bearded dragon help!!!?

Question

im getting a bearded dragon. i can not find any websites telling me what all i need to raise one, as far as what temp to keep him at, what they eat, what kind of heating stuff do i use, and anything else they need to surrvive!

Answer 1

Housing Requirements:
Enclosure: Hatchlings can be kept in a 20-gallon aquarium for a few months. Adults will need a
50-gallon aquarium or larger sized cage if more than one lizard is housed. Branches and
rocks are needed for climbing and basking. A screen top is needed for ventilation. Do not
house two adult males together. You can also use a screened enclosure or custom built
enclosure.
Temperature: Day: 80º - 85º F.
Night: 68º - 75º F
Basking: 95º - 105º F.
A heat lamp should be positioned over one end of the tank to produce the basking spot.
Use thermometers or temperature gun to measure temperature.
Heat/Light: Incandescent bulbs, ceramic emitter, or heat panels can be used for the basking spot.
Full spectrum lighting should be provided using one of the fluorescent bulbs made for
reptiles that produce both UVA and UVB wavelengths. A mercury vapor bulb which
provides heat and light may also be used. Twelve hours of daylight can be provided
through the use of timers
Substrates: Caribbean play sand is cheap, fairly easy to clean and creates a desert looking
environment. However, use caution with hatchlings as some people feel it may cause
impaction. Newspaper, Astroturf , paper towels, alfalfa pellets, and vitamin sand can also
be used.
Environment: Desert habitat
Diet: Bearded Dragons are omnivores. They need both animal and plant material in their diet. Crickets,
locusts, cockroaches, mealworms, waxworms, silkworms, butterworms, red worms, earthworms,
superworms with an occasional pinky will all be relished by your bearded dragon. You should use
caution NOT to feed fireflys as they are toxic to Bearded Dragons. Vegetables that you can offer
included greens (turnip, kale, romaine, dandelion, endive, escarole, mustard, and collard), green beans, squash, peas, sweet potato, chicory, watercress, red bell pepper, and cilantro. Fruits can be
offered about 1-2 time a week (too much can cause diarrhea) such as blueberries, strawberries,
raspberries, cantaloupe, mango, kiwi, and grapes. Commercially made food is also available for
your bearded dragon. Fresh water should always be provided. Some bearded dragons like to be
misted and lap up the water that way. Powdered vitamin/mineral supplement may be offered 1-2
times a week.
Maintenance: Fresh water should be offered daily. If using newsprint then clean as needed. Wood
shavings should be spot cleaned as needed. Periodically, the enclosure should be disinfected. A
5% bleach solution makes an excellent disinfectant. Be sure to rinse the enclosure thoroughly after
disinfecting. As always, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after handling your bearded
dragon or any cage accessories

Answer 2

www.beardeddragon.org has lots of good links and a decent forum community, some people on the forum can be a bit "passionate" however.

there is also www.bearded-dragon.com I believe it is.

Do lots of research first :D it's always a good idea for herps.

Tank size you can go with a smaller tank for baby's or juvies but a full grown dragon will need a minimum of a 40 gallon breeder. They like more floor space then vertical.

Substrate I suggest useing repti-carpet, slate tiles, or paper towels to start. Adult dragons can live on play sand but there is still a risk of impaction. *DO NOT* use Calci-Sand, when exposed to moisture it clumps together and creates a substance called calcrete which will become a hard rock and cause impactions. I have seen autopsys done on beardies who were on calci-sand and it isnt pretty.

Temperature's you want one side of the tank to be an ambient air temp in the high 80's and the cool side to be int he high 70's. You'll want your basking spot to be 105-115, no higher then 115 for most dragons.

Dragons are mostly solitary critters, I dont suggest housing multiples together. The "beardie piles" you see the pics of that are oh so cute are actually dominance in action. The beardie on the bottom get's no heat or UVB because the other dragons are on top of him and blocking it.

Baby dragons it's best to have the bare minimum of cage decoration so they can hunt easier, as they grow you can add more as their hunting skills improve. Pieces of wood to climb on, repti-hammocks, etc. I suggest provideing at least one hide as well.

Most people use crickets as a staple feeder, the general rule of thumb is no cricket bigger then the space between their eyes. Other live feeders include Phoenix Worms, Silk Worms for baby's, Super Worms, Horn worms for adults. Various types of roaches are also available. The eye rule applies to roaches as well, but not worms. Feeders will need to be supplemented, the specifications for supplementation depend on age. I suggest repcal calcium with D3 and repcal herpivite. Babys need calcium w/D3 5 times a week and herpivite 2 times a week. baby dragons can be EXPENSIVE to feed, eating 50-100 pinheads a day easily. You want to feed them 3 times a day for 15 minutes each, feed until they stop eating, they do have appetites and will not gorge themselves.

Offer a salad daily, baby's dont eat many greens but it should still be offered. As they get older their diet will switch over from more bugs to more greens. I have a link in the refrence section for a good page with salad info.

As far as lighting goes you'll want a UVB light, Repti-sun 10.0 or Repti-glo 8.0 are the two most reccommended. Make sure there isnt any glass or plastic between the light and the dragon. Plastic and Glass will filter out the UVB rays the dragon needs to process calcium and make D3 to properly grow. For a basking spot you can buy a 75 watt halogeen flood light for a few bucks, these usually work fine. If the temp is to high use a dimmer to adjust the light.

Dragons need relatively low humidity so a water dish is not vital, it's reccommended you spray them with pure water once a day and they'll lick the droplets off their nose.

I suggest joining one of the forums I posted originally to get better clarification on other questions you may have :)

Answer 3

ok i have bearded dragons hope this helps

ok they will try to eat anything but DO NO FEED them orange or citrus foods

they eat:
lettace, cabage, tomatoes, grapes, bannas, straberies, aples carrota spinig, etc
dandilions are my berded dragons favorit what i usually do is go to the store and buy brocclii slaw (usally in purple bags) i feed them that everyday like a small handfull then 3 times a weak along with the slaw i feed them treats like grapes tomatoes apples etc the love dandi lions the whole plant not the roots though they dont like them and ONCE a weak this is IMPORTANT if you have more then one or even just one if you dont feed them 1 small pinkie mouse once a weak like evey friday what ever then they will atake themself and others becouse of malnutrition even if they dont atake each other it is important for there healp also bugs like mealworm cochroches crikets and etc are good for them (never give them wild cought bugs they could have parisits (NO FIREFLYS)
well hope this helps google should help look up bearded dragon care

Answer 4

Hope these help. Good luck.

http://www.dachiu.com/care/abeard.html
http://www.kingsnake.com/gladescs/bearded/
http://www.sundialreptile.com/care%20sheet--bearded%20dragon.htm

Answer 5

http://www.beardeddragon.org/links/

try this... I hope that this helps :0)