by Helium01

Created on: February 08, 2010

Bearded Dragons are very common household pets. They are a type of lizard that come from Australia. They can grow to be about ten to twelve inches long. Beardies (as they are often referred to) are very docile creatures. When handled often and properly cared for they make great family pets and pose little to no risk for young children.

While Beardies can be carriers for things like Salmonella, this type of thing can be easily dealt with by using hand sanitizer after handling your pet. Beardies come from a very warm desert environment and are cold-blooded animals which means that they require the use of heat pads, UV lamps and heat lamps in their enclosures. These types of supplies can be found at your local pet store.

Proper basking temperatures for your lizards range from a low of 80 degrees Fahrenheit to around 105 degrees Fahrenheit. A sand bedding and plenty of things to hide in (known as "hides") are a good start to building an environment for your Bearded Dragon. Adding in things like a water bowl, textured items and things to climb on for enrichment are always a good idea.

Bearded Dragons are omnivores which means that they will eat anything from lettuce to mealworms and crickets. A healthy balance of vegetables like lettuce and carrots with 1-3 crickets a few times a week will keep your Bearded Dragon healthy and growing.

Cricket diets are designed around the size of the lizard: Smaller (pinhead or 2 week) crickets for a juvenile lizard and full size crickets for an adult lizard (cricket sizes are available at your local pet store).

Bearded Dragons also require extra nutritional additives. This simply means "dusting" your crickets once a week with a special nutritional dust. You can find this dust at your local pet store. This provides the bearded dragon with nutrients like calcium that it cannot normally get from a diet of veggies and crickets. You can also occasionally feed your lizard a mealworm or two. Shy away from doing this too often as they are high in fat and can be detrimental to your lizard's long term health.

Nail trimmings are often required for lizards every few weeks or whenever their nails become too long. You will notice when they are too long as they will begin to interfere with how the dragon walks. In the Bearded Dragon's natural habitat climbing on rocks and such naturally wear down the nails, but in a tank they are rarely afforded such opportunities. Nail trimming is usually easy and can be done with a small nail clipper. However be careful that the lizard's "quick" is not too far down the nail as clipping this will hurt the lizard. The "quick" is the red center of the nail that contains blood vessels and such.

With a well designed enclosure (20-40 gallon glass tank), UV lamps and heat lamps, and a healthy diet of fruits and insects your Bearded Dragon will live a healthy life of up to 12 years (or even more).

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