Beardie or Water?

[Al_Chuck26]

My son (6) has recently become enamored with the idea of having a lizard as a pet. We went browsing yesterday and he's leaning towards a water dragon, but after a night's reading various web pages and most of the messages in this group, I'm wondering if a bearded dragon might be easier for him to take care of.

The biggest issue right now is housing. I'm leaning towards building versus buying and have seen plenty of ideas on the net, but still don't have a handle on all the "bells 'n whistles" required.

Does anyone have plans for a vivarium or have a link to any? Google and dogpile only refer me to some Yahoo groups that are clogged with pop-ups for personal ads and once I do get to the article in question, there's no useful info.

Can anyone help my son and I get started?

[Al_Chuck26]

Poop was procured about an hour ago and will be hauled along to the doc tomorrow morning for analysis.

[louash]

Ok. I have to say that I, like many others here, cringe at your apparent lack of foresight going into this deal. We've all seen too many folks get animals that they were not prepared for, and the animal paid the price for it. I wish you had gotten the beardie. I wish you had done more research first. I wish that you had had yor tank set up 2 weeks ahead of time to work out temperature kinks and such.

That being said, for someone who has gone into this apparently blind to what is considered proper procedure you appear to be doing well. I'm impressed that you aren't balking at vet bills and lighting and temp bills as most newbies do. You've taken criticism and suggestion from this group very well (which most are incapable of). Most of us here would like to undo what you've done, but I truly appreciate the fact that you're doing the right stuff now. It's nice to have someone actually learn from our years of mistakes.

[Al_Chuck26]

I did get some background paper for the enclosure this morning and covered 3 sides of the enclosure with it. This enclosure is temporary until I get a vivarium built.

As far as the handling goes, touchy-feely is strictly off limits at this time and my son is being *very* good about this part. I know he's anxious to interact with it, but he's showing a pretty good amount of self-restraint. He's also showing a lot of interest in how to care for it as the questions are coming non-stop and I find myself hitting up the FAQs on various web sites for answers I don't have - and to double check the answers I'm providing to make sure *I* have it right. We're both learning a lot and so far I think we're on the right track.

[mattlg12]

I'd have pegged you for a "nanny-nanny-boo-boo!" kind of guy.

[Al_Chuck26]

Well, I do admit this entire project has been a bit hasty, but I did do a lot of reading on the net about these little guys and their requirements before diving in. I've been checking temps about every
90 mins to make sure they're ok, but have been unable to find a friggin' thermostat over the past couple days. (I even had one pet store employee tell me to visit Home Depot to get a thermostat!)
Thankfully, I'm self-employed and work out of the house so I'll be able to check the enclosure repeatedly throughout the day until I can get my hands on a good thermostat (recommendations anyone?? Looks like I'm going to have to do the internet order thing) and get the temps dialed in.

I'm all for critism - I probably deserve quite a bit at this point - but help would be more useful. Books and FAQs are full of good info, but I dropped in here to get assistance and info from the people who have been doing this for years. So far, the experience has been excellent and it appears as if the community here is close-knit and willing to help. I hope I can become part of it as I learn and grow.

One thing I could use help with right now is vivarium design.
Specifically, how to set up lighting and heating (and product reccommendations!) to create a good habitat for "Critter" (he's been renamed as of yesterday.) I really like this one:

http://www.icomm.ca/dragon/vivarium.htm

and there are some details in the text, but it's still not quite clear how it all works together. Carpentry is not as issue here (I've been making sawdust in my shop for almost 20 years now and worked with my dad as a cabinet maker for several years after I got out of school)
but some practical guidelines would help a bunch. A "shopping list" of good products to incorporate as well as some good online retailers where I can purchase them (Or shops in the San Diego/Orange County area) would help.

Thx to all for the help *AND* criticism. Both are appreciated.

[Aeremaust]

Eh, IMO, ego is utterly irrelevant. Happy reptiles are important. What is also important that others be spared having to endure making the same fuck-ups. So, I cringe and post.

I really regret not having gotten some good pics of Sorath's burns, when they looked their most awful. That way, people could see right away, what it looks like, so they don't just think it was a yukky looking shed, or something minor and no hurry with the vet, we can make it conveniently the end of the week, etc etc.

come to think of it, since I'm going to be ultimately adding links to caresheets and the like to the Iguana Mafia site, (and very definitely adding caresheets to the book, if it gets published), then what I can do is get people to send their awful pics of awful injuries, so that when people have those kind of questions of "my (reptile) has a (whatever) boo-boo I think", we can refer them to possible pictures...that way, in at least some cases, the noticing of the boo-boo and the then hopefully correct identification of the boo-boo might save some reptile a lot of pain. So a thermal burn becomes just a minor "sunburn" rather than a life threatening injury, for example.

But thanks very much for the positive feedback. And it would be Sorath breaking my computer, after the rest of the Iguana Mafia Enforcers in here got done with my fingers and kneecaps, otherwise...... <grin>

OH: nobody send any pics of herp boo-boos just yet. I'm still getting caught up on the last batch of Iguana Mafia photos and written contributions.

[Al_Chuck26]

I think I would have preferred the litle gray buggers to this big green one, but what the hell.. It'll be a good project for me and the boy.

This is the part that's got me thinking some more $$ may be involved in helping to regulate temps, but for now, we'll trial and error it and see how it goes.

Just checked temp/humidity. Temp on the hot side is hovering around
90F and the cold side is around 78F. Humidity is just a tick below
80%.. The critter finally showed some movement and has moved back to the cold side of the enclosure. It's just about 10pm so I shut off the basking light and threw a towel over half the screened area at the top of the terrarium. (It's half glass, half mesh) and will check temps again before I go to bed.. Hopefully if Thunder (that's what my son named him) gets too chilly, he'll head for the hot end to warm up.

I don't think he's hungry right now. I dropped 5 crickets in a couple hours ago and aside from the one floating belly up in the water dish, they're all still around. How the %^&!(* do you nab those things to get 'em out??

Thx.. Tons of good info here and I'm getting bleary eyed reading WD related web sites.

Oh geez, ANOTHER one!

[Al_Chuck26]

Good info but entirely moot at this point. We ran out this afternoon to pick up an 8-week old beardie, but my son got to hold a 6 month old (ish) WD and wouldn't give it up. I'm now $300 lighter in the wallet and part owner in a water dragon. (The wife is gonna s**t when she sees this thing.. hehehe)

We ended up with a 20g terrarium, (temporary until I get enough info/materials to build a vivarium) heater, UV light, log-hide, climbing stick, a couple fake plants a big water dish and another of
Vosjoli's books. After an hour or so of doing nothing, the dragon seems to be coming around as the temps in the enclosure are finally getting into the mid-80s.

My question at this point is in regards to feeding. I bought a couple dozen medium crickets (He's about 5" snout to vent) just in case, but the shop said he'd been fed yesterday. Should I drop a few crickets in to see if he's interested, or let him get a bit more acclimated and try tomorrow morning?

[mattlg12]

My beardie is about 10 shades of browns, oranges and golds, and he totally changes colors with mood and temperature! Not to mention his handsome black beard, when he gest all fired up...

Error! Error! Danger Will Robinson! Temps are vital! Make the investment, be proactive in the care of your lizard!

Let me put it this way. If your kid was sick, and you thought he might have a fever, would you just test his forehead on your wrist and say "well if he doesn't get any better than we'll buy a thermometer to see how hot he is, in a few days".

Buy timers. They rock. Lowe's hardware, $5. My lights come on at 7am and shut off at 8pm in the summer.

I use a toilet paper tube, just drop one end over the cricket and it walks up the side. Lift, cover both ends, voila! For a REAL challenge, try catching crickets with 10" hemostats!