My First Reptile Experience with Ralphy my Bearded Dragon
Hi everyone, ok im here to tell you about my first reptile owners experience and share the knowledge that i have picked up from trawling the bearded dragon forums and also from owning my very first bearded dragon..
Well my interest in reptiles proberly started out as a young kid in the late 70 and early 80 with cartoons like godzilla and regular visits to the natural history museum, and then in the 90's once all the discovery programs had been launched and we all had a chance to get up close and personal with lots of different types of reptiles and wildlife in general..
So with my growing love for reptiles i decided i was now in a good position to look at buying a reptile as a pet. Now not really knowing much about reptiles i spent many weeks searching around on the internet, reading up on all there is to know about keeping a bearded dragon. I had decided on a bearded dragon because i have always been fasinated by crocadiles and alagators and wanted some thing similar but in a smaller package! So after a lot of research i came to realise that a bearded dragon would be the best lizard to go for as they are very friendly and very chilled out and pretty straight forward to care for..
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- Different Types Of Bearded Dragons
- Bearded Dragon Pictures
- What You Will Need To Get Started
- Lizards And The Bearded Dragon On Wiki
- Useful Bearded Dragon Bits
- Do you have a pet like mine?
- Bearded Dragon Videos
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- Ralphy
- Bearded Dragon Morphs "very Pretty"
Different Types Of Bearded Dragons
Ok so now came the task of deciding which varient of the bearded dragon to go for.. As these bearded dragons are so popular many breeders have been cross breeding them to develop very specialist colours which are truly amazing..Its worth having a look at some of the different coloured bearded dragons, also know as "morphs" as if you go to your local pet shop chances are that they will only have the standard browm bearded dragon availble for sale and at a price that would cost just as much as if you were to buy a morph directly from a breeder. Have a look at this site xxxxxxxx for some more info and pictures about the "morph" bearded dragons..
So in the end i went for a very specialist "hypomelanistic citrus/orange" baby bearded dragon which i found through a breeder in birmingham. The Hypomelanstic part means that the dragon has no dark pigment in its genes and there for has an almost white belly and totally clear nails too. then the citrus is the main colour on the rest of his body and thats combined with orange tiger stripes that are on his head and also down his body..
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What You Will Need To Get Started
As i said i had found ralphy through a breeder in birmingham and living in essex i was a bit concerned with having to transport him such a distance, but again after some research i found out that on a journey like that thet would just go to sleep..Ok so now i needed to buy him a house to have ready for when i go and pick him up so again i hit the forums and read up on what i needed.. If you starting to think that a bearded dragon sounds like an interesting pet, here are the bits and pecies that you will need with a rough price guide to have a good home setup for your new friend:
Vivarium- wooden glass fronted box. Ideal Size- 4ft x 2ft x 2ft £100-£200
Heat Lamp- Repti sun 50w in a ceramic bulb holder with reflective shade £20-£30
Uvb Tube Strip Light- Repti sun 10uvb 36" 30w Is the best! £25-£30
Sunlight Strip Light- Repti sun 2uvb 36"30w again the best! £25-£30
Double Starter Unit- Arcadia 30-40w double sealed starter unit £ 25-£30
Heat Mat- Exo Terra, size to cover half the bottom of the tank £ £20-£25
Thermostat- A simple auto on/off wire probe thermostat is fine £40-£60
Digital thermometer- A double digital unit is best with 1 meter temp wires £10-£20
Wall timer- Digital ones with daily and weekly settings are best £8-£15
Multi Socket Extension- A 4 socket is fine for the plugs that you will be using £5-£10
Reptile Carpet- 4ft x 2ft x 2ft £8-£10
Logs And Rocks- £15-£30 or free if you get your own! Remember to bake these items at 200 0c for 20 mins before putting into the tank.. this will steralize them..
Feeding Dish+Water Bowl- Exo Terra dishes are a good choice £10-£15
And thats everything you will need to setup a very nice home for your bearded dragon..
All of the items abovecan be bought from ebay or online shops which is represented by the lower of the two prices but you can get the bits even cheaper if you buy 2nd hand from experienced owners on the many different replile forums. So make sure you have a good search around before you spend your hard earned money..
I bought my complete set up 2nd hand from a guy on ebay and i ended up paying £200 for everything listed above + lots more bits and peices, so it really does pay off to wait and have a good look around before buying everything that you need.
Lizards And The Bearded Dragon On Wiki
Wiki is a good source of info so have a look at some of the different types of lizards that are out in the world and find out which are the ones that you can keep as a pet and the ones that should be left out in the wild.
Lizards are a very large and widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3,800 species,Lizards at eduscape.com ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains. The group, traditionally recognized as the suborder Lacertilia, is defined as all extant members of the Lepidosauria (reptiles with overlapping scales) which are neither sphenodonts (i.e., Tuatara) nor snakes. While the snakes are recognized as falling phylogenetically within the anguimorph lizards from which they evolved, the sphenodonts are the sister group to the squamates, the larger monophyletic group which includes both the lizards and the snakes.
Lizards typically have limbs and external ears, while snakes lack both these characteristics. However, because they are defined negatively as excluding snakes, lizards have no unique distinguishing characteristic as a group. Lizards and snakes share a movable quadrate bone, distinguishing them from the sphenodonts which have a more primitive and solid diapsid skull. Many lizards can detach their tails in order to escape from predators, an act called autotomy, but this trait is not shared by all lizards. Vision, including color vision, is particularly well developed in most lizards, and most communicate with body language or bright colors on their bodies as well as with pheromones. The adult length of species within the suborder ranges from a few centimeters for some chameleons and geckos to nearly three meters (9 feet, 6 inches) in the case of the largest living varanid lizard, the Komodo Dragon. Some extinct varanids reached great size. The extinct aquatic mosasaurs reached 17 meters, and the giant monitor Megalania prisca is estimated to have reached perhaps seven meters.
Useful Bearded Dragon Bits
Do you have a pet like mine?
Here You CanTalk About Your Bearded Dragon!
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Hannah says:
I am a 10 year old girl that owns a bearded dragon. In my experience, I have relized how much fun it is to own one as well as responsiblity. I have enjoyed it very much. But I also have 3 Jack Russell Terriers which like to eat outdoor lizards. Owning both these pets take alot of responsiblity. If you ever are having trouble or need information.....just comment on this website.
Posted November 08, 2009
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- Hannah Hannah Nov 8, 2009 @ 8:38 am
- This is an awesome website. I enjoyed it very much! It's fun to have people relate and share what they know as well as you! Thank you, Hannah
Ralphy
Looking Like A True Hunter..lol
