SavageReptiles’s Bearded Dragon Care Sheet.

Tank Size:

Baby Bearded Dragons can be kept in a 10 Gallon Glass Tank up until they are a Year old at this point most Bearded Dragons are at the point of Out Growing there 10 Gallon or close to it and should be moved to a 20 Gallon Long - 30 Gallon Long Tank. 30 being the ideal size however it will not hurt them to be in a 20 Gallon. 30 Gallon Long is the recommended due to some dragons growing a little larger and some being more active than others thus the extra space would be required. We do not recommend the starter kits such as the 20 Gallon Zoomed one that most pet stores carry as for all except for the tank and maybe the lid to the tank and heat bulb would be waisted money as for it can’t be used.

Substrate:

Bearded Dragons can be compacted by Sand which can Kill them so any kind of sand Including the Calcium or Vita Sand by Zoomed is a BIG NO NO. Never use Sand. Babies Require ReptiCarpet as the Substrate this is a recycled Reptile safe felt sheet like product that is ideal for most reptiles and is easy to clean and reusable for quite some time before needing to be replaced. You can use Zoomed Eco Earth Dry for Adults however this is ideally only for use in their egg laying box if your breeding Bearded Dragons. You can use Zoomed Eco Earth as a Normal substrate for adults how ever there is still a risk of Impaction though it’s less likely and can usually be passed through there digestive track with Eco Earth unlike with sand. If you choose to use EcoEarth you’ll need to use it when its dry and powdery which means if you get the condensed bricks, you’ll need to dry it out completely before using it. You will also need a clean sifter to clean the eco earth much like a cat litter box and the entire substrate will need to be replaced at least once a month. So, for these reasons we recommend keeping ReptiCarpet as the only substrate for the entire life span of the Bearded Dragon. Make sure not to use the Rocky Repticarpet that looks as if it has little gravel pieces on it this one can scratch your bearded dragons’ belly and eventually cause sores and other medical problems.

Food & Water Treatment:

There should be a food and Shallow Water dish in your tank at all times! this includes while the Dragon is a baby and when it’s an Adult. Bearded dragons should always have Greens and other vegies in their food dish at all times in addition to being fed a variety of insects. Insects should be no bigger than the width between your bearded dragons eyes any bigger and they will choke or be unable to eat said insect. Feed your Bearded Dragons a few Insects Daily. Babies usually will prefer to eat Insects over Vegies but as they get older will slowly start eating more vegies than insects until there an adult when they may eat almost only Vegies but you should always offer insects at least 3x a week at this point in addition to always having a full Vegie food dish. Vegies should be replaced every other day with Fresh ones.  Tap water should always be treated with Zoomed Reptisafe never just fish tank dechlorinator as Zoomed Reptisafe also adds the needed vitamins and minerals back to the water for the bearded dragon.

List of safe Insects include:

• Crickets
• Dubia Roaches
• Superworms
• Mealworms
• HornWorms
• Locusts
• Black Soldier Fly Larva
• Earth Worms

*Never use wild caught insects from your yard Or Worms from The Fishing Department make sure the insects your buying were produced specifically for feeding to reptiles! *

List of Safe and Healthy Vegies for Bearded Dragons In order from healthiest to least healthy:

• Mustard Greens
• Chopped Carrots
• Acorn Squash
• Bell Peppers
• Bok Choy
• Artichoke Heart
• Celery
• Kale

Heating & Lighting:

Bearded Dragons should have a Reptile Desert Heat Bulb which allows a Basking Spot of 105 Degrees F - 110 Degrees F This can normally be achieved with a 60Watt Desert Reptile Bulb directly on the lid of the tank with a perch below it for the bearded dragon to get closer if need be. Ambient Temperature in the Tank should be around 80 Degrees F at Cooling to around 75 Degrees F At Night.  Bearded Dragons need a UVB light to help metabolize their calcium and Vitamin D this also prevents Metabolic Bone Dieses.

Do not use the Compact or Spiral UV Bulbs such as the ones made by EXO Terra they do not spread the UVB Evenly and have been known to cause blindness and other eye damage in bearded dragons. Only use the long 24” UVB Tube/Bar Lights the only one of these we use and  recommend is the Zoomed Reptisun Terrarium Hood which comes with a T5 H0 High output UVB Bulb but ideally you should buy a Zoomed T10 H0 UVB High Output Bulb for the aforementioned fixture as the T5 HO is usually for Tropical Reptile species and the higher T10 50 is for Desert species such as Bearded Dragons. Never use the Red “Night” Heat bulbs they have also been known to cause Bearded Dragon blindness and other Eye Damage in a recent study.  If you need additional heat at night to keep the temperature where it should be you can attach a Heat pad to the bottom of the Tank on one side and turn that on at night make sure it doesn’t get hotter than it should be though! Make sure you Turn off both the Heat and UV Lights at Night and turn off the heat pad in the morning when you turn them back on. You should have a Thermometer on both sides of your tank One under your basking spot to check the basking temperature and one on the opposite side of the tank to check the ambient/ cool side of the tank’s temperature. We recommend Using Digital Thermometers over The Gauges because there more reliable and accurate. Also not required but recommended a Temperature Gun these are gun like tools that shoot a continuous laser beam out and shows the temperature of whatever the laser beam is touching on the readout screen. If you do use one of these in conjunction with the other thermometers never aim the laser at the bearded dragon’s eye or any animals’ eyes for that matter! You do not need a Hydrometer as for Bearded dragons are from the desert and shouldn’t have really any humidity in the tank at all!

Tank Décor:

Tank Décor the fun part of decorating your tank. The only real décor we can recommend is a perch for the bearded dragon to climb on such as a horizontal log under the basking light (NEVER USE WOOD FROM OUTSIDE!) and a Half log hut that you can find at most pet stores. You can add a fake weighted based cactus to the corner of the tank for looks but make sure the spines on it are soft rubber and flimsy and it can’t be knocked over. We do not recommend fake plants with leaves as the bearded dragon might try and eat those and while it may eventually learn that’s not food should it rip a plastic leaf off and eat it this can be very dangerous!

Pro Tips:

Do not go to a Pet Store for advice they are almost always wrong or will unknowingly give miss information.  If you need advice or more information contact a experienced Bearded Dragon keeper or Breeder. You could try joining a Bearded Dragon Facebook Group however you find there will be a lot of people in those that would rather criticize your and jump on you for wrong doing than try and help and many of those same people will try and give some information that is wrong or outdated but act as they know everything instead of learning from there own mistakes and thus that information may not be reliable of course this is something you should understand about the entire internet.

Always do some research on your own as much as possible! Be it by reading books or online articles from a reputable source. Most other Pro tips I could give have been included in each section of this care sheet including my recommendations.

If you ever need further assistance or advice feel free to contact us using the information on our Contact Us Page.