New to Dragons - some starter questions

[adam60191]

Hello everybody,

Well, after much convincing from my little boy we are planning to get a BD soon.
I have owned Lizards & Ball pythons before and as any good reptile keeper i want to get all the ducks in a row before purchasing a little one!

I will set up cage for him'her this weekend, plenty of useful treads on here about housing so that is settled as far as cage size, heating, lighting etc etc.

Next thing to worry about is diet, plan on getting a young one, still dont know from where but will get back to that :-) What do you start out feeding your young-lings (past critical hatcling stage) how many times a day, times etc. I usually make up a sheet for my kids so they can see when and then check it off when fed! Not only good for the lizard but also teaches those young kids some organization :-)

2nd thing, would like to have sand as it looks good but are reading that it's not recommended. thinking Reptile carpet at this point, is this the right choice?

3rd and last, buying the little one. I'm not a big fan of pet stores as pets are usually not cared for but also overpriced. My other reptiles where from local breeders but can't seem to find any near NW suburbs of Chicago! Also, with my reptiles i tend to get something out of the ordinary, My Ball pythons where Morphs! So would like my BD to be a little different :-) rarity is not a concern, just not the normal grayish! So, is there any recommended places online to purchase a healthy BD, looking to spend $100-200 or even better, any local breeders or local looking to sell a youngling?

Thanks for all your help

John

 

[perfectly_flawed]

First of all, welcome to the forum. I'm glad that we've already been able to be a help to you
I would recommend avoiding sand even when your dragon is older. It's not the safest substrate and is very unsanitary. Reptile carpet is ok, but tends to start smelling very bad after just a short while. My preferences are nonadhesive shelf liner or textured ceramic tiles. Both look nice and are very easy to keep clean. Tiles will also help to keep the dragons nails down to a more managable length.
A young dragon should have all the live prey he/she wants in 15 minutes twice a day. For a healthy, well settled little one, this can be anywhere from 30 to over 100 insects each day. Crickets, silkworms, pheonix worms, and roaches all make excellent staple insects. All bugs should be smaller than the space between the dragons eyes.
We have a few awesome breeders here on the forum. One of the biggest advantages to buying from a forum breeder is that you can get to know the kind of person they are, and you see for yourself how they care for their babies. I have 2 dragons from Thewolfmantom, and they've been 2 of the sweetest and most laid back dragons I've had.

[deejhay]

I tried to get mine from Tom because he's a great person, very caring and you can tell he goes above and beyond to help anyone. Unlucky for me I'm from a crappy country and wish I could get things shipped to Canada.

You'll notice in the top right corner there are some mini banners that rotate some breeders. I'd suggest taking a look at them! Welcome to the forums!!

[BoogiesMom]

One of mine is from Tom and she is a beauty and really sweet.  I just love here so much.....

[adam60191]

Looks like Tom is the man :-)

I was thinking getting male & female, my tank is 48x24x24, from what i have read this should be fine for 2 BD's throughout there life? 

[Fliehigh]

I was thinking getting male & female, my tank is 48x24x24, from what i have read this should be fine for 2 BD's throughout there life? 

Well they should NOT be really be housed together and if divide the tank in half, 24X12 would not be large enough for a dragon.

Dragons are really solitary animals and need to have their own space, if not eventually some will happen to one or both. This could be anything from one being fataly injured to just Dominance to the point of one not being able to bask or eat properly, but eventually something will happen.

[perfectly_flawed]

The only people who will tell you that it's ok to house male and female together are either ignorant, have no real care for the dragons, or want to sell you 2 dragons. Housing them together at the very least will allow the female to be bred too often and too young, which is likely to kill her. At worst, they'll fight to the serious injury or death of one or both dragons.

[adam60191]

Thanks for everybody's responses, a little different than what i used to breed and since i'm new to BD's that's why i'm putting the questions out there!

As a matter of fact i already correponded with Tom and yes, what a great & helpful guy. He also explained to me about housing two together!

I will be purchasing ONE of his babies next week, will for sure post some pics etc one it's get's settled! 

[perfectly_flawed]

You'll be very happy with one of Tom's babies.

[BoogiesMom]

Well Congradulations is in order.  I started with one and got used to the routine and then I got a second one.   As you have probably seen pet stores really do not give out any good info.  I never knew that they needed baths at least three days a week along with a whole lot of other issues.  So thank goodness for forums like this.  I wish you the best and can't wait to see pictures.