Thursday, July 30, 2009

Bearded Dragon Care Help Please!?

Hi I am thinking of buying a bearded dragon but I have no clue what, how much and how often to feed them, how big of a cage and what to put in it, the right way to hold, treat, ext. it, and where to put the cage when I have two fully grown cats. Please help, and thank you so much :D
Answers:
There are countless sites you can find that will tell you all the information you need to know to take care of a bearded dragon.
They're very well-mannered, non-aggressive and are easy to handle. (They can be more jittery when they're young, but they will be more laid-back and relaxed when they get to be adults.)
An ideal terrarium for a beardie is at least 20gallons (when they're juveniles). A 55gallon tank will be plenty of space for him when he's an adult. Here are some essentials you need to have for the tank:
1. Heat lamp of 150watts (that shines UVA/UVB light). A night bulb isn't necessary.
2. Repti-sand or Calci-sand (Substrate). When beardies attack crickets, they sometimes get a mouthfull of their substrate. This kind of sand substrate can be beneficial for reptiles when/if ingested. Other substrates can be toxic to reptiles.
3. A small, shallow food bowl (for mealworms)
4. A large, relatively shallow (about 1'' or 2'' deep) bowl for water.
5. Hide log (or rock cave; anything that they beardie can fit into for "safety").
6. Terrarium decorations (e.g. fake leaved plants). This is optional, but it makes your tank look more lively, and the beardie can enjoy the shade a fake plant can provide.
Before I go on, bearded dragons (just as most other reptiles) need a temperature gradient in their tanks. One side should be warm (the basking side) and the other should be cool, so your reptile can rest in an area it feels comfortable in. I will explain the temperatures in just a moment. You can tell a lot about your bearded dragon's comfort level by where it sits in it's tank. If it spends most of the time in the warm end, maybe your tank is too cold. If it spends most of the time in the cool end, your tank may be too warm. This little bit of information helped me a lot when I started keeping reptiles. :)
Here are the conditions the tank needs to be for your beardie's health:
Daytime temperature for juveniles:
Warm end: 110F
Cool end: 85F
Daytime temperature for adults:
Warm end: 95F
Cool end: 85F

Nighttime temperature:
Can fall as low as 65F during winter times, but 75F is a safe nighttime temperature.
Humidity: Should be around 30-40% (desert climate)
Here is some information about your beardie's diet:
Juveniles will eat more than adults because they're still growing. Make sure the crickets aren't any larger than the space between their eyes. If they are, the crickets can potentially get lodged in their throat and stop breathing. Juveniles will eat crickets two to three times per day. Feed them only the amount they can eat in a 5-10min. time-frame. If they stop eating, don't pour more crickets into the terrarium. They will probably die before they're eaten by the beardie. If you see that there are some crickets in the cage, you should remove them to help keep the cage cleaner, longer.
Some people prefer to dust their crickets with a calcium supplement. This is all well and good, but the calcium dust gets lodged in the crickets thorax and eventually shuts down their respiratory system; thus killing them faster. I would only advise doing this if you only buy a few crickets at time (i.e. the amount your beardie would eat in that 5-10min. time-frame).
They also should be provided fresh greens daily. For juveniles, they should be pulled into shreds and moistened (with regular water) to help the greens stay fresh in the dry environment longer and to help supply hydration to the reptile. You should use greens that are very green in color like romaine lettuce. They will also eat small shreds of carrots. Some people sprinkle a calcium supplement onto the greens to help with calcium levels of the reptile. This is just a prefrence, though, not a necessity. Beardies will also eat mealworms in small amounts. These don't need to be provided daily, but the reptile should have a ready supply most of the time. They will only eat a few of these at a time, and it's best not to pour a ton of mealworms into their little, shallow bowl at one time. The mealworms will probably crawl out of the bowl and die if there are too many of them in there. Beardies can also eat strawberries (but in very small amounts; think of them like a special treat for beardies).
Shedding:
When you notice your beardie is shedding, be sure there is something rough in the enclosure for him to rub against. If they don't shed very well (which beardies can be notorious for), you can take them out of their enclosure, and spritz them with water. The moisture will help them shed better. It's a good idea to have a small pile of moss in the corner of the cage and spray it very, very well with water (so that it's dripping). You should get a small plastic lid and set the wet moss on top of that so that your sand substrate won't get too messed up. This way, your beardie can use this source of moisture to rub the remaining scales off.
Warning:
All reptiles have the potential of carrying salmonella. To be safe and keep yourself and the beardie healthy, you should wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap for 20-30seconds before AND after you handle your reptile.
I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to post a clarifying question.
Good luck :)
Ok first thing is first:
First you should know that these lizards eat A LOT. But they are very easy to care for, and highly dostile.
Secondly, buy a large tank. About 20-30 gallon long will sufice. They do not get too big, so if you get it as a baby, just get a large tank it can grow up in and be able to stay in for life.
Third, you feed them at least twice a day when they are young and as they grow older feed them a whole bunch of crickets and veggies/fruit in one sitting. When they are young they will eat approximatly 5 crickets in the morning and 5 in the evening. ALWAYS FEED THEM VEGGIES AND FRUIT WITH EVERY MEAL!! You may want to limit the fruit though as too much watery food, such as grapes, give them the runs...eww...
anyway.
as they grow older, they begin eating about 30-40 crickets in one sitting. Remember: veggies are a big part of their diet!! Lettuce, carrots and peas are good for the veggie's behalf. As for fruit, they like grapes and blueberries.
When handeling it, do not pick it up by just the tail as this may dislocate or crack their spinal cord!! To properly handel them, simply keep one hand under their belly and one grasping their tail. If it tries to get away put it on the floor ot return it to its cage. Clearly it is distressed for some reason.
Check for mites! If it has mites simply buy some Mite-off or any spray that rids of mites and pesky bugs. (duh...)
Be sure the beardie you are choosing is alert and has a nice colour to it. If it seems dull in colour and lazy and just moping about, you may not want to take that one.
Make sure to buy a heat lamp and put in it 100 watt bulbs as this is a fair light source for these reptiles.
Cats shouldn't be that much of a hassle as long as you have a cage top and a high counter, table or stand.
Well I pretty much agree with the last answer except for the sand, vitamins, and lighting! Calci Sand is actually said to be the worst for bearded dragons! It was originally developed to be safe because it's made out of calcium and digestible, however since then users have found that beardies crave the calcium and eat the sand and when too much of it is eaten then it gets lodged in their intestines, isn't quite so digestible and kills them! It's called impactation. Next the vitamins are a must along with special UV lighting because bearded dragons are at a higher risk for metabolic bone disease (it's like osteoporosis is in humans). The calcium powder does the same thing for beardies that calcium does for humans (strengthens the bones), but you might as well not give them the calcium powder if you don't have the proper lighting! The lights with the UV rays are necessary to absorb the calcium and vitamins into their bloodstream. The calcium is no good if it's not getting absorbed, and this is the reason you need the lights! Regular reptile bulbs will not put off the correct amount of UV rays you will need to get a special reptile florescent bulb (Repti Sun 10 is currently the best on the market) These do not put off enough heat though, so you will also need a regular light bulb in the wattage that keeps your cage at the correct temp... smaller cage... smaller bulb, bigger cage... bigger bulb. Ok that being said here is a great bearded dragon group that can answer your questions on anything and everything! http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/pogon... You can join and browse through previous questions and get a lot of the info you need. It's a site with tons of beardie breeders and owners in there, so it's people who have experience with beardies and can give you first hand advice, and not just something they've read somewhere... It's great that you are doing your research before buying your beardie... I think too many people just decide they want one and then look for the info only to find it's more work than they wanted to put in! They are great pets though, so do not let any of this discourage you! After you get everything set up you're only worry is replacing the necessities when they run out! My 6 year old daughter has 2 adult beardies, and she plays house with the one... He's been shoved into a Barbie car, carried around in baskets as her "baby", and stepped on and he's never tried to bite her or harm her in any way! They have great personalities too. You can also check my profile and view some of my previous answers to get more info if you want!
Edit: Also on the food end of it as babys they eat 80% crickets and 20% veggies and need fed the crickets 2 to 3 times a day. You should NEVER give your beardie lettuce because it has no nutrients or vitamins (it's mostly water)... think about it if all you ever did was drink water you would starve to death... same things true for a beardie. They do need their veggies though, but not lettuce. Kale, Collard Greens, and Mustard greens are all good alternatives. If you get a baby beardie they might not like their veggies at first, but mustard greens is the closest to what they eat when they are first hatched in the wild, so they seem to like it better... Fruits are ok in moderation (I might add one or two rasberries to my adults food), but it's not so much a feces worry with me it's that fruits have too much naturally occuring sugars in them for beardies to have them too often. Also they should get as many crickets as they will eat in a 5 minute period of time. Any extra crickets need to be removed so they don't get hungry and see your beardie as dinner :-) As far as the cats go you're going to want an aquirium with a lid on it anyway so you can set their heat lamps on top, so the cats shouldn't be an issue. I have a picture of my adult beardie sitting on my cats head and they seemed to get along pretty well together, but that's not always the case and you always need to be careful. Um... You'll need heat lamps and a UV light. It's ok to keep them on paper towels or newspaper if you don't want to get something to put in the bottom of their tank, but if you do decide to get something for the bottom of the tank I suggest either the reptile carpet or ceramic tile (just the regular stuff you get at the home depot). This is for risk of impactation (there is too much risk involved with other products). As a baby a small cage will be fine, but when they get to be adults a 40 gallon or higher is a must. A 40 gallon is what I use, but many people suggest at least a 55 gallon, and that's just for 1 dragon! You can look at my profile and read some of my other answers if you need more info as well... I just edited to add that bit about the lettuce and my mind got the best of me! Sorry :-)

1 comment:

  1. This is for risk of impactation (there is too much risk involved with other products). As a baby a small cage will be fine, but when they get to be adults a 40 gallon or higher is a must. A 40 gallon is what I use, but many people suggest at least a 55 gallon, and that's just for 1 dragon! You can look at my profile and read some of my other answers if you need more info as well...
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