dragons but, after thinking about how much time the ones I had before took I just could not do it and decided to get more rachs. I do not know how the supply of bearded dragons looks where you live but, here there are a couple of breeders who sell beardies that are allready a good size (past the 2 feedings a day size). Their prices are reasonable and the colors in them are killer. If you want their name just PM me.
Dale

[IndyCrestie]

Gotta tell ya, I keep a lot of different types of herps and the beardie I used to have was WAY too much work and money compared to any of my herps.

Actually, IMHO, cresties top the list maintainance wise out of all mine excluding my 4 water turtles. My mali uro, couple different gecko species, and RTB are all far less work than the cresties.

The beardie was just ridiculously time consuming. And he was evil, so that didn't help me like him either. He was adopted (known to be nasty tempered - I KNOW that is not the norm) and I later adopted him out to a teacher who just wanted a class room "look at" reptile and was experienced with reptiles.

[jadeboa]

I have six bearded dragons and they are no more work to me than any other animal in my collection.
Once a week I go to the store and buy all of there greens, cut them up, put them in big zip lock bags in the fridge and walla done.
I order there bugs and keep them in containers.
Every morning when I get up I clean there cages with a sceen scoop, put there salad in a bowl with some bugs, turn their lights on and ...........done.
It really does not require that much time.........maybe 15 min. a day. In the evening I give them a snack..........takes about 5 min. and spray them with water.
Soon I will be getting them a play pen so they can run around and exercise.
They are really easy to care for in my opinion.

[ReptileChick]

Jadeboa, what substrate do you keep your beardies on? And are they housed separately?

-Katie-

[Phantom Dragon]

You guys aren't kidding! I put more time into dragons than anything else. That's why most people get out of them after a couple of years. Josh