by Samantha Williams

Created on: June 04, 2008

Bearded dragons are amazing creatures. Also know as beardies, these docile reptiles can be great pets for everyone in the family. They have not been known to carry salmonella like some other reptiles and lizards. Just like any other pet they need special care pertaining to their species. It is not hard to care for your beardie you just have to know what to do and what to look for.

When building or buying a home for your beardie you must think about the size of your dragon. The old saying "An animal can only grow as big as their cage will let them," holds true. You must be sure to make the cage large enough to let your beardie grow. For baby beardies, at least a four feet by one foot enclosure is needed. If you make or buy it bigger, it is fine. For your adult dragon, his home should be at least six feet by one and a half feet. Your cage also should be about twenty inches high. Be sure to have a screen cover that fits pretty snug so that he don't escape.

Substrates are what you cover the bottom of the cage with. You have to be careful with what kind of substrate you use, because sometimes your beardie will eat it when feeding and it can cause some serious health problems if it is not digestible. The best thing that you can use to cover the bottom of the cage is sand that is especially designed for bearded dragons. You can buy it in most pet stores. Be sure to get the sand that has calcium in it. Calcium is an important nutrient that your dragon needs.

Your beardie needs to have plenty of light during the day. Ten hours in a day is enough time for them to bask and enjoy themselves in the real light. Dragons need unfiltered sunlight, which provides the essential UV-A and UV-B rays that help with bone development and growth. If you do not have the means of providing real sunlight then you must provide artificial sunlight in the way of a bulb that most pet stores carry. Place the light over the place where they will do most of their basking(its kinda like humans laying out in the sun to get a tan). If you put a small log or a decent size rock for them to climb on it would be nice. A good rule to follow is "Twelve hours on, twelve hours off," for the artificial light. Be sure to turn off the light at night. You control their days and nights.

You need to provide heat for your dragon. A good thing to use for heat is a heating pad that you place on the bottom of your cage. Be sure to use the appropriate size heating pad, the bigger the cage the bigger the pad. Place

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