These little creatures make good pets, but just like any other pet, they have certain requirements.
HOUSING- Hatchlings should be housed comfortably in a 10-20 gallon aquarium. As they grow, the housing should as well. Adult beardies should be housed in a 55-65 gallon aquarium, but keep in mind custom building is sometimes easier. I would not house two males together. They can and will fight. They are territorial.
SUBSTRATE- I recommend paper towels, news paper or reptile carpet for hatchlings. I DO NOT recommend the use of sand, as it can cause impaction. However, play sand may be used for adults.
FEEDING YOUR DRAGON- Bearded Dragons should be fed a variety of veggies, such as romaine lettuce, collard greens, kale, squash, red tip romaine, mustard greens, green beans, carrots, escarole, parsley, zucchini, turnip greens, and you may add red cabbage, radicchio for more of a variety. Avoid feeding spinach-oxalic acid which binds more calcium that it offers. The same goes for ice burg lettuce; it has little food value, offering mainly water and fiber. You may also offer clover, grape leaves, dandelion greens, and hibiscus leaves and flowers. Melon, Berries, Banana (only very occasionally as a treat - bananas are very high in Phosphorus), Grapes, Strawberry, Raspberry, Apple. These lizards are omnivorous so feed them meat, such as crickets, wax worms, and superworms as well. Adults may even have pink or fuzzy mice.
When feeding any vegetable or fruit, always cut or shred it into small enough pieces. You should supplement the diet with calcium, and probably with D3 (which comes from natural light) as well. Rep-Cal powder is a commonly used supplement that contains calcium and vitamin D3 but no phosphorus. Added phosphorus can depress calcium metabolism. Sprinkle powder directly on the fruits and vegetables. Dump feeder crickets into a plastic bag, add a pinch of powder and shake gently to coat before offering them to your dragons.
*NOTE* Dragons also nibble on live house plants as well, many which are poisonous to your dragon (s), so be careful before adding any live plants to your cage. Do NOT feed fireflies to bearded dragons! IT IS FATAL!
LIGHTING- Dragons must have two things for proper bone growth. If calcium or vitamin D3 are deficient, dragons get MBD (metabolic Bone Disease) Bearded Dragons require UVA, and UVB lighting. They receive the calcium and vitamins they need from this. In return MBD causes long term heath problems, and can be fatal. Some early symptoms of this problem include the shaking, twitching, or stiffness of limbs (especially rear legs), separation of the mouth, and difficulty chewing food. If this problem is caught early enough, supplementation and exposure to natural sun can be good remedies. Calcium deficiency is often seen in older dragons, or under supplemented dragons. There is also the possibility of over supplementing your dragons, causing a myriad of problems all its own.
HEATING- AVOID HOT ROCKS! Basking areas should be around 95-100 f cooler area around 80 f. At night all lights should be shut off. If temps drop below 60 f, you may use an under tank heater UTH (heating pad), or a (CHE) ceramic heat emitter. Use thermometers to measure temperature.
TANK DECOR- I recommend little decoration for hatchlings. Crickets hide. Beardies can’t eat what they can’t find. Then at night the crickets may come out to nibble on your beardies.
Dragons like to climb, so by placing some rocks, or drift wood under the heat lamp would give them a good basking area.
BACKGROUND BEHAVIORS "LUNGUAGES" AND ORGIONS- Bearded Dragons get their name from their ability to "puff out" their throat pouch. Their beard may even change color becoming jet black... Both male and females have this quality. Beardies are very social animals. They have a rich gestural language, bobbing their heads at one another, gaping their mouths, flattening their bodies and tilting as they circle one another ("see how big I am!"), swishing their tails, using their tongue to check each other or their environment out, etc. They even have a variety of submissive gestures. For example, both sexes will raise one arm and hold it stationary or slowly wave it in circles, evidently to signal hey, its ME, stop harassing me, Im harmless! They rapidly establish a hierarchy and adapt to their caretakers, so the more extreme aggressive gestures become rare in captivity (unless you give them new territory to conquer). They are very curious and love being let out to investigate.
As their name also indicates, bearded dragons originate in Australia. They breed readily even eagerly in captivity and the eggs hatch well with proper incubation. Good hygiene is essential, not only to your dragons health, but to your own. Reptiles can be non-symptomatic carriers of Salmonella, bacteria that cause sometimes lethal food poisoning. Do not kiss your dragon. Wash your hands after handling your dragon.
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