I have him in an 55 gal. tank. he is 1 yr. old. i just want to know any tips that might help me make his life better! thanks!
Answers:
Bearded Dragons are not very social when it comes to cage mates, even of their own kind. These lizards are considered solitary and should only be housed together for breeding purposes. Keep in mind that beardies only unite to mate in the wild. I would not suggest getting him a friend.
Rocks, branches, and platforms make great additions to your dragons set up. It creates a natural looking enviornment. Your dragon will love a nice looking rock to bask on.
Never use hot rocks or heat pads. They are very dangerous. Beardies, like other lizards, cannot sense how how it gets under their bellies, like they can on their heads, and the result can end up in some nasty thermal burns and blisters. Heat sources that are used above are your best bet. Heat lamps are very natural and pose as the "sun" to your beardie.
Juveniles should be fed as many crickets as they'll in in 10 minutes 3 times a day.
Adults should only be fed about 30 or 40 crickets max per week. I feed my adults 4 crickets everyday in the evening so they'll eat their greens during the day. Allow 2 hours for digestion before the lights go out.
Fresh greens should be available for your dragon at all times. Don't feed any type of lettuce. It is basically water and has very little nutrition. Iceburg lettuce can also cause diarrhea.
Dust your dragons crickets with calcium 4 times a week and
The rule of thumb about prey is that they should be no larger than the space between the dragons eyes to avoid impaction.
You can offer your dragon wax worms, super worms, pheonix worms, and butter worms as treats only. Two or three a week is reasonable. Beardies a lot of the time will get "addicted" to fatty foods and not want to eat anything else. Feeding too much fatty foods over a long period of time, such as a staple (everyday), may result in fatty liver disease. Adding a variety to your dragons diet is always recommended.
Staple foods include: Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, escarole, endive, summer (yellow) squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, hubbard squash, spaghetti squash, scallop squash, crickets, silkworms, and lobster roaches.
Treat foods include: apples, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, mango, cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, grapes, kiwi, kale, oranges, pears, peas, green beans, plums, wax worms, and super worms.
Never feed mealworms. These worms have a hard exo-skeleton and high chitin in their shells that have been known to cause impaction in beardies because they cannot digest them that well.
Never feed pinkies. They carry parasites, are hard to digest, are high in fat, and hold very little nutritional value.
Please check out this page: for a detailed food chart: http://www.beautifuldragons.co. and click on the Nutrition Content.
A water bowl may be kept in your dragons enclouser, but keep an eye on the humidity as it may rise up to dangerous levels. Generally, beardies are not like dogs or cats and don't drink from water bowls. They get much of their water from soaks and veggies. The same goes for misting a dragon in the enclosure. It will raise the humidity in the air. High humidity causes RI's (respiratory infections) and fungal problems.
Lighting - Heating - Temperatures: UVB light is very important to provide for your dragon. Vitamin D3 is a vitamin that can be stored in the liver for up to 6 months and it helps the dragon metabolize calcium. Much, or any of the D3 cannot be useful unless the dragon is in contact with UVB wave lengths. Having said that, overdosing any kind of D3 drops or D3 supplementation cannot replace UVB light and may cause vitamin D3 toxicity. A dragon without any or much of any UVB light will most likely suffer from a disease called MBD (metabolic bone disease) overtime. The beardie needs to be at least no more than 6-10" away from the UVB light, and if all possible have the light safely mounted in the cage. Screen can block out up 50% of rays. Use a bulb that is specifically made for reptiles and get at least an 8.0 or 10.0, unless you are using a Reptisun 5.0, which is bascially equal to a Reptiglo 8.0.
Heating is very important to. It has been proven beadies cannot digest their food properly if the basking temp isn't at least 95 degrees. For adults and sub adults, your dragon should be fine with a basking temp of around 105. Make sure your beardie has a cool side (the opposite end of the cage) that's around 80-85 degrees. You do not have to use UVA basking bulbs from the pet stores. A regular household bulb works just as well. Indoor flood lights can also be used, and they take up less energy. To measure your temps, I would strongly recommend getting a digital thermometer with probe. These are about $8 at Wal-mart and they measure surface temps, not air temps, which is what you should be measuring basking temps with. Air temps are as much as 20 degrees below surface temps. You put the sensor of the probe where ever you want to measure temps.Temp guns can also be used.
Substrate- There is much of a hot debate on this subject. I personally stick to my guns and avoid any loose substrate. Childrens play sand, calci sand, reptile bark, wood shavings, reptile blend, reptile litter, etc all holds a risk of impaction and killing your dragon. Sand (especially calci sand) developes into clumps inside the dragons digestional track. Walnut shells, repti bark, etc can cut up the dragons intestines as well as cause impation. Your dragon also might as well be living in a litter box. Loose particle substrates also hold moisture and harbors bacteria, which isn't good for your reptile. Solid substrates look nicer are easy to clean, and are 100% safe.
Safe substrates are, non adhesive shelf-liner, ceramic tiles, newspaper, computer paper, paper towels, indoor/outdoor carpet with no loops, reptile carpet.
Bathing your dragon is very beneficial. It hydrates the beardie, aids in shedding, and helps bowl movements. Sick beardies often enjoy warm soaks also. I recommend soaking dragons atleast twice a week for 20 minutes. Fill the water up to their shoulders, and if nessacary, lay a wash cloth or towl on the bottom of the bath tub so your beardie will feel more secure in the water. The water temperatures should be "pee" warm or lukewarm, (around 95F-99F.about your body temperature. Some may perfer as low as 88F). If you have a baby or hatchling, make sure he/she can still move around in the water..be carefull not to fill it up to deep.
Never leave the dragon un-attended. Do not add any soap or anything to the water.
Good luck and I hope this helps!!
Make sure to buy a book on bearded dragons, or borrow one from your library. Also, join a bulletin board online for bearded's. Doing a search for Herp or Bearded Dragon should help you there. Make sure the tank doesn't get direct sunlight, that you feed it green veges (iceberg lettuce just gives them water, no nutritional value), crickets, mealworms, pinkie mice etc. Dust their food with calcium powder that also has vitamin D3 in it. They are a desert species, so watch the humidity, it should stay low. If you think they aren't shedding their skin, place them in lukewarm water to help them shed it, and have a rough rock for them to rub on. Females will lay eggs, with or without male help. Pet stores don't always know what they are talking about, so take their advice with a grain of salt, and start looking for a vet that does exotics now, so that if you need one, you don't have to look then, you'll already have their info.
Yes read a few books on bearded dragon care. Also there are some great care sheets on line. Here are a couple that I like.
http://www.kingsnake.com/gladescs/bearde.
http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html.
Follow them as closely as possible. Reptiles need very special care. Everything needs to be perfect for them to survive captivity. Good luck with your new pet.
the more room he has the happier he will be. also he might like a mate, but before you get him one you might want to think about getting her a separate cage. the reason is that males sometimes don't like being around females when its not mating season, also the male might smash her eggs in the process of trying to mate again. he also will probably want to be held ocasionly. plus he will want treats, these manly consit of silk worms and wax worms. be aware that wax worms are high in fat and should not be part of his daily diet. butter worms are like a fat free cookie they have almost the same taste as wax worms but have less fat. also your dragon might be picky about what he eats and might only eat certin types of food. so if he stops eating take him to a vet to make sure hes not sick. if hes not ask the docter what good foods might be for your dragon.
best of luck to you and your dragon!
