Pogona vitticeps


Introduction:

Let me start by stating that any reptile that i write a caresheet on is wrote from my own personal experience.
Other enthusiasts have their own methods, but mine work for me and have worked for for a lot of people that i have
supplied to and informed them of my methods!
Bearded dragons i have had a lot of experience with and have bred very high quantity's of them.

The Bearded Dragons are one of the most docile lizards that you may come across, although now and then you
may get the odd one who just hates everyone, but this is very rare.
On the whole Bearded Dragons are great eaters and will eat various foods in high amounts, hence they gain
size very quickly and you can expect them to reach sexual maturity at around one year of age.

Housing:

Minimum enclosure i would advise for 1 adult Bearded Dragon would be a 36 x 18 x 18 vivarium, and for a pair
i would advise 48 x 18 x 18 although in both cases larger is better.
The habitat should be desert based and dry, too much humidity in the enclosure can cause respiratory infections.
Hatchlings do better starting off in smaller enclosures so they can get to food easier.

Substrates:

The safest substrate to use is either plain white floor tiles or kitchen roll/newspaper. Lots of people wont
want to use these substrates as they would prefer a more creative natural looking home for their Bearded dragon.
If this is the case then i would recommend a very fine grade sand such as desert sand (by Exo Terra) or Repti Sand
(by Zoo Med). Calci sand in my opinion is a big NO! I have seen lots of impaction cases caused by this product
and I strongly advise against it. Woodchips seem to be widely used by lots of keepers, again i would advise against
as Bearded Dragons seem to have a tendency to eat them and this may also lead to impaction.
I have been using Corn Cob Granuals for a long time now with no adverse affects. Corn Cob Granuals are very small
and easy to clean and stay clean for longer than most substrates and if swallowed tend to pass through the animal
easily.

Heating & Lighting:

Baby Bearded Dragons require a basking area of 100-110 F and cool end should fall to around 80-85 F.
Adult Bearded Dragons will need a basking area slighly lower 95-100 F and cool end again around 80-85 F.
Bearded Dragons require high spectrum Uva and Uvb which they will absorb vitimin D3 through which
is vital for them to absorb calcium efficiently.
There are many ways to supply heating and lighting to a Bearded Dragon habitat!
The best way in my opinion for heating is to use a reflector lamp ran on a dimming thermostat.
This works by the dimmingstat dimming the the bulb to the set temperature, which gives the dragon the ideal temperature
without heat fluctuating.
The Dimming Stat has a temperature probe which sits in the hot end of the vivarium and once temperature is set on the dial
the heat will stay at heat set!
For Uva/Uvb lighting I would recommend Reptiglo 10.00 tubes ran on a Arcadia fluorescent lighting controller.
This will cover a larger area of the enclosure then a Uva/Uvb compact lamp.
For other ways to heat and light your enclosures see heating and lighting options on the main menu!

Decor:

Decor in Bearded Dragon enclosures only needs to be basic.
Real plants or artificial plants will be eaten or demolished and will more then likely do more harm then good.
Under the basking spot your dragon will require either a java wood branch or a piece of slate or rock.
Some keepers use heat rocks and this i cant stress enough is not a good idea and the likely hood is that your
lizard will suffer intense burns.
There are some nice looking well made stand up plants and cactus that are on the market, so if you want a bit of decoration to your
enclosure these are a great option.


By Tony Overal - Bites N Strikes

thank you for all the info you have put on this site that will help me alot you are helping alot of people out thank you so much

That's a pretty nice general care sheet!

My only concern would be the recommended enclosure sizes - 3' x 18" only gives 4.5 sq. ft. of floor space; that's barely half of the floor space of a 4' x 2' cage (8 sq. ft.), which I and many other people would consider to be the absolute minimum required to keep a dragon happy, active and stimulated.

Having kept adult beardies in 3' x 18" cages for about a week whilst I was building a new stack, I'd never recommend someone kept an adult in such a small cage; there's simply not room for them to exercise properly. Because of the cramped conditions, they tend to walk through their own feces as soon as they deposit them, and spend a lot of time pacing along the front of the cage looking for a way out...

i must admit when i bought my beardie (privately not from a shop) it came with a glass 36x18x15 and hes been happy in there as hes not known any different. Most shops i know sell a 3ft tank for 1 beardie set up and in our shop we have never had any problems or anyone come back saying their beardies are unhappy. Suppose it depends on the owner our adult comes out quite a lot so gets plenty of excersise. plus as soon as he defecates we remove it but he usually does it on the floor - very rarely in his tank lol!

Hades if you notice it does actually say he recommends Minimum and that larger is better,

thank you for that info that will help alot of people out, as well i keep 2 dragons in a 4ft tank they love it so much i will never keep them in a small tank that is not very good for your dragons.