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Bearded Dragon Care

Education

Before buying your first Bearded Dragon I suggest that you educate yourself on the needs of these fascinating lizards. There is a vast amount of information available on the internet, but please be aware of the sources of this information. Quite often this information is written by novices and is often a little bit off. I'd suggest buying a book written by experienced breeders such as The Bearded Dragon Manual. The authors of this book are experienced reptile keepers and have a vast amount of experience to draw from.

Housing

If you are purchasing a juvenile dragon its housing requirements will be much different from those of an adult. A 20 gallon long aquarium is ideal for your Bearded Dragon until it reaches 11-12" then it should be upgraded to a larger cage. The following is a list of supplies that you will need to set up your aquarium correctly. Please note that we've linked most items directly to Reptilesupply.com as this is where we buy the majority of our supplies.

  1. A 20 gallon (long) aquarium. You can find these at your local Super Center or pet supply.
  2. Screen top to fit. Again you can find these at your local Super Center or pet supply. Reptilesupply.com also has an ample supply of these.
  3. For lighting Zilla makes the Combo Dome w/lights. I've talked with the folks at Reptilesupply.com and they say they've had great success with these. Plus they sell the replacement bulbs.
  4. Supplements Rep-Cal Calcium - Ultrafine with Vitamin D3 and Rep-Cal Herptivite.
  5. Food dish. You can pick up plastic or ceramic saucers at your local mega store.
  6. Rep-Cal Juvenile Bearded Dragon Pellets.
  7. Non-adhesive shelf liner which you can find at your local mega store.
  8. A basking rock. Mother Nature is a great source of these. Your rock should be sterilized before putting it in your aquarium.
  9. Temperature probe or Digital Infrared Thermometer
  10. A supply of feeder insects. Sources can be found on the links page.
  11. Collard, Mustard, or Turnip greens
  12. Substrate.

Substrate should consist of screened play sand, newspaper, or non-adhesive shelf liner. I prefer the latter as it can be easily cleaned and sterilized. You'll hear a lot of controversy over play sand, but I've never lost a Beard Dragon to impaction. I've raised hundreds of dragons on it without a problem.

Heating

Heating your small enclosure is an easy task. Use a clamp light, or the Combo Dome w/lights, on one side of the cage placed over a basking rock. I do not suggest using heat rocks as they have a history of malfunctioning resulting in severe burns. The heat lamp scenario seems to work best. For hatchling/juvenile dragons a temp of 100-105 is desirable. For older dragons I keep their hot spot in the 90's. This said you need to provide a cool area in the cage so that your Bearded Dragon has the ability to thermo-regulate. This side should remain in the lower 80's.

Night time temperatures are another consideration. Temperatures as low as 68 are ok, just don't let them get lower than this. If you have trouble maintaining nighttime temperatures a heat emitter can be used to maintain the cage temperatures.

Lighting

Your dragon will require a source UVB. The Combo Dome w/lights supplies an ample supply of this and is designed for use with a screen top. If you decide on a conventional fluorescent hood or fixture I'd suggest the Exo Terra Repti Glo 10.0 fluorescent light - 15 Watt -18" or ReptiSun 10.0 Linear Fluorescent UVB lamp - 18", but make sure the length of the bulb and lamp base types are correct. The Repti Glo bulbs are a T8 base and the Reptisun bulbs are a T12 base. Also if you have a long cage/aquarium you may wish to install a longer fixture so be sure to purchase a bulb of the appropriate length. Follow the manufacturers recommendations as to the distance the bulb should be from your Bearded Dragon. If you use a tall aquarium or cage you may need to create a basking shelf for your Bearded Dragon to rest on while soaking up the UVB rays.

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