Question 1

What can I put on the bottom of the enclosure?

Accepted Answer

Baby Bearded Dragons should not have any sand or loose substrate in their enclosure as it can cause impaction. Things that are safe to put in the bottom of your baby dragon's enclosure include : Paper towel, newspapers, reptile carpets, tile, linoleum, fiber floor, towels.

Question 2

Should I leave the heat lamp on at night?

Accepted Answer

Unless the room temperature drops below 70 degrees Fahrenheiht or 21 Celsius then you do not need to keep the heat lamp on at night. In fact, it is healthier for your dragon to cool down to a safe lower temperature than he is during the day. Letting the enclosure temperature drop at night will help prevent your dragon from getting dehydrated as well as helps your dragon to get a better rest. If the room temperature of the room your dragon is in drops below 70 degrees F or 21 Celsius at night then you should keep a heat lamp on at night that does not let off any light.

Question 3

Do Bearded Dragons need a light at night?

Accepted Answer

No, its is best to have no lights on around your Bearded Dragon at night while he/she is sleeping. Bearded Dragons are Diurnal creatures and like to sleep in the dark.

Question 4

Where should I place the UVB and Heat lamp on top of the enclosure?

Accepted Answer

Your heat lamp should be placed to one side of the enclosure to help create a warm side of the enclosure and leave the other side cooler so that your dragon can regulate his temperature externally. Your UVB shoud ideally be a long tube bulb that can span most of them length of the enclosure, if it does not then place it where your dragon spends most of his time regularily. It it very important that your dragon is exposed to UVB lighting during the day.

Question 5

What shoud I use to clean the enclosure?

Accepted Answer

Water and vinegar can be used to clean your dragon's enclosure. Here at KBD we often use Dexidin 4 detergent dilluted in water to clean our enclosures with. There are also many cleaners that can be bought at pet stores that you can use to clean your Dragon's enclosure with. Please be sure to always rinse/ wipe down your enclosure with just water after using a cleaner to insure that no cleaner residue if left in the enclosure when you put your dragon back.

Question 6

How do I know if I'm giving my Bearded Dragon too much Calcium dust?

Accepted Answer

If the white urate part of your Bearded Dragons feces starts to turn yellow this is often a sign that they have too much calcium in their diet, this can also be a sign of dehydration.

Question 7

Why should I give my Dragons Calcium Dust and how do I give it to them?

Accepted Answer

Calcium dust along with proper UVB lighting will help your prevent your Bearded Dragons from getting Metabolic Bone Disease and will help keep your dragons healthy. You can give them cacium dust by dusting their bugs with it. To dust cricklets: Take a bag and put the crickets you are about to feed your bearded dragon in the bag along with a few shakes of calcium dust, close the top and shake the bag to dust the crickets....just like shake & bake! You can also sprinkle some calcium dust on their salads if oyu do not want to put it on their bugs.

Question 8

How often do baby Bearded Dragons need to be fed?

Accepted Answer

Baby Bearded Dragons should be fed 2-3 times a day. We like to provide our baby dragons with fresh vegetables and a few bugs first thing in the morning, then in the afternoon we offer them some more bugs, and sometimes a few more later in the evening. Once your dragon is 1 years old you can cut down to feeding your dragon only once a day.

Question 9

What can I do to help my Bearded dragon when he is shedding?

Accepted Answer

Misting your dragon daily helps them while they are shedding. You can also give your Dragon a nice warm bath to help loosen the shedding skin. DO NOT try to help your dragon by pulling off the shedding skin for him, this can cause damage to the new scales underneath.

Question 10

Can I feed my Bearded Dragon bugs that I have found outside?

Accepted Answer

This is not recommended as it introduces the risk of your dragon potentially catching a a parasite from a bug eaten from outside as well as certain bugs from outside could be posinous to Bearded Dragons. Howver, if you take your Bearded Dragons outside and one of them happens to catch a bug, do not worry, chances are your dragon will be perfectly fine. One of our dragons once caught and ate a bee before we could stop him! To our suprise he had not ill effects from eating it!

Question 11

What is my dragon's feeding schedule currently?

Accepted Answer

Approx 6:45 am - Fresh salads are place in all our dragons enclosures.   3pm - Young dragons are given half of their daily bugs. All dragons are misted and adult dragons are given all of their daily bugs.    6pm - Young dragons are given the second half of their daily bugs. Often young dragons are misted a second time.

Question 12

Do Bearded Dragons like to live in pairs or on their own?

Accepted Answer

Bearded Dragons are solitary creatures and therefore do best living alone. If two bearded Dragons are living together one will usually try to gain dominance over the other. Females can sometimes be sucessfully housed together, however they need to be watched closely for any signs of agressions towards each other in attempt to gain dominance.

Question 13

Do male or female Bearded Dragons make better pets?

Accepted Answer

In our opinion both male and female bearded dragons both make good pets. The gender of your dragon will not determine its personality or whether or not he/she is going to be friendly. If you are planning to have more than one bearded dragon then females would be a better choice as they may get along well enough to be around each other. If you are planning to only have one bearded dragon then you may find that a male is a good choice for you since  you will never have to worry about him needing to lay eggs.

Question 14

How much will Bugs Cost Me?

Accepted Answer

Depending on the age and size of a baby you start off with, your baby should be eating anywhere from 7 - 15 small/medium crickets a day. If you feed your dragon approximately 10 a day, a container of 100 crickets at the pet store usually sells for around $8 (give or take a dollar or two depending on where you are buying), so you would be looking at $10/week, which would come to $30-$40 a month for bugs. There is a short period of time, usually between 5-7 months old where I find their diet is the most costly. By this time your dragon should be eating large crickets and may eat closer to 20-30 crickets a day, so you're looking at closer to $62 worth of bugs for the month. By 8 months of age, sometimes sooner, your dragon will likely be large enough to also have full size Superworms incorporated in his diet (along with crickets), which will help fill him up cheaper since then you don't have to feed as many crickets. Please note Superworms are high in fat and should not be fed to your dragon in large quantities nor should they be used as a staple.  If you are comparing to people online claiming their dragon eats 40 - 60 crickets a day, most of those people are greatly overfeeding their dragons and are putting them at risk of fatty liver disease, developing gout, developing infertile eggs at too young of an age, or other health conditions. People always seem to think the more their animal eats the healthier they are lol, this is not always true. When bearded dragons are fed lots of bugs they tend to not eat their vegetables. Although a baby should be eating 80% bugs and 20% vegetables for the first year of their life, they should still be eating some vegetables daily. Many owners who are overfeeding their dragons protein struggle to get their dragon to eat any vegetables. Once they are a year old the diet should be flipped to 80% vegetables and 20% bugs, most people fail to do this saying "my bearded dragon won't eat vegetables, I have to give him bugs or he will starve'', but this is usually due to the owner not willing to wait the dragon out, offering little to no bugs until he/she gets hungry enough to start eating their vegetables.   Once they are 1 year old you switch them to 80% vegetables. The amount of bugs an adult needs per day to maintain a healthy weight can really depend on his/her activity level (is he exploring his enclosure most the day and therefore burning more energy? Or is he sitting in the same spot most of the day?). As they get older they tend to get more lazy. For most of my adults I only feed them bugs 5-6 days a week, unless they are gravid (bearing eggs), then I give them bugs 7 days a week. Often a break from bugs is healthy for an adult bearded dragon and helps to increase their vegetable intake. Some of my adults only need 5-7 large crickets a day, with 4 superworms 1-2 times a week to maintain a healthy weight. The ones that are more active eat closer to 10 crickets a day and 6-8 superworms 1-2 times a week.   On another note, the more hidden expense a lot of people don't recognize ahead of time is the cost to get properly set up for a Bearded Dragons. Many Pet stores often promote the cheapest supplies and often the wrong supplies, and as time goes on new owners soon realize they need to spend an additional $150 -$300 to improve their set up and replace half the supplies they purchased. If purchasing all new supplies (the proper kind), and a full size enclosure that can last the lifetime of your dragon's life you are looking at anywhere from $400 - $800 depending on what kind and size of enclosure you purchase. If you purchase a second hand enclosure you can save a lot of money. I have a shopping list on my website with examples of good products and also some ways to save money: https://www.kelownabeardeddragons.com/shopping-list

Question 15

What are the symptoms of a gravid (pregnant) female?

Accepted Answer

A female that is gravid will usually have an increased appetite. You will notice her excessively digging in her enclosure. Her belly will get bigger, but you may notice the fat pads on the top of her head going down (gainning weight in the belly but loosing it elsewhere) as a result of her not getting enough food to suport both her and her eggs. You may be able to feel lumps in her belly or even see that her belly is bumpy, however, if the eggs are infertile you may not be able to feel or see them.    Often when a female is ready to lay her eggs she will stop or slow down in her eating 2-3 days before she is ready to lay.

Question 16

Do Females lay infertile eggs?

Accepted Answer

Yes, once a female is 1.5 - 2 years old, or reached maturity she can lay infertile eggs even though she has not mated. If your female has eggs to lay she needs to be offered a suitable place to lay her eggs. If a female canno't find a suitable place to lay her eggs she will hold onto the eggs until she finds a suitable spot to lay them. In most cases after a while if the female has not found a suitable spot she will get desperate and lay her eggs inside the enclosure (or if she is roaming the house she may find a slipper or somewhere around your house to lay them lol). It is not recommended that you put your bearded dragon in this situation. In rare cases if the female holds onto the eggs too long she can end up egg bound (essentially the eggs dry up inside her) and this usually ends up being a fatal situation.   So it is important if you have a female to have a bin of dirt mixed with sand available (Approx 24" by 12" by 12" would be a good size, although some female bearded dragons can be picky and require a larger bin ). If you suspect she has eggs, mix some warm water with the dirt/sand to make it hold together better and place your female in the bin in a quite room where she will not be disturbed and leave her to dig and lay her eggs for a few hours to half a day. Or some people choose to put a dirt/sand bin in the enclosure and have it available for the bearded dragon at all times.    Females usually make it fairly obvious that they have eggs to lay. They often will start digging excessively anywhere and everywhere, you may notice her gainning weight in her belly but loosing weight elsewhere, she may be restless, eat more and then all of a sudden stop eating (often when they stop eating it means they are ready to lay), sometimes you can even feel the eggs in their belly or see that their belly is lumpy.

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