Bearded Dragon Care & Info - Reptiles Galore

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Bearded Dragons



Welcome to the Bearded Dragon care sheet and useful downloads section.

----Useful Downloads----

Downloadable/Printable Care Sheet (word file)

Blank Birth Certificate (excel)

Weight Log (excel)


---- Care Sheet ----



Below are the requirements that we would advise for a single bearded dragon. It's best to purchase the set-up and get it up and running before your new pet moves in so that you can get it all ready and trial tested to ensure that everything works properly and safely.

Shopping list & estimated prices:

*4ft (w) by 2ft (h) by 2ft (d) minimum vivarium (preferably wooden as it keeps in heat better than glass or plastic) £20-£200 depending on size, brand and material.
*Normal Household light bulb (normally 60w for 3ft viv or 100w for 4ft viv) £1.00
*Standard light bulb holder £1.50-£4
*Digital thermometer £3-£15
*Dimmer thermostat £35-£65
*Fluorescent Starter (aquarium one should be fine but always check) £12-£15
*Arcadia 12% UV bulb (uvb) £20-£30
* UV Reflector £12-£20
*A water dish (for use for the fresh veg) £5-£10 depending on size, brand and material.
*Tweezers/tongs (optional) £8
*Digital kitchen weighing scales £10-£30
*Vitamin powder (e.g. Nutrobal) £8 depending on size and brand.
*Pure calcium powder (e.g. Calypso or limestone flour) £5 depending on size and brand.
*Rocks, pebbles, fake foliage (optional) £FREE-£15
*Substrate (e.g. slate/ceramic rough tiles, kitchen roll, paper, reptile carpet or lino. Reptile's Galore do not advise using loose substrate with baby bearded dragons as it has been known to cause many problems including infections, poor hygiene and impaction but it is the owners choice at their own risk. However play sand is ok to use for adult bearded dragons and this is what we would normally recommend for those over the age of 1year. We do not advise the use of calci-sand, desert sand, woodchips, or any other loose substrate. ) £2-20 depending on what material you want to use and how much of it you get.

What to do next:

Once you have purchased all this you now need to set up the vivarium. We normally recommend using a wooden vivarium because wood keeps the heat in better than glass or plastic

You need to first install the lights. You need to mount the normal household lamp holder about 2-4inches away from either the right or left hand side of the vivarium and make sure its about halfway across between the back and front You should connect the light bulb to the dimmer stat and put the probe for it in the cool end. You should set the temprature to 85f-90f, you will need to tweak it until you get the temprature of the basking spot to 110f-115f. The thermometer should be placed with the probe under the basking spot to set the temprature up correct. After this you should leave it towards the back of the hot end to keep and eye on the temprature. The hot end temprature (not under the basking spot) should be around 98f-103f. Now you need to install the UV light you need to mount it diagonally across the top and make sure you mount the reflector behind it. If the UV light is not 12% then you need to get the UV bulb closer to the bearded dragon (you can do this by using chains to hang it). We also recommend that the dimmer stat and UV starter is plugged straight into a timer. In the summer this should be set for 14 hours on during the day, in winter it should be on for 10 hours of the day, during spring and autumn it should be on for 12hours of the day. Don't worry about turning the heat off at night, its fine as in the wild in Australia I can get very cold at night. Just make sure it never goes below 60f at night.

The next thing to set up is the substrate. Once this is done, put a basking rock under the household light bulb. Bearded Dragons don't need hides as they will use them during the day and not capture enough UV light. The food bowl can now be put in place in the cool end of the vivarium. Now it is just the decor left to add, like some fake plants or rocks (if you choose to add these).


Handling your Bearded Dragon:


For the first week or two, your Bearded Dragon should be left alone to settle in, this is to avoid unnecessary stress. After a couple of weeks we recommend that you spend 5 minutes a couple of times a day letting your Bearded dragon explore your hand and sniff/lick it inside their vivarium so that they can get used to you and your scent (it is best to do this in the day when they are more active). When picking them up always make sure your supporting all legs.

Once they have got used to your scent and start trusting you, they will crawl onto or around your hand and then you can attempt to touch/stroke or pick them up. Always pick them up from below and make sure you are supporting their arms and legs. Allow them to run up your arms and around your hands. After a time they will eventually just rest on you without any problems and they love to have a run around the house. When letting them out in a room, make sure there is no way out for them and that there are no other loose animals such as dogs, cats, rabbits ect.

Feeding Time:
Always make sure there is fresh veg available for your bearded dragon. It needs to be fresh daily, and even if they don't eat it you must still replace it daily. You don't need to put a water dish in there as they get water from there veg however if you want to put one in there make sure its not too big and keep it on the far cool side.

Good staple foods include crickets, locusts, roaches and morio worms. As a treat once a week, you can feed them a wax worm or two. Do not over feed them wax worms as they are fatty and can be addictive. Never feed mealworms as these are too tough for the bearded dragon to digest as the mealworms have chitin. When feeding you should let them eat as much as they can in a 15minute window. For bearded dragons under the age of 9 months, this should be done twice a day. Once they reach 9-12months old they will start to eat less, once you notice this reduce to just one feeding time a day.

Make sure all live food is dusted with vitamins twice and a week and pure calcium 3-5 times a week.

Never leave live food such as crickets, locusts or roaches in the vivarium for more than 30 minutes as they could bite your Bearded Dragon which could cause an infection.
Suitable Veg:

• Pack Choi
• Spring greens
• Lambs Lettuce
• Curly Kale
• Butternut Squash (Shredded)

Don't use the following as its very bad for them:

• Iceberg Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Broccoli
• Citrus - This is very dangerous
• Bananas
• Cabbage
• Strawberries
• Never use veg you find outside and always wash supermarket veg.

Daily jobs:

*refresh waterbowl/veg bowl
*spot clean poo out
Weekly jobs:


*Clean and disinfect the water bowl/Veg Bowl weekly to prevent limescale and mould.
*Remove your Bearded Dragon from its home and change the substrate and use a weak bleach solution or a brand named reptile disinfectant to clean all surfaces in the vivarium every two weeks.
*Weigh your Bearded Dragon weekly and keep a log of the weight.
*Every 4 weeks, measure your Bearded Dragon's length and keep a log. (See useful downloads for a weight log)

It's good to keep a log of your Bearded Dragon's weight and length to ensure that they are growing healthily. If there is more than a week with a large decrease in weight, you should take the gecko to an experienced exotic vets for a check up and give a stool sample to test for parasites or worms.

Below are a few pictures of a ideal vivarium. Please note if using a ceramic heater you should have a guard fitted to make sure your reptile doesn't burn itself, the guard has been removed on these pictures so that you can see the fitting better.









All information in this care sheet is to be used as a guide. Reptile's Galore takes no responsability for anything that happens to your pet or you while following this guide.