Pogona vittaceps

1-800-324-5928

deannefaust@hotmail.com
Food:  Bearded dragons need a wide variety of food.  We feed our dragons crickets, superworms, baby Madagascar hissing roaches, along with plenty of leafy greens and other veggies.  Some of the veggies we feed include: kale, turnip greens, collared greens, mustard greens, chopped apples, carrots, squash, okra, green beans, and occasionally frozen mixed veggies.  The adults are fed every day to every other day, while youngsters are fed daily.  Non-breeding adults get their food dusted with miner-all or a similar calcium powder every third feeding.  Juveniles and breeding females get their food dusted every other feeding. 

Housing:  Many different things can be used successfully to house bearded dragons.  We house 3-4 lizards in custom made aquariums that are 4 feet long and 32 inches wide.  One bearded dragon can be housed comfortably in a 30 gallon aquarium, and you can add 10 gallons of space for each additional lizard.  Cages can be built out plywood with screen tops.  Another idea, especially for housing a large number of lizards is livestock watering tanks found at feed stores.  Even a large rubber-maid tub can be used if you provide the correct lighting.

Lighting and Substrate:  Full spectrum lighting is very important to the health and well-being of bearded dragons.  I recommend using 1-2 fluorescent bulbs that give off UVB rays 18 inches above the bottom of the cage.  Lizards bask in the sun and absorb the rays for vitamins and to help digest their food.  Without these lights they would have a much shortened lifespan, and be a lot more prone to metabolic bone disease.  For heat, a spot lamp or two with regular 100 watt bulbs.  This is sufficient to keep the basking area 100-115 degrees.  Leave the lights on 10-16 hours a day.

We are currently using newspapers on the bottom of the cages.  I've also used astro turf, large wood chips, or bark chips, and sand.  There are many commercial litters available in pet stores.  Some breeders have had bad luck with sand, in that the lizards ingest it and it clogs them up.  I have never had any problems with it myself.

Water:  Bearded dragons rarely drink from free standing water.  Living in the desert they are more used to licking dew from rocks.  Everyday they should be misted with water to give them the opportunity to drink.

Other Interesting Stuff:  Bearded dragons are native to Australia.  Because animals can no longer be exported out of Australia, all the ones we see here are captive bred and command a high price.  They live for about 15 years, and reach sexual maturity at 18 months.  Both males and females have a dark flap of skin under their throat that they flare out if threatened.  In captivity these naturally tame animals rarely display this.  The most dominant male gets the most choice basking spot and will defend this spot with head bobbing postures.  Females and submissive males will occupy surrounding areas and display arm waving motions.  Gravid females dig a nest 6 inches deep where she will deposit 15-25 eggs.  In a normal breeding season she will lay 3-4 clutches of eggs.  The eggs are then carefully removed from the nest.  They must remain right-side up.  If they are turned they will die.  A marker can be used to label the top.  The eggs take about 90 days to hatch, and can be checked for fertility after 2 weeks by candling.  Babies are cared for the same way as adults, but fed smaller food.