New Owner with LOTS of questions!

That's good to know about the salad. I ordered a vibrating feeding dish last night (I think we ordered it just because we thought it was cool) to see if that helps with his salad. As far as feeding him by hand, have they ever bitten you guys? I was wondering if it hurts when they do? I see all the pictures of BDs with their mouths open and they look very scary! LOL We are still misting him a couple of times a day and keeping the humidity around 40%, putting his greens out in the morning about an hour before the crickets but he just acts like the bowl isn't there! If he is eating that many crickets right now, I can't imagine how many he'll eat when he gets bigger! Thanks for the advice.

Neither of us has been bitten by either beardie. They are actually very sweet social critters. I've been bitten by one of our snakes, one rat, and Gigi has been bitten by a rat and one of the Emerald Swifts (didn't hurt, too small LOL). Sometimes our beardies will take either a strip of red pepper or pear from us by hand too. Hold one end and as soon as they grab it, let go.
Just wait til he gets bigger... he'll eat like 15 or so crickets that are bigger. They also like wax worms (don't feed too many, they are fatty) once a week or so, and if you can find them once he's bigger, butterworms. Yummo! I haven't tried silkworms but they are supposed to be super yummy. I have to order them.
Do you all know for sure that he is a boy? Just wondered. Once he's a bit bigger you could get him a friend... just keep in mind it needs to be basically the same size and same sex. That's where the reptile shows come in really useful.

We have no idea what sex he is although I did find some useful info on HOW to tell once he is bigger. I actually touched him last night! LOL I'll come around I'm sure. We also have never seen him eat his salad but he has to be eating it as there is much less of it when I take it out at night.

I have a 40 gallon tank so if we were to get another one once we know his sex, I'll have to get a larger tank, correct? I build things, so building one of the melamine tanks I keep seeing will be no problem once the time comes. I really wish I would have seen those type of habitats before buying the glass tank as it seems like it would be better around the kids.

So, how old should he be before any type of worm? Is it more of how long he is instead of age? I bought a pair of long tongs for when we start feeding the worms, just can't seem to picture me holding a worm in my fingers. Ewwwwwww!

You can just put the worms in a dish once he is big enough for them, that's what I do for the most part.....but I do handfeed on occasion, and they seem to have remarkably good aim (and miss your fingers lol)! The only time I've really been bitten by one of my Beardies was when I was trying to give him some oral meds, and I probably deserved it for getting my fingers in the way. Little nips from the babies "pinch", but it will surprise you more than anything.

You will probably get told at a pet store that he/she is big enough for mealworms. I would caution you however because these worms have a hard crunchy outside and that can irritate their gut. Once he's much bigger you can get him those or superworms on occasion. Phoenix worms and wax worms aren't really very big. Do you have a scale to weigh him/her? Even a food scale works good. Phoenix worms you'd need to order. Hopefully someone else will know if he's ok with those now, I think he might be, we feed them to our Emerald which are only 3-3 1/2 inches or so nose to vent.
People say 2 beardies are fine in a 40 breeder. Of course bigger is better. Definately need to figure out if he's a he or she before getting a second one. If you take him to a show with you I bet one of the breeders could tell even at this point... or be reasonably sure. Once he/she is 4 months old they can tell for sure.

http://www.repticon.com/atlanta/
Found this for you... it's a cool looking show in Atlanta Mar 1 & 2. Looks better than what we have here.

Thanks for t he link, we'll definitely be there. Sorry I haven't posted lately, been under the weather for the last couple of weeks. Our little fellow has changed so much! He is about twice the size of when we got him, his coloring is much darker now and his points of his beard are very prominant now! Gotta take a new picture for you guys.

We bought a vibrating food dish which helps him eat his greens and veges as well as fun for the kids to hit the remote control and watch the food jump around! He is eating around 20 crickets a day! I think its time to switch to the playsand because the crickets hide under the paper towels and we would be able to get a better count of what crickets are left in at night. I STILL can't believe I got attached to a damn lizard! LOL

Hello,

That is great you have gotten attached to your dragon!! They are really very sweet if you give them a chance.
I bet he has changed alot in the last few weeks. That is awesome he is eating 20 crickets a day. Are you feeding 2-3 times per day to ensure he is getting enough food? He should be eating a bit more but he is on the right track now.
So he is eating his veggies & greens from a vibrating dish. Remember, do not leave any crickets in with him as they can cause some very nasty bites.
Glad to hear he is doing well.

Tracie

We try our best to get all the crickets out at night. I think he is old enough to go to playsand now. Although the paper towel liner is easy to keep clean, the crickets can really hide under there so I'm sure we miss some of them. I've never seen him eating his salad but from the looks of it, he has to be eating some of it as there is less of it when I take it out at night.

Great to hear he's doing so well!! I agree that he probably still could be eating more, if he is eating the appropriate size of crickets. As Tracie said, make to sure to offer them about 3 times per day, but if you only drop in a couple at a time, wait for him to gobble them up, and then drop in a couple more until he seems full, you really shouldn't run into problems with the crickets hiding, as he should snatch them up as you drop them in, for the most part.

As for switching to the playsand...I just wouldn't do it. Sifted playsand can be fine for adult animals, but he still has a LOT of growing left to do, and his little digestive system still could be easily impacted by sand that would be able to be passed through an adult's system.

If you are really worried about crickets hiding, have you thought about using ceramic tile? You can get it in some very natural colors, and if you bring in the measurements, I believe most Home Depot type stores will cut it to size for you. It's not very expensive, and you can even get 2 sets, then you can change them out when they need more than just spot cleaning, and some can even be run thru the dishwasher (I wouldn't run it the same time as my dishes though, lol) to clean AND sanitize it all in one step.