Life of a bearded dragon

Well first off lets start with some must haves in your bearded dragon habitat. I like to have my tank nice and warm during the day, around 85 degrees. At night I like it cooler around 75 degrees and a bit cooler. I do require a basking light, and a uvb light. Under the basking light should be a stone, or big rock. The rock gets warm and I lay on it. The heat then warms up my belly and this helps my food digest. The uvb light is the next best thing to sunlight I will get in my cage or habitat. I will lay under the uvb light at times, when I need to work on my tan.

I need two spots in my tank, a hot spot and a cool spot. The cool spot, well some days I just need shade. I do require some water, but not a huge water bowl, just something that I can drink from when I get thirsty. Bearded dragons if exposed to a large water source can develop respiratory diseases. In the pet stores you can find an eight oz automatic water dispenser (looks like the dog water dispenser) and it works perfect. The food bowl can be any type of reptile food dish. I prefer just a small saucer, it allows me to reach my food better, and some days I am just lazy. If I dont eat every thing on the saucer, I will be back to finish it even as it starts to dry (veggies). To learn more about that you can read my meal section.

notes from James:
The cage in the picture is 32 inches long, 20 inches wide, and 26 inches tall. I have the basking lamp on the middle platform hovering over a large rock that Flames the bearded dragon can lay his entire stomach on. The bottom lamp is the uvb light and that is for synthetic sun. The very top shelf is the second hot spot. Flames like to get on the top shelf and just spread out enjoying the heat. I do have vent holes in the top to let some of the heat out, so he does not get to hot. The reason I have the vent hole is the front of his cage and the access point is glass. This allows the heat to stay in and not escape. When you have a reptile cage with a screen top all the heat escapes. By enclosing the box (habitat) like I did the heat is trapped. You can tell by the picture the box is not done, I still need to do touch up and paint. How ever I was in the process of buidling this bearded dragon cage when I cracked his other cage (while cleaning it).

On the bottom of the cage I used a plastic thin cutting board (easy to clean) and cut it to fit the entire bottom of the cage. I have a natural piece of drift wood that he climbs on from the bottom to the middle layer. I also built a ladder out of pvc pipe and dowel rods, this allows him to climb from middle to top shelf. The doors on the front of the cage is an old window I found at a buddys house, it is from windows he replaced. The doors slide nicely on a track, and they open wide enough so I can take everything out and clean the whole cage.

The actual box is from a really old 32 inch tv. I ripped out everything and cleaned it up, and built the bearded dragon cage out of it. The first reason is it was free. The second reason is it is heavy and built sturdy. I have on top of it a 30 gallon red ear slyder tank. With the tank on top full of water, and the set up on hard wood floor, I can easily slide everything out of the way if I need to. It may not look it now but my setup when finished could run over 300 bucks if not more custom built.

It is wide enough that he can move around in, but it is tall enough that he can climb. I tried him out in a long tank and he did not do well in it, that is why I decided to build a tall tank. He does appear happier in this tank, than the longer tank, plus I can control the temperatures better.

When setting up a bearded dragon cage you will have to take care in providing comfort. As well as providing as close as to its natural habitat as possible. Some will say that bearded dragons bought from pet stores do not know what their natural habitat is. Yes this is true, but when you hear natural habitat you are refering to what helps his body function correctly.

The most important things that should be added to a bearded dragon tank is the lighting. A bearded dragon requires atleast two types of light. The two most important lights are a basking light and a uvb light. If the tank does not reach atleast 85 degrees or a bit higher then a thrid light should be added. The third light is strictly for heat.

The basking lights main purpose is food digestion. There are other reasons for the basking light but the most important is for the food to digest correctly. When a beardie eats it will crawl under the basking light. The heat from the light and the basking rock will warm the beardies stomach, and this heat will help the food in the stomach digest. If the bearded dragon does not digest the food properly many ailements will occur. The most common in Bearded dragons is compaction. This is when the food does not digest correctly and gets impacted in the stomach of the lizard. This can be very dangerous and can be fatal to your lizard companion.

The next important light in a beardies cage is a UVB light. Even though natural sunlight is the best thing for a beardie we can not alway accomodate. So a UVB light placed in your bearded dragons tank will substitute the sunlight. UVB contained in sunlight interacts with pigments found in skin, as well as that of reptiles and other animals. The chemical reaction that takes place forms vitamin D3. The D3 helps support a healthy bone system. The UVB light will get warm but it is not an adequate source of heat in the tank. So when getting a UVB light make sure there are other heat sources in the tank.

If you live in colder areas and it get colds at night. A fourth light can be added, this light is a red reptile light. The red light keeps the cage temperature up, but does not interefere with the beardies sleep. There are new light systems that can be set up in a reptile's cage. These light systems automatically turn different lights on during different times of the day. They also can monitor the temperature in the tank and regulate what temperature setting you have set. There are also heating pads and heating rocks for reptiles. These helps food digestion as well, but some of these can be dangerous and burn your reptile companion.

As instructed in the How to set up a Bearded dragon cage
module you will also need an area that is cool in the cage. Bearded dragons do like to have cool spots, and you will learn that they will spend alot of the time in those cool spots. As in the natural enviroment there are cool spots and hot spots. The beardies cage needs both.

All these lights can get expensive but they are all needed for your bearded dragon to be comfortable and live a healthy life. If you look hard enough you can find cheaper versions of each light. The cheaper versions will not last as long but will last long enough to get your beardies cage set up correctly. The proper lighting in a bearded dragons cage is very important for to keep you bearded dragon living a long healthy life.

A bearded dragons diet as a baby bearded dragon eats mostly small crickets (gut loaded) and small meal worms. The baby bearded dragons will everyday, and seems like will eat until no more circkets or meal worms are gone. My beardie ate veggies mostly cabbage, spinach, carrots, and small slithers of apples once a week and sometimes not that often. The crikets should be no wider then the bridge of a bearded dragons nose. As the beardie gets bigger so does the crickets. The bearded dragons diet is pretty simple as a baby their main source fo food will be protein from the small crickets and meal worms.

As Bearded dragons diet and appetite will grow as they get older. The older they get the more they will eat, almost as if their stomach was a bottomless pit. By this time about 6 months old you can start feeding them super worms. Remember the rule of thumb, no wider then the bridge of their nose. As they get older they will eat more veggies. Bearded Dragons will let you know when they are ready to eat more veggies, by just doing it. As Bearded Dragons get older you can give them larger leaves ie; cabbage, lettuce, large apple peals, but will still need to cut up the carrots into smaller pieces. I guess that will be a common sense move, if it looks to big than it will be.

My beardie likes the freeze dried veggies mix from Healhty Herp, it is called adult dragon food instant meal. You just add water for a few minutes and they are ready to eat. Also my beardie likes the bearded dragon cubed meat, it smells bad but taste good. It has to stay in the fridge. The other thing that is good is the freeze dried crickets by Flukers (costly), and the Bearded dragon foritfied food, it looks like tiny pieces of dog food. All this food gives beardies variety and allows for complete balanced nutrition. Dont worry you will learn what your bearded dragons will love or just hate. They are all different and have different personalities. As they get older a bearded dragons diet will be more diverse.

notes from James
"When I started buying veggies for my bearded dragon they would go bad before he ate all of them. So I cut all my veggies up, and put them in a large ziplock bag. Then I froze them and now only take out what I know he will eat. I just let the veggies thaw out or when I am in a hurry I place them in a bowl of warm water (for quick thaw). This allows me to buy less veggies, but keep the ones I have for a longer period of time. The other thing I give my bearded dragon is reptivite reptile vitamins with d3 it is made by Zoo meds. I dust the crikets and super worms with this. It is full of vitmains for reptiles and promotes healthy bone growth"

Also I had to write a whole module just on my best cricket tips you can find it below or I can save you about a second by clicking bearded dragon crickets

Ok guys this one is my favorite tips I will give on crickets to feed to bearded dragons. I was testing this before I wrote about it. Now that is working I would like to share with you. How to keep the bearded dragons crickets fresh and from going bad.

The one problem I was having was the crickets I bought my bearded dragon was dying and then rotting way before I could feed them all to my bearded dragon. Well first I could have fed all the crickets to my beardie in one serving. A bearded dragon is a bottomless pit, as long as you feed them they will eat, especially worms and crickets. So any way back to my story.

So I would buy about 4 dollars worth of crickets, 15 cents or so each. I bought so many because half would die and rot, and I could atleast feed him half before they all were wasted. Why not feed all them to him at once? Well I like to keep more veggies in his diet. If I fed all at once to him, I guess you can say it spoile him. So in between veggies I give him worms and crickets. (off the path again)

So the problem: crickets die, rot, and then smell.

Solution: I bought another 4 dollars worth of cirkets. I removed everything out of the cricket container. The cheap thin plastic case, or the cricket bag they come in. Only thing left in the container is crickets. I then put the container in the freezer. After the crickets freeze I put them in another container that can not be seen through. So now if guest open my freezer to get ice or whatever they dont see crickets. When I want to feed crickets to my beardie I grab about 10 crickets, put them in a bowl, at room temperature for about an hour.

- my findings is the crickets dont go bad. So they dont rot or smell
- this is not inhumane or cruel, what do you think mother nature does during the winter

- my beardie gets the same nutrition because the crickets are gut loaded. If I need to I still can dust the crickets with repitvite

- My bearded dragon still loves the crickets, he will eat all the crickets with in seconds.

- if you want to buy your crickets in bulk you can do this, and again they will not go bad.

- you will not have hundreds of crickets chirping all night.

- this way is much cheaper then paying for freeze dried crickets in a jar.

I hate nothing more than smelly crickets. Seriously I tried raising crickets for my bearded dragon and other house hold pets, they stink and badly. Then when you buy them at the store no matter what they will not last to long. If you get a few that last the rest just rot and stink. So if you are having the rotten, smelly, gone bad, cricket problem. Try this tip out, it works well for me..

Usually my bearded dragon eats all the live crickets I give him. However there are those that happen to escape his wrath. When you have live crikets in the cage over night they can be annoying to the Bearded Dragon in 2 ways. Plus when the crickets dies they will start to rott and smell.

The first thing that left over crickets do is possibly keep the bearded dragon up all night. Yes this can be annoying especially in the habitat. The constant chirpping bounces off the glass or sides. Think about it if you were stuck in a box with crickets wouldnt it keep you up all night searching and looking. Bearded dragons are not nocturnal, they sleep at night and roam and play during the day. It has been stated like humans this can disturb the sleep wake cycle of Bearded Dragons. Eventually causing him or her to sleep during the day and be active at night.

This can be bad for the fact if the bearded dragon is sleeping during the day he or she is not getting proper heat and light. Bearded Dragons need to bask in the light to warm their stomachs. A warm stomach helps food digest, and keeps the bearded dragon eating correctly.

The second reason leaving crickets in the bearded dragon cage over night is crickets will eat just about anything. Including chewing on your bearded dragon while it is sleeping. This can and will be a bad thing to your bearded dragon, especially if your bearded dragon is young or a baby. When bearded dragons sleep they tend to sleep hard, and it takes alot to wake them. So having crickets crawl and chew on the bearded dragon is not always going to wake him or her up.

The chewing and biting of the crickets can and will cause sores to form on the bearded dragon. I have seen bearded dragons with extreme sores and even met one that did not make it because of these sores. So if you are going to feed crikets to the bearded dragon do it a few at a time so you know all the crickets will be eaten.

I do not like the live crickets rock habitat you find in pet stores, you can put many crickets in the rock and leave in the cage. As the sun goes down the crickets come out of hiding. The more crickets in the cage the greater the chance of the bearded dragon being eaten alive. If you read my crikets advice module above it gives my best advice on feeding of crickets to the Bearded Dragon.

I have been testing and watching my Bearded Dragons eating habits. I do buy (as stated above) crickets, meal worms, and super worms. As with everything else in this economy those things can get pretty expensive. Depends on how much your beardie eats and how often. With the vegetables that is an easy one use uncooked cut ups from dinner vegetables. Keep a large bag and just fill and freeze, I discussed that earlier in this lens, and the same as fruits. I can use just one apple and it will last almost 1 to 2 weeks left in the fridge, cutt it into small slivers and pieces and mix with veggies.

Earth Worms:

What I have not discussed prior is other insects that I have found my Bearded dragon loves. Recently I took my daughter fishing, and had leftover worms. I remeber that beardies and other reptiles love earth worms. So I took one out rinsed it a little and fed it to my bearded dragon. At first he was not sure, but when the worm started wriggling the game was on. My beardie almost sucked it up like spaghetti. (now during fishing season worms can be bought at walmart for 2 bucks a container) If you get a wild hair you can go looking under rocks, logs, and anything laying on the ground. There is a huge chance of finding a few earth worms. I know I dont have to say it but "free". If you catch enough you can actually start a worm farm. This will be a contious free supply of food. The Complete Guide to Worm Farming Ebook

Grasshoppers and Crickets:

On many occasions I take my daughter out and we go grasshopper and cricket catching. Now to many it may not be worth the effort, but to my daughter and I it was a blast. On the cool summer days we could be found in the fields with a large jar filled with grasshoppers, and crickets. This is free food for our beardie. Many people do not like this idea, they complain of insectisides and poisons, so it would be safe to not catch the little buggers near large farms with crops. Again free food, grasshoppers and crickets can get expensive. I have tried raising crickets but that was a failed adventure. Hey maybe you can be more successful. I know down south, you can buy fishing crickets alot cheaper than what you get in the pet stores, that may be another option. Buy a bunch of crickets at a fishing price, and freeze them (discussed in my cricket tips section)The other free food for beardies if you are willing to hunt are grub worms. Grub worms can be found in dead logs and stumps.

Pinkies:

If you are willing you can by two pet store mice, male and female, when they have babies you freeze the babies and thaw out when feeding time. Now many people will complain about this one, but I buy pinkies for my beardie, and recently aquired a new tank for the purpose of raising pinkies. The mice are like 2 bucks for one. So the initial start up will be a few bucks but in the long run you will save more money DIY (pinkies are not cheap).

I enjoyed writing this section of my lens and will continue to add to it as I come up with money saving tips for feeding a bearded dragon.

As I studied Bearded Dragons to learn the proper care I learned that bearded dragons go into a period of semi-dormancy , called brumation. Since I read this I was not scared when my Beardie became inactive and would not eat. I got him 6-5-2010 and around Nov of 2011 he brumated. Now dont get me wrong I worried because he was not eating and at times would not respond to my touch. I knew this was normal and just let him sleep. It was not until the end of January that he came out of his brumation.

What did I do to help him during this period? Well not much.

-I made sure he had fresh food, veggies and super worms, just in case he decided to wake long enough to eat. I also made sure he had fresh water as well.

-I kept the light and heat on during the normal time cycles, and made sure the cage temperature was at a normal heat range. Most people make the cage cooler. If you have a big enough cage then you will have a proper cool spot. So in having a proper cool spot you can keep the rest of the cage normal. My bearded dragon stayed on the lower level of the cage where the temperature is atleast 15 degress cooler then the rest. I did this so if my bearded dragon came out of brumation while I was not home he could find his hot spot.

-I did not have to clean up poop, because during this brumation period he did not have a bowel movement. This bothered me but I checked his stomach once a week. I checked for lumps or bulges, to make sure he was not impacted.

Many books and articles will tell you how to prepare for your beardies brumation. Whenever your bearded dragon is showing signs that are different from his normal activity, it is best to have his or her stool checked for parasites and sickness. This is just to make sure your beardie is healthy and indeed going through a brumation period.

Keep in mind there is not a set time of the year for this brumation period. It all depends on your bearded dragon. Also you may have a bearded dragon that does not brumate at all. It is rare to have a juvenile beardie to brumate. If your bearded dragon is less then a year old then this may very well be a sign of sickness. Then it is advised to get your beardie checked out by a vet.

Things to think about when your bearded dragon becomes lethargic and does not eat. Do they have an impaction? Do they have some sort of an illness that isn't readily apparent? Do they have parasites? Are they under some sort of stress? Do they need to see a vet? Do they have inadequate temperatures, and improper UVB lighting. If you can answer these question with out doubt and know your beardie is healthy and have been properly cared for. Then allow your beardie to brumate and periodically check on him or her.