Care Sheet & more
Some good books are:
1. The Bearded Dragon by Grenard
2. The Bearded Dragon Manual by deVosjoli, Mailloux, Donoghue, Klingenberg, & Cole
Also the web is a great source of information and a great place to have open discussions with other reptile enthusiasts:
1. http://www.beardeddragon.org/ 2. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com 3. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html
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Lifespan:
Bearded Dragons can live up to 12 years but most in captivity live 5 to 8 years.
Egg in Incubation: approximately 55-75 days
Baby/Juvenile: Hatchling to 8 inches in length
Sub-Adult: 8 inches in length until adulthood
Adulthood: 12 to 16 inches in length at onset of sexual maturity
Mature Adult: Approximately 4th year of breeding until 7 years old when entering into old age.
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Note: there is much conflicting information regarding the care of reptiles. I recommend doing your research and using common sense in your care making the best choices possible for your pet. When in doubt, make sure you have a good veterinarian that specializes in reptiles that you can contact with your concerns regarding all aspects of caring for your reptile.
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Bearded Dragon Care
Housing & Substrate:
While a 50 gallon tank or larger is okay for a single adult, multiple adults housed together require an even larger setup.
Babies can be started off in a 20 gallon or larger tank. They will grow quickly reaching their full size at just over a year of age. This could mean over 20 inches for some German Giant breeds.
To reduce the chance of gastrointestinal impaction paper towel, newspaper, tile, repti-carpet, or shelf liner should be used as a substrate for babies and young juveniles. Older and much larger juveniles over 8 months, sub-adults, and adults may be housed on sifted playsand. Never use calci-sand with bearded dragons. While attractive, many have reported increased risks of impaction. It also has a higher dust factor than sifted playsand. Some breeders are now choosing wheat bran as a substrate for hatchlings and adults. From what I’ve been told, babies taste the bran initially, it is apparently not a preferred taste so they do not continue this behavior. Since bran is high in oxalates like spinach it would not be good for babies to eat a large amount daily. It is not known to cause impaction though. Again there are many options so do your research and decide what is right for both you and your new pet. Ask breeders questions, visit expos and join a reptile forum if you want to which are all great ways to learn about caring for your new pet. Also, a veterinarian that specializes in reptiles is an excellent resource.
Heating & Lighting:
A UVA & UVB fluorescent bulb is required in order for proper calcium metabolism and prevention of metabolic bone disease aka MBD. I use Repti-Sun 10.0. An 8.0 would be acceptable as well with 10.0 preferable. Placement of the fluorescent light within 10-12 inches above the reptile is best. These should be replaced every 6-9 months. Also, if there is a plastic cover on the fluorescent fixture it should be removed to allow the rays to be emitted effectively.
Bearded Dragons need their cages to have a warm side and a cool side. The cool side can vary between 75-85 degrees. Night time temps should not go below 65 degrees. If they do then you will need a night time heat source.
The warm side should have a basking site which can be raised up so that a lower wattage bulb can be used. Take the temperature at the basking site and aim for 95-105 degrees for juveniles, sub-adults, and adults. A baby's basking spot can be between 105-115 degrees. Make sure the dragon cannot touch the heat source to prevent burns. Also do not use heating pads or hot rocks because dragons cannot correctly sense belly heat and could easily get burned. Incandescent or reptile basking spotlight bulbs purchased at a pet supply store may be used but regular household incandescent bulbs can be used as well. Make sure to check your temperatures. Never use a 100 Watt bulb in a 10 gallon cage for example because it will be too hot and could cause dehyration, burns, overheating, and even death. If you raise your basking site, such as with a reptile branch, you may find that a 40 or 60 Watt bulb is strong enough depending on ambient room temperature. If the room is too cold due to air conditioning though you may have to use a higher wattage bulb.
Diet and Nutrition:
Bearded Dragons are omnivores, eating both insects and plant matter. Babies and young juveniles should have a diet consisting of 80% crickets and 20% greens. As the bearded dragon matures into adulthood this will gradually shift to the opposite of 80% greens and 20% insects. I turn on the all of my dragons' lights in the am and allow for basking for 1-2 hours and then feed greens and in the afternoon I feed insects. With babies I feed insect feedings 3x daily decreasing to 2x daily as they get older. Babies should always have fresh greens available especially if housed with other babies to aid in prevention of nips. Unfortunately bearded dragons are ravenous and aggressive feeders and at times nips cannot be avoided. Try to house only similar sized dragons together and if one is not getting enough food or gets picked on, move him to another cage. If one steals all of the food, is obviously growing much faster than the others, and bullies his cagemates, then he to will have to be moved to another cage.
Babies should have their crickets calcium (CA) dusted daily 5-6X/week and have a dusting of multivitamin (MVT) supplement at least 2-3X/weekly. As the dragon matures this will shift to 3-4X/wkly CA dustings and 1-2X/weekly MVT dustings. Adults might have 3 feedings of insects per week. 1 feeding dusted with MVT and the other 2 with CA and fresh greens such as collard greens, mustard greens should be offered daily. Pregravid, gravid, and postgravid females need increased CA supplementation. I use ReCal Phosphorous Free Calcium with Vitamin D3 and RepCal Herptivite Supplement.
Do not feed avocado to dragons as it is poisonous and do not feed spinach as it causes problems leading to inability to properly utilize calcium which can lead to metabolic bone disease (MBD). Also, lettuces such as iceburg and romaine do not carry much nutritional value as they contain mainly water and may cause diarrhea leading to eventual dehydration so it is best to stay away from them.
While adults can eat occasional mealworms, kingworms (Superworms), pinkies, fly larvae, cockroaches, babies and juveniles should stick to mainly to age appropriate sized crickets and roaches and fly larvae (phoenixworm.com), an occasional waxworm or size small superworms can be occasionally offered in moderation(reptilefood.com), and finely chopped vegetables to prevent impaction. Fruits can also be fed occasionally.
Do not feed any dragon crickets larger than the width of their mouth because it can kill your dragon. If this happens, you will observe your dragon with sudden hind leg paralysis followed by a quick death. Do not feed your dragon insects from outdoors as they may have been exposed to pesticides or be unsafe for your dragon to eat. Be aware that fire ants and fireflies are deadly to bearded dragons. Captive bred insects are best.
Water can be offered in a shallow dish daily. Dragons can also be misted on their snouts and thus lick water droplets. Do not mist entire cage as this species has low humidity requirements. Some like to be placed in a tub of lukewarm water and like to drink and swim. Weekly soaks are a great way to keep your pet hydrated and exercised although some dragons do not like baths, most do or will get used to it.
A good link to Bearded Dragon diet guidelines is:
http://beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
Great links to order reptile food and supplies are:
http://lllreptile.com/http://www.flukerfarms.com/http://www.ghann.com
