Help me with baby bearded dragon

[Whatcamo]

Hey every one I have the opportunity to get a baby bearded dragon and I want to know what's the best things to get him set up with
Enclosure?
Lighting?
Temps?
Feeding? ( I already crickets and dubia)
Dusting / supplements?
Whatever else I'm missing please help me out with thanks!

 

[Whatcamo]

Also what supplements do you use? Thanks

 

[ChameleonRave]

Why not join a Bearded Dragon Forum? That might get you in the best direction for owning a Bearded Dragon.

 

[Whatcamo]

Yeah I've thought about it I just know I've seen a few keepers on here

 

[ataraxia]

what age is the dragon? This has everything to do with the type of care to give. The gist of keeping is the same but babies have extra needs.

Cage: Depends on age. 2-12 months 20 long glass. 12 months on 40 breeder minimum. 75 gallon recommended with an adult. Never house two males together. Never house a male and female together.

Substrate: Newspaper or tile.

Temperature: 80* ambient temps, 100-110* basking temps

Lighting (10-12 hours): UVB 10.0 - Reptiglo Florescent, Reptisun Florescent, Zilla desert Florescent, powersun or solar glo bulbs are great! Regular house bulb for heat (with exception of power sun or solar glo bulbs).

Food: Crickets, mealworms (only as snacks), dubia roaches, silkworms, fresh veggies and very small amounts of fruits. Occassional (once a month F/T pinky can be offered).

Vegetables
escarole, kale, collards, parsley, clover, dandelion greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, only occasionally spinach, only occasionally iceberg lettuce, okra, peas, green beans, zuchinni, squash, grated carrots, sweet potato, bell pepper, frozen mixed vegetables

Fruits (Very little)
figs,kiwi, papaya, melon, apples, grapes, dates, peaches, apricots, strawberries, plums, bananas

Dry gut load for your crickets, roaches, meal worms: Same as you do chameleons.

Supplements: Dust feeders "lightly" with plain phos free calcium every other day, Reptivite twice a month. (basically the same as i do my panthers and veileds).

Bath: Babies Everyday in approx 1/2 inch of luke warm water. Juvi/Adults: 2 times a week, in a few inches of luke warm water.

 

[Whatcamo]

Hey thanks for the reply it is 3-4 months old and I will be building its enclosure so it will have tons of room

 

[ataraxia]

No problem, at 3 months they are pretty much out of the woods and ready to roll provided the breeder did a decent job at this point. Keep them hydrated with fresh green and or baths.

 

[Whatcamo]

Sweet thanks so do they risk impaction the same as chams or would it be ok to use a fine sand in his enclosure?

 

[ataraxia]

I use to have substrate in a few cages. After i almost lost male from it...NEVER again will i use substrate with dragons. I container fed my dragon that were in substrate. This male for what ever reason ate a shit ton of english walnut. Bad bad ordeal. He is still recovering from this.

 

[Whatcamo]

The reason I asked is because I've read that sand they can pass through their system where as its strongly discouraged to use anything would or pulp base as they can't pass it would you agree or know anything about that?

 

[ataraxia]

I dont have experience with sand and bearded's.

sorry :/

 

[fluxlizard]

Walnut is bad bedding for dragons. It expands and clumps in moisture so imagine inside the lizard.

I used to use playsand quite a bit and never had a problem with larger dragons- don't use it for dragons under about 6" snout to vent though- can clog up smaller ones. When I used it my larger dragons would pass it sometimes in their poo no problem. It is what I recommend normally to most people.

I've used newspaper quite a bit also in the past. I don't like it because- 1 dragons love to scratch around and dig, and this is impossible with newspaper 2 dragons get beneath it or shred it when they try to dig and end up making a mess when they do with poo getting beneath it anyway 3 occasionally once in a blue moon individuals decide they like to eat the stuff and they seem to keep the habit until it is removed, which in my experience always passed no problem, but when it did it was mainly undigested pulp- looked like paper in the poo coming out the other end and finally 4 no traction- can cause bone and muscle development abnormalities as a result. I saw it in my own dragons in those days but it wasn't very obvious and most people probably would never notice. My father (an excellent avian veterinarian in his day) pointed out that this lack of traction could also be hard on and painful on the joints of the lizards. Some of the downside can be overcome by providing large rocks and driftwood and such for traction on top of the paper, but then the dragons don't have as much room to run if you fill the available space with such things- and dragons love to jog over open space. One thing that helps with them rearranging/tearing up/eating paper is to tape it down with masking tape around the edges.

(((edited out for noobs)))

So, normally I recommend ordinary play sand, or newspaper in spite of my complaints about newspaper.

Personally for outdoor use my goal is to construct inground cages similar to my iguanas, tegus, and australian water dragons where the walls extend a couple of feet into the ground and the bearded dragons can dig into and run on real earth with part of the top covered to keep a good portion of it dry during rainy times. ((edited out for beginners))

Those are my thoughts for you anyway. I agree with pretty much everything ataraxia has already said as far as husbandry. Of course everyone has a few tweaks that are their own. One thing I do differently- I use more d3 indoors until they are adult size. And lots more calcium as well- I dust all insects at feeding time every day for juveniles. Mine put on an inch a week very often- the demand for calcium must be very high. I've never had a problem with d3 or calcium overdose- some of my breeders are over 12 years old now. But once mine are adult size they are mainly pellet and garden grown produce fed with insects as very occasional treats only. I do not dust anything but the insects, so calcium and d3 use drop dramatically for my adults.

I've been breeding bearded dragons since 1994. I've got 64 175 gallon reptariums for adult breeders and keep groups of 1.2 per cage.

 

[Whatcamo]

Wow thanks for the input
One reason I asked about sand is because I live near the sand dunes
And I could get all the sand I wanted I plan on building a 6ft long by 3ft tall by 30" deep enclosure and I've read about their need to burrow or burry themselves!
I was also wondering about do I need to have a heating pad underneath ?

 

[fluxlizard]

One reason I asked about sand is because I live near the sand dunes

Sand dunes- I don't know. If the dunes are by the ocean and there is a lot of salt in the sand, might not be so great, might be OK- I have no idea.

But also if they are by the ocean- most such habitat in my part of the country is now very protected by law. You might need to check into that before you remove for lizard substrate...

Your enclosure sounds nice and roomy- that is best. I have an 8'x 30" floorspace enclosure that they behave *very* differently in from their normal 4' enclosures. They jog everywhere in there- it is stop or jog, hardly any walking. And social behavior is outstanding in that enclosure. Larger really does make a difference. I am going to make my in-ground enclosures 6x6 or maybe 6'x3' depending.

I've read about their need to burrow or burry themselves!

In a controlled cage environment where there is no danger of frost or overheating, I would call it more a desire to burrow than a need. They clearly prefer to do so given the chance, but they are so hardy - adults are almost bullet proof compared to many other lizards. If no opportunity to burrow or scratch around exists, they will still thrive. But the fact they love to do it makes me feel good about providing a substrate they can do so in.

I was also wondering about do I need to have a heating pad underneath ?

No. They are good to go down to 50 at night. That is my cutoff for 99% of the lizards I keep including bearded dragons. Really they can go much colder than even that if they have to at least for short stretches overnight. 50 is very safe for this species.

 

[fluxlizard]

Some of my dragon cages. You might see a human pulling a tarp off that final bank of cages down on the end for scale.
Most of these cages are heavily patched now with wire screening. Dragons are rough on reptariums- covers only last a year or two before they need to be replaced or patched.

 

[Whatcamo]

Yeah the sand dunes are a desert sand dune so no salt I'd bake the sand to sanitize it and there are certain areas you can remove sand from so thats not a concern
Also you mention you keep a 1.2 so is that a 1 male to 2 females? And how does that introduction process play out?
What UVB bulb do you use? I was thinking one or two power sun bulbs ?? One maybe on each end with my size enclosure would you recommend a top or would I be safe to have an open top? Which I'd prefer if at all possible

 

[ataraxia]

Some of my dragon cages. You might see a human pulling a tarp off that final bank of cages down on the end for scale.
Most of these cages are heavily patched now with wire screening. Dragons are rough on reptariums- covers only last a year or two before they need to be replaced or patched.

nice flux. at what temps outside did you noticed troubles with dragon or did you play it safe?

 

[Whatcamo]

What are all the white things on top
Of the cages?

 

[ataraxia]

probably tote lids for shade

 

[fluxlizard]

Also you mention you keep a 1.2 so is that a 1 male to 2 females? And how does that introduction process play out?

Yes 1 male and 2 females.

Normally it plays out without much drama. When a new female is introduced to a male he will either look at her, approach and tongue flick her face, or he might even establish dominance by bobbing and grabbing her and driving on her and then release her after a minute or so.

1 male in 50 might be a problem as a young adult though. So until the personality of the male is known I have to monitor the situation carefully every day for the first couple months. Problem males seem to have too much testosterone or something- instead of normal interaction and breeding attempts they want to get aggressive with them. This behavior usually does not occur when they are first introduced and often occurs when I am not even around, so I look carefully for bit marks along the underside of the females tails and abdomen and forelegs and feet. It shows as black lines from the bruising. Normal males never bite females in these areas. If any bites at all are found on these areas the female has to be separated immediately or more serious injuries will follow. The male has to be either sold off as a pet or if he is really fabulous, I'll keep him around as a bachelor until another year- the ones I have kept back always grow out of the behavior after 1-2 years. Which is why I think it must be too much hormone and after a little maturity things get back into balance.

But yeah- I keep them in groups. The vast majority of the time it is not a problem, although normal social behavior might appear a little harsh to some humans. Biting on the back of the neck and where the spikes are under the chin on the side of the face and driving/mounting her is normal not only for breeding but also when males are establishing and maintaining dominance in their group. It might look a lot like breeding but no actual copulation occurs. Such behavior normally does not result in injury and only lasts a minute. It occurs more frequently, with and without breeding, when mating season is going on and breeding occurs also. For example- males might drive on females several times in one day, but only actually breed 1 or 2x during that same day. When frequency of breeding winds down they so does this behavior. Outside of breeding season it occurs so infrequently that I can examine female's necks for bite marks during breeding season to determine if males are doing their job or if I need to move females to another male.

Females can communicate with a male and do have some control over the male's reaction much of the time. For example- a male might start bobbing and sprint over near a female. At this point she can either remain upright and see how things play out, or before he sprints she can arm wave to appease him, or if he approaches she can lay out flat to the ground and this will discourage him trying bite or mount her. He might sit near her for a minute and then when he starts to move away she will sit back up. If she is receptive to breeding she will sort of do a slow nose dipping bob that includes a bit of an arch in her back and lift of her pelvis when her nose dips upwards. Also they can avoid male advances simply by selecting a vertical resting position- I've never seen a male try to grab a female if she was situated vertically on the side of the enclosure or on the side of a piece of furniture in the enclosure. Males and females alike spend time hanging out in this kind of position if they have the opportunity.

What is really interesting is when there is some dispute between females- sometimes a female gets a little uppity and will display dominant behavior to a female just like a male would- can even include black beard and head bobbing and biting the neck and mounting- the male of the group will sprint over to the females and lick the aggressor on the face and that puts a stop to it.

I've had a couple groups over the years where a female was clearly the dominant animal outside of breeding season as well- that was also interesting. Dominant behavior was strong enough to make me double check sexes and confirm when gravid finally the next breeding season. Eventually the females grew out of this as well.

For a pet though- a single male is the most rewarding. Groups I cannot recommend unless you are interested in breeding and then unless you have extra caging if you need to separate.