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1.1 Introduction
1.2 Housing
1.3 Lighting
1.4 Substrate
1.5 Feeding
1.6 Breeding
1.7 Egg Laying and Incubation
1.8 Illness And Treatment
1.1
Introduction:
Bearded Dragons, (Pogona Vitticeps). The Bearded Dragon is native to
Australia. They can reach a length of 24 inches as adults, and are around
2inches as hatchlings, they are very versatile reptiles and very forgiving
to owners mistakes, making them an ideal pet for beginners in the field
of reptiles. They are relatively easy to care for and don't take up
too large of an ammount of space like larger reptiles. Bearded Dragons
are terrestrial. They are diurnal animals, meaning they love to bask
in the bright, warm light of the day and tend to sleep at night. Young
dragons are usually dully colored and tend to show some nice colors
as they age to juveniles. As they reach adulthood their colors tend
to blend together and fade, but they still remain the most popular,
impressive reptiles of all time.
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1.2
Housing:
The
most commonly used method for housing bearded dragons is the Glass aquarium
tank with a screen lid. A 20-gallon tank will be adequate in housing
a single juvenile bearded dragon. If you plan on keeping more than one,
then a 60+-gallon long will be sufficient for a pair (unless they get
really big). A screen cover is strongly recommended. It is a useful,
safe way to keep your lights on top of the enclosure and will also keep
out any unwanted pets (such as cats and dogs) and keep your dragons
safe inside. Make sure you don't over crowd the tank, and make sure
everyone is eating. Some dragons will feed more voraciously than the
others leaving no food left.
· Note: Bearded Dragons are not really a social animal meaning
You may house them together, but usually fighting will occur. Females
tend to be less agressive, you have a better chance of two females getting
along then two males or a pair. You can house males together but expect
some fighting over dominance and especially if a female is present.
· Bearded dragons are diurnal, they sleep at night and are active
in the day time. You should provide many shelters for them to hide in
so they can sleep and escape the light and heat if they choose. A shelter
can be store bought in any pet store, such as a half of a hollowed out
log, or you can make one out of the many common items you find around
your house. An emptied out margarine tub turned upside down with a little
door cut out of it will work fine. Get creative, just make sure everything
is supported well so nothing will fall apart and crush your animals.
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1.3
Lighting:
Bearded Dragons like most reptiles control their body temperature by
thermo-regulation. This means: if they are hot they will hide someplace
cool, if they are cold they will move to someplace warm. They control
their body temperature with the environment. All of the items below
can usually be bought in most pet stores.
· Whichever method you use to heat your tank, Always place the
heating pad or light fixture on one side of the tank. This way your
new pet can get out of the heat if it gets too hot for them, Or they
can bask under or ontop of the heat source you provide for them to warm
up. When using light fixtures provide your Dragons with some sort of
object (like a log) to climb up on so they can sit under the heat if
they desire but make sure that the highest point they can reach is still
6-8 inches away from the fixture. We don't want your new buddy to get
burnt now do we?
· Reptile heating pads and heating tape. A reptile-heating pad
is just what it sounds like. It's a pad that you stick to the underside
of the tank and plug it in. (*See Note Below*)
Usually you put the heating pad under one of the shelters you provided.
If your substrate is thick like carpet it will not allow the heat to
pass through, you will either need to cut a section of the carpet out
and cover that area with paper towels or use an alternate method of
heating.
· Note: When using heating pads and tape make sure there is some
kind of ventilation under the tank. If all that heat gets trapped under
the tank it could cause the glass to crack.
· Light bulbs. I feel a combination of the 2 (lightbulbs for
daytime and a heating pad for nighttime) is best method for heating.
A full spectrum reptile light bulb is necessary for the well being and
growth of your dragons; a regular household light bulb should not be
used. They need the UVA and UVB rays provided by the full spectrum lights
to help digestion and their immune system. A 60-100 watt light bulb
should be good enough for the desired temperature you're looking for
(95-100 degrees in the basking area). Make sure to get a thermometer
and check temperatures properly. A red nocturnal bulb can be used at
nighttime. Reptiles cannot see the red light; therefore it will provide
them with heat at night while not disturbing their nighttime activities.
Remember to check the temperature in the hot zone of your tank to make
sure it's not too hot or cold.
· A ceramic-heating bulb while costly, will provide heat for
your animals without providing any light. This is used in the same manner
as a regular bulb; it screws into a light fixture. They tend to last
for a long time (they better with the price of em')
· Make sure the light fixture you are using can handle the heat
of whatever bulb you use. Remember safety first, always….
· Hot rocks: A hot rock is another method of heating your enclosure,
but I will not discuss hot rocks because they are dangerous to you and
your animals. I do not recommend them.
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1.4 Substrates:
There are many different choices one can use to cover the floor of their
new pet's home.
· For Younger Bearded Dragons I recommend using paper towels
or newspaper. Both of these are accessible, common household items and
they are easily discarded and replaced.
(*See Note Below*)
· For Adult Dragons you may use more attractive substrates such
as (FINE) grade calci-sand. There are numerous companies that produce
safe, fine grade calci-sand that is readily available in most pet stores
in a variety of eye pleasing colors. This sand will not cause any problems
if it is ingested because it is digestable and a good source of calcium
for an animal.
· Note: I do not recommend using sand as a substrate for younger
dragons under 6 inches in length. Due to the smaller size of young dragons
it can cause blockage of their digestive system and result in injury
or death to your pet.
· I have used carpet as a flooring successfully for years now
and have never had a single problem. I take a piece of (preferably)
out door carpet, I cut it to the size of the tank floor, then I lightly
burn the edges with a blow torch or cigarette lighter to melt any frayed
carpet pieces and prevent the carpet from coming unraveled in the future.
(Note: This is not to be done by children, get your parents to help
you kiddies). It may take a little more time and effort to prepare the
carpet but once done It's a very durable substrate and easy to clean.
Simply vacuum any dirt off of it and throw it in the shower under hot
water for a bit, then let it dry. Good as new.
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1.5
Feeding:
Bearded Dragons are omnivores, they feed on fruits and vegetables and
on live prey such as insects, worms and pinky mice, No items more than
half the size of the dragons head should be fed to it.
· Bearded Dragons can be fed a variety of live insects such as
crickets, meal worms, super worms and wax worms (wax worms are high
in fat and should be fed as a treat)
. They should also be fed vegetables and fruit on a regular basis (I
leave fresh veggies in there at all times so they can nibble if their
hungry). They will eat all types of greens such as romaine lettuce,
kayle, collards, dandilions, escarole, mustard greens, (never feed regular
lettuce to your animal, it has no nutritional value) carrots, apple,
pear, peach, squash, plum, grapes
· Pinkys can be used as an occasional food source but some dragons
will not readily eat them. I usually only offer them to pregnant females
who need more supplementation than normal. I dip the rear end of the
pinky in calcium powder before offering to the females.
· All live food offered to your animals should be kept on a good
quality diet (after all your dragons end up eating what the insects
eat). Put your food insects in a separate container a few hours prior
to feeding them to your dragons. Offer the insects such food as a store
bought cricket or rodent diet, baby cereal flakes, Various fruits and
vegetables such as oranges, potatoes and carrots give the insects a
good source of vitamins and water, you can also lightly sprinkle some
calcium/vitamin supplement on the food fed to the insects.
· After your feeder insects have been well fed, it is important
to prepare them to be fed to your animals so they get the maximum benefit
out of the feeding. This is done by Dusting them.
· Dusting insects is easy, simply take the insects to be fed
to your dragons, place them in a small plastic bag. add in a sprinkle
of reptile multi-vitamins, and 2 sprinkles of calcium powder with vitamin
D3 included (*see note below*). Shake for a few seconds and feed to
your dragons. it's easy, like shake and bake….
· Note: I use Rep-cal herptivite (multi-vitamin), and Rep-Cal
(Phosphorous- free) calcium powder w/vit.D3
· Food items for young dragons should be dusted at every feeding,
they grow fast and need all the vitamins they can get (especially calcium)
· Food items for adult dragons should be dusted at least 2 times
a week.
· Note: do not feed your dragons more crickets that they will
eat in 20 minutes. Crickets have been known to nibble on the toes of
animals. you do not want your dragon's toes to get eaten, so after 20
minutes remove all remaining crickets.
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1.6
Breeding:
Breeding
dragons puts a significant strain on the female, therefore you want
to make sure she is ready to breed and able to handle the stress on
her body. I go by a number of things, Weight & size ( you want her to be a nice
large size & weight), you want her to be able to handle all those eggs
and age, you want her to be atleast 1 year old. All calcium supplementing
should be increased for females that are breeding.
· The most important factor in breeding bearded dragons is of
course having a sexual pair. dragons are not that easy to sex accurately
when they are young, as they get older it becomes easier. Males have
very pronounced pre-anal and femoral pores. It looks like a row of little
bumps that run down their back legs and infront of their anus.
Another method of sexing a bearded dragons is to hold the dragon in
the palm of your hand and with your other hand, place your pointer and
ring finger at the base of the tail and your thumb underneath the tail,
you want to slightly bend the tail towards the sky while putting a slight
pressure downward with your two fingers (Please do this carefully and
LIGHTLY, I cannot stress this enough, you do not want to damage your
dragons tail or his reproductive organs.) You are looking underneath
for a bulge, a single bulge is a female, if you see two bulges, you
have a male.
·
Dragons reach sexual maturity usually between 12 months to 18 months.
You will notice characteristics such as head bobbing and arm waving.
· Bearded Dragons who are young, under weight or are Ill should
never be bred. They should be separated from the other dragons so you
can monitor them and nurse them back to health.
· Pre-Breeding Cycling, you will want to cycle your dragons to
breed. About 2 months before you are going to breed your Dragons, reduce
the number of daylight hours they receive (done over a period of 3 weeks)
by setting your timer to give them 9 -10 hours of daylight per day.
Do this by reducing the number of daylight hours by 1-2 hours per week
up until you reach the desired number of hours. after 3 weeks when you
have reached the desired number of daytime hours, reduce the wattage
of the lighting you are using so the daytime temperatures are 70-80
degrees and the nighttime temperatures are 60 -65 degrees. This simulates
winter for them. Leave the setup that way for them for about 2 weeks.
After those 2 weeks, start to reverse the procedure by bring the daylight
hours and temperature slowly back up to the end of the Pre-Breeding
cycle. the daylight hours should be
Up to 14 hours a day (days are longer in summer) and the temperatures
back to normal 90 - 100 degrees on the hot side of the tank. You are now ready to breed.
· Note: It seems more natural to cycle your animals, it works
fine for me.
· If you are keeping a male dragon with one or more females'
the chances are they will breed like crazy during the season.
Once the female is showing signs of pregnancy you might want to
remove her so she is not constantly being harrased to breed by the male.
· If you have them separated or have a really nice male stud
that you would like to breed to produce some nice looking dragons or are looking
to produce a specific color morph, carefully introduce the females you
want to breed one by one into the males tank. This is done if you want
to breed certain dragons to each other. This will also prevent a male
from mating with an under weight female. Plus you can keep more accurate
records.
· To make sure the female has successfully been mated repeat
this procedure a few times to ensure fertility.
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1.7
Egg Laying & Incubation:
As your female gets closer to laying her eggs they will become visible
through her stomach and will cause a bulging in her sides. It's hard
to notice this at first, but once the eggs develope more, you'll be able
to tell without a problem. Dragons usually lay clutches of anywhere
from 10- 25+ eggs at a time. On an average they lay around 5 clutches
per year. Younger females will sometimes lay less eggs and less clutches
per year. So don't freak out if it's your first time breeding and you
only get one or two clutches for the whole year.
· Nesting boxes are used to give your soon to be momma a suitable
place to lay her eggs. If she does not feel comfortable laying her eggs,
she will not. This is called being egg bound (discussed in the illness chapter)
· A big rubbermaid plastic storage container (like the ones for clothes) makes a nice egg
laying site.
· Fill the container half way with 1/3 sand and 2/3 potting soil (make
sure there is no plant vitamins included) mix it well, the female will
dig several holes before she finds one suitable (you can also start a couple of holes yourself for her to use). You want to moisten
the mixture just enough so it sticks together. It
will also prevent your eggs from drying out if you don't happen to notice
them for a few hours.
· Newly laid dragon eggs are very soft and sticky so avoid touching
them with your hands. Fertile eggs will quickly become harder and feel
leathery.
Incubation:
· The most commonly used method for incubating is the use of
a hovabator or it's competitive counter parts. It is a small, adjustable
temperature incubator used for incubating poultry eggs.
· Set your incubator up in a place that is nice and cool like
a basement. (remember incubators can heat, but not cool unless you got
one of those fancy models)
· You should always let your incubator run for a few days before
you are expecting any eggs just to make sure it's maintaining the proper
temperature (this is a pain in the butt, but they usually keep a steady
temperature once their calibrated)
· Inside the incubator (during the time you are calibrating it
properly) you should place another rubbermaid container that will be
holding your eggs. Fill the container with around 2 inches of vermiculite,
perlite or potting soil.
· Add water to the container and mix it around until the substrate
feels moist but not saturated with water. Place the container in the
incubator and leave it till your ready to put your eggs in (just make
sure it does not dry out) this will make the container your putting
your eggs in the right temperature as well.
· Most incubators have a well in the bottom for you to put water
in. now would be a good time to fill that up. If your incubator does
not have one, place a jar lid with water inside. This water helps keep
the humidity up. Dragon eggs absorb moisture from the humidity in the
air. Too much humidity is also bad, it will cause the eggs to swell
and the shell to stretch from too much pressure.
· Drill a couple of small holes in the top cover of the plastic
egg container to allow for some air flow.
· Once you have noticed the eggs in your nest box, it's time
to transfer them to your incubator. This is done by very carefully scooping
under the eggs (don't go right under the eggs, grab some substrate with
it) with a spoon. Make sure the eggs do not move or turn from their
original position they were laid in.
· With your finger dig out a little pocket about the size of
the egg in the substrate (of the container you previously placed in
the incubator). Gently slide the eggs off the spoon into the pocket
you've made. Be careful not to turn or move the eggs from the position
they were laid in.
· Once the eggs have been placed in the container, put the lid
on it and close the incubator. Make sure the temperature is holding
steady.
· 84 degrees is the optimal temperature for dragon eggs.
· Bearded dragon eggs will hatch after approximatley 60 - 75
days.
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1.
8 Illness And Treatment:
As
I am not a veterinarian yet, (I'm studying to be one, specializing in
exotics). All of the information in this section of the care sheet
has been taken from various sources such as my own experiences, articles,
magazines and books that I have read on the care of Bearded Dragons. Any
change in behavior or signs of something not being right, I strongly
recommend that you take your animal to a qualified veterinarian that
has experience in reptiles. In my many years of owning reptiles, I have
come across numerous veterinarians that will readily accept herps as
patients but they do not have very much experience or knowledge of them.
I recommend you ask for references or where the veterinarian was schooled
in herpetological medicine. Do not be afraid to ask, this is your pets
well being were talking about here.
· To be updated soon……………..
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