Bearded Dragon Care Sheet Bearded dragon (Pogona Vitticeps) Introduction Bearded dragons make good pets for anyone who is willing to care for them Bearded dragons make good pets for both beginners, and advanced reptile keepers. Bearded dragon love attention, therefore I would recommend having a beardie if you have a small child willing to play with him/her. However, these bearded dragons are very delicate and can be harmed very easily, so I would suggest having them handle the dragon with adult supervision. These small creatures have become very famous over the years. They are very tame, and docile creatures, this is highly recommended to have Choosing a Bearded Dragon for a pet Whether or not if you get it from a breeder or pet store, always look for a bright eyed, alert, and active beardie. You don t want a beardie who can t lift his head or looks legarthic. Here are a few tips I would highly recommend you do. You can ask the breeder/pet store owner to drop a couple crickets in there, and see which bearded dragon eats the crickets; you can also ask the owner to let you hold it, see if he s active, etc. Things to AVOID Try not to get a baby that is on sand (especially calci-sand), wrong temps, not enough food, small cage, sores, burns external parasites, any sign of deformities, too many babies in one tank (over 5-6 babies is the max.) Many babies will have nipped tails and nipped toes and under weight bearded dragons at the pet store, this is why I would not recommend getting a beardie from the pet store. Please be sure to follow these simple instructions for the health of your new bearded dragon Vet check up You should always get a vet check up done 2-3x a year; this will also be done if needed. Therefore you need to get a fecal exam, and a general health check up. A good place to start is by finding a good vet for your beardie. Not all vets are considered good, so find the right now before you trust him. It s not going to be easy finding a trusted vet; however, it is necessary for your dragon s safety. Here is a good site with listing of good vets near your area: Anapsid.org. Bearded dragons can get many different kinds of parasites, as a result if left untreated, can seriously harm your dragon, or kill him, so this is very vital to your bearded dragons care and health. A fecal exam is the easiest way to solve this problem. Longevity A well cared for bearded dragon will usually live 6-12 years in age. The younger age dragon is the most important part of the bearded dragon s life. If not cared for properly, that will most likely cut the years short of your precious bearded dragon s life. If fed properly, getting enough UV rays, vitamins, and minerals, and of course, a healthy balance of everyday living, this will enable a long happy and healthy life.
Sexing Bearded dragons are rather easy to sex as long as the correct age. Bearded dragons are sexed easily after 6 months of age. The males will have two bulges right above their vent, and their femoral pores are more pronounced. However, females are a little different; they have one (or no) bulge, and don t have as pronounced femoral pores. The best way (IMO) to hold your bearded dragon when making this check is to place your dragon in one hand, at the right angles to your fingers, and facing away from you. Place your thumb over the back to hold them in correct place. With your other hand lift the tail up to approximately 90 degrees. Be very careful!!! You may hurt your beardie if done incorrectly. Caging Younger bearded dragons approximately ten inches and smaller can be housed in a 20 gallon tank. This will probably only last a few months, if fed properly they will grow very fast. Adult dragons can be housed in a 40 gallon breeder tank. I would recommend using a bigger tank, I ve heard 65 (48 x 18 x 1 gallon is the best recommended for one adult bearded dragon, as is more room to run around the tank, it is also found in most pet stores. Be sure to use a screen top for the lid, as it can easily get oxygen in the tank. I would not recommend using the following for a lid: Plexiglass, glass, wood, or anything that will cover the tank without getting ventilation. Substrate There are many different substrates provided for bearded dragons, however, not all are good. Here is a list of the following good substrates: Tile, shelf liner, reptile carpet, paper towels are good for younger bearded dragons or sick, and newspaper is also good for sick or younger bearded dragons or any or other safe non particle substrate is recommended for your safety of your bearded dragon. Substrates to avoid are the following: Calci-sand is a very common product used for bearded dragons, however, this is very dangerous it can cause impaction which can cause them to become paralyzed. Crushed walnut shells are of the same side effect, it can cause SERIOUS impaction; it can also cut their throat, etc. Bed a beast, and bark, if anything that can be ingested is in the cage please take it out immediately. To clean your bearded dragon cage is really simple, all that s needed is a Clorox wipe (not pine scented), or wash with 1:10 bleach solution, this can be sprayed once a week. You should rinse, dry, and replace the substrate. Water Water can be provided in many ways for beardies, this can be done by bathing, or misting. If misting, I would recommend misting babies/juvies everyday, they will get dehydrated very easily, so I would recommend this. Bathes can be done 2-3x a week on the minimum; however, I personally bathe mine everyday for proper hydration. Bathing Bearded dragons have so much time having fun in the bathtub; this is one thing they will always count on
Here are some instructions on how to bath your dragon Bathing your bearded dragon everyday to 2-3x a week will help keep them hydrated and will also help when going through a shed. Bath water should be warm on your wrist and not hot, much like bath water for a small baby. Make the water only as deep as your bearded dragon chest or half way up their arms. Never leave your beardie unattended to in the bath; accidents will only take a second to happen. It's also a good idea to disinfect your tub/tupperware when the bath is over because bearded dragons will often poop in the water. Diet Bearded dragon are omnivores, they eat both live food, and plant matter. Most food items should be 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. Either one of these mentioned above can cause your beardie to suffer horribly. They eat lots of live food when young, and eventually eat more veggies when older. The diet should consist of an 80% live, and 20% greens when younger dragons, however, once grown, that should be completely turned around, the diet should be 80% greens, and 20% live. They eat crickets, silkworms, locusts, and roaches (lobster, hissers, dubias, and just about any other roach out in the market) make wonderful staple diets. Here are some good treats, superworms, butter worms, and wax worms, these all play a roll in your beardies diet, however, these are not recommended staples. Babies/juvies/sub-adult should be fed lots of protein to help grow, so in order for this, they will need lots of bugs, they can eat up to 100 crickets a day, however, usually they eat 50-75 a day. Younger bearded dragons should be fed 3x a day with in a 10-15 minute period. Once they have reached the adult stage they will no longer need anywhere close to as much protein, so the feeders will be limited to 10 crickets every other day. DO NOT feed any bugs caught from your backyard, these bugs could have parasites, and pesticides or other poisons which can cause your beardie serious harm or death. Lightning bugs/ Fire flies are also a very dangerous bug to feed, I would strongly recommend not feeding anything caught from the wild. Feeders should be dusted with calcium (with D3 and no phosphorus) 5x a week for smaller dragons, along with a multivitamin which is dusted 3x a week, however, with adults it should be 3x a week for calcium (with D3 and no phosphorus), and 1-2x a week for multivitamin. I would recommend using Rep-cal calcium D3 no phosphorus (pink label), and Rep-cal multivitamin (blue label). Any uneaten food items should be removed from your bearded dragon cage Calcium/vitamin deficiency Sadly, this is one of the most common problems with bearded dragons today. They are not getting anywhere near enough sunlight, etc. This can have a permanent effect on your dragon. I would advise using the vitamin supplements given above in the order given, so this problem will not happen. Too little D3 is used, this is what causes MBD (metabolic bone disease), so be sure this does NOT happen to your bearded dragon(s).
Greens and veggies There is a big variety of vegetables out there, however, not all are fed to bearded dragon, here is a list of good staples, Collard greens, Mustard greens, Turnip greens, Escarole, and Dandelions. Here is a most trusted nutrient chart, http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtrem...nutrition.html Be sure to stay away from any citrus fruit such as oranges, tangerine, lime, and grape fruit. Here you will find many greens, fruit, vegetables, and feeders for your bearded dragon(s). Lighting Bearded dragon need full spectrum lighting for 12 hours a day. I would recommend using a UVB florescent light of 10.0 or 12.0, these are the best for bearded dragon. UVB lights are VITAL for bearded dragon, and will also help calcium metabolism. It helps for better activity, better appetite. This bulb should be 6-8 inches away from your beardie. Be sure to replace this light every 6 months as it will wear out, and not produce anymore UV rays. Note, UV rays do not penetrate through glass or plastic. Heating and Temps To give off enough heat for proper digestion basking spots should be made. One basking spot will be fine; however, two basking spots are better (IMO). These basking spots should be 105-110F for babies and juvies, however, once the adult stage is reached the temps should go down to 95-105F. A regular house hold light will be fine, its better then buying one from the pet store, so I would recommend this. The cool side of the cage should be 80-88F during the day. Night temperatures should not go lower then 65F, if the temps go any lower, you should use a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) to get the temps higher. I would not suggest using a UTH (under tank heater), bearded dragons do not feel heat from under their bodies, so they can actually get burned from the heater. Also never use any heat rock, as mentioned above, they sense heat with a third eye located on top of their heads. Be sure to keep a thermometer on each the cool side, and hot side for both temperatures. Use a temp gun, or a digital thermometer for accurate temprature usage. Stick thermometers aren t accurate at all, so be sure to get one of those. A digital thermo can be purchased at Walmart or another comparable store. A temp gun can be purchased online or maybe at a pet store. Brumation Brumation is a form of hibernation your bearded dragon will most likely do during his first year of age in the winter. It is not a complete hibernation; however, it s a semi inactive state that your beardie will most likely do after his first year of age. It comes naturally to most dragons, so don t be alarmed if this happens. This is usually caused by the temps dropping in the house. Do not force your dragon to go into brumation if they choose not to. Your dragon will eat less and less until they go into brumation, however, that s not always the case in some bearded dragons. They are probably responding to the new season change.
Never brumate a sick beardie, or one that has recently been diagnosed with parasites, etc. they may not make it through brumation. If you want to be on top of brumation, I would advise you to stop feeding for about two weeks before the following brumation. Give him two weeks to get rid of all his stomach substance, and lower the temperature of the lights to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Be sure to keep the lights on a daily schedule of an 8-9 hour period. Then you can turn off the lights (be sure to keep the UV lights ON their schedule). I did this for 2 weeks, and then turned OFF the Uv light and left the cage covered with complete darkness, of course, I kept checking on them once or a week to be sure they were looking ok. Once they have gone into brumation, this will last 2-3 months. I ve only gone through this experience once; however, this is how I did it. Keep in mind they will loose weight; however, this is not a concern once they have woken up. After the 2-3 month period is over, you can start turning on the lights again, and start beginning to feed again. Once you see your dragon is completely awake, turn on the lights (gradually) turn the lights to it s normal time schedule.