Bearded DragonsBearded Dragons make a wonderful pet for both beginners and advanced reptile keepers. Beardies are recommended for families with small children also due to their seeming love for attention. They are friendly, easy to handle, are not known to bite, and are relatively simple to care for once their basic set up needs are met. |
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Housing
Young Beardies under 10 inches in length can be housed in a 20gal long aquarium. This will last them for a few months only though as they grow quickly. Adult Dragons should be housed in nothing smaller than a 40gal breeder tank. We suggest 55gal aquariums due to the extra length it gives them to run. Screen lids should be used for the top of any aquarium style cages you use. Do not use glass, plexiglass or wood to cover your cages. This will not allow enough air circulation and will also trap humidity in the cage. Screen tops allow air flow, allow your lighting and heat sources to work correctly and also allow humidity to escape.
Lighting
Bearded Dragons require full spectrum lighting for 12-14 hours a day. Reptisun 10.0 tube lights are known to provide some of the best full UVB for your dragons. These fluorescent bulbs should stretch the length of your Beardies enclosure and the animal should be able to come within 6-8 inches of the light. The UVB should be mounted inside the tank to allow your dragon 100% of the UVB. On top of the tank can filter out up to 50% of the UVB rays your dragon needs. Mercury vapour bulbs are also a good heat & UVB source. Mounting them on a lampstand with a dome without using a top will allow full use of the UVB. Having the correct type of UVB light is also important to help their bones develop strong and healthy.
Heating and Temps
To produce heat and a basking spot in your enclosure you can use any type of bright white light or just a plain household lightbulb that will give the proper basking temperatures. The best fixture for any of these choices is a porcelain dome light fixture. The temperature for this basking spot you created should be around 105f to 110f for babies, 105f for juveniles and can be around 95f to 102f for adults. Although we don't recommend any temps above 110f, within a few degrees of these basking temps will be sufficient. The heat from the basking light is to help them digest their food.
The cool side of the enclosure should be around 80f-85f during the day. Once again within a few degrees of this temp is just fine.
Night time temperatures can fall as low as 65f. It is fairly easy to keep your night temps above this even in the winter. If you can't keep your temps above this you may want to consider buying a ceramic heat emitter, which gives off heat & no light. Colored heat lights are not recommended as they interrupt beardies sleep patterns. DO NOT use heat rocks as these can cause serious burns on your animals underside.
A digital thermometer with a probe or a temp gun are the best to use to measure temperatures to ensure the proper basking temperatures area achieved.
Substrate
For baby to juvenile Bearded Dragons it is recommend to use newspaper, paper towels, butcher paper or reptile carpet. These choices are cheap, easy to clean and hold no health risks to your animal. DO NOT use sand, shavings or any other loose substrate, especially for baby to juvenile beardies. They can be very clumsy eaters and they are also very curious and like to taste everything. Any kind of loose substrate holds serious health risks to your Beardie. If they eat a loose substrate they can become impacted, which is a blocking of the intestines, and die. Tile is also a good, easy to clean option for the bottom of your enclosure. Just remove sections of soiled tile and clean.
Crushed walnut shell is dangerous and should only be used to clean up oil spills. This substrate is NOT digestible and if too much of it is eaten it will cause impaction.
Feeding and diet
Bearded Dragons are omnivorous, meaning that they eat both animal and plant matter. Any and all food items that your Bearded Dragons eat should be no bigger than the space between their eyes. If the food items are bigger than the space between their eyes it can cause impaction and/or hind leg paralysis.
Baby and juvenile Beardies should be offered appropriately sized crickets every day. Offer as many as your Beardie will eat in a 5-10 minute time frame, a few times a day. When your Beardie stops eating, stop offering. Young Bearded Dragons can eat anywhere from 20-60 small crickets a day. Your Beardie should also be given fresh greens daily. Spraying the greens with water will help them last longer and will also help keep your Beardie hydrated.
Sub-adult to adult Beardies only need to eat prey items once a day along with fresh greens. Once they are this age you can also offer them Locusts, Dubia Roaches, Waxworms (treats only), Silkworms, and Butterworms. DO NOT feed your Beardie insects that you have caught in your backyard. These bugs could have parasites that could be passed on to your Beardie or they could have been exposed to poisons that could kill your Beardie. Lightning bugs can also kill your Beardie so it is much safer to stay away from wild caught insects.
For babies and juvies, bugs should be dusted once a day with a calcium/vitamin D3 supplement for reptiles, such as the one made by Rep-cal, 5 times per week. All bugs should be dusted twice a week with a multivitamin supplement.
For adults, reduce the calcium to 3 times a week and the vitamin/mineral once a week.
Any uneaten prey items should be removed from your Dragons enclosure.
There is a wide variety of greens that are available that are good for your Beardie. Dandelion greens, Collard greens, Mustard greens, Bok choy, Turnip greens, and Escarole are among the easiest to find and the best to use. Red leaf and Green leaf lettuces are acceptable, but not as nutritious as other greens. Avoice iceberg and romaine lettuces. Spinach and Kale should also be avoided as calcium binds to it and will not be digested by your animal.
A wide variety of vegetables can also be offered to your Beardie. Butternut squash, Yellow squash, Spaghetti squash, Acorn squash, all other varieties of squash, Green beans, Parsnips, Sweet potato, Snow peas and Carrots. Carrots should only be used as a treat though due to the high amounts of vitamin A. Any food with high amounts of vitamin A should be avoided as reptiles do not absorb a lot of vitamin A. Feeding your Beardie alot foods such as Carrots will end up in a condition called Vitamin A toxicity which is deadly. Squashes can be cooked before hand, but it's not necessary.
Fruits can also be used, just avoid any citrus fruit such as oranges and grapefruit.
Water
Fresh water should be offered daily. Beardies will often not drink from a water bowl, but are more inclined to drink from their bath. Leaving water in the enclosure all day may increase the humidity. If you live in a very low humidity area or in a home with regularly running air conditioning, then a water bowl would do some good in raising the humidity in your beardie's tank. Humidity levels should be higher than 25%, at least.
Bathing
Bathing your Beardie three or more times a week will help keep them hydrated and will also aid in shedding. Bath water should be warm on your wrist and not hot, much like bath water for a small child. Make the water only as deep as your Beardies chest or half way up their front arms. Never leave your Beardie unattended in the bath, accidents only take a second to happen. If your beardie defecates right away, just take the water out, drain and rinse the sink/tub, add the water again and let him soak. Be sure to disinfect after all is done.
The recommended time for a soak is 15-20 min. If a beardie is dehydrated for whatever reason, a daily bath is recommended. It helps hydrate a beardie quickily.
Disinfecting
Use a 1/4 cup of bleach mixed with a gallon of water. After mixing the bleach and water, fill a spray bottle with the mixture. This makes it easy to cover the entire surface of what you are cleaning and leaves a container full for when your spray bottle is empty. All surfaces that get feces on them should be disinfected, including water bowls, food bowls and cages.
Spray the entire surface of what you are cleaning until it is soaked. Then let it sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes scrub the surface with a rag making sure any old food or feces is removed. Rinse all surfaces repeatedly until you can no longer smell bleach. If you still smell bleach rinse again.
There are also disinfecting products available that safe for use with reptiles. Instead of using bleach, vinegar & water are good alternatives. It can be easier to rinse away than bleach.
Hygiene
Hand washing is very important when owning any reptile. Washing your hands before and after handling your Beardie will help keep you and your new pet healthy. If you wash your hands before handling you reduce the risk of passing anything on to your Dragon. Washing your hands after handling greatly reduce the risk of you contracting salmonella. The risks of getting this are very slim to begin with but hand washing will even further reduce the risks. Your chances of contracting salmonella from the food you eat are greater than your chances of getting it from your Beardie.
Care sheet found at https://www.beardeddragon.org
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