Addicted 2 Dragons

 

                                                                                                                              

Care sheet and FAQ:                      

Bearded Dragon Care

 

Bearded dragons are social creatures and are very

interactive with each other. They make excellent class room

projects for teachers and students and can be a very

personable pet.

 

Adult bearded dragons may be fed once daily. Their diet

should be varied and may consist of crickets, mealworms

and fruits and vegetables.

 

Vegetables and fruits should be offered twice weekly. Fruits

and vegetables may include kale, collards, mustard greens,

turnip greens, parsley, shredded carrots, shredded sweet

potatoes, apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries and

raspberries. Do not use Boston, Iceberg or Romaine lettuce

as they contain very little nutrition. Apples should be used

only occasionally as they are a bowl irritant.

 

Scrambled eggs can be added to any salad mixture for added

protein. Bearded dragons love scrambled eggs and eggs are

an excellent source of protein for babies and adults.

 

 

All food items should be dusted with a high quality calcium

powder with D3 such as Rep-Cal w/D3. A vitamin

supplement should be used once weekly such as Herptivite.

 

 

Crickets should be gut-loaded for twenty-four to forty-eight

hours with a high protein and multi grain mix prior to

feeding them off to the bearded dragon. Remember what

the cricket eats is what the bearded dragon is eating as well.

 

A basking light should be provided at one end of the cage.

The temperature at the basking area should reach 100 f with

the other end of the enclosure being room temperature 85 f.

 

Exposure to natural sunlight, whenever possible is very

important. Make sure the enclosure you provide outside

for your bearded dragon allows for good ventilation so that

the animal is not overheated while being exposed to

sunlight. A shaded area should also be provided within the

enclosure.

 

Ideally exposure to the sun should take place once weekly

with a minimum of thirty minutes of exposure through the

warm weather months. Indoor enclosures should have a

high quality full spectrum light with UVB producing

capability. Full spectrum lighting, however, does not take

the place of natural sunlight.

 

 

It is possible to sun a bearded dragon through an open

window if outside temperatures permit the opening of the

window. UVB rays will go through the window screen but

will not penetrate glass.

If you use the window method for sunning your bearded

dragon monitor your inside cage temperatures so that the

enclosure does not overheat. Maximum temperature inside

the enclosure should not exceed 90 f and a shade area

should be provided as well with a temperature of

approximately 80 deg f. Temperatures above 110 f. may

cause heat stroke and death.

 

Substrate materials should be free rocks or large sand

particles. Large pieces of sand causes impaction in reptiles.

Clean washed play sand, Vitasand or calcisand are excellent

substrates for bearded dragon adults.

I only use plain white paper towels for babies until they are

 at least 10  inches long.

 

 

Minimum housing requirements for an adult pair should be

a fifty-gallon long aquarium.

Babies should be housed in a minimum of a twenty-gallon

long aquarium tank with a screen lid on top. A basking

lamp can be placed on one end of the screen top. Climbing

branches should be placed on the basking side and end

approximately six to eight inches from the light. The

basking area on the closest branch to the light should

be 100-105 f. The opposite end of the tank should remain

room temperature.

 

 

DO NOT use ten-gallon tanks to house babies. Ten-gallon

tanks do not have enough surface space for heat from the

basking lamp to dissipate. Using a ten-gallon tank to house

any reptile can have deadly results. A ten-gallon tank with

a basking lamp will act as an oven and dehydrate or

literally bake the animal to death.

 

 

Male bearded dragons have a larger and wider head. The

femoral pores are very pronounced in male bearded

dragons. Female bearded dragons have a narrower head

and are shorter and heavier than their male counter part.

The males also develop a bulge on each side of the tail just

under the cloacol opening. As in most reptile species the

male is much more brilliant in color than its female

counterpart.

 

 

 

Bearded dragon babies should be fed twice daily. Size of the

crickets is critical in this specie. Baby bearded dragons

should be fed 1/8" (2 week old) crickets for the first two

months of life. Never feed a dragon crickets that are larger

than the width between their eyes.

 

Very finely chopped eggs, fruits, greens, and veggies should

also be offered to baby bearded dragons. All food items

should be chopped fine and no single component should be

any larger than the size of their head .

 

Feeding prey items any larger than indicated above will

result in hind leg extension and/or eventual death. The

most common cause of neuromotor problems in bearded

dragons is feeding pray items or foods that are to large. It's

just that simple. Fruits and vegetables must be very finely

chopped as well as already stated above.

 

I suggest you soak your bearded dragon in warm water once

weekly to help clean and rehydrate youngsters and adults.

Make sure the water is shallow and do not leave the reptile

unattended while soaking. I soak my babies everyday to

rehydrate them.

 

If you house bearded dragon babies together its important

to maintain their feeding schedules as they will not hesitate

to to bite off the hand or tail of a cage mate.

 

 

 

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Addicted 2 Dragons
Colfax, CA 95713
United States
ph: (530)389-2993
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2Dragons@yahoo.com