Bearded Dragon Care
Your New Baby
Housing
For a hatchling dragon, and those up to 6" in length, you should start with a 10 gal aquarium. The reason for this is, in a larger aquarium your dragon may have trouble hunting down its crickets. You may start with a larger tank, but where possible, try to section off part of it so the crickets can’t run too far.
Substrate
For substrate, use paper towels. You don’t want to put your dragon on sand till it’s big enough for the particles to pass thru it’s digestive system should it ingest some. Example: A half-teaspoon of sand compared to a 300 gm adult dragon is nothing; to a 30 gm hatchling … it’s enough to impact its digestive system. Compare a big Mac to a 150 lb man. Now compare that same big Mac to a 15 lb child. Get it?
Lighting
All dragons should be provided with high quality UVB fluorescent bulbs. The two recommendations on the market is the Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 or the Exoterra 5.0. Any bulb that states that it is a “full spectrum” bulb will not work; all “full spectrum” means is that anything viewed in natural sunlight will appear to be the same color if viewed under that bulb.
Heating
You must be able to heat a specific area of your dragon’s tank to about 100 degrees farenheit. The rest of the tank should be a temperature gradient from about 90 to 80 degrees. There should be a warm end and a cooler end. Your dragon will choose which temperature it prefers. Do not let the night time temperatures drop below 75 degrees. Turn the lights off at night. Reptiles need 12 hours of darkness.
Feeding
This is the most critical point. Never feed your dragon any item too large. How do you know if it’s too large? It should be the same width (or less) as the space between your dragon’s eyes and ¾ the length of its head. Feed your dragon small meals frequently. A dragon’s stomach is directly below it’s spinal column. If you over feed your dragon, you risk rupturing the spinal cord and paralysing and killing your dragon. A young dragon should be fed 4-5 times a day. More frequently if it appears hungry. Feed only as many crickets as your dragon can eat in a sitting. If he chases and eats 10 crickets then shows no interest in any more, remove any uneaten crickets. They hide quite well, and WILL come out at night and chew on your dragon.Salad you can leave out all day and should put it in about an hour before giving crickets. Make sure it’s finely chopped. Top with calcium powder (and dust the crickets) about 3-4 times a week for babies. You can add vitamin powder about 1-2 times a week. Good greens? Collard, dandelion, romaine, escarole, turnip greens, mustard greens, romaine, parsley, kale, etc. You want dark leafy greens. You can also add finely chopped green beans, snow peas, grated squash. Top off the salad with some finely chopped fruits a couple of times a week. Avoid those veggies that are high in phosphorus and goiterins ie. Brussel sprouts, kale, broccoli. Always provide a shallow dish of clean water. Babies can drown in 1 inch of water.
Some further tips
Handle your baby frequently. When removing it from the tank, do not approach it with your hand from above. All predators approach from above. Try and scoop your dragon up from it’s level. Don’t over do it with the vitamin powder. Dragons are very susceptible to overdosing on Vitamin A.