I’m Nate, 14 M he/him straight whatever whatever
I wanted to be a marine biologist, but my love for reptiles has made me reconsider into being a herpetologist.
I have a 3 y/o female beardie, an almost 1 y/o male beardie, and I also want some emerald tree skinks. I gotta get my shish together first though. (I’m not a great keeper yet, and the enclosures and room they are kept in are pretty messy.)
Other interests include plants, engineering, and gaming/content creation.
And a few questions:
How expensive would making a bioactive enclosure (for the skinks) be?
When should I start breeding my beardies, if ever? What would I need/ need to know?
Is an argentine tegu a good idea? Probably not, but when could that change?
How do I convince my mom to let me get dubia roaches as food for my beardies? She’s worried about them getting out somehow (like cmon really?)
And how should I approach cleaning the tanks? My 3y/o has a 40 gallon with a few hides, a few obstacles, and sand/soil substrate, and my 1y/o has a 20 gallon with a log and a hide, with a reptile carpet (I know I know I need to change that).
Thanks for listening to the yap session,
Nate
So first things first, before getting anything else you really should get everything that you need for your dragons. the minimum enclosure size for a beardie is a 4x2x2 enclosure.
depends. I am going to assume you are going to go with a 1.2 or a just because that is the ratio I feel is needed if you want a male. The minimum I would recommend for a trio (could be all females as well) is a 24x18x36 however 36x18x36 would be much better as it gives more space for them to move and get away from each other if needed and more space for plants. All in all not including the skinks and enclosure I would set aside $300.
You shouldn’t. There are too many beardies out there as is and unless you have extremely expensive morphs then you will struggle to sell them. You should read up on egg laying as an unbred female can still lay infertile eggs and egg binding is a dangerous thing that could possibly result.
If you have to ask, then no. Do you have room for an 8 foot enclosure? Thousands upon thousands saved? Once you have lots of experience, you will know when you are ready for one.
Oh man, I know that struggle. I have been fighting the good fight for close to 2 years without success . It doesn’t matter that they can’t climb smooth surfaces, can’t breed without heat, and won’t usually last longer than a few days inside a house due to being relatively sensitive. I would be much more worried about crickets infesting a house but non reptile parents seem to not understand that.
As I said above, cleaning should be done by getting larger enclosures. that allows you to get a fresh start and give proper care
Yep, totally this, start fresh, start bigger, start right
And then of course spot cleaning and routine substrate changes will also help keep things from getting bad to the point that its a problem. I also take all my enclosures outside every 6 months for a full dump, hose down, and sterilization, which gives you 2 fresh starts a year (plus you can mix up the enclosure decor and items, which is enriching) - for non bioactive enclosures ofc, bioactive should be able to deal with spot cleanings rather than full restarts
You really need to get them both 4x2x2 foot enclosure, 40 and 20 gallons are wayyyyy too small. I definitely agree with what @logar said, you need to get the care for your beardies at the level it needs to be before getting any new animals. What kind of lighting do you have for your beardies? What kind of care do they have overall?
No a tegu is not a good idea. You should probably wait until you’re an adult and have plenty of room as well and money to put into one.
You should definitely not breed your beardies until you have proper care for them and only if you’re okay with keeping all of the babies and can afford to give them all 4x2x2 foot enclosures and proper care because the chances are you won’t be able to sell all of them if you’re able to sell any in the first place.
Welcome to the forum! Nice to meet you! It’s cool to see another teen here! (My secrets out haha)
I don’t have any of the animals you listed so I can’t really help you there
I will say though, I agree with the others, I don’t recommend breeding your beardies until you are POSITIVE you have enough time, space, money, and have given them all the proper care they need.
And it’s cool that you’re interested in herpetology! That was my dream when I was your age too!!
Again, welcome! Do you have any pictures of your animals?
@greatestnate888
But that’s after you buy correct sized enclosures for your beardies which should be a priority.
Also what kind of lighting do you have for your beardies. Temperatures on the hot and cold side? Humidity? I’m just a little concerned you’re trying to rush into getting a new animal and disregarding the fact that you need to correct your beardies care.
I completely understand your concerns; I know the current conditions of my beardies and their tanks arent the best, but I’m not gonna disregard it. What i’m doing is cleaning another room so that It can kinda be “my second room” other than my bedroom. Once I’m done, I’m gonna get new enclosures for my beardies and really try to provide the proper care they need. Btw CURRENTLY I, to be completely honest, need to take more care of the humidity levels in there, but I do have a hot and cool side with a hide on each for the adult. the baby however does have a hot and cool side, but only one hide as of now (on the cool side). I have a UVB for each of them and a basking lamp (I forgot the wattage) for both. Also, they arent directly exposed, but for both of them I have a heat mat, one under the substrate and one under the carpet. I completely understand your concerns, and tbh this entire thread kinda made me realize I should be giving them more attention. I AM excited about the tree skinks, but I’m not rushing.
Oh ■■■■, I also need to put a thermometer in their enclosures.
And one last thing, it should be a kinda arid environment, right? I’m pretty sure they’re native to the deserts of australia as far as I know.
Even arid animals need some levels of humidty. I don’t know for beardies, but I know leopard geckos still need humid hides to facilitate hydration and healthy sheds. Generally, giving humidity ranges so the animal can choose their humidity preference for the moment is the best, ie a humid hide, soaking disk, etc
. It doesn’t matter that they can’t climb smooth surfaces, can’t breed without heat, and won’t usually last longer than a few days inside a house due to being relatively sensitive. I would be much more worried about crickets infesting a house but non reptile parents seem to not understand that.
I was hoping my antics weren’t too noticeable 
