How old should a BD be to be able to put sand in it's cage? and how many mealworms should he get per week??

Answer 1

Try more crickets and silk worms, Stay away from sand all together. Buy some tile at home depot, only cost about a dollar. easy clean up as well.

Answer 2

Bearded dragons or any other reptile for that matter should not be put on sand. the risks of sand impaction are too high and many reps have lost their lives due to impaction when they injested the sand. snakes insides can get badly damaged as well, even a few granules on a mouse could be potentially harmful. my advice, dont go for sand. even though its asthetically pleasing, good old fashion newspaper,paper towel, reptile carpet, and even tile are all very good and very cheap alternatives. as for mealworms BD'S should probably eat like 70 or around that much. I hear keeper feed their beaded dragons like 100 crickets a day but ifs worth looking up and researching. the chat room on http://www.reptilerooms.com is a great sit with lots of helpful info. hope this helps and good luck

Answer 3

Some people feel that an adult dragon can have sterile playround sand used in the cage as a substrate. An adult size would be over 8 months old. I prefer to use NON-adhesive shelf liner, ceramic tile, or reptile carpet as these pose NO impaction risk. There is always a risk with sand or other loose substrate, and I don't believe it is worth the risk. Your dragon will be forced to eat his food off of the sand, and he will eat some everytime. Sand holds in bacteria and parasites, and it smells bad very quickly. It needs very frequent changes. Most expert beardie people do not recommend it.
Do not use mealworms--they are too difficult for beardies to digest (too much chitin in their exoskeleton). Use appropriate sized crickets (no bigger than the space between the eyes), superworms, phoenix worms, silkworms instead.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/home.html
http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/BD.html
http://www.beardeddragon.org/
http://www.reptilerooms.com/

Answer 4

I always preach that a bearded dragon should never be placed on sand and NEVER be fed mealworms. Both of these, if ingested, can get stuck inside of the intestines causing an impaction which is the leading cause of death in reptiles.

I use non-adhesive shelf liner for my 2 year old beardie. Here's a picture of what I keep him in: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/ms_lotr_freak/Pets/Gideon/2004_0101Image12120001.jpg?t=1194818871
Definately stay away from any type of particle substrate. Paper towel, newspaper, liner, reptile carpet or astro turf are 100% safe. You can't be there watching him 24/7

If you have a baby, here was the setup I had when he was a hatchling: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/ms_lotr_freak/Pets/Gideon/Gideonsetup100-1.jpg?t=1194818906

Keep it very simple. Don't feed crickets that are larger than the width of his head.

Mealworms shouldn't be fed, they are hard to digest and have very low nutritional value. You should stick to gut-loaded crickets and/or silkworms. Gut-loaded means that you feed them fresh food before feeding. I keep my crickets in a large rubbermaid container and care for them in that.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/ms_lotr_freak/Pets/2004_0101Image0007.jpg?t=1194818836

The healthier the food you feed, the healthier the lizard! A baby can eat up to 100+ pinhead crickets a day. As they get older, they should be eating more greens.

Good luck

Answer 5

ok well first of all,,,
u have it all wronge ...sand is very populare for beardies but ...they get imacted easy...and can die from it...reptiles r us suggests to use aspen...or beta chip...they dont eat it...and for whan they can be put on partical substrate is at about 6 mnths...

and u should never feed them meal worms ...mealworms also imapct beardies and again reptiles r us suggests to use crckets instead....

here is a care sheet from reptiles r us
Bearded Dragons

Longevity: 7-10 years (Good captive conditions)

Size: Up to nearly two feet. most 18 inches..

Substrate: Aspen, Beta chips, lizard litter, alfalfa pellets,(Sand but may cause impaction and not good for babies and juveniles) for babies and juveniles use non particle substrate... paper towel, shelf paper, etc.

Landscaping: Bearded dragons climb. Basking and resting areas should be created with large rocks and or wood sections or log on a slant. Also, shelters should be provided out of the range of the basking lights.

Lighting: One spot light over each basking area. Also full-spectrum lighting is highly recommended. Recommend exposing bearded dragons to direct sunlight for at least 30 min., 3 times a week.

Heating: Daytime Temperature should be 80-90degrees F with at least one basking area reaching 90-105 degrees F .Night time temps 65-75F even though desert nights are20-30 F. Don't recommend you keep the temperatures this low every night . Use thermometers, DON'T guess! ... please use heat lamps and heat pads.. heat rocks will seriously burn your reptiles.. some pet stores won't tell you that.

Food sources: Crickets, meal worms(in small quantities), king meal worms (super worms), Wax worms horned worms silk worms even washed earth worms the odd time and (Bearded dragons should be fed a variety of greens, vegetables, and fruits daily. Greens include: kale, cilantro, mustard greens, collard greens, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, Swiss chard, carrot greens, romane (no iceberg) and a little broccoli . Veggies include: potato, sweet potato, carrots, butternut squash, and yellow squash. Fruits include: strawberries, blueberries, oranges (just a little), mango, papaya, kiwi, pears and etc.... Bearded dragons love raspberries, but they should be only given as treats.... Vitamin/mineral supplement: 1 part multi vitamin to 2-5 parts calcium powder(Rep-Cal phosphorous free). Water: Fresh clean water should be offered three times a week in a shallow dish.

Behaviors....Beard display: Defensive behavior (primarily by males and more readily during breeding season. Arm waving: Young, often when larger dragons are in sight and during basking, older females, during breeding when males get aggressive, behavior not common in older males. Head Bobbing: Aggressive action in males, drastic (usually rapid) up and down head movement. Bowing: Up in down motion by females, slow push ups, submissive behavior. Gaping: When basking or in direct sunlight, dragons may gape to cool down.

Breeding.......Bearded dragons mature quickly and can reach adulthood within 1-2 years. Although possibly sexually mature, younger dragons should not be bred because they are not physically ready for the task. In preparation for the breeding season, The male's courtship consists of head bobbing and usually their "beard" becomes darker in color. He will pursue the female until she allows him to mount her. Often, the male will bite or nibble the female, but this is normal and usually isn't a sign of aggression. Once the male has mounted the female, tails wrapped around each other's. Over the next month, the female will gain much weight and towards the end of her gestation, eggs will be pushing out the skin in her belly, thus easily visible to us. Put a 10-12 inch deep tupperware container in the enclosure with 50% sand to 50% peat 2/3 full cut a 5-6 inch hole through the lid so she can have her privacy. Usually 4-6 weeks after copulation, the female will lay her eggs, referred to as oviposition. When she is ready, the female will dig a nest of 12 inches or deeper and deposit her eggs. The average clutch of eggs contains anywhere from 10-30 eggs






hope this helps...

Answer 6

4yrs or up or until they get big. and 20 a week try giving them about 5 a day though depending on his size

Answer 7

i feed my male 50 mealies a week and 65 a week for my female i had them both on sand by 7 months but every beardie is differewnt join beardeddragon.org serously best thing you can do for your lizard

Answer 8

NO SAND NO MEALWORMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! end of story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!