Bearded dragons are becoming very popular pets, and it’s not hard to see why. The babies are extremely cute, and the adults so calm and placid that even people who say they would never keep a reptile in the house often change their minds once they get a chance to get close to them.
Many are bought as pets as an impulse buy – babies sell pretty cheap these days and are readily available, and while some people do read up and prepare for their new pet, there are still large numbers who accept one with little or nothing. advice at all. Unfortunately, many employees at pet stores and reptile centers are ignorant of proper housing and feeding arrangements, leading bearded dragons to live unhealthy and often short lives.
If you are tempted to buy a baby bearded dragon, here are some tips to help you raise a bearded dragon correctly.
1. Bearded Dragons grow big and fast.
Although you may be looking at a baby that is only 5-6 inches long, by the time they are twelve months old they will be 18-22 inches long and weigh up to 700 grams. Adults need a vivarium that is 4 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft in size, and will probably need it when they are eight to ten months old. Therefore, it is a false economy to buy a smaller nursery with the intention of improving it as it grows, and it is better to buy the largest size first. Too many live in nurseries where they cannot turn around properly without hitting their nose on the glass and their tails on the bottom.
Despite the myth, baby bearded dragons don’t feel lost in a large nursery; after all, in the desert no one gives them a pen for the first few weeks!
To grow at the rate that they do means that they have large appetites and need to be fed a lot and often as babies. They are not cheap pets to keep: a bearded dragon can cost as much as a small dog or cat to feed each week.
2. Bearded Dragons Need the Right Temperatures
Coming from the hot, arid Australian desert, they need to have a temperature range in their nursery that mimics their natural environment. Installing a mini desert in your home is part of the fun of keeping them. Being cold-blooded animals, they thermoregulate, that is, when they are too hot they must be able to move to a cooler area, and when they are too cold they must be able to move to warm up. The nursery should have a place to bask under a heat lamp that reaches a temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and the other end, “the cool end” of the nursery, should not be hotter than 85 degrees. They should be able to experience a good drop in temperature at night, so the heating should be turned off as long as the room temperature does not drop below 65 degrees for babies and 60 degrees for adults. Temperatures must be kept at the correct levels through the use of a thermostat.
Heat must be provided by a heat lamp – bearded dragons do not absorb heat from below, and in fact cannot feel it. Heat rocks and heat mats can easily burn them, so they should not be used.
3. Bearded Dragons Need UVB Exposure
In the desert they sunbathe under the strong rays of the sun which provides them with UVB and helps them to synthesize vitamin D3. This is vital as it means they can use calcium which is essential to help their growth. Lack of UVB will lead to metabolic bone disease (MBD) which causes limb deformities and can only be treated if caught early and is often fatal. Its UVB requirements are the highest of any captive-kept reptile. A fluorescent tube that runs the length of the vivarium ensures they are exposed to UVB rays for as long as the light is on. The best tubes to use are Reptisun 10% or Arcadia 12%.
If they are exposed to UVB rays for 12 hours in the nursery, they get enough UVB, but even this is only about 20 minutes in the full Australian sun. For that reason, bearded dragons should not be provided with fur, as hiding will decrease their exposure to beneficial UVB rays.
4. Substrate
Babies are not accurate feeders and tend to pick up loose substrate with a mouthful of food. The kitchen towel is the best substrate for babies since it does not carry any risk. Do not use sand until baby is six months old and NEVER use wood chips. This is to prevent impaction in the stomach which is often fatal.
5. Prepare the nursery before buying a bearded dragon
When you have your vivarium, you will find that temperatures will fluctuate at first, and you will need time to play with the position of the thermostat probe before you get the correct temperature range. Setting up the nursery and letting it sit for about a week before bringing your baby home is the best idea.
6. Bringing home a baby bearded dragon
Most babies will travel comfortably in a small dark box. There is no need for additional heating unless the weather is very cold. In this case you can use a hot water bottle to keep the box warm.
When you first bring your new baby home, she may eat the first batch of crickets you enthusiastically put in the nursery, then refuse to eat. Many new homeowners worry about this, but it’s just a reaction to the stress of moving. A baby takes up to fifteen days to adapt to a normal eating pattern.
To help it settle in, it’s best to resist the urge to pull it out and handle it. Allow two weeks for it to settle before picking it up. You can start to get him used to it by putting your hand in the vivarium when feeding or cleaning him.
When it’s time to start handling it, pick it up by sliding your hand under it and lifting it up. In the wild, their main predators are birds, so anything that approaches them from above scares them off.
From time to time, your baby will have lines like tiger markings on the belly. These are lines of stress, but don’t worry too much about them. Many things cause momentary stress for a baby, and most are not cause for concern. It could be a dark colored coat that you suddenly see out of the corner of your eye.
In the morning your bearded man will be cold and still. It takes about an hour for them to warm up and start moving, just like they would in the desert. Just be sure to give them time to wake up properly before offering them food.
7. Feeding your baby bearded dragon
Babies up to the age of 12 weeks should be fed 3 times a day with small-sized crickets (1st or 2nd instar). Each food should be as much as they can eat in 10 minutes. One food per day should be dusted with calcium to prevent MBD. Finely chopped vegetables or fruits should always be available. As an adult, your bearded man will be 80% vegetarian, so he should get used to eating vegetables soon.
The best live food is crickets because of the amount they eat. You can feed the locusts, but this will be much more expensive, and once they have eaten locusts, some will not eat crickets because they are more bitter. Do not feed a mealworm staple diet, as their skin is high in chitin which bearded dragons cannot digest very well. Mealworms and wax worms can be offered as an occasional treat.
Most bearded dragons will not eat frozen or dried food, so you will have to get used to feeding them live food.
8. Join a forum
Baby bearded dragons seem to enjoy mystifying and worrying their new owners. Join a bearded dragon or reptile forum so you can seek advice from people who have had the same concerns as you and will be able to provide advice and reassurance.
Raising a reptile that grows so fast is a great experience, and if you make sure that its environment and feeding regime are correct, you will have a pet that will live a healthy life for more than 10 years. The first few weeks and months are a critical period in raising a baby bearded dragon – they are not difficult to maintain, as long as you take the time to understand what they need to grow and develop properly.