Bearded Dragon Care Sheet.

Care of the Bearded Dragon.

Bearded Dragons make superb first lizards. They’re friendly and love to spend time out of their vivarium with their human friend or wandering around exploring, but never leave your Bearded Dragon to explore unattended. They grow to around 22 inches and can live between 7 and 10 years.

Bearded Dragons originate from Australia where they will inhabit areas of arid, rocky, semi desert regions to arid open woodlands. They do climb well, but spend the hottest part of the day hiding underground.

In captivity a Bearded Dragon needs a large vivarium, 2 adults should have a 4ftx2ftx2ft viv. Hatchlings will need to be housed in a smaller enclosure. Two males should not be kept together as they will fight.

Vivarium and set up

The floor of the viv should be covered with substrate, calci sand or repti turf, some people use newspaper. Sand should not be used for Dragons under 6 months as they are more likely to become impacted by ingesting it. A water bowl containing clean water should be available at all times as some Beardies do like to bathe, and they will also drink from the bowl. Place the water bowl at the cool end of the tank. A few rocks should be placed around the viv with one under the basking spot. Beardies do climb quite well and if you keep a group, the dominant one will be in the highest spot. They will also need a hide so they can retreat away from the heat or from anything that is upsetting them. Bear in mind the natural habitat of the animal when designing their captive environment.

What temperature should I keep my Bearded Dragon at?

Beardies need regulated temperatures to enable them to thermoregulate. They need a cool end, a hot end and a basking spot (directly under the heater). For an adult, the cool end should be around 80-85°F, the hot end should be around 90-95°F and the basking spot between 100-105°F. These are high temperatures and can be acheived by the use of a ceramic heater regulated by a thermostat. Please make sure that all ceramics or bulbs are protected by a guard, Beardies climb quite well and will probably try and reach the heating equipment, this will give them nasty burns!

Do they need UV?

Yes they do, Bearded Dragons are diurnal, they will emerge in the early morning and bask in the sun to not only raise their body temperature but to absorb the UV rays from the sun. This helps their body to absorb the calcium in the diet. Without UV a baby Beardy will not grow properly, his bones won’t develop correctly or harden, this is known as Metabolic Bone Disorder (MBD). As adults, the lack of UV will cause the body to leech calcium from the already developed bones which will weaken them. They can then break easily and become deformed. Eventually, because the body needs calcium to perform it’s basic functions, the calcium stores will be depleted and the animal will die! Beardies require a full spectrum 5.0% UV light strip which will need to be replaced every 6 months

What do I feed my Bearded Dragon?

Bearded Dragons are omnivorous which means they eat plant and animal food items. The main staple of most Beardies in captivity is crickets. Locusts are a nice treat for them, and they can be fed the occasional pinky mouse.

They also like to eat vegetable matter too, I’d stay away from too much fruit but the following is a list that can be fed daily: turnip, collard and mustard greens, all types of squash, romaine lettuce, dandelion leaves and alfalfa plant not seed. Every other feed should be supplemented with a multivitamin and calcium powder.

Fresh food should be removed and replaced daily.

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