Housing/Caging: It is very important for young dragons to have a safe & secure enclosure where they can grow without feeling threatened and/or stressed. Excessively large cages at a young age will cause your dragon to have a more difficult time finding it's food and can become "lost" in to much open space. It is our opinion that a 20g long tank or Rubbermaid container measuring 16" x 20" (approximately) is a good size until your dragon reaches around a foot or so in length. As your dragon grows so should the cage. Minimum size for a single adult dragon is a 45 gallon breeder or 36" x 18", height is not as important as floor space at any age and 18-24" is sufficient, anything over 24" is usually wasted space. Remember that the 36"x 28" is the minimum so more floor space is always appreciated. We keep our adults in 4x2x2' or slightly lower. Hatchling dragons are best kept in bare cages with minimal decorations. Hide spots and crevices give crickets a place to hide and can result in your dragon not getting enough food. It can also be dangerous for crickets to hide in and then come out at night when the dragons are asleep and can hurt/kill your dragon by biting them. ALWAYS check enclosure for leftover crickets every night and remove any that have not been eaten. Other options are to feed in a separate container or leave some greens in the cage overnight for the crickets since they can be difficult to catch. I prefer the first option of feeding in a separate container.

Housing Together: For the most part dragons should be housed alone. Regardless of what you may think your dragon is not lonely. Males should be separated by 5 months of age even if you do not see fighting one will always stress the other. Males and Females should be separated by 5 months of age to avoid early breeding. They may mate at young ages which can be very harmful or fatal to a young female. Females should be at least 18 months. Even when breeding age, males and females should be housed separately and only be together long enough to get the task done. Females can sometimes be housed in pairs or small groups but separate enclosures should always be ready in case fighting or dominance does occur. Never put a larger dragon with a small one, it will quickly become a snack. This goes for even running around together. It happens quickly and there is nothing you can do. As babies, even a 1/4" size difference can promote dominate and carnivorous behavior amongst the hatchlings.

Substrate: This is a highly controversial topic and it is our opinion that it is better to be safe than take unnecessary risks when it comes to the health of our animals. Substrates we recommend and/or use are non toxic newspaper (call your local paper and ask them if they use soy (non toxic) ink. Shelf liner, reptile carpet, indoor/outdoor carpet, paper towels, butcher paper or kraft paper. We do not feel that any particle/loose substrate is completely safe. Although commercial products such as desert blend and calci sand claim to be safe and digestible or pass through they are some of the most dangerous things you can use. If one insists on using sand,. (because we know there are some people who just aren't going to listen) sifted and washed play sand is the better way to go. Commercial sands lower the pH of the digestive system which is then useless in digesting them so over time they clump up in the gut causing impaction. A lot of people are using wheat bran, when using this we found that it stuck in the vents and eyes of many of the lizards. Problems from substrates can take years to present themselves and many, many breeders have used sand for years with no problems, but as stated above it is a risk. Is your animals life worth it? Always ALWAYS use solid substrates for babies.

Heating: It is critical that you provide your dragon with the proper heating gradients to keep him/her healthy. Baby dragons need a basking spot of 105-115 degrees to properly stimulate feeding. The warm side of the cage should be in the high to mid 90's (except under the basking spot which should be 105 to 115F) and the cool side of the cage should be in the mid 80's. You must provide your dragon with a cool side of the cage to get out of the heat and cool off. If you keep the entire cage in the high 90's and higher you will slowly "cook" your dragon and he/she will not survive. Reptiles do not sweat and cannot cool themselves off without a cool zone. Adult dragons generally prefer it a little cooler with a basking temperature of 95-105F. Night time temperatures can safely drop into the 60's so generally a night time heat source is not needed but if it is ceramic heat emitters (CHE) are recommended. Digital thermometers are also recommended, they are the most accurate and the little cheap ones are often very wrong. Stick on ones should never be used. Never use a heat rock. Dragons sense heat from above and the rocks can cause severe or even fatal burns.

Lighting & UVB: Bearded Dragons like a lot of light inside their cage. Bright light helps to keep your dragon healthy by stimulating it's feeding activities and helping to keep a normal day/night schedule. In addition to heating lights and regular fluorescent, it is very important that you provide your dragon with a UVB source. We recommend the Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 fluorescent bulbs. Your dragon should be able to get within 6-8 inches of the light without a plastic cover. These bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months because their rays are not effective much longer than that even though they put off light. Another option for larger enclosures (adult sized) are mercury vapor bulbs which provide both heat (a basking spot) and UVB. These bulbs are much stronger than a fluorescent UVB and get much hotter than a standard 100 or 160 watt bulb. They also require a ceramic socket. We use Zoomed Powersun. It is still necessary to provide another light the length of the cage for brightness as previously discussed. UVB is important for most reptiles to have unless they have regular access to outdoor sunlight. Failure to provide proper lighting will cause your dragon to be extremely dull in color and be lethargic and non-active. Failure to provide a UVB source can eventually cause your dragon to develop metabolic bone disease (MBD). Without proper lighting, your dragon will not show or maintain vivid colors. It is recommended to put your lights on a timer of 12-14 hours of daylight and 10-12 hours of darkness.

Food & Supplementation: We cannot stress this enough - baby bearded dragons eat a LOT of food! The most popular staple source of food for young dragons are live crickets of appropriate size. Other options are appropriately sized lobster roaches and silkworms. Superworms and waxworms are treats only. Mealworms and pinkies should always be avoided. Healthy young dragons can eat as much as 50 to 75 crickets a day or more if fed properly. Crickets should never be larger than the space between the two eyes of your dragon. Feeding too large of a prey item can cause your dragon to become paralyzed and die. Fresh greens & veggies should be made available as well, but a lot of times young dragons will ignore them until older. Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens and endive are all good choices as a staple leafy green for your dragons. Never feed Iceberg lettuce to your dragon - it can dehydrate them and cause them to get very sick. Dry pellets can also be offered which some dragons will accept readily. It is also important that you dust crickets with a calcium based supplement such as Rep-Cal on a daily basis and a vitamin based supplement such as RepCal Herptivite once a week while they are young and growing. We recommend Rep Cal phosphorus free calcium with D3 when using a fluorescent UVB light and Rep Cal Plain calcium when using natural sunlight or a mercury vapor bulb.

Water: We do not provide our dragons with constant access to a water bowl inside their cage. We believe the increase in humidity this causes is harmful to dragons and is also difficult to keep fresh at all times (never use a waterfall in your enclosure). We recommend buying a spray bottle filled with room temperature water and gently spraying the tip of the nose of your dragon softly for a few minutes. If your dragon is thirsty, it will lick the water off as it runs down it's head. You can also spray the side of the tank where your dragon is sitting and this will cause your dragon to notice the water running down the side of the cage and it will lick the water. It is extremely important to do this for young dragons several times a day at least. Dragons get a lot of water they need from fresh greens and veggies, but until they are eating them on a constant basis, you will need to make sure you spray your dragons often to keep them hydrated. It is important not to soak the inside of the cage while doing this. Just do it gently at least three times a day tapering off to one time a day for adults. Also soak your dragon at least once a week in luke warm water up to it's shoulders for 15-30 minutes supervised. Also make sure the water doesn't get too cool.

• Basic Hatchling Care Sheet
• Beautiful Dragons
• Hep Vet Connection
• Heartmountain Herps
• Morion - Teo
• Beardie Dragon Health Info