pet bearded dragon?

Question

i just got a baby bearded dragon. he has a 30 gallon tank. hes really cool and he loves being held. i was wondering how long i should keep the florescent strip light on for? when should i turn it off? shuold i keep it on during the day? also what kind of lettuce does he eat? any other veggies?

Answer 1

On during the day, off at night, and make sure he can get as close to it as possible, those fluorescents don't send UV out that far (18 inches max, and not much at that distance). As far as greens/veggies, NO iceberg lettuce or spinach, VERY bad for them. Mustard greens, collard greens, endive, escarole, bok choy, kale, dandelion greens, carrots, squash, green beans, peas, papaya, apple, etc... are all good for them.

Answer 2

Here's a better question, why get a bearded dragon when you have no idea how to feed it? PLEASE buy a good book on the subject and read it!

I wouldn't feed it lettuce, it is mostly water and has no nutritional value. There are many other greens you can give (kale, baby spinach, cabbage) that have some nutritional value. Also crickets dusted with reptile vitamin should be given daily (5 or so a day) as well as king worms / mealworms (4 or 5 a day).

Answer 3

The Basics of Bearded Dragon Lighting:
http://www.bearded-dragon-resource.com/bearded-dragon-lighting.html

Feeding:
Baby-bearded dragons (hatchlings) should be fed crickets two to three times a day. They should eat a large number in each feeding, but every dragon is different. Feed them as much as they will eat within 10 minutes.

Also, crickets should be dusted once daily with calcium and vitamin supplements. You can also offer leafy greens daily, though your baby is going to eat mostly crickets at this time.

Crickets will be the staple insect for hatchlings. It is very important that the crickets you feed are the right size. Crickets that are to big will still be eaten but can cause impactions and also paralysis.

The crickets should be one third the size of the hatchling’s head or smaller than the distance between their eyes. Mealworms are not recommended at this time, because of their hard chitinous shell.

Sub-adults diets are not as strict as the hatchlings. Once your dragon is about two months old or so you'll feed them daily to twice a day. The prey size should still be smaller than the distance between their eyes.

They are growing rapidly, so you'll want to give supplements from every day to every other day. Mealworms can now be introduced as a treat as well as wax worms and others. Vegetables can be offered daily as well.

Adult dragons should be fed daily to every other day. Though they are not growing rapidly, they are still active. There aren't very many things now that are too big for your dragon to eat. Though, a good rule of thumb is to feed items smaller than the distance between your dragons eyes. Vegetables should also be offered daily.

As dragons get older they tend to eat more vegetation. This should be at least half of your dragons diet. One study showed that adult bearded dragons in the wild had a stomach content of 90 % vegetable matter.
http://www.bearded-dragon-resource.com/bearded-dragon-feeding.html

Answer 4

I have my florescent light, as well as a basking lamp on a timer.. that way they go on and off at the same time every day.. for adult dragons I got these things called dragon bites.. they have protein in them.. like crickets and worms, but you just keep them in your fridge.. so if you don't have time to get crickets you can give him a couple of these. Mine likes rainbow salad.. it's the cole slaw mix without the dressing. Its cabbage, carrots, and broccoli I think.. its already shredded and it stays good in the fridge forever. He loves it.

Answer 5

Feeding Young Bearded Dragons

Offer baby dragons small crickets every day. At this age, dragons can be a little delicate when it comes to food and animals fed too large an insect sometimes suddenly develop paralysis of the rear legs, twitching, and other problems, probably because of pressure on the spine. It is better to feed lots of small insects than a couple of large ones. A good measure of proper size is to imagine 2 crickets sitting side by side on the dragon's head. If they fit, that's the size you want. Once your dragon reaches about 8" he is far less delicate and you may feel free to feed him just about anything he can tackle. Baby dragons grow very fast and need to be able to eat as many insects as they want on a daily basis. <= THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THEIR HEALTH. You may be amazed at how much a little dragon can eat, but don't skimp on the insects!

Fresh vegetables are also important at this age and should be available on a daily basis. Just about anything you can eat is fine- just remember to go easy on cabbage, kale, spinach, broccoli and iceberg lettuce. These have all been shown to cause health problems when fed in excessive amounts to vegetarian lizards. Remember to shred hard vegetables like carrots up and chopping the salad into smaller pieces is a good idea as well. Offer a variety of vegetables, rather than a few over and over. Vegetables should be fed out of a dish. Use a large, deep dish for adults so they don't get excessive amounts of sand on their salad.

I like to offer some dry commercial bearded dragon food for variety as well. It may need to be crushed up for baby dragons, or it's too large for them to eat. I offer it either separately or mixed into the salad. It can be soaked first in water or juice, which is probably better for your dragon than offering it dry, as dry food without much water content is unnatural for dragons. Generally the more colorful and strongly scented brands attract the dragons better, but they will learn to eat anything given enough time. You may have to be patient for a few weeks before your dragon really shows an interest in some brands of dry food. Once they get a taste for it, however, it grows on them and they seem to like it more and more. .

Fruit may be offered in small amounts as an occasional (once a week or so) treat.

Feeding Adult Bearded Dragons

Once the dragons are about a year old and their growth has slowed, I continue to offer as much vegetables and the dry commercial food as the lizards want to eat, but I cut back on the number of crickets and other insects they eat. This encourages them to eat more of the vegetable matter, which is cheaper and probably better for the adults than allowing them to fill up constantly on crickets.

Leave his lighting on in the day for about 10 hours. You can shut it off at night when you sleep.

Answer 6

Mine loved frozen green beans, broccolii, the best lettuce would be romaine it has more nutrients than other types, try spinnach too (baby spinnach). I would also feed mine meal worms when they turned into the larvae stage, Its high in protien.

Answer 7

yes get a pet bearded dragon of course

Answer 8

11 hours durning the day, shut it off at night, They eat ALL GREEN veg, don't forget when he get bigger in about 3 mos, start feeding him Crickets, they are GREAT protein.