Varanophile

True. For single beardie all good. I keep 3 in a 5 x 2 x2. Just need the extra size so the girls can hang out away from the boy. May I suggest you invest in an old hutch or similar so you can put him/her out for some sun occasionally. Just make sure dragon can chill in the shade no matter what angle of sun.

Contact Lance at Proud Paws in ChCh. I think there is some 100W ones coming in November. As Hothouse siad though test the temps in the enclosure first with the bulb running...I think 100W would be fine for that size though...but its a pretty small enclosure for beardies though aye.......

True. Need at least the dimensions specified earlier in this thread. You can also get the 100W bulbs, both exoterra and JBL do them. Also be weary of some of the 'unknown' chinese brands you can source on the net, or the ones sold by Ultimate Reptiles in South Australia....any bulbs that fail the specs of companies like exoterra end up in the market through smaller players that get the 'rejects' cheaply. I ended up wiping out almost my entire colony as the bulbs I got cheap had insanely high UV levels that caused leukemia...and before anyone gets their knickers in a twist in Adelaide, I did have the bulbs tested (confirmed UV WAY above safe levels) and 2 separate vets confirmed leukemia by way of very expensive tests on my animals. Buy from a NZ company and if this happens to your animals you are covered for damages.

In the wild beardeds have been known to hang out under zebra finch nests and wait for the dominant chick to push its sibling out of the nest. Heaps more fun than feeding katydids and prob. easier to breed too.........

Pain in the arse to breed. Eggs need to be chilled first and take 3 months or to hatch. Yeah, end of summer on a warm night find a pepper tree or wysteria that you can hear the males calling from and spot for them with a torch. Put red cellophane over the torch and they don't see the beam. Can catch heaps and heaps. Easier to breed locusts and crickets, so why would you bother?

Primo food.

This is pretty good info re basking spots etc: From: http://lllreptile.com/info/library/animal-care-sheets/lizards-and-monitors/-/bearded-dragon/ Heating and Lighting As a desert species, these lizards like a lot of heat and light. Daytime basking temperatures may safely approach 105 degrees or more as long as the rest of the enclosure stays cooler. This ambient temperature should be 80 degrees or slightly less. Use of basking bulbs or ceramic heat emitters are ideal ways to provide the type of heat that this species requires. Nighttime temperatures should not drop below 72 degrees for baby dragons, and no less than 68 for adults. Admittedly, a few cooler nights will likely cause no harm to these lizards, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. Bearded dragons are a diurnal basking species, and as such, require exposure to full spectrum light in order to properly synthesize vitamin D3 and for calcium absorption in the GI tract. Specifically, light in the UVB range is required. In nature, the sun would provide these rays, but in captivity we must rely on fluorescent bulbs designed specifically for this purpose. New mercury vapor bulbs such as ZooMed's Powersun are a new way to provide heat and UVB in one bulb. This form of light encourages a more natural range of behaviors, and the high amount of UVB emitted from these bulbs has been shown to promote healthy growth and even reverse minor cases of metabolic bone disease.

A girl bought a dragon off me and fed it worms as the staple food. Dragon became ill. Vet said it was due to the soil in the worms gut building up in the dragon. Could be total bollocks, but best to be safe. When assessing foods just ask yourself if the animal would likely eat a similar food in the wild....I don't think there are too many earthworms to be found in the inland australian deserts, and if there were then dragons don't exactly dig around for their food. Only go to a vet if you really need to...just my opinion...I have not met any fantastic reptile vets in NZ yet and they can be downright dangerous if they guess at problems (personal experience). If your dragons have no contact with other lizards then I would not worry about parasitic worms...so don't worm them. Ivan at the reptile park in Ti Point occasionally worms his animals as they come into contact with wild skinks, so he would be the guy to talk to about worming I guess.

stay within the law...unless you are rich and can afford good lawyers for a long time...unless of course its a komodo or poison dart frog .. in which case worth the risk in my opinion. :facepalm:

The book Repto has recommended is a brilliant starting point. I know there is a thread about beardie care, but here are the basics- I have kept beardeds for over a decade now, and this info is from learning from my own mistakes and advice from other keepers. In NZ in my opinion best to keep them outdoors over Summer (doesn't have to be a massive cage), and bring them in over the Winter months. Brumate them every year (except for first year)....there is an extensive section on this in the book....no brumation will have a dramatic effect upon their behaviour and they won't breed. Feed them greens twice a week- dandelion, watercress, nausturtium, puha, grated carrot, grapes, strawberries (just make sure when you feed a mix, the mix is around: 80% green leafy stuff, 10% carrot and 10% fruit) You can also use store bought salad mixes, but don't use them exclusively- spinach is fine once in a while, but it contains oxalates which prevent calcium uptake. Feed them insects daily or every second day until they are adult size. After this, twice a week is fine. Insects to feed- mealworms (cheap and high in protein/easy to breed, locusts (easy to breed/high in vitamin C, crickets (bit of a pain but are high in protein and fat and vitamins...excellent food for fast growth and putting condition on breeding adults), waxworms (same as crickets)....and any spiders/bees/praying mantids/cockroaches/katydids you can find from pesticide free areas. I don't think it is good to feed worms or snails or slugs...but other people have done so without issues....and they LOVE cicadas. If you keep your dragons outdoors or indoors with mercury vapours then dust food 1-2 times a week with calcium WITHOUT D3. No need to use vitamin powders if you feed foods listed above. If you do need to keep indoors all year round, use a mercury vapour bulb...a 160W is perfect for a tank 1500mm x 750mm x 750mm...your local pet store can source either JBL brand through KONGS, or the Exoterra ones through PETWARE...I prefer the petware ones. It is more expensive to buy through the pet shops rather than importing your own...but they are covered by the consumer gurantees act. The 160W Exoterra Merc Vapour from Petware retails for around $80-$90, and you should get a good 18- 24 months out of it...unlike fluoros the spectrum does not fade- if the merc vapour is working the UVA and UVB is pretty much consistent for the life of the bulb. Merc vapours emitt heat, UVA and UVB (essential for converting calcium into a useable form) You need the extra height on the tank (750mm) as the mercury vapour bulbs are pretty grunty. I have my merc vapours on a timer- 14 hours on for summer, 10 hours on leading into brumation....use a timer- if you don't and you flick the lights on and off at even slightly different times then your dragons circadian rhythm (internal clock) will be confused. A large tank with a merc vapour down one end will create a heat gradient throughout the tank, so the dragon can choose where to sit and regulate its own temp. If the tank is too small then the basking spot will be too hot, and the beardie won't use it....so it won't get any benefit from the merc vapour. You don't need fluoro tubes, or a night time heat source. Supply your dragons with a bath once a week/fortnight..if they are outside this is easy...put the dish in the cage empty. Fill it woth a hose so that the beardie can see the water moving, usually this will get them into the dish pretty quickly- some beardies won't recognize standing water as water, so this method works well. Inside use the same method but don't get water on your bulbs. Hope that helps.

So no rack and stack then? Seems to be the way alot of the leo keepers are going unfortunately.

Too True. I used to have 'herpetologist' on my c.v under 'Interests'....didn't go down too well...sounds too much like having a chronic case of herpes.

Very well put.

You can only get species that other people will trade with you. If you want to keep anything more interesting than forest geckos, elegans or stellatus you are really pushing uphill. The Herp Society used to be the same as most of the other animal clubs- all about having the coolest collection, those with the wicked stuff want to hold on to it. The licensing of reptile keeping in Aus is based on whether you have the expertise to keep an animal, not on who you know. Check out: http://www.smuggled.com/s1rev1.htm Excerpt: SMUGGLED : THE UNDERGROUND TRADE IN AUSTRALIA'S WILDLIFE (1993) WRITTEN BY: RAYMOND HOSER PUBLISHED BY: APOLLO BOOKS (REPRINTED BY KOTABI IN 1997) ISBN 0 947068 18X (PAPERBACK) PRICE : $22.50 (excluding postage) If you have ever been interested in finding out more about the illegal trade in wildlife this book is definitely for you. The author provides a concise history of wildlife smuggling over the last 20 years. He names the people who, at one time or another, have contributed - either directly or indirectly - to the trade in wildlife and shows the connection with other countries. Also included are some details on smuggling rackets in other countries, especially the trade in wildlife products (skins, folk medicines, ivory, etc). He concludes with some suggestions which he believes may offer hope for conserving wildlife. He argues for the legalisation of trade in wildlife on the grounds that prices would drop and that the trade could be regulated by a permit system. The N.S.W. National Parks and Wildlife Service attempted to ban this book in May 1993, however, the N.S.W. Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Chris Hartcher, publicly ordered that the ban be lifted (ABC 730 Report, 29th June, 1993). This book is an excellent read for anyone wanting to learn about the negative effects of smuggling, the level of corruption in high places or simply in the animals themselves. Whether or not you agree with Hoser's final argument, that wildlife trade should be legalised, this book provides a wealth of information and is written in an easy going style. I personally could not put the book down once I had started - a brilliant piece of investigative journalism and a book that 1 highly recommend to our members

Bingo!!!!

Maybe read the thread from the start- already covered the angle of not enough keepers, cost etc....bollocks dude. Chameleons- piece of cake to keep: veiled, panther...........well no more difficult than other 'specialist' reptiles. The key is to do it right: http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=cxWLIC6ZvxUC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=easy+to+keep+chameleon+species&source=bl&ots=SS33UrETfL&sig=EUZRi2NmpM1F3MaM2lTZBDM_8AE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6Bt9T_bqNqaOiAeZ8NWNCQ&ved=0CFgQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=easy%20to%20keep%20chameleon%20species&f=false Problem with many keepers is that don't do their research first, e.g: people who don't believe in brumating box torts as it stresses them out..........jesus :facepalm: And, yeah I agree you would be the bomb for MAF. And again, don't talk crap on a public forum, I have never been in a courtroom for smuggling, or convicted of any crime......you are a slow learner dude. Get your boxies in the fridge!!!!!

you can't keep exotics in Aussie. Easy to keep the natives so no need to import to cater for reptile keepers.

Would be cooler tho if you changed the name to something like 'cold blood' :facepalm:

I have dealt with Proud Paws for quite a while now, and they are pretty good. They are the only place you can buy those mercury vapour bulbs- primo for dragons. The owner has a passion for reptiles, they are not just an add-on as with so many other stores. He makes special orders so he often has gear you can't find anywhere else and he is picky about quality when sourcing animals. He also spares no expense to fix problems that inevitably happen with reptiles, I don't know of any other stores that go that far. Good luck with the new store dude. Hope it goes well.

pretty risky sending reptiles by courier- especially if small and when the weather is getting colder. I know it costs more but best to AirNZ Pet Cargo airport to airport. Apparently its a pretty painless way to go if that makes you feel better.

and learn the difference between calcium with and without vitamin D, and which one likely suits your situation best.

Make sure that you brumate him. If you don't then usually activity and apetite will be affected. This sums it up: http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/brumation/ Also maybe buy "The Bearded Dragon Manual" Good book, you can buy over the net on amazon.com pretty cheaply.

yep, it sure is. but it would work for exotics too.

:facepalm: missing the point dude. I want the system changed. Stop suggesting people move to Aus or the US!! Taking endangered species from the wild? No....just do it the way they do it in Aussie- only registered collectors can take animals from the wild, and then keepers buy from stock bred from these- pretty easy to regulate if you have a system (like the one mentioned earlier in WA). Price tags are always determined by the market- look at beardies, leo's, water d's.........you still looking to work for MAF? You'll fit in well with the current modus operandi.

Really good point. You are right, there are pro's and con's to both sides of the argument. DOC leans strongly towards the 'leaving alone theory'....however once an animal is extinct, its game over until we learn how to clone from DNA I guess. Otago Skinks, Harlequin Gecko's...sure that there are other's but I don't know my natives that well... are pretty screwed unless they are kept in captivity. Maybe a couple of hundred years down the track they can be released back into the wild once we have dealt with the predation and habitat issue. Understandably DOC frowns upon keepers crossing sub species and creating forms that don't exist in nature, and this is an inevitable consequence of trusting the future of species to keepers......but at least species will have a chance. It is more than likely that in our life times Otago Skinks and Harlequin Geckos will be completely extinct unless they are captive bred. If it was easier to keep natives I wonder how many of us would be keeping the exotics? We have some pretty awesome native stuff...fish and reptiles.