Care Sheet

Baby bearded dragons are fed up to three times a day and only eat small moving prey, such as 2 week old crickets. As a general rule, dragons are fed crickets with a body length no greater that the width of the dragon's head. However greens should be introduced at this early age so they are accustomed to eating greens and vegetable as they mature. Juvenile bearded dragons are growing rapidly and need plenty of food offered daily. Hungry juveniles housed together will nip toes and tail/tips of their cagemates. Adult bearded dragons can be fed daily or every second day and prefer a diet about 55% salad, 20% vegetables and 25% prey. Water can be offered in a bowl or dish but it should be changed daily; they like to soak and may defecate in their water. We personally mist our dragons 3 to 4 times a day also with a daily or every second day bath. Our dragons love their bath time and it works better for us than using a water dish.

The dragons live prey may consist of appropriately sized crickets, silk worms, phoenix worms, superworms, mealworms and roaches. Live prey should be fed balanced diet such as gut loading and water several days before feeding your Bearded Dragon. Prey should also be dusted daily for a baby dragon and will diminish until adulthood, when live prey should be supplemented about once a week. Salads can consist of chopped mixes of a variety of greens such as dandelion, turnip greens, beet greens, kale, mustard and my personal favorite collard greens. Vegetables can comprise of up to 20% of the diet and can include squash, zucchini, sweet potato, broccoli, peas, and grated carrots. Fruits can make up about 5% of the diet and may include papaya, melon and banana.

Quaratine new dragons in a seperate area of the house for at least 3 months, always have your new dragon vet-checked. Only female dragons should be housed together and in a large enough cage. Ensure a gradient tempreature in their enclosure, from 100f to 110f for a hot basking spot and cooler area no lower than 80f. Night time temps should never go below 70f. All dragons need UVB lighting, we prefer Mercury Vapor bulbs. You can find several types of UVB lighting; make sure it is at least 10 volts when using fluorescent lighting.

Should be spacious and easy to clean, with smooth sides to prevent rostral abrasions. Should be the size of a 20 gallon tank for a baby dragon; adults and juveniles need more room as they grow. We custom build our cages and have at least a 55 gallon enclosure for 1 adult. Should contain thick climbing branches or rocks to support heavy bodied dragons; they also need a hiding spot at all times to help them feel safe. Acceptable substrates, we use only non-adhesive shelf paper and paper towels for our babies. Our adult dragons are on organic subtrate.