Bearded Dragons have become very popular over the past couple of years because of their amazing personalities and interesting appearance. There curious nature and enthusiasm when feeding makes them one of the greatest reptiles to keep.

Origination: Australia

Adult Length: +/- 50cm

Life Span:

Bearded Dragon Care sheet:

• Housing

For a single Bearded Dragon a vivarium around about 90 x 45 x45cm is sufficient but bigger is always better. You can use astro turf, newspaper or dessert sand for the substrate. Hiding arrears are a must cork bark, drift wood and rocks make good natural hiding arrears or you can use hide boxes. Beardies also like to climb, so lots of rocks and branches are great for decoration and functionality.

• Heating

There temperature should range from 28°C to 40°C (the hottest point, not the whole vivarium). You can achieve this by using heating pads, cables, spot lights, ceramic heaters or a combination of these. All heating should be controlled by a thermostat and monitored by one or two thermometers. There should also be a cool spot and a warm spot in the vivarium you can achieve this by placing the heating at one side of the vivarium. This will allow your beardy to choose the area they want to be in.

• Lighting

Lighting is an extremely important to their health when keeping them in captivity. The incorrect lighting can cause them to have metabolic bone disorder from a lack of vitamin D3. So correct lighting with UVA and UVB and D3 are essential. They also like to bask under a heat source so ceramic heat globes or day globes are great for this.

• Feeding

Bearded dragons are mostly carnivorous when young and eat small crickets, mealworms and special juvenile dry and canned foods. When they start to mature a bowl of fresh vegetables, fruit and salad should be offered. Adults eat more vegetables etc. than hatchlings do. Parsley and carrots are a great example of the many things that they can eat. All food live and dry should be sprinkled with calcium and vitamin powder. They must always have fresh water in a shallow dish that’s easy to reach into and stand in if they wish to.

• Health

The biggest thing to worry about is metabolic bone disorder witch is caused by a lack of vitamin D3 and a calcium deficiency. So it is really important that you offer them a varied diet with good quality vitamin and mineral supplements and proper lighting and heating designed for bearded dragons. A clean environment is very important with a constant supply of fresh water and a regularly disinfectant cage. They seldom suffer from any ailments if they are kept properly.

• Sexing

Adult males are larger than females, have a bigger head, with a darker throat and their tail is swollen with copulatory glands. It’s impossible to sex hatchlings.