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Bearded Dragon

The bearded dragons are one of Australia’s best-known reptiles. They also happen to be an animal that makes a great pet. These active intelligent lizards are very responsive and tame down well.

Food - Bearded dragons love hunting down live insects and small animals, so variety of live foods such as meal worms, crickets and woodies should be given as a treat. A dragon needs to have a variety of other foods to do well – a mixture of fruit and vegetables need to be offered to your animal, with things like apple, carrot, broccoli, bok choy etc. There is also a very good pellet food available.

Heat - Being a reptile, the dragons do not have inbuilt means to control their own body temperature, so therefore when they are being kept indoors they need to have a heat source that they can approach or avoid as the need arises. These animals love to bask in a hot area, soaking up the heat. This gives them the energy that they need to be able to digest their food, move around and find more food. Insufficient heating can cause stress related and repertory health problems.

Ultra Violet Light – Reptiles need to have exposure to U.V. light to enable them to process vitamin D in their bodies. Without a good source of U.V. your pet will suffer from problems with its skeleton and joints. Deformities are not uncommon in animals that are housed with no U.V. and this can also result in paralysis and death. A good fluoro tube like a Repti-glo or Repti-sun is essential if your animal does not get regular exposure to natural sunlight. This exposure needs to be direct, not through glass. Glass cuts down the penetration of U.V. light dramatically.

Calcium – A juvenile bearded dragon can quadruple its size in just a few months. To do this, large amounts of calcium are needed to build healthy bones. To ensure that your animal gets all the calcium that it requires, you should regularly supplement your animal’s food with a good calcium powder like rep cal or tetra.

Water – Some juvenile dragons don’t take well to drinking from bowls. It is sometimes necessary to spray water onto the animal’s face and surrounds to encourage them to drink. Pay attention to your animal, if you do not see it drinking from a bowl then “mist” the cage lightly with water.

Social Structure – If you are keeping more than one animal then there will be a definite pecking order established. You will see that the most dominant animal gets the best basking spots etc. Always ensure that your animals that are lower on the pecking order get enough to eat. Bearded Dragons can be kept individually, in pairs (male/female) or in breeding groups consisting of one male and two or more females. If two males are kept together, there should be several females also in the enclosure to prevent fighting.

Lighting – At least one basking area should be provided. A full-spectrum UVB lighting is also highly recommended. The lighting is the most important part of maintaining the dragon’s health.

Substrate – There are quite a few different options. Dessert Blend (crushed walnut shell) is excellent, but sand, lizard litter, newspaper or reptile carpet (watch for loose strands) is quite suitable.

Cage Set Up – Dragons like to climb, so there should be an ample amount of high rocks and branches throughout the cage for them to climb on. Basking areas should be created with tall rocks or thick wood type branches. Also “hide boxes” should be provided on the cool side of the cage to relieve stress and help regulate their body temperature. Clean water should always be available and a suitable food bowl so the reptile isn’t consuming substrate.

Housing – Dragons can be kept individually, in pairs (male/female) or in breeding groups consisting of one male and two or more females. If two males are kept together there should be several females also in the enclosure to prevent fighting. Recommended minimum size of caging for an adult pair of dragons:

36”L x 16”W x 17”H (3ft). The bigger the better! Daytime temperature should be 26-28 degrees on the cool side of the cage and 35-40 degrees on the high basking side of the cage.