For Bearded Dragons you need two different types of lights, a basking light to simulate the suns heat and a fluorescent light to provide the necessary UV radiation to help the dragon metabolise calcium and other essential vitamins properly, which is no different to us humans.

UVA, UVB, UVC radiation

The sun emits ultraviolet (UV) radiation which you’ll probably know about as this is what causes skin tans, skin cancer and so on. But it’s actually the different wavelengths or types of UV radiation that cause these effects.Your dragon requires a source of UVA and UVB.

UVA radiation

UVA is generally harmless and has few known benefits to us humans, although excessive quantities can damage vitamin A production. In reptiles however UVA encourages natural behaviour such as breeding and basking. Lizards are very sensitive to it and also use it in part to identify food and mates. Bearded Dragons have a special scale on top of their head that’s thought to be linked to this, more specifically it’s linked to the Pineal Gland which in most reptiles is always close to the brain.

UVB radiation

UVB radiation is what bearded dragons simply must have, failure to provide a source of this is to condemn your dragon to a slow agonising death. UVB provides a way for the reptile (and us Humans) to create vitamin D in their skin – specifically vitamin D3 which is also used to metabolise calcium in the dragon which encourages healthy growth, without this then they would have dietary problems leading to issues such as metabolic bone disease. Too much UVB is a bad thing and can cause DNA damage and problems with vitamin A production.

UVC radiation

UVC is harmful and you don’t want to be providing a source of this to anything living (unless you slowly want to kill it), it’s this type of UV radiation that causes the most damage to living cells and also what creates the ozone layer and our atmosphere blocks out the most of. It’s mutagenic and carcinogenic. Bad for everything living.

Choosing the right lighting for your Bearded Dragon

So how do you choose the right bulb? They all have different levels, 3% to 12% UVB, some with ‘vitamin D3 added’, some bulbs provide UVA, some have different colour lights. There are different types as well such as incandescent, halogen and fluorescent.

To make the choice easy, just think for a second about the Bearded Dragon habitat in the wild. The Pogona Vitticeps (The common Bearded Dragon in the pet shops) lives out in the very hot semi-desert areas of Australia, it’s always out in the sun basking. That means it obviously needs a fair amount of sun light and the associated ultraviolet that is present in the sun light as well as the heat generated.

So you need a heat lamp and a relatively high source of UVA and UVB, the below should help you out.

Choosing a heat lamp for your vivarium

This depends on two things, the area of the terrarium and it’s height, or rather how far away the heat lamp will be mounted. I once went into one reptile shop and asked about which light to use and what would be right giving them the dimensions etc… of my setup and the shop owner told me to take any one and ‘suck it and see’. I’ve not been back there since! On any light bulb for a reptile the packaging will have some level of rating on the side and the lux and heat given off at set distances from the bulb.

For Bearded Dragons you want a bulb that will give you 110F / 45C for the hot end, it can be higher as the Agamid family of lizards senses heat from above them so they’ll move out if too hot. However you need to ensure that the other end of the vivarium is at about 80F / 27C for them to cool down in. You can control this by the decor/ furnishings in the terrarium and how you place the light in the vivarium, using a reflector to help reduce the area heated by the lamp (also reflecting all heat and light downwards). A lot of bulbs now have specific reflectors in them to provide a tight cone of light which also helps. Avoid placing this on the side of the terrarium as the dragons (especially the young) will climb on this. Avoid also adding a cage over the light as, again, they’ll climb on it and either way they end up with burns. Instead mount it from the ceiling of your setup.

Bearded Dragons regulate their body temperature by moving between different temperate zones such as basking in the sun to hiding in the shade – they even gape (open their mouth) to let heat out. Because of the way they sense heat this is why you should never, ever, under any circumstances use anything that provides heat from underneath the beardie such as a heat rock or heat mat as they can’t tell how hot it is and will burn themselves.

You can use ordinary incandescent household bulbs and these will work fine and are much cheaper, however, the reptile bulbs have better light spectrum’s for the lizards. They’re also a much better source of UVA radiation which promotes natural healthy behaviour connected with their Pineal Gland (that weird scale on top of their heads!). Worth the price in my opinion.

You want a bulb that produces the full spectrum of light, so not infrared, green, blue etc…  something that does all spectrums and wavelengths since that replicates the sun.

In the minimum 4ft x 2ft x 2ft vivarium size, a 75 Watt bulb should be hot enough, if the vivarium is already in your house. The substrate will also carry and distribute much of the heat. In a 2ft x2ft x2ft tank a 60 Watt bulb should be enough, anything smaller will be a 40 Watt bulb or there abouts. That should give you a basking spot of around 110-120F. An energy saving bulb won’t provide much heat at all before you think about using one to save money on your electricity bills!

If you have the cash you can also invest in a thermostat to precisely control the heat, although it’s not really necessary for Bearded Dragons since they come from a hot place anyway and I’ve not really ever needed one other than for incubating Bearded Dragon eggs. However, I have one exception,  if like me you have several vivariums stacked one on top of the other then you’ll want a thermostat for at least the top vivarium since the heat from the ones beneath it will rise up and give additional heat.

It’s also recommended to get a small thermometer to measure the heat range in the vivarium to ensure it’s correctly set up.

Choosing a UVB light for your vivarium

Bearded Dragons need UVB, plain and simple! Your best bet is to get a strip bulb (fluorescent), get it for as big as you can fit inside the tank. Mount it on the ceiling with a reflector behind it to make sure as much of the UVB is directed down to the floor – Arcadia sell some great reflectors for this. The beardie like other lizards also regulates their exposure to UVB so in the vivarium provide different perches and places to hide under, they’ll climb up when they want more UV and hide under the logs, plants etc… to avoid the UV and the heat, a good amount of substrate will also allow them to dig a burrow to hide in as well.

All UVB bulbs have different levels of UVB radiation, for Bearded Dragons you want the highest possible which is 12% from Arcadia or 10% from Exo Terra. I’ve used both and generally found them to be fine, although the Arcadia seem to last a bit longer and I’ve found them to be a bit cheaper as well – they also claim to be enhanced with vitamin D3, which I think is just a marketing ploy since the UV light promotes synthesis of vitamin D3 in the skin, unless there’s a specific wavelength of UVB that they’ve enhanced somehow.

There are less concerns over UVB bulbs as opposed to heat lamps, although the UVB bulb will get hot in the tank it’s not the biggest concern providing it’s emitting UVB. However, to use these strip lights you need a specific controller/ power supply which will provide the correct wattage for the bulb. So far I’ve found the Exo Terra controllers to be the best as you can run 2 vivariums from them, they don’t need any starter switches, you can run any size UVB light from them and they don’t make the bulbs flicker. The heat emitted from this controller is substantially less than that of the Arcadia ones (or other brands for that matter).

The other issue with UVB lights is that over time the amount of UVB radiation generated decreases and without a rather expensive sensor to detect the UV levels you have no way of knowing when to replace the bulbs. They’ll still be working and giving off light, just not the UVB radiation you need. The rule of thumb is typically replace these bulbs once every 12 months, if you’ve not changed your bulb in a while and your dragon is looking sluggish and lethargic, try swapping out the bulb for a new one and see if that improves. The packaging for the UVB bulb will state how often to change and the effective distance e.g. effective up to 20 inches. That means if your UVB bulb is closer to the floor then you can potentially use a lower percentage bulb.

Bearded Dragons need in their vivarium setup:

• A dry hot/ arid habitat (little to no moisture)
• A constant temperature gradient with a hot end (basking spot) and a cool end
• Substrate to dig in
• Space to climb and perch
• Plenty of space to run around/ hunt food

That sounds like it might be fairly complex but following the below it’s quite easy to find the right vivarium/ terrarium. If you’re in a hot climate such as California in the US for example then a lot of the time you can keep them outdoors so only need to consider a caged enclosure since they’ll get their heat and UV naturally. If you’re keeping them indoors in a much cooler country such as the UK or Germany then you’ll need a proper vivarium setup and the below is written with this in mind.

Glass Vivariums / Terrariums

For Bearded Dragons you should avoid vivariums made from a lot of glass such as aquariums, this is because the glass traps heat and makes it difficult to regulate the correct temperature and air flow, especially if you plan to keep the vivarium in direct sunlight. So just don’t bother, I’m sure you can set up the tank correctly and I myself am keeping a small dragon in an aquarium but it causes me no end of hassle getting the right temperature. Also another factor to consider is handling, with aquariums you need to put your hand in from the top and this will scare the beardie since it’ll think your hand is a predator making it very skittish. The other glass options are ones made by companies such as Exo Terra which are built specifically for reptiles, generally these are much better suited for lizards such as geckos and are too small for your adult bearded dragon, so again avoid in this case.

Mesh Vivariums

Typically mesh vivariums are made for height and not floor area for more arboreal (lives in tress) reptiles such as chameleons, they also make it difficult to control the ambient humidity & temperature since heat can very easily escape, however if you live in a warm environment this may not be such a concern, however floor space and digging areas are a concern and so it’s best to avoid this.

Wooden Vivariums

This leaves the wooden vivariums which are what I would recommend for Bearded Dragons. Being mostly wooden they are easy to maintain temperature in, they are cheap, there is plenty of floor space for the lizard and enough height. You can get them in flat pack/ DIY kit form, pre-built or you can even build your own viv. They do however require some preparation before they can be used – no matter how it is made.

With a wooden terrarium you need to ensure that the inside corners and edges have all been silicon sealed, this is to stop moisture getting into the wood and also any dirt/ soil escaping. If you’re building your own, you’ll need to make sure that the wood is treated and is moisture resistant to avoid warping. Silicon sealant takes a day to cure properly, it produces acidic fumes and so you can not expect to keep any wildlife in there until the sealant is cured – you also need a well ventilated area to do this in.

Your wooden vivarium should have air vents in it as well, at least one vent per square foot/ 30cm at the top of the back wall. Avoid wooden vivariums that have air vents at the base of the back wall of the tank since dirt and insects will escape through it. Personally I’ve found the best kits so far to be the Vivexotic ones.

Vivarium size

Sizing up your bearded dragons terrarium is very straightforward, just remember that the more space you can provide, the better – If I could give them a whole room then I would. You need to know how big your bearded dragon will get so that you can create a habitat that will allow an adult to happily live in. My rule on sizing is that there is no maximum but for the very minimum the floor space should be 4 times the length of an adult (typically 2 foot/ 24 inches/ 60cm). This means that you need a vivarium with a floor space of at least 8 square feet (4ft x 2ft), a Rankins/ Lawsons dragon which only grows up to 12 inches will need half the size. This minimum size also allows for that fact that the dragon will have some time outside the habitat to exercise and explore.

For height you need to allow about 3-5 inches of substrate, more for a female, less for a male, you also need to allow for the 5 or 6 inches for the heat lamp fixed from the ceiling. Finally you need to allow the dragon spaces to climb since they are semi-aboreal. The minimum height I would suggest is 2 foot/ 60cm, but the ideal would be 3 foot.

In conclusion

You can now see just how much space you need to properly keep a dragon, if your pet shop or breeder suggests keeping them in anything smaller then simply walk away, for young dragons you can keep them in smaller areas until they outgrow it but eventually you’ll need to face up to the fact that they need a lot of space – more than your average rabbit hutch! So you may as well sort it out now. There have been various people suggest that there are problems keeping a baby bearded dragon in large enclosure and that they have problems finding the food etc… I’ve yet to see any problem, although I do provide a heat source at both ends of the setup and use paper towel for babies but other than that I don’t change anything else.

Keeping a lizard, or any animal for that matter, in a substandard and cramped enclosure is going to stunt growth as will a poor diet lacking all necessary nutrients. Figures quoted are for the maximum documented size for the species in perfect condition in the wild, captive species and cross species/ morphs may produce slightly different  lengths. You can expect captive dragons realistically to grow to about 10% less than these maximums.

All lengths are measured from tip to tip and ranked in size descending order:

• Pogona Vitticeps (Central): 60cm/ 24 inches
• Pogona Barbata (Eastern): 60cm/ 24 inches
• Pogona Minor Mitchelli (Mitchells): 45cm/ 18 inches
• Pogona Minor Minor (Dwarf): 35-45cm/ 14-18 inches
• Pogona Nullabor (Banded): 35cm/ 14 inches
• Pogona Henrylawsoni (Lawsons/ Rankins): 30cm/ 12 inches
• Pogona Minor Minima (Western): 30cm/ 12 inches
• Pogona Microlepidota (Small Scaled): 10-15cm/ 4-6 inches

Pogona Vitticeps/ Central Bearded Dragon is the most commonly bred and outside of their natural habitat in Australia this will be the most common pet dragon available, exporting any of these dragons from the wild is illegal and there are very few programs outside of Australia that breed anything but Vitticeps or Lawsons/Rankins dragons along with their associated cross, Vittikins.

So when most people are talking about the biggest Bearded Dragon in the world, or more likely the German Giant cross, it’ll most likely be descended from Pogona Vitticeps. Since most will have been bred captively from whatever stock was exported (probably illegally!) from Australia, it’s probably a safe bet that in the wild there will be rare cases where they have grown bigger in the wild because the size of the fully grown dragon will depend on the genetics of it’s parents and the captive genetic pool will be limited (outside Australia) to produce huge genetic variations.

If you don’t know the parents sizes/ lengths then you’ll be less sure of what to expect and unless you know the breeder and they know the exact lineage you won’t be able to estimate. But to be honest this isn’t that important as you shouldn’t really care about how big the beardie will get other than to size up their enclosure if you’re a new owner, which is why I list the maximum sizes.

In case you’re a new Bearded Dragon owner and wondering how big an enclosure you need, just remember the bigger the better. The very minimum should be a floor area that is at least 8 times the maximum length of the dragon. For example, if Pogona Vitticeps is 2 foot in length then the area of the vivarium will be 8 square feet, typically 4 long by 2 foot deep. A 1 foot dragon needs 4 square feet minimum (2×2 foot).

The biggest claim for a dragon so far has been 26 inches, but this has yet to be conclusively proven e.g. tape measure and photo.

• Diet: A well balanced diet will promote health and increase lifespan and reduce risk of disease.
• Environment: Incorrect heating, lighting and substrate will drastically cut short their potential.
• Kept in captivity: Depending on the conditions but there are no predators or few health risks in a vivarium.
• No breeding: Breeding can drastically reduce the females lifespan
• Separation/ isolation: No territorial disputes, bullying or fights to risk injury or death, especially between young dragons and males in particular.
• Sex: Males will generally out live the females as the females will develop eggs (even infertile) which can lead to problems.
• Size of the species: Generally the larger species will live for longer than the smaller.
• Space: More space, means more room to grow and move around to exercise.

Bearded Dragons are generally very hardy and you would expect a Bearded Dragon such as the Pogona Vitticeps, the most common pet lizard, to live for an average of 5-8 years where you’re not really paying much attention to their health and just doing the basics – the same can be said for their life expectancy in the wild, although this varies enormously. But if the above points are taken into consideration then they can easily live past 10 years of age in captivity and they have been known to frequently live up to 14-16 years age with a couple of poorly documented cases even reaching 19 and 21 years old but there weren’t any very credible sources to back up these two exceptions.

A Rankins/ Lawsons Dragon being smaller, for example, will live for slightly less but if kept in better conditions will certainly out live a larger dragon kept in a neglectful environment. It’s very much the same for any animal or human, poor care and environment means an exponentially increased risk of premature death even if you have favourable genetics.

So you can see that keeping reptiles is no short term responsibility, treat them correctly and you can expect them to live longer than your dogs, cats, rabbits etc…

In terms of vegetables and fruits remember that they will have a high water content so feed in small quantities to avoid diarrhea. If you’re keeping your beardies on soil or sand based substrate then you’ll want to feed them in a high rim bowl to stop them getting dirt over those sticky, juicy pieces of fruit! Focus more on leafy greens with occasional fruit and occaisonally use a multivitamin dusting supplement, but be careful to check what’s in it first.

Consistantly high levels of the following may cause long term health problems for your pet, so moderation is the key

• Goitrogens – Inhibits intake of Iodine that then causes problems with the Thyroid Gland such as swelling
• Oxalic Acid – Binds with calcium to form calcium oxalate which is fairly insoluble and stops it being absorbed
• Phosphorus – Blocks intake/ conversion of calcium, for every gram of phosphorus there needs to be 2 grams of calcium
• Vitamin A and D3 – Bearded dragons can potentially overdose on these unlike vitamin C, they get vitamin D3 from the UVB so you don’t want a vitamin supplement with this in.

To avoid low calcium in the diet, remember to regularly dust the insects with calcium powder.

Avoid freezing vegetables or feeding any pre-frozen vegetables as any vitamins (B1) are generally lost.

Remember any plants that you take leaves or flowers from, will potentially contain pesticides, fertilisers from the soil in them, so you’ll need to ideally transplant the plant into a clean environment and leave 6-12 weeks for the nasty chemicals to leave the plants.

You should never feed insects that you’ve caught from the wild, especially anything that may be poisonous or stings. Even if it’s a spider living in your house, best to avoid it as you don’t know what it’s been crawling in.

The golden rule for fruit and vegetables is: variation and moderation!

Can Bearded Dragons eat Apples?

Yes, occasionally but remove the peel first.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Asparagus?

Yes, occasionally and a good source of protein for younger dragons.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Avocado?

Absolutely not, this can be fatal. Very toxic to lizards.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Bananas?

Yes, but they’re high in phosphorus which binds with calcium and can cause Metabolic Bone Disease (MBT), so should be fed rarely.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Basil?

Yes, daily a few fresh leaves are a great source of calcium and vitamin A.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Beetroot?

Yes, rarely, high water and oxalic acid content so very small amounts only (oxalic acid binds with calcium)

Can Bearded Dragons eat Bell Peppers?

Yes, occasionally, red peppers may interest your bearded dragons more than the green and are higher in vitamin C to offset the content of oxalic acid.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Blackberries?

Yes, occasionally, should be fed as a treat due to calcium to phosphorus ratio and oxalic acid but good source of vitamin C

Can Bearded Dragons eat Blueberries?

Yes, occasionally

Can Bearded Dragons eat Broccoli?

Yes, rarely. Very high in vitamin C but also contains oxalates and goitrogen

Can Bearded Dragons eat Brussel Sprouts?

Yes, rarely, high in vitamins but also has goitrogen

Can Bearded Dragons eat Cabbage?

Yes, rarely but can cause Anaemia, best fed to the insects due to lower vitamin content when compared to sprouts.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Carrots?

Yes, occasionally, really high in vitamin A which offsets the oxalates in them

Can Bearded Dragons eat Cauliflower?

Yes, rarely in small amounts as it contains goitrogens which block iodine intake which potentially can cause issues with the Thyroid Gland as a result

Can Bearded Dragons eat Cauliflower Leaves?

Yes, occasionally, but better fed to the insects

Can Bearded Dragons eat Celery?

Yes, occasionally – quite fiberous so very finely chop it up to avoid digestive issues

Can Bearded Dragons eat Cherry Tomatoes?

Yes, rarely but high acid content so small pieces – also it’s best to leave the seeds/ juice out if not hand feeding

Can Bearded Dragons eat Chicken?

No. While it may be high in protein, it’s high in phosphorus. Raw chicken is a salmonella risk of which dragons are at high risk to. Cooked chicken is questionable.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Corn?

Rarely as it’s very, very high in phosphorus and oxalates. Generally avoid feeding them this.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Cranberries?

Yes, occasionally, high in fibre and almost even mix of calcium and phosphorus

Can Bearded Dragons eat Crickets?

Yes, daily. Black or brown crickets, remember to dust a few eery few days – more often for babies. Also gut load them e.g. feed them vegetables an hour before feeding to the lizard. Best bet is to buy them live rather than frozen, always get them from pet shops or suppliers rather than from the wild

Can Bearded Dragons eat Cucumbers?

Yes, occasionally but not much nutritional value, better as a source of water

Can Bearded Dragons eat Dandelions?

Yes, daily – a great source of calcium and vitamin A in the leaves but be very careful of pesticides. Flowers are also edible.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Earthworms?

No. Stick to mealworms. Do not buy worms from fishing bait shops either or capture from the wild/ garden.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Eggs?

Hardboiled only, in small quantities rarely as a treat.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Fish?

No. The small bones may cause impaction and the fish will generally be a big parasite risk.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Grapes?

Yes, occasionally, green or red probably best to cut the grapes in small pieces. Good for fiber and water, but high in sugars and oxalates.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Grasshoppers?

Stick to Locusts, but if a reptile store is providing them I don’t see why not. But certainly don’t catch them from the wild/ your garden.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Lettuce?

No, never. No nutritonal value and most likely to cause diarrhea.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Locusts?

Yes, daily. You must always gut load the locusts as without them feeding on greens they have very little nutrition for the dragon. Remember to frequently dust with calcium as well.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Kale?

Yes, occasionally – high in calcium and vitamin A but also high in goitrogens and oxalates.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Mealworms?

Infrequent, high in fat and phosphorates, but low in calcium – dust them with calcium and they’re good a s supplement for dragons to put on some weight. Avoid feeding them mealworms that are due to malt as the hard skin/ chitin will cause digestive issues.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Mice?

Very rarely as a treat but only pinkie mice and only for fully grown adult bearded dragons.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Mushrooms?

No, avoid. Mushrooms can be poisonous and are high in phosphorus.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Oranges?

No, because of the high volume of citric acid which can cause problems with their digestive system especially when you can get the vitamin C and A from safer vegetables. Avoid citrus fruits.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Pears?

Yes, occasionally but high in oxalic acid. Never, ever feed Bearded Dragons Avacados

Can Bearded Dragons eat Peas?

Yes, but rarely since it has a very high phosphorus to calcium ratio. Better off feeding them the leaves and pods which are much safer.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Pineapple?

Yes, occasionally

Can Bearded Dragons eat Plums?

Yes, occasionally

Can Bearded Dragons eat Pumpkin?

Yes, occasionally, most squashes seem to be fine and high in fibre, vitamin A and calcium

Can Bearded Dragons eat Rhubarb?

No, this can be fatal, highly toxic and amazingly high in oxalates.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Rocket?

Yes, daily.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Rose petals?

Yes, occasionally, they tend to love these but remember that any fertilisers/ pesticides in the soils will be in the flowers

Can Bearded Dragons eat Spiders?

Yes, but best to avoid since spiders can be venomous and you don’t know where they’ve been, if they’ve got parasites etc…

Can Bearded Dragons eat Spinach?

No, never, while it’s a good source of calcium it also binds with free calcium causing potential problems

Can Bearded Dragons eat Strawberries?

Yes, occasionally – dragons will end up looking like they’re wearing lipstick which is quite amusing

Can Bearded Dragons eat Tomatoes?

Yes, occasionally but high in acid so small pieces – best to leave the seeds/ juice out if not hand feeding

Can Bearded Dragons eat Watercress?

Yes, occasionally. High in vitamin A and C but also very high in oxalic acid

Can Bearded Dragons eat Watermelon?

Yes, occasionally.

Chances are that if you have a dragon that’s less than 8 weeks old then you’re breeding Bearded Dragons, otherwise you shouldn’t have brought one at such a young age and it’s irresponsible for anyone to sell or give a dragon that’s under 8 weeks/ 2 months old. For completeness (and new dragon breeders) I’ll go through the feeding and diets from birth.

Before we go into detail on the diets for baby beardies, please remember one thing: Do not keep your juveniles (<6 months) on any kind of substrate, especially C-sand. On dirt then can be messy eaters and generally very excited and will get a mouthful of dirt when catching insects as they lunge for them, they’ll never wait for that locust to climb off the sand/ soil. At such a small size and age, the sand will clog them up and they’ll die from impaction and there’s nothing that can be done to heal them at this age. It’s best to keep them on newspaper or kitchen towel (and it’s cheaper as well) as they’ll be pooing very often so you want to be changing the substrate almost daily to avoid them catching parasites and diseases. It seems such an odd thing since in the wild they live on dirt/sand but in the natural environment this is one of the mechanisms that works as population/ birth control, not all dragons that hatch are destined to live. However, we want to avoid this since it’s your new best friend.

Remember also that you need a proper vivarium setup with regulated lighting and UVB, for babies I try to keep them in fairly small enclosure, subdividing a larger vivarium as I need to.

If your dragon is more than 6 months, please still read the whole article since it only gives you new information at each age group, rather than me rewrite everything, for more generic feeding tips, please read my guide on what bearded dragons can eat.

Baby Bearded Dragon Diet

0-2 weeks

This really is no different to feeding an adult just in a more basic way, you feed smaller amounts more often and in smaller pieces. From birth they can eat insects but will be less keen upon vegetation – you’ll soon find that they try to eat anything that’s smaller than them and moving.

When they hatch they’ll have some nutrition from their egg and they’ll also be pretty exhausted so need some time to recover and charge up before gaining an appetite. Don’t be alarmed if the hatchling Beardie doesn’t eat in the first 48 hours, it’s fairly normal. They’ll also not want to move too much so remember not to disturb them.

When feeding them insects, try hatchling locusts/ hoppers or crickets they’re very, very small and they need to be! Whatever you feed your Bearded Dragon, it needs to be shorter in length than the width between the dragons eyes, otherwise they’ll either choke or get impacted. They’re not fussy about size and will try to eat anything that’s bigger than themselves.

I recommend getting the Brown or Black Crickets, they are harder to feed and dust individually with calcium/ multivitamin powder but generally much cheaper in the long run and are more likely to have more nutrition in them than a Locust. The trouble is, being so small they will escape into your house. To avoid this, first put your crickets in the fridge for around 15-20 minutes, this will cool them down and they’ll become much easier to handle.

To feed the tiny insects to the dragon, I also recommend ‘pouring’ the insects from the tub into a small bowl, about 6cm in diameter and about 3cm tall – big enough to stop the insects escaping. I then add in a small pinch of calcium powder and multivitamin every other day – the insects will run through this and then dust themselves (you can also shake the bowl a bit). I then tip the bowl up slightly in front of the baby beardie so it can see them and get to them, this provides a nice controlled way to feed them and they don’t have to expend important energy in their first few days hunting. This method works for 1 or 2 dragons in a vivarium, but for larger groups it tends to promote dominant behaviour so should be avoided, instead I still dust the insects in the same way but then pour them into the vivarium for the dragons to chase and catch, watching for any bullying and making sure they all get the same.

When feeding you’re looking to spend about 10-15 minutes to allow them to catch the insects and feeding twice a day, at this age you shouldn’t be handling them.

The below chart should give you an idea of the size of insect versus the age of the Bearded Dragon.

2-4 weeks

After the first 2 weeks have passed try them with vegetation every other day, nothing fancy just some basic salad leaves (not lettuce!), but you’ll need to cut up the leaves into small pieces. I normally finely shred up the leaves into a shallow bowl and then leave that for them to find and eat – this works out really well where you have a lot of babies in one vivarium.

At this point you’ll also want to think about separating them from the one clutch into smaller groups of no more than 8 (if breeding).

The same feeding process applies, just allowing more space and introducing vegetation every other day.

4-8 weeks

Again keeping with the small sized insects, they should be eating more and you should be able to see that they have nice, bright and alert orange eyes. While you don’t want to handle them, you can start to try to hand feed them leaves and insects to get them used to human hands. Avoid feeding from above – any moving shape above them is seen as a predator, so instead feed them with your hand close to the ground in front of them.

At these age you should be able to see any defects, but providing you followed the above you shouldn’t have an issue but you should be able to spot any signs of stress, bullying and malnutrition. A good sign to look for is fat in the base of the tail for whether they’re getting enough food.

8 – 16 weeks

This will be the youngest that you should buy a dragon, it’s the earliest that they can be sexed and also held, at this age they are also more likely to adapt to a new owner and develop their individual personalities.

In case you skipped the above, you want to be feeding you baby dragon twice every day with locusts/hoppers or crickets dusted every other day and with vegetables/ leaves offered every other day as well. Read above sections for tips on feeding.

At this age it now becomes more economical to also start feeding mini/ micro meal worms every few days – these are generally no more than 2cm big and you can leave a bowl for them to feed on, just make sure that you pick out any worm that looks like its due to malt as that chitin (the skin) will be really hard for a dragon to digest. This also allows the baby to put on more fat, you’ll soon know if there’s a problem digesting the worms as their feces will contain recognisable parts of the worms – the adults also suffer from this if they eat the worms too fast. You can buy these worms in a big bulk bag, which is handy if you’re breeding many dragons and works out really cheap.

I also vary between hoppers and crickets, the hoppers are easy to leave for the Bearded Dragons to hunt/ stalk and catch – crickets I still feed in a bowl due to their speed and the mini worms I leave in a bowl in the morning for them eat during the day – but remember only put a few in there, don’t fill the bowl!

I also offer vegetation more freqently sometimes replacing a meal of insects, purely with vegetation but still feeding twice daily. At this age you can also begin to hold them, so I’ll start hand feeding leaves more often and picking the Beardie up and feeding outside the viv. It takes some patience before they’ll get confident to feed from your hand outside the vivarium but bare with it.

16+ weeks

Keep up with the feeding regime, you can now begin to skip a feeding occasionally, feeding them once a day and missing out a day of feeding entirely. This also helps to keep your dragon eager and ready to greet you when you have food, making it easier to tame them.

At this point you’ll be buying slightly bigger locusts/ hoppers and this will be the most expensive time for feeding as they’ll still be eating a lot but need the larger insects.

Also at this age you’ve probably got your Bearded Dragon from the pet shop, if that’s the case then it’s really important to keep a look out for any health issues, moving them to a new home can be stressful. They may also have parasites and need worming for which you can get some tablets from the vets. Keep an eye out on their poo, if it’s reddish coloured or the urate (the white bit) is really yellow then you may have some problems so pay close attention. Otherwise the above feeding rules all hold true.

6 months and onwards

You can now start feeding once a day and skipping a day now and then, remember to keep the insects dusted every few days, but you can now decrease the frequency in which you dust the insects, it becomes slightly less important. I’d now also offer vegetation daily, and I’d also stop cutting the leaves up into small pieces. You can now also feed them some other things as treats such as strawberries, grapes, carrot etc… By 9 months, your dragon will be tearing up the newspaper/ kitchen towel and it’s time to start thinking about giving them some sand to dig in. You can read more on this site about the ideal bearded dragon substrate.

So while giving them a nice warm bath is a good thing for hydration, shedding and cleaning them up a bit, don’t run the water too deep and don’t leave them unattended. If possible leave something in there for them to climb upon out of the water or let them use your hands.

Run the bath so the water is warm but not hot (about 90° – 100° F) and run it to only about shoulder depth of the dragon, so they can stand if they need to. Bath tubs are slippy things for dragons claws so if they don’t like the water they may get stressed going nowhere trying to climb out of the bath, be ready to lift your dragon back out if they seem to be doing this. Have an old towel on hand also to dry the dragon off afterwards.

Do not add anything to the bath water, it should only be water, nothing else.

The most common things a Bearded Dragon will do when placed in water are:

• Poo in it
• Paddle/scrabble around
• Close their eyes and float

When your dragon invariably poo’s in the water be quick to scoop it out, because as soon as the dragon goes near it, it will break it up and you’ll have to drain the bath and it’s not a pretty sight. The warm water can also help dragons who have gotten a bit congested and can also help a dragon with eggs. Generally though I wait until they’ve done it in their viv and then give them a bath.

Do not panic if the bearded dragon inflates him/ herself and seems to be playing dead in the water at a lopsided angle. They’ve swallowed air to make themselves buoyant and they’re closing the eyes etc… so they don’t get water in. Just make sure that they can get out of the water if they want to and that the waters not too deep as to force them to have to float.

If like me you keep your dragons on a soil based substrate you’ll be amazed at how much dirt they leave behind in the water. So be prepared to have to clean the bath down afterwards.

Remember to keep an eye on your dragon at all times, they’re not gifted swimmers so will tire quickly so keep the water shallow and remember you’ve got them outside of their setup with the heat and UV. You shouldn’t be encouraging the dragon to swim too much so treat it more as bathing/ cleaning.

You can normally tell a gravid female by her additional size and appetite, her behaviour will also change – she’ll more than likely want to come out of the vivarium more and want to explore trying to find a suitable site for her eggs. You can also feel the eggs around her abdomen, they’ll feel like little bumps but be careful not to squeeze or apply any pressure. If you’re unsure then take her to the vets for an x-ray which will confirm this.

Healthy gravid Bearded Dragons will appear to have a swollen abdomen and when they are due to lay the eggs they will not be eating, however, they will still remain alert and active. Contrary to this, if the dragon is egg bound then you’ll see them become inactive. If you’re unsure as to whether they are egg bound or not and have become inactive, depressed etc… then still take them to the vets as it could be another condition with the same symptoms, such as an infection, swelling of the kidneys etc…

The following section details the most common and also the most easily avoidable/ preventable causes of egg binding. Also read more information here about Bearded Dragon Eggs.

The Causes and Prevention of Egg Binding

The Bearded Dragons habitat may be over crowded, too small or not contain an adequate digging site. To fix this keep your beardie by herself in a tank of at least 4ft long x 2ft deep x 2ft high. For a good digging site create at least 6-8 inches of substrate that can be dug in and retain it’s shape, so don’t just use sand as your dragon will be exhausted from all the digging, instead use a sand/soil mix with some vermiculite and some water and this works perfectly (and it’s cheap to make). Be careful to only create the damp soil in one end of the viv – normally around the heated end. Alternatively a separate digging box can be made – I’ve have tried this but mine seem to be happier creating burrows in their vivs.

Incorrect temperature, humidity or UV. Check that you have the correct basking spot and temperature range. Humidity may be a little bit higher because of the damp digging soil but it shouldn’t be abnormal. Ensure that you’re also giving the right amount of time for heat and lighting e.g. 12 hours on, 12 hours off.

Malnutrition, most commonly a lack of calcium. Eggs need a lot of calcium so ensure to dust a few insects with calcium on every feed to ensure plenty of calcium, otherwise calcium is taken from the bearded dragons bones and will weaken them. If there is a complete lack of calcium then the eggs won’t form properly and will then begin to stick together.

Poor physical condition, such as a lack of exercise, will mean that she isn’t strong enough to push out the eggs or won’t be able to lay them all. Again, good diet and setup will aid this as well as plenty of space. Also make sure your beardie isn’t underweight, obese or dehyrated (none-white urate in their poo).

Egg binding in a Bearded Dragon can also occur if it is either too young or too old to be bred or has been repetitively bred and may also happen if there is an obstruction or swelling that makes it impossible for her to pass her eggs

Further Treatment for Egg Binding

If you still suspect egg binding and you’ve ensure the above then try also giving them a warm bath to help hydrate them and stimulate the production of the eggs – baths also help if they’ve not had a poo in a while.

When they are ready to lay eggs, they will normally stop eating for a while – mine tries to lay her eggs as soon as she can so she can continue trying to eat everything! If your dragon hasn’t been eating for more than 48 hours and hasn’t laid her eggs, then take them to the vets to get check out as this is an early sign that she wants to lay eggs but is unable to. Again, this shouldn’t arise if the above causes/symptoms were resolved. The vet then will recommend hormonal treatment using oxytocin or arginine vasotocin to stimulate contractions in the reproductive tract and the passing of eggs.

If all else fails then there surgically removing the eggs and the reproductive tract can be done, of course this means that they will never be able to breed but will prevent the problem occuring again.

If untreated, egg binding can result in peritonitis, decreased fertility and in the worst cases it will result in death. If caught early then normally the lizard will make a full recovery.

Symptoms of impaction

Providing they’re not in brummation/ hibernation, the symptoms of impaction are a lack of appetite, none or bloody faeces, lack of energy, dull/sunken eyes over the course of a few days. After hatchling stages, these lizards are pretty tough so it may just be a mild case of impaction that passes and here you may note runny poo (providing you’ve not been overfeeding on the juicy fruit & veg) or a lack of poo for a while.

You can help to ease impaction a bit, by bathing their bellies in warm water and feeling between the ribs and hind legs for solid poo that’s built up you can help to try and massage this a little.

Causes of impaction

This comes down to three things really, substrate, foreign objects and oversized food. If you feed prey items that are longer than the width of between the dragons eyes, this will cause impaction and a build up/ blockage, which may even lead to paralysis and death.

If like me you let your dragons out from time to time to roam the house and windowsill, make sure there’s nothing that they may be tempted to eat, a few times I have had to remove a long hair that they’ve managed to eat it up along with something else for whatever reason.

The main discussion around impaction normally comes from substrate. These dragons live in deserts so some digestion of sand is expected, otherwise how would they survive? Avoid Calci-sand, as it tends to be expensive and due to it’s man made nature is much more likely to bind with other grains. Of course, it depends more on how old the dragon is, if it’s less than 3 months old then you really shouldn’t be keeping it on anything but paper towel. Otherwise play sand, top soil etc… is fine.

Preventing impaction

This is fairly easy, don’t feed oversized prey and minimise the chance of them eating up the substrate – if you’re that paranoid about it then aways hand feed, put a food dish along with plenty of areas off of the substrate will minimise them eating up the dirt as well as the food.

As a side note, I had a young Rankins/Lawsons Bearded Dragon that had been kept from a hatchling on calci-sand, needless to say it died of impaction – you can’t blame calci-sand, just the fact that it was kept on sand to start with and probably ingested the substrate due to careless feeding. In the wild, most prey will be caught off the desert floor in bushes, trees etc… so why feed them on the sand in the first place?

If you are worried about impaction, stop reading this and go to the vet, at the very worst you get a nice x ray that shows if your dragon has healthy bone development so treat it as a checkup.

Nutrition while laying eggs

Whether laying infertile or fertile eggs, the dragon will need plenty of calcium and energy, if you don’t provide additional calcium supplements, the eggs will use calcium from the dragons bones. Also all that digging and egg laying will exhaust the dragon so you’ll want to feed daily with more insects and vegetation – after all this is what the beardie will use to create the eggs. You should find that their appetite substantially increases during this period.

If your lizard should stop eating for more than a couple of days, it’s time to see a vet to get an x-ray and to monitor the condition, if the dragon doesn’t lay the eggs it can become egg bound, where the eggs solidify and bind internally with the dragon causing paralysis and even death. So be sure to keep an eye out for this.

Laying eggs

You need around 6 inches at least, 10-12 inches is better, of substrate for the female to dig a burrow in, the best stuff I found is a mixture in equal parts of vermiculite (to retain moisture), play sand and topsoil. Add to this some water to ensure it can hold it’s shape without collapsing and get a big piece of bark to go over the top.

I also found that in the vivarium, the female will tend to prefer to dig a burrow in the warm end, normally under the heat lamp. Although before doing this, she’ll create several test burrows over the course of a few days, so you’ll need deep substrate for all of the viv – I slope it up towards the back to give varying height.

After she’s dug her hole, she’ll lay the eggs in under 30 minutes and then spend a while burying them up again. What you need to do is to carefully remove the soil again and taking note of the position of the egg, transfer them to the incubator keeping them in the same position (more on that later). If she just laid one set of eggs, you may be able to leave them in the tank, but in a few weeks she is more than likely to dig another burrow for the next clutch and she’ll always choose the same place when in the vivarium, thus ruining the eggs if left in there.

Infertile Dragon eggs

These will be yellow and smaller than average. Remove them straight away and throw them out. This also signifies that that’s the end of the egg laying. I mention infertile eggs also because lizards will develop eggs anyway (providing they’re not stressed), even if there is no male present, this works out in two ways, either they lay the infertile eggs or in some cases the eggs get reabsorbed into back into the body.

Fertile Dragon eggs

Fertile bearded dragon eggs are white in colour and will start to swell over a few days, the important things here are heat and moisture. If you notice the egg beginning to sag, don’t worry just add more moisture carefully and the egg should swell up again. If you leave it too long then the egg will die off.

Healthy fertile eggs will positively glow and will double their original size as they swell as the embryo begins to develop.

Incubating the eggs

You can buy custom made incubators or create your own. Since you’re likely to get many batches of eggs you have the opportunity to test different setups.

First of all the heat source – you can use a light bulb or heat mat or an airing cupboard. Light bulbs are expensive to keep on all day every day for a few months, so I preferred to try heat mats, however, I found that the direct heat from the light bulb above the eggs worked better, but I still had low success rate using either. I also tried creating a water bath to retain the heat and this seemed to work marginally better than just heating the incubation tub.

So far I have had 100% success rate leaving the eggs in the airing cupboard and this is what I would recommend.

Secondly you need to look at what to keep the eggs in, the small plastic tubs you get the insects in I found are unsuitable, too many small air holes which dried out the eggs too quickly. Instead you can get purpose made plastic hatchling boxes that are of a decent size, cheap, have a lid and enough airholes to allow the air to circulate without losing too much moisture.

Thirdly you need a medium to rest the eggs in and to retain heat and moisture, for this I found vermiculite to be the best. Add it about an inch deep in the tub and add water until it’s all damp and you can leave hollows in it. For each egg create a hollow using your thumb about a centimeter deep and gently move the egg and rest it in this hollow giving at least half an inch in space between the eggs. It is important to ensure that the egg remains in exactly the same position as it was laid, otherwise turning the eggs could lead to the embryo being malformed or other complications – such as the tail wrapping round and choking the embryo.

So rather than shell out for an expensive incubator I have now had 100% success rate with just a few plastic tubs, some vermiculite and an airing cupboard, and this has produced perfectly healthy mail and females, taking about 2 months to incubate and hatch.

Remember to check on the eggs daily and add more water if the it looks dry or eggs begin to shrink.

Incubation times can be as little as 45 days and can be up to 85 days, in my airing cupboard it took about 56 days and the ideal mid range is about 82 – 86° F if it’s hotter then you risk a higher chance of losing eggs.

Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination (TSD)

Interestingly the temperature you incubate the eggs effects the sex of the dragons rather than the chromosomes at the time of fertilisation. Higher temperatures lessen the incubation time but are more likely to create males where as lower temperatures are more likely to produce females but take longer.

Hatching

The eggs took between 1 and 3 days to all hatch, the best advice here is to ensure that they are still in a moist environment to prevent the egg shell from drying out or sticking to the new born bearded dragon. If there are issues then carefully help the dragon out of the egg, but adequate moisture should prevent the need of this.

When they have hatched transfer them in to the vivarium but maintain the temperate the same as the incubator for the first few days. During hatching if you’re careful you can move them to the vivarium and leave them to hatch there as long as they don’t dry out.