short beardie caresheet
Simple Caresheet on Adult The Bearded Dragon
This caresheet is based on my own experience and I’m sure some people will disagree.
The bearded dragon, now one of the most popular lizards on the planet thanks to its good nature and disposition, also the fact that’s it’s a very active lizard that doesn’t reach large size (18-22 inches) and is one of the most social of all lizards.
Housing
Beardies should be housed in a minimum of 4’2’2 for a pair, they like to climb and would appreciate a vivairum of 4’3’3 if possible. Most people house beardies together as they seem to like the company but on the other hand some people prefer to house separately due to the fact that you can monitor feeding, pooing and the risk of bullying but the chose is up to you.
Beardies should be provided with full spectrum UV light either a tube or a bulb, for a UV tube I recommend 5.0 but a bulb 10.0 this should be provided for 12 hours and 12 hours without, the UV tube/bulb should be at the most 12” from your beardie, these need to be changed every 9 months to a year. A basking spot should be provided. Some people use heat mats but I personally think that a ceramic heater works best to keep the night time temps not to low at night, but make sure that its protected as the surface area gets very hot, 70f is recommended at night. The basking spot temps should be 100-110f with an ambient temperature of 75-85f.
It is vital to have a thermostat on at all times set to the ambient temps, also if for some reason the temps fly up or down the thermostat will make sure the temps stay round about the same.
The most common substrates are fine grained sand, tiles, newspaper etc
One thing to point out about sand is that it can cause impaction if it
is consumed.
Feeding
Bearded dragons are omnivorous and should feed on both vegetation and protein. Crickets, mealworms, superworms, and a salad mixture should be staple food sources. Never feed your dragon too large of a prey item. We suggest feeding prey 1/2 to 3/4 the size of the space between your dragons eyes.
Dragons require a variety of greens including collard greens, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, mustard greens, turnip greens, and dandelion greens. Stay away from iceberg lettuce, large amounts of kale, cabbage, or spinach. We also suggest a variety of vegetables such as carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, corn, and fruits offered in small amounts. Other specialty additions can include cactus fruit, dandelion flowers, and hibiscus flowers. This salad mix can be offered daily using different combinations of ingredients.
When feeding crickets, make sure your source of crickets is clean. You may gutload your crickets with commercial cricket and/or we suggest offering your crickets fresh fruit, greens, and water. Remove all old food from your cricket container. Mold can be toxic to your lizards. We suggest using a moistened paper towel/sponge, citrus, or carrots to provide water for your crickets.
Whenever possible try and provide a variety of appropriate sized prey items for your dragon including super worms, silk worms, roaches, grasshoppers, preying mantis, and a variety of other bugs (not fireflies). However we strongly suggest not using bugs found outside, as they may have pesticides that can kill your dragon. Also, use waxworms in limited amounts, if at all. They contain little nutritional value, and although relished by the dragons, contain high amounts of fat.
You can also feed rep cal pellets to your dragons at a young age. The best method we have found to start dragons on the pellets is to moisten the pellets, and drop them like crickets onto a paper plate in front of the dragons. This will generally trigger a feeding response from the dragons. Generally they will only eat a couple of pellets in the beginning, but with patience and age they will start to feed heavily on the pellets. The pellets have less risk of parasites, associated with much live prey.
You can also feed pinky mice/rats to adult dragons; this is especially good for females during the breeding season.
We feed all of our hatchlings a minimum of three times a day to ensure optimum growth and health. As dragons get older, their appetite will decrease. For adult dragons, you can offer greens
daily and crickets or worms 3-4 times per week. As dragons get older, you may decrease the amount of protein offered.
We suggest misting your dragons once a day, especially as hatchlings. Dragons will drink during spraying and may also be "trained" to drink and soak in a water dish inside the enclosure. They also enjoy an occasional warm (not hot) bath.
This is only a very short caresheet and does not give all the information you need to keep one but it’s a start!
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