I got him a few days ago.

Anyone here keep a Dragon. I have checked a lot of forums and info pages but I am worried I will do something wrong.
He is about 4 or 5 months old.

Good that you give him something to read !

I've had a few Beardies when the kids were growing up. Things to consider:

Enclosure:
Vita-Light
Sand (not newspaper)
Heat Rock (cover the heat rock with the sand)
As close to a 12" tall enclosure as you can get so the Vita-Light can do it's job. I ended up building our enclosure.
Maintain around (if memory serves) 85-90 degrees in the enclosure. You can get a (digital) thermometer that sticks onto the glass.

Food:
Crickets
Water
Meal Worms

Never fed mine "Pinkeys" (baby mice).

Handle them, don't just ogle. They've got a personality. I used to take mine with me all over the place on my shoulder. Great critter to keep and easy to take care of.

Where's his beard? Did he shave it off?

They don't show their "beard" unless upset, provoked or defensive.

THIS is what their "beard" looks like.

Very cool. Ghost, you make it sound easy, are they really that simple to keep?

LOL

I am using newspaper, I will probably change to tile or slate later on. I have read that sand should never be used with juveniles as they will eat it when they eat the crickets or whatever.

I have everything set up and he looks healthy and eating well.

I just bought a box of cockroaches, I am going to try breeding them as crickets are expensive here.

Probably the easiest to keep out of all the reptiles I've kept. And I've kept quite a few species. I've never had any issues with my beardies eating sand. However, juviniles and meal worms, you'll want to make sure the worm is dead. I've heard that if not dead they could eat their way out through the stomach as the juveniles have a tendancy of not chewing their food.

I can't make dragon scale armor out of that! I used to keep dragons as pets like you, until I took a firebolt to the knee...

I know this is sick, but I kind of want to see that. LOL.

While I enjoy seeing the little lizards that live around my airplane in the back yard, I scoop up the rare one that gets in the house and set them free. Reptiles just never seemed like pet material to me.



(He seems to approve of my workmanship)

I've got two bearded dragons.

Older male


New baby female (I think female)



I am a member at the forums over at http://www.beardeddragon.org/ Lots of VERY useful information on the site and lots of knowledgeable people on the forums.

You're not afraid of him jumping off of your hand and disappearing forever in that grass?

Yes, I joined the forum looking for advice, very helpful.

Man, you said bearded dragon and all I heard was clam...

Pretty cool though, I mentioned some interest in them years ago to the wife and got nixxed.

My wife isn't too happy having crickets and cockroaches in the house. T.B.H we get the occasional "wild" cockroach rearing it's ugly head. I have no problem with the ones I buy in the shop, they are actually interesting watching their behavior, but the ones that you catch when you turn the lights on unexpectedly still gross me out.

Nah, I handle both of them often and they seem to enjoy going outside and getting some real sunlight. They just relax and sit there. The larger male is slow enough that even if I put him down, I don't think he could escape if he wanted to lol. The smaller one is a different story, I let her run around my room but I wouldn't put her down outside.

My grandson has had one for years, he's 13 now, every once in a while I baby sit for him.
No trouble at all.
He brings the tank over and I just feed him, and let him sit on my shoulder once in a while.
Not much trouble.

They seem to get to know you. They like being on you...don't know if it's the heat or the companionship.
But they seem to like people.