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Bearded Dragons are generally low maintenance, and omnivores. After getting to know them it can become clear they do indeed have different characters. Some can be feisty, others mellow, reclusive, cunning and the list goes on. There are some basic things to remember when adopting, or purchasing bearded dragons. The habitat set up and medical care of bearded dragons may be a little more complicated than the general maintenance of these lizards. The following items are a few of the methods used to take care of bearded dragons.

Heat and UV Light:

The temperatures in their environment should be hot during the day 80+ degrees and warm at night 65+ degrees; and light should be constant during the daylight hours. Specialized UV lights and direct summer sun are both considered necessary. If a bearded dragon opens its mouth for a long period of time it is actually hot! it does this to cool off. You may want to shut the lamp off or put the beardie in shade if you see them doing this.

Feeding:

When they're babies, they need lots of protein, crickets and more crickets. As they get older they should be fed vegetables in increasing amounts until crickets are grasshoppers are fed only occasionally. Even small mice can be fed to bearded dragons but not all owners need to feed pinky mice to the beardies if sufficient insects are fed. If the bearded dragons are not feeling well, syringes with approximately 2-6 cc's of baby food can be fed to them. The baby food should have a combination of protein, and vitamin A.

Substrate or flooring:

Substrate flooring can be aspen or peat moss, cedar shavings are poisonous to them. This substrate should be changed between 1-3 months depending on the smell. Other substrate floorings include shredded coconut shell, vermiculite and unfertilized soil so as to avoid chemicals.

Housing:

Rabbit cages support terrarium lights well as well as terrariums/fish tanks. A minimum of approximately 4 square feet per dragon is desirable. Home made housing can also be used to house bearded dragons. PVC piping can be bound together with wire mesh or chicken wire using plastic bind ties or in the case of wood cages the wire mesh can be stapled or nailed on to the wood structure using industrial staples or nails. The flooring should be waterproof and/or weather proof as it would be exposed to substrate and moisture.

Basking Objects:

Beardies spend a good portion of their time basking under their heat lamps as they would do under the sun in the wild. For this reason it is a good idea to have a basking object such as rock or log for them to sit on under their basking bulbs. The basking object shouldn't be so close to the light that they will burn and heated basking objects can also lead to burns so it's important to be careful.

Pregnancy:

When a bearded dragon becomes pregnant there's a good chance she will need calcium supplementation to compensate from the calcium loss from producing eggs. A special pot filled with soil about 2-3 feet in diameter and 2-3 feet deep may be placed in the cage for the female to lay eggs in. Pregnancy behavior includes excessive digging and if carefully felt, the underside of the belly will reveal small bumps indicating pregnancy. Also the spring to summer season, lengthening of daylight hours and company of males may lead to pregnancy.

Other important tips include keeping siblings and males apart. The males are territorial and siblings can chew each other's tails off once they pass 6 months of age. It may seem like a lot of work at first, but Bearded Dragons are really quite friendly and are easily picked up and handled if done correctly. They will rarely bite and will let you know when they are upset by turning their beards black and puffing them out.

Learn more about this author, A.W. Berry.
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