DESCRIPTION & LIFE SPAN: Bearded dragons, pogona vitticeps, are named for the spiky scales on the underside of their chins. When a bearded dragon expands these scales which turn black, it resembles a beard, hence the name. Pogona vitticeps regularly reach sizes of 18-22 inches. Males generally reach larger sizes than females. One such morph, German giant bearded dragons reach sizes of 20"-25". The normal morphs of bearded dragons are predominantly tan/brown colored. From above, a bearded dragon's torso resembles a prickly pancake. The heads of bearded dragons are generally triangular, with males having larger heads. Bearded dragons live anywhere from 5-15 years. If well kept, and no diseases occur, your bearded dragon will live to see older age.
DIFFICULTY RATING: Bearded dragons are easy to keep, but you must focus on their basic environmental, dietary, and water needs. Since bearded dragons are diurnal, calcium, vitamins, and UV lighting are a necessity.
PATTERN & COLOR MUTATIONS: Normal, Red, Gold, German Giant, Sandfire, Hypomelanistic, Lavender, Snow, Pastel, and several others.
RANGE & STATUS IN THE WILD:Pogona vitticeps, or inland bearded dragons originate in the inland of Australia from the southern to northern coast. Bearded dragons are still very widespread and do not face extinction anytime soon. This is due to Australia's strict exportation laws, and the fact that bearded dragons are heavily bred all over North America that the need for wild-caught bearded dragons is no longer necessary. Bearded dragons are one example of how breeding and selling captive-bred reptiles can prevent exportation/smuggling and help animals thrive in their native environment.
Bearded dragons should be of similar size when housed with other bearded dragons. This is especially important in hatchling and juvenile beardeds. The reason is because larger bearded dragons will intimidate their smaller counterparts by getting the most food, the best basking spot, etc. Make sure you provide enough crickets and other food to feed more than one bearded dragon. Bearded dragons have a distorted possession theory. Their theory is "I'll eat all I want, until I'm stuffed. Then, you can have what's left."
When you house hatchling and juvenile bearded dragons together, you may encounter MLS, "Missing Limb Syndrome." All the young beardies must be of similar size, as larger ones will eat better, and get the better basking spots, etc. If you do not feed enough crickets to feed them all, the stronger ones who are hungry will nip at their weaker siblings. Many bearded dragons has lost toes, feet, legs, and bits of tail to stronger siblings. If you have smaller and weaker beardies that seem to be intimidated and lethargic and not eating enough, separate them so that their health and growth can get back on track.
When selecting or building a cage for your bearded dragon, it's important to consider their size and activity level. Also, consider the fact that they are semi-arboreal. This means they like to climb and they will climb, but they will spend an equal amount of time on the ground as well. Provide a cage that is wider than or equal to the height of the cage. Taller cages will not hurt, but beardies are not very good at coming down if branches are fairly steep. Also, beardies will leap off their branch to catch a cricket, or just for the fun of it. You don't want to subject your beardie to a long free fall where they could possibly get injured.
Also, you should put in two hiding spots on the warm end and the cool end to allow your bearded dragon a place to hide, and a place to sleep. However, don't be too surprised if your bearded dragon uses the hide spots infrequently. For example, my bearded dragon, Ziggy, never uses his hide spot. He sleeps out in the open during the nighttime and goes to his basking spot when the lights come on. You should also put in a large, shallow water bowl for your beardie to run through.
If you like, you can add live or fake plants in your beardie's enclosure. Keep in mind, beardies are not graceful and respectful to their environment. They will trample over things, including plants. Therefore, live plants don't stand a chance, and fake plants will probably end up broken. In addition, crickets may hide in the leaves and come out at night and nibble at your bearded dragon which might prove to be a problem since beardies sleep rather soundly.
Sand: Bearded dragons come from the Australian desert. Therefore, they live on sand. If you want to recreate your bearded dragon's natural environment, use sand. Sand is infamous for causing impaction problems. Begin using sand after your bearded dragon has reached the age of 4-5 months old. The reason is because hatchlings and juveniles younger than 4 months old are known to constantly eat sand. There are several kinds of sand to use, some are better used than others. You can use the corporate-made Repti-Sand or Calci-Sand. Their labels claim that the sand is 100% digestible, which removes the cause of impaction. However, there have been reports of reptiles becoming impacted with 100% digestible, corporate-made sand. The downside of Repti-Sand or Calci-Sand is these types of sand are expensive, especially if you are going to use them for the large enclosures that bearded dragons need. Another type of sand I would advise against is silica sand. Basically, silica sand is the same thing as broken glass. After all, sand can be made into glass. Would you want your bearded dragon to ingest broken glass? Perhaps, the most economical sand is play sand. Play sand can be bought in large 50 lb. bags that cost no more than $6-9 dollars. This is also economical because you can buy a few large bags for your bearded dragon enclosure, and still pay less than using corporate made digestible sand. With play sand, there is always the possibility for impaction, especially in young bearded dragons, so it is best to keep younger bearded dragons on paper.
Wood Chips: You can use wood chips for your bearded dragon enclosure, but it doesn't recreate their natural environment. Personally, I have never heard of people using wood chips as a substrate for bearded dragons. This is mainly because wood chips do not recreate their natural environment. Also, wood chips raise the humidity high, and keep it high. Bearded dragons come from the dry Australian desert, and they are best kept in low humidity environments. The only bonus is that wood chips are large, and most don't bother trying to ingest it. However, some may attempt it, and impaction will almost always result. The downside of wood chips is that crickets could hide under the wood chips, and come out at night and gnaw on your bearded dragon. Also, bearded dragons originate from dry climate, and the high humidity that wood chips creates can cause respiratory problems in your bearded dragon.
Paper towels: Quite a few people do keep their bearded dragons on paper towels or newspaper. This is most commonly practiced with hatchling and young juvenile bearded dragons until they are 8-10" long. This is because they cannot ingest paper, and most likely won't attempt to ingest paper. Paper is the safest type of substrate, and the cheapest. As long as paper is kept dry, and replaced often when dirtied by feces, paper will aid in keeping the humidity low. The downside of paper is that it doesn't simulate the bearded dragon's natural environment. Also, it won't stimulate your bearded dragons into digging which provides some form of exercise for your bearded dragon.
Hopefully, the pros and cons as to what type of substrate presented here can help you decide what you would prefer for your bearded dragon as far as aesthetics, restoration of their natural environment, and concern for their health.
When feeding your bearded dragon, there is one important guideline you should follow to know what size prey to feed your bearded dragon. Rule of thumb: the prey item must be no wider than the space between your bearded dragon's eyes. Also, they should be no longer than 3/4 the size of their head from base of head to snout. Worms can be fed at slightly longer because their elongated bodies allow for easy ingestion. The need of a high-quality diet for your bearded dragon is important. Especially when your bearded dragon is at the age of hatchling to sub-adult. During this period, they grow the fastest, about 1/2" a week.
Crickets: These are very nutritional insects, and the most easily accessible. These come in a variety of sizes from pinhead, 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", prewing, and 1" fully winged adults. As stated in the rule of thumb, feed these according to your bearded dragon's head size. In addition, bearded dragons will eat a lot of these crickets, especially younger ones. Therefore, don't be surprised if each beardie eats approximately 30 crickets a day. Feed them no more than they will eat in one 5 minute period. Otherwise, loose crickets will find a place to hide, and come out at night and gnaw on your soundly sleeping bearded dragon. When gut-loading your crickets, feed them slices of potatoes, squash, carrots, or tropical fish food. You can also add slices of orange or any moist fruit for water. Don't directly add water to your cricket cage because crickets have a death wish with water and you will find many drowned crickets in water.
Mealworms: Mealworms should not be fed to your bearded dragon exclusively. The main reason is because mealworms have a hard chitin (exoskeleton), and too many of these can cause impaction in your bearded dragon. Like crickets, mealworms can be fed in a variety of sizes. Occasionally, you may encounter "Giant Mealworms", these mealworms are given some type of steroids to make them larger. Also, it gives the giant mealworms a thicker, harder chitin. The best time to feed all mealworms is to feed the ones that have just shed and they appear white. During this period, the underlying exoskeleton is still very soft. Therefore, they will not be as likely to impact your bearded dragon. To gut-load your mealworms, give them a slice of potato with calcium dusted on the potato. The reason for the calcium is because mealworms have a smooth exoskeleton, and if you dust them, it will just slide off the mealworms. Putting calcium on the potato ensures that necessary calcium is still present when the mealworm is fed to your bearded dragon. Also, you do not need to worry about oranges because mealworms can get the water they need from the potato.
Superworms: These are large worms that look similar to mealworms (tenebrio molitor). Do not confuse them with Giant Mealworms. Superworms are an entirely different species (zoophobus morio). Superworms are a better choice than mealworms because their chitin is thinner and softer. The only problem is, superworms are big, approximately 2", and they cannot be fed to your bearded dragon until your beardie is large enough. To gut-load your superworms, give them a slice of potato with calcium dusted on the potato for the very same reason you don't apply calcium directly to mealworms.
Wax Worms: Wax worms are considered the "Twinkies" of insects. This is because they have a high fat content. Wax worms are very addictive, so they should only be fed once or twice a week. If you feed your bearded dragon wax worms exclusively, they will ignore all the other insects you have put in with your beardie. Do not feed these exclusively because they will make your bearded dragon obese. However, they are a good choice for gravid mothers. The main reason is because the eggs producing in her, and the egg-laying process depletes much of her fat stores. Wax worms will help bring her fat stores back quickly.
Misc. insects: If you choose to collect insects, collect them in areas you know are not treated by pesticides or insectides. Bearded dragons will eat insects such as: locusts, grasshoppers, flies, moths, etc. WARNING!! NEVER feed fire flies to your bearded dragon because they are highly toxic. A single firefly will render your bearded dragon dead in a matter of minutes.
Beardie Salad: Bearded dragons should be fed a variety of greens, vegetables, and fruits daily. Greens include: kale, cilantro, mustard greens, collard greens, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, swiss chard, carrot greens, and a little broccoli. Veggies include: potato, sweet potato, carrots, butternut squash, and yellow squash. Fruits include: strawberries, blueberries, oranges (just a little), mango, papaya, kiwi, and pears. Bearded dragons love raspberries, but they should be only given as treats. Chop these up finely to the same sizes according to the rule of thumb that insects are fed. If you feed your beardie in the morning just before you leave for work/school, I recommend you chop and mix all the greens, vegetables and fruits together and refrigerate them. Scoop approximately 1/4-1/2 cup and put them in a bowl in your beardie cage every morning. This will save you a lot of time if you are in a hurry in the morning rather than chopping the ingredients every morning.
Furthermore, the desert nights are known to drop to temperatures as low as 20°-30°F. However, I don't recommend you keep the temperatures this low every night. Keeping the temperature gradient at 65°-75°F is a good range for the nighttime photoperiod. Bearded dragons are known to fall asleep a minute or two after the light goes off and the temperature drops, and they stay sound asleep until the morning light. So, the gradient at night isn't much of a concern, but always a big help to your beardie if it should ever wake up in the middle of the night and move around.
With the need for bright light in mind, we must not forget that bearded dragons are diurnal, so they depend on the ultraviolet rays of the sun to process calcium in their liver. For the majority of us who don't live in a climate that is similar to the Australian desert year round, except for those in southern Arizona, we must provide some kind of ultraviolet light bulb to help our bearded dragon produce calcium in their liver. Without any source of ultraviolet light for a long period of time, a bearded dragon will develop (MBD) Metabolic Bone Disease, and eventually die if left untreated. The best brands out on the market are the ZooMed Repti-Sun 5% bulb, or the ZooMed Iguana Light 5% bulb. These two are no different as to which is better. However, no light bulb can ever closely resemble the intensity of the sun's UV rays. Keeping your bearded dragon out in unfiltered sunlight for 15 minutes roughly equals the same amount a bearded dragon can recieve from unfiltered rays of a UV bulb for 8 hours.
Therefore, keeping your bearded dragon in the unfiltered sunlight during the warm/hot summer days for a number of hours will do wonders for your bearded dragon. It is fairly simple to provide your bearded dragon with unfiltered UV rays. In the beardie's enclosure, there should be a screen between the bearded dragon and the UV bulb, because plastic/glass filters out some, if not all of the UV rays a bearded dragon needs. The same is true for sunlight. Keep your bearded dragon outdoors in a screened enclosure, as a plastic or glass enclosure will filter out UV rays, and heat up quickly and cook your bearded dragon. You should always provide some sort of shade to cover approximately half the cage to allow your bearded dragon to cool off, and to prevent overheating.
If you are concerned about your bearded dragon escaping or being stolen outdoors, you can put a screened cage next to a window screen on warm summer days. As usual, provide shade, and make sure there is no plastic/glass to cook your beardie. One other thing, make sure there are not too many indoor/outdoor objects obstructing the light and warmth of the sun. If so, move your cage to another window, or supervise your bearded dragon outdoors.
As for gender ratios, you should have one male, and a number of females. The reason is because if there is a lone male and a lone female, the sexually active male will persistently attempt to mate with the lone female because he only has one to choose from. With a multitude of females, the male will be somewhat less persistent, and less aggressive. The reason is because the male has more females to mate with, and more to choose from, so he doesn't need to be as aggressive. Therefore, there will be less chances of injury from mating bites on the neck and back of the females. If you have a lot of room, you can put in two males with a multitude of females, the competition of females will urge the males to work harder to mate. Also, there should be quite a number of females, so that the males are less likely to fight over a shortage of females. In addition, the purpose of the large space is if the two males should ever cross paths, there will be enough room for the losing male to escape and hide. Thus, preventing the occurence of injuries or death from fighting. It is not necessary to include more than one male, as most will breed readily.
Prior to breeding, you can 'condition' your bearded dragons for breeding season. What some breeders do is they decrease the temperature for two or three months to provide a winter season before breeding season. The basking spot should reach temperatures of 75°-80°F, with the ground temperature gradient from 65°-70°F. During the winter nights, the temperature should be 55°-65°F on the ground. Bearded dragons can safely tolerate temperatures in the low 50°s. After the winter cooling down period is over, you can change the temperature back up again to their normal daily temperature, which signals the start of breeding season.
Once your breeding season has begun, you can put your male and females together. That is, if they were kept apart during the cooling winter season. You will notice some mating behaviors among your bearded dragons. The male's beard will become jet black, and he will often extend it in a breeding display to the females, which gives him the appearance of having a beard, hence the name. On the other hand, the females will engage in arm-waving behavior. Eventually, your bearded dragons will mate. After the mating has taken place, you should provide a laying box or a moist substrate area in the enclosure to provide a digging spot for the female to lay her eggs in. Many breeders use laying boxes so that the buried eggs can be easily removed for incubating.
The female should lay her eggs after a 20-30 day gestation period. Place your eggs in a store-bought incubator, such as the HovaBator. You should have moist vermiculite as the substrate in the incubator for the eggs. To test the moisture of the vermiculite, squeeze it between your index finger and thumb, if the vermiculite squeezes out any drops, then it is too moist and will drown the embryos. The vermiculite should stick to your fingers. When the vermiculite is sticky, put the eggs in the incubator about 1/2" deep in the substrate. As you incubate, the incubation temp should be 84°F. Make sure the temperature doesn't reach 90°F, as the heat will kill all the developing embryos. Pogona vitticeps eggs will take approximately 55-75 days to hatch. About 24 hours prior to hatching, the eggs will take on a soft and collapsed appearance, and healthy babies will start to slit the shell with their egg tooth. The hatching process will take approximately 24 hours.