Dale's Bearded Dragons
Breeder of quality bearded dragons and supplies.
Getting Started
You will need:
At least a 20 gallon tank, I would go with at least a 40 breeder tank though since you can separate it to a smaller area while they are little so they don’t get stressed and so they can find the food. As adults they need to be in at least a 40 gallon breeder or larger. A breeder tank still holds 40 gallons of water but has most of it's area spread lower and wider then a regular tank.
This is one of my current set ups but I believe in giving them as much room as possible and each of my setups house a colony of one male and mulitiple females.
A screen top to fit the size tank you have.
For substrate anything solid; newspaper, paper towels nonadhesive shelf liner or my favorite, tile. Loose substrates are not good because bearded dragons taste to explore their world and they taste everything. They have sticky tongues and they will ingest some of the substrate and they can get impacted. I use slate tiles and they look great and I don't even grout them in, that way I can remove a dirty one and wash it in my mud sink.
Note the tiles.
For babies I wouldn’t suggest a hide, sometimes they will go in there and not come out to bask. For adults, they’re good because they like to hide while shedding or brumating (semi-hibernation, they may or may not do in winter after a year old).
Something for them to bask on, either a log or bricks stacked up to get within a good distance of the basking light.
Lighting:
You have 2 options here, first is getting a fluorescent UVB bulb to run the length of the tank and a basking bulb (heat) which can be any bulb that gives off heat. I like this option because it’s easier to regulate the temps and the UVB runs the length of the tank so they get more exposure. The best UVB bulb is a Reptisun 10 but whichever brand you choose you must replace it every six months even though it will still light up, the UVB properties will wear out by that time. Please note that some manufacturers of reptile lights will advertise UVA bulbs....there is a HUGE difference between UVA & UVB and it must specifically say UVB.
Your second lighting option is a mercury vapor bulb which has both heat and UVB. They are more expensive then the other bulbs but the UVB is more intence, but they are known to burn out faster and they can be tricky to regulate the temps and the minumum distace suggested for the bulb. They also do not cover a large area with UVB since they work more like spot lights and only concentrate their rays in a tight area. In order to get the proper temps in the tank you may need to experiment with different wattages and with these bulbs that can get to be very expensive.
A water dish and salad dish. You may not see them drink but they sometimes go in the water when shedding or when overheated. As babies they do not eat much salad but that should increase as they get older and it should be offered every day whether or not they are currently eating it. I have adults that would not eat salad but after over a year, they finally started to realize that the salad was food.
A digital probe type thermometer (indoor/outdoor Wal-Mart) or even more accurate is a temp gun. Please don't use or trust those little stick on thermometers as they are often off by as much as 20 degrees. Basking temps should be 95-110 (105-115) for babies. Cool side temps should be 80-85 (85-90) for babies.
Calcium (without D3) and multivitamin powder, I use Rep-cal for calcium and T-rex VGF or VMF for vitamins. I say calcium without D3 because it can be overdosed on and D3 is added to almost every vitamin mix on the market even though they can't utilize it in oral form. Dragons (and humans too) produce their own D3 in exposure to UVB lighting and this is the only type of D3 they can actually make use of, which is why dragons will still get metabolic bone disease if not given UVB but given oral D3.
Setting Up
Your tank should be set up prior to getting your beardie so you can allow time to adjust the temps.
Their basking site should be 105-115 for babies and 95-110 for adults, these temps should be measured on the surface of the log/bricks as the air even just an inch or so above is often cooler sometimes by as much as 10 degrees. The cool side of the tank should be 80-85.
Night time temps can drop down to 62-65 with no problems as they are from dessert areas which get cold at night. Contrary to what most pet stores will tell you, a night time bulb is not needed unless your house drops down below the 60s at night. You also do not need any special bulb for heat...a regular household lightbulb (incandescent, not the new spiral flurecents)is fine as long as you find the wattage adequate for the basking temps.
You will need a lot of crickets, no bigger than the space between your dragon’s eyes or 1/3 the head size of your dragon. Young dragons need a lot of protein for their quick growth and will eat a LOT of crickets. Crickets that are too big can cause them to choke or become impacted so err on the small side. You could also use silkworms, discoid or lobster roaches although I can not bring myself to order roaches. These are all feeders you can use as staples. For variety and an occasional treat you can also feed wax worms, butter worms, phoenix worms, goliath tomato hornworms (these are fun, let them grow), super worms(for adults only though). NO MEAL WORMS, they have too much chitin and can cause impaction and definately no pinkies.
For greens, I use collard greens, bok choy, mustard greens, turnip greens, escarole, chicory, & dandelion greens. Please don't use anything with lettuce in the name, they offer very little in the way of nutrition and and can cause diarrhea which can dehydrate the dragon. It's good to constantly change up the types of greens so they have a good variety. I also add squash and either turnip or parsnip to my salad mix along with pellets (I vary the type each time) and vitamin powder. I cut up the squash and turnip/parsnip in small cubes and then run through a food processor. I would suggest you check the beautifuldragons.com website. It has a great color coded chart as to what fruits and veggies can be eaten and how often you can feed them. .JPG)
This is a typical dish of salad for my dragons and it is usually empty very soon. I have to refill the salad at least twice per day. All of my babies are eating salad regularly and often will forgo crickets and go for the salad instead. When purchasing a baby, whether or not it's from me make sure the baby is eating it's salad...it is quite a job to get an adult to start eating salad if it's not used to it from the start and you will save yourself a lot of grief if you know it's eating greens from the start. I also suggest you do not go for long periods of time without feeding salad. It is one thing to run out and your dragons not have it for a day or 2 but if they do not have it for a while they will stop recognizing it as food and you will have to coax them back into eating it. Ideally, they should always have salad available to them. I feed my guys salad twice per day, they are often waiting at the front of the tank for it and race to it when I put the dish in.
Care
For babies: You should feed your dragon salad everyday, preferably twice per day; it should always be available to them. I feed the salad first thing in the AM and then don't feed crickets till noon so if they are hungry they will be forced to eat the salad, I feed salad again when the dish is empty or greens are wilted from the heat. I also get them used to eating salad by handfeeding it to them and this also gets them socialized to humans and makes them realise that we care for them. For baby dragons, feeder insects should be given three times per day, as much as they will eat in a 15 minute period and then any leftovers removed from the tank. Believe it or not, crickets can bite your beardie and these bites often get infected. Feeders should always be dusted with calcium without D3.
For adults: Salad should also always be available but crickets should only be fed 2 or 3 times per weeks instead of 3 times per day. They will switch over to eating much more salad and much less crickets as adults. Feeders should still be dusted with calcium without D3. As adults their dietary needs change and they no longer need that much protein from feeders for their growth, so they now eat mostly salad that is occaisionally supplemented with feeders for protein.
To dust feeders, put a little calcium or vitamin in a zip lock bag and add a few feeders and zip closed and shake, we call this shake and bake. I mix the vitamins into the salad and I make up large batches of salad each time I make it. I dust all crickets with calcium (no D3)before each feeding. You should not put both calcium and vitamins on the same food item as one of the vitamins bond with calcium and will render it useless.
You should spray or mist your dragon with water once per day but don’t do it in the cage as you could raise the humidity too high in the tank. You should bathe your dragon at least once per week in luke warm water up to their armpits for about 20 minutes. I bathe mine every day till they poop in the water. After they poop, I let the water and poop drain and then sanitize the mud sink where I bathe them. This way I know they are hydrated and their tank stays cleaner and I don't have to bother with spraying and keeping track of when they bathed last. It also cuts down on smell and keeping things much more sanitary since they are not pooping in their tank.
When shedding their skin will first go dark then lighten to light gray. While they are shedding they may lose their appetites and want to hide and sleep a lot. You can help the process by upping the misting and baths during this time. Babies will usually shed their whole body or a large portion of it at one time, while adults have a tendency to shed small areas at a time..jpg)
And you thought peeling sunburn was itchy!
When adults they will darken and puff out their beards in certain situations which is how they got their name since it will look like they have a black beard. This means they are mad at something, territorial, or they want to mate. They may do this often while going through puberty. While females can also puff and blacken their beards, it is a trait that the males are more known for and males will generally have darker beards then will females.
This is one of my males, Ninja...note the other dragon you can see in the distance. That is Sammy a female, and this was one of Ninja's first exposures to a female. He is black bearding to impress Sammy.
You may also notice some little squiggly lines on their stomachs which look almost like little circles. These are stress marks and means they are not happy. Their colors can darken or lighten depending on their moods or the temps. I will try to get a picture of stress marks but since I also always try to keep my dragons happy, it may prove to be dificult.
Good luck & enjoy,
Dale
