Bearded Dragon Care Tips: Everything You Need To Know

Bearded Dragon Cages and Housing

An ideal bearded dragon cage will keep in humidity and heat, and also be easy to clean. We recommend glass tanks because they’re easy to maintain and most comfortable for your beardie friend. Cages made of wire mesh can be hard on a bearded dragon’s toe nails, while plastic containers lock in too much humidity.

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Bearded dragons need plenty of space in their cage. The size needed depends on the size and age of your beardie.

• For a baby, use a 10 gallon glass tank

• For a juvenile, use a 20 gallon glass tank

• For an adult - 40 gallon glass tank (or larger)

 

Logs, Rocks and Plants:

Bearded dragons love to climb and they’ll enjoy crawling around obstacles placed inside their cage, or basking on a log beneath their heat lamp. You can put rocks, plants and logs into their cage, as long as they’re purchased from a reputable site or store. Because of the risk of bugs, diseases, and parasites, you should never place items that you find outdoors into your beardie’s tank.

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To keep your bearded dragon safe, check to make sure that any rocks or logs are a safe distance from heat lamps. 

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Bearded Dragon Substrate: 

Do not use sand, Vita-sand or gravel in your beardie’s cage. These may seem like a natural choice, but they can create impactions, a type of blockage in the gastrointestinal tract, because beardies love to lick things including the bottom of their cage! They will also accidently ingest sand when trying to eat if fed on these substances. Bearded dragons constantly use their tongues to get an idea of where they are. If they ingest too much sand, they will likely develop an impaction and require veterinary care. 

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Many people glue together slate or tile to create a basking ledge and floor for the tank. This is a great option because it’s easy to clean. Paper towels also make for an easy, healthy substrate for your beardie’s cage. Feces will be easy to spot on the white towels and you can quickly replace them with a fresh stock.  Repticarpet can also be used to line the tank.

 

Providing the Right Climate for Your Bearded Dragon

Your bearded dragon’s cage should be equipped with proper lighting and heat. This is fundamental to the health of your pet, since bearded dragons need exposure to both UVA and UVB rays. Bearded dragons need UVB to synthesize vitamin D3 in their skin, allowing them to use the calcium they get in their diet. Without vitamin D3, they cannot use calcium, and this can be very dangerous for their health. 

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Bearded dragons are known as mid-day full sun baskers, which means that they need high UVB exposure with a UV index between 2.6 and 3.5. Always be sure follow the directions of the bulb you are purchasing and don’t place the bulb in the center of the enclosure lid; place it towards either end of the enclosure. The bearded dragon should be able to escape the heat or UV exposure if they desire. 

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Keep your bearded dragon on a regular light cycle, turning on and off the bulbs at the same time each day. Beardies should be exposed to 12-13 hours of daylight. For references on our UVB lighting recommendations refer to our Lighting Guide here.

 

How Hot Should Your Bearded Dragon Tank Be?

You need to outfit your tank with a thermometer. Ideally,  you should have two. Place one thermometer on either side of the tank (cool and hot sides) in order to get a complete picture of the environment in the tank. The thermometers should be placed at the middle of the tank’s height. Note that if the thermometer is placed too close to the heat, it will give an incorrect reading. 

The hot spot in the tank should be between 90-100°F for adults. It can be up to 110°F for bearded dragons under 6 months old and up to 105°F for beardies under a year. The cool side of the tank should be between 80-90°F. At night, the tank can cool down between 72-80°F. Ceramic heat emitters can be used at night if the tank falls below the recommended night temperature. Be sure to keep the bulbs off at night, since light can disturb the sleep cycle of a bearded dragon. Change your UVB bulb every 4-6 months, since their efficacy dwindles quickly over time, even if the bulb still produces light. 

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We do not recommend using under tank heaters for bearded dragons, as they emit heat without light. Beardies utilize the light to determine when they should move away from the heat they feel. Without this stimulus, they often do not move away from the heat that is created by the under the tank heater. This puts your bearded dragon at risk of overheating and burns.

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Bearded Dragons and Shedding

Bearded dragons shed their skin as they grow. When they’re young, they may shed once a month or more, but as adults their shedding slows to about once or twice a year. While your beardie is shedding, make sure to keep the humidity in their cage to 50-60%. (We recommend purchasing a hygrometer to measure humidity.) 

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When a bearded dragon is about to start shedding, you can raise the humidity level to help ease the process since elevated humidity can assist with proper shedding. Unlike snakes, beardies shed in pieces. Sometimes their faces will go into shed, followed by their hind legs. Problem areas can include toes, hind legs, tail and cloaca. During the shedding period, observe your bearded dragon closely to make sure they are getting all of the sheds off. 

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You can soak your pet in a warm water bath to help them shed properly. Test the water carefully to make sure it’s not too cold or too hot. The recommended temperature is 80-85°F. Soaks can be anywhere from 15-45 minutes depending on if the beardie enjoys the bath and as long as the water temperature and supervision can be maintained. After bathing, let your beardie dry under their heat lamps.