BEARDED DRAGONS (Pogona vitticeps)

An adult bearded dragon should be housed in an enclosure the size of a 55-gallon aquarium while babies and juveniles can be kept in a 20-gallon long aquarium . Adult lizards will eat animals smaller than themselves; hatchlings should never be housed with juveniles or adults. To prevent territorial fighting, never house two males in the same enclosure.

Different substrates to use on the bottom of the enclosure include alfalfa pellets, newspaper, and, for adults, playground sand. Juveniles or hatchlings as they have a tendency to eat the sand, leading to serious impaction problems.

A branch should be laterally placed under a basking light on one side of the tank. Bearded dragons will also utilize hiding areas, which should be included in the enclosure. A clean water dish should be available at all times. A secure screen lid is a must.

The enclosure needs a warm end and a cool end, allowing the lizard to regulate its body temperature. The temperature gradient during the day should range from 76 F (24 C) on the cool side to 86 F (30 C) on the warm side. A reptile heat lamp should be used to provide a basking area with temperatures ranging from 90-100 F (32-37.7 C).

Night time temperatures should drop no lower than the low to mid 70s (21 C) on the cool side of the tank.

You should have several thermometers throughout the enclosure to monitor temperatures.

The cage should also be misted once or twice a day. The tank, however, should never be damp.

Full Spectrum Lighting should be provided 9-10 hours every day. The fixture has to be placed within 12 inces of the animal and the light must not be filtered (through glass or mesh). The bulbs used should emit both UVB and UVA waves.

Bearded dragons require both plant and insect material in their diet. Crickets should make up the main part of the insect side of the diet. Mealworms, wax worms, grasshoppers, pill bugs, and night crawlers should be added occasionally for variety. Adults can be offered pinky mice once or twice a month.

Baby bearded dragons must not be fed insects that are too large: start with pinhead crickets and tiny, freshly molted worms, moving only slowly and gradually to larger sizes, phasing in day-old pinkies when they are ready for them.

For the plant side of the diet, a small mixed salad of greens (such as collard, mustard, dandelion, hibiscus leaves, watercress, and endive) should be mixed with grated fruits and vegetables (such as carrot, winter squash, pumpkin, crookneck squash and zucchini). Iceberg lettuce should be avoided - it offers very little nutrients.

Bearded dragons need calcium in their diet. This can be provided by either coating prey insects with a reptile calcium supplement or sprinkling a small amount of calcium supplement on the vegetable matter. Calcium supplement should be used on every other feeding.

Males can be differentiated from females by the presence of pre-anal and femoral pores (which are almost impossible to see on very young dragons, making them difficult to sex).

The Bearded Dragon Manual by Philippe De Vosjoli