Bearded Dragon
(Pogona vitticeps)
Habitat: Desert or Savannah    Diet: Omnivorous    Adult Size: 14-22 inches   
Lifespan: 4-10 years    Native To: Australia

Did You Know:

  • The Bearded Dragon gets its name because the large conical scales that it puffs out when excited or threatened resemble a beard. Both sexes will display a beard.

  • Native to the desert regions of Australia, Bearded Dragons are not exported. The animals sold as pets in this country have been bred in captivity.

  • Bearded Dragons often make a distinctive arm waving motion as a greeting and a way of communicating non-aggressive intentions.
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The material below is a general guideline, and is not intended to serve as your sole source of pet care information. Visit a veterinarian trained in caring for reptiles and consult a broad range of literature to ensure that your pet receives adequate care.
 

Things You Should Know About Bearded Dragons

The Basics:

Social and engaging, the Bearded Dragon is relatively accepting of people. As a rule, it takes to being handled, and may even enjoy gentle petting. It’s friendly nature, along with its curiosity and attractive appearance, have made it one of the most popular reptilian pets. A moderately sized thick-bodied lizard, the Bearded Dragon typically grows to 14-22 inches, roughly half of which is tail. Their thick body helps them retain heat. As hatchlings they're very small (under 4 inches) and fragile. They reach maturity within 24 months, and can live up to 10 years when cared for properly, though life spans of half that length are not uncommon. Diurnal animals, Bearded Dragons are most active during the day. By lizard standards, Bearded Dragons are very social animals. In nature, males become territorial and can engage in ritualized dominance struggles. Females may also have trouble getting along. For this reason, these animals should not be kept in the same enclosure.

Enclosure:
They Need Space:

A hatchling can be housed in a 10-gallon enclosure. However, after six months the Bearded Dragon will have to be moved to a larger tank. A single adult should be housed in an enclosure that's 60 gallons or larger. If two or three Bearded Dragons are housed together, the enclosure should be at least 100 gallons. This group should include no more than one male. Enclosures should provide ample vertical space, since these lizards like to climb. It is essential to have an enclosure that's spacious enough to accommodate the Bearded Dragon's high activity level and to provide a sufficient temperature gradient.

Furnishings:
Climbing and Hiding Places Required:

Branches for climbing and basking on are essential furnishings for Bearded Dragons, since these lizards enjoy climbing. It's a good idea to place branches throughout the enclosure, positioning them in the basking area as well as in the warmer and cooler sections. Any climbing branch should be at least as wide as the lizard's body to offer adequate support. Reptile-safe artificial plants and branches are preferable, since the Bearded Dragon will eat live plants. If real plants are used, they must be non-toxic and care should be taken to remove all traces of fertilizers and other chemicals. A Bearded Dragon's enclosure should include hide boxes, or other safe places where the lizard can retreat.
Substrate: Bearded Dragons will do well with paper as well as indoor/outdoor carpeting. (Paper and carpeting should be used if a lizard has a tendency to ingest substrate with its food.) Large grained and silica based sands should be avoided since they can be ingested during feeding and become impacted in the digestive system. Kitty litter, corncob, potting soil, and wood shavings should never be used. Alfalfa or timothy pellets are acceptable substrates, provided extra care is taken to watch for mold. Bearded dragons have a relatively high metabolic rate, so extra care must be taken to keep their substrate clean.

Temperature:
They Like It Hot:

Bearded dragons must be provided with a thermal gradient that ranges from the upper 70s to upper 80s Fahrenheit during the day (outside the warmer 95-100 degree basking area) to a low in the 72-76 degree range at night. This will allow the animal to move around its enclosure to regulate body temperature. Heat can be provided by a combination of lamps. Temperatures should be monitored by three thermometers, one in the warmer zone, one in the cooler zone and one in the basking area. Important - see the Note About Day/Night Light Cycles and Heating below.

Lighting:
UVB Lighting is Absolutely Essential:

Bearded dragons must be exposed to UVB lighting 10-12 hours a day. This exposure is critical in allowing the animal to synthesize vitamin D3 and absorb calcium. If a Bearded Dragon isn't exposed to an adequate level of UVB lighting, it will develop a metabolic bone disorder. There are a variety of fluorescent tubes available at PSP that emit UVB light. Iguana lights can be used with Bearded Dragons. Fluorescent tubes that produce UVB rays should be replaced every six months. Glass blocks out UVB light, so overhead light sources should be kept behind a wire mesh cover, not a glass or acrylic tank top. This light source should be within 12 inches of the animal. Important - see the Note About Day/Night Light Cycles and Heating below.
Basking Light:
They Need A Basking Area		 A basking area, covering no more than 25-percent of the enclosure must be provided for the Bearded Dragon. Temperature in this area should be maintained at roughly 95-100 degrees F. (A thermometer should be kept in this area.) Heat can be providing by a specialized basking light or by a 75-150 watt bulb (depending on the size of the enclosure) in a ceramic base. In either case, the source of the basking heat must be screened off or positioned outside the enclosure to remove the risk of burning the Bearded Dragon's skin through contact. Care should be taken not to use a bulb that is too powerful to create a basking area, since this will elevate temperatures too high, and prove fatal for the animal. The basking area should also be lit by a UVB light source to ensure that the Bearded Dragon receives the necessary UVB rays when basking. Important – see the Note About Day/Night Cycles and Heating below.

Note About Day/Night Light Cycles and Heating:

All reptiles, including this pet, must have distinct day and night periods in their enclosure to maintain their biological rhythms. (See the lighting entry above for the specific length of this animal’s day/night cycle.) The day period must be light; and night must be dark. A timer should be used to set day/night periods. If a heat source is required to maintain correct nighttime temperatures, use heat mats or strips mounted below or on the side of the tank, infrared heat lamps, ceramic heat emitters, or a combination of these products. This will allow the enclosure to be heated while remaining dark. Follow directions carefully with all products. If ceramic heat emitters are used always choose fixtures with porcelain or ceramic sockets and to protect against fires do not place them by dry wood or flammable fabrics. Ceramic heat emitters must be kept out of the reach of children and all pets, including dogs and cats.

Diet:
Variety Is Good:
Bearded Dragons are omnivorous so they must eat both meat and vegetables. About 50-70% of an adult’s diet should be made up of plant matter. Plant matter should make up 20% of their diet as juveniles, and be increased as they age. Dark leafy vegetables like collard and mustard greens, kale and red tip leaf lettuce are good for a Bearded Dragon, as are alfalfa pellets, clover, parsley, and broccoli, green beans, peas, squash, grated carrots and sweet potatoes. Spinach and iceberg lettuce should never be fed to these animals. Fruits such as figs, kiwi, apples and melons can also be fed, but should not be given too often. Gut-loaded crickets and mealworms dusted with a supplement should also be part of their diet. Wild caught insects should never be fed, since they can carry disease. All insects should be gut loaded (fed 24-hours before being offered to a Bearded Dragon). There are also commercially prepared diets for Bearded Dragons. It is necessary to provide calcium and vitamin supplements as part of the diet. Please read the supplement section below:
A Note About Gut Loading Feeding crickets a nutritious diet will pass on vital nutrients to your reptile. When reptiles eat these insects they are able to absorb the nutrients. This is why it is important to gut load crickets at least 48 hours before offering them to a reptile. Commercial cricket foods provide a convenient way to gut load crickets. (Always follow manufacturer’s directions.) Crickets should also be provided with water, preferably in the form of oranges or a commercial water gel product designed specifically to hydrate feeder insects. Putting a shallow dish of water in the cricket holding tank will result in insects drowning and promote the spread of bacteria.

You can also create your own gut-loading formula. Our vet recommends a mix of ground up dog food, cereal and fresh greens with oranges or a commercial gel for water.
Supplements: Dust food with calcium supplement and vitamin supplements. As a rule, a growing juvenile's food should be dusted more often than an adult's. Follow product label directions when applying supplements, and avoid over-supplementing food. The following is a possible supplementing schedule for this reptile. Our veterinarian recommends dusting insects with a plain calcium supplement every time they are offered to the pet. (Avoid using a calcium supplement with added phosphorous, unless specifically directed by your veterinarian, since this can promote kidney disease.) Our veterinarian also recommends dusting insects with a D3 supplement once a week and a vitamin supplement two times a month. As this animals matures and eats more greens, you can supplement either the vegetables or insects, if it isn’t eating insects often enough to consume an adequate level of supplements. This is only one recommendation, consult your veterinarian for specific directions on supplementing your pet’s food, since there are many variables that go into determining the best supplementing regimen for a given animal.
Feeding Tips: Be careful not to feed insects that are too large for a Bearded Dragon. Juveniles should be fed small crickets. A cricket fed to a Bearded Dragon should not be wider than the lizard's mouth. Another rule of thumb is that a cricket should be never being larger than the distance between the lizard's eyes, or the distance from its eyes to its nose. Make sure that worms fed to the lizard are freshly molted to reduce the amount of exoskeleton ingested. Plant matter fed to the lizard must be washed, then cut or shred to make it easier to ingest. Uneaten insects should be removed from the enclosure. Uneaten plant matter should be removed within two hours. Hatchlings under one month should be fed small crickets 2-3 times a day plus plant matter, juveniles should be fed slightly larger (1/4” crickets) twice a day plus vegetables, and adults should be given insects or other meat 2-3 times a week, plus vegetables daily. Feed as many insects as the lizard can eat in 3-5 minutes. 
NOTE: LIGHTNING BUGS MUST NEVER BE FED TO A BEARDED DRAGON, SINCE THEY ARE POISONOUS.
A NOTE ABOUT WATER: All water given to this pet for drinking, as well as water used for misting, soaking or bathing must be 100% free of chlorine and heavy metals. (Not all home water filtration systems remove 100% of the chlorine and heavy metals from tap water, so check your system’s specifications before using it to filter water for your pet.) We recommend that you use unflavored bottled drinking water or bottled natural spring water and never untreated tap water. If tap water is used, you should treat it with a dechlorinating treatment. Do not use distilled water, which can cause severe medical problems, since it lacks minerals that are essential to important body functions.

Water:

Clean fresh chlorine-free water must always be available to a Bearded Dragon. This lizard does best with a shallow water bowl. A daily misting or two with chlorine-free water seems to be appreciated especially by hatchlings and juveniles. However, care should be taken not to allow the enclosure to become damp.


How to Handle An Bearded Dragon:
Wash your hands before lifting a lizard to remove the scent of any other animal. Then place your hands under the Bearded Dragon's belly and gently scoop it up towards you. Allow the Bearded Dragon to rest in your palm and curl your fingers over its back, but avoid putting too much pressure on the animal. (Bearded Dragons do not like being gripped too firmly.)

The fact that Bearded Dragons are so friendly makes them relatively accepting of being lifted. Although they're very mellow, Bearded Dragons will issue an open mouth warning when provoked or threatened, and will if necessary follow this up with a bite. A bobbing head is a sign of a Bearded Dragon asserting its dominance.

As hatchlings and juveniles, Bearded Dragons are fragile and often skittish. So, care should be taken when picking them up. At this point in their lives, handling should be kept to a minimum since it can harm their skin.

Always wash your hands thoroughly after handling a lizard.
 


Look Out For This:
Bearded dragons are susceptible to metabolic bone disorders. So, it is very important that they are always provided with adequate levels of Vitamin D3, calcium and ultra violet light
 

Recommended Bearded Dragon Supplies:

  • A top-opening glass or custom enclosure that offers height and a secure lid

  • UVB emitting light

  • Heat lame for basking area

  • Three thermometers, so temperature can be monitored at both ends of the enclosure and in the basking area

  • Substrate

  • Shallow water dish

  • Cork bark or rocks for climbing and hiding

  • Silk plants and branches