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Bearded Dragon

Family: Agamidae

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Pogona vitticepsPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

     What's a Bearded Dragon? ...a lizard with a spiny "beard"!

     True to its name, the Bearded Dragon has a spiny 'beard'. A male Bearded Dragon will present its 'beard' when making defensive displays and during courtship behavior. Though both the male and female have a beard, the male's is usually more pronounced and darker than that of the female's.

Bearded Dragon
Sandfire x German
Photo@Animal-World David Brough

     Though Bearded Dragon babies are slightly nervous, they grow can grow into a calm, easy-going pet. They are some of the best reptile pets as they are hardy, very docile, and easy to care for.

For more Information on keeping Lizards see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Herptile

Distribution:      The Inland Bearded Dragon is native to Australia, where they inhabit a sunny, hot, and arid environment.

Description:      Adult Inland Bearded Dragons average 15" to 17" (38 - 43 cm) in length. Bearded Dragons hatch out at 3" to 4" and grow quickly, many reaching sexual maturity as early as one year old. They have a gray, brown, or orangish-brown overall coloring on a somewhat flattened body, with a grayish colored underside. There are prominent spines along the sides and they have a large triangular shaped head. The most notable characteristic, true to their name, is their bearded appearance when they puff out their throat area. The beard is especially prominent on adult males during courtship. See more Pictures of regular and color morphs below under: Breeding

Care and Feeding:      Feeding captive Bearded Dragons is simple and straightforward. They are going to need a varied diet consisting of live prey. Crickets, mealworms, waxworms, and occasionally pink or fuzzy mice will be required. In addition, they need a variety of shredded greens and vegetables once or twice a week.      Small Bearded Dragons should be fed insects every day and they should be fed finely shredded greens two or three times a week. Feed small crickets every day and add a small mealworm every two or three days and a wax worm once every couple of weeks.      Small insects and small meals are best and there is the belief that large meals and feeding insects that are too large for the dragon can cause leg paralysis, choking, and even death. As they grow, they can be fed larger insects, larger amounts less often, and their intake of shredded greens and vegetables can be increased to three or four times a week.      For all sizes of Bearded Dragons, insects and salads should be dusted with a vitamin/mineral supplement. Dust every third or fourth feeding for young dragons until they are up to three months old. Then reduce supplementation to once a month for older dragons. You can offer a varied diet with plenty of fresh greens, such as collards, kale, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, and finely chopped vegetables such as yellow squash, zucchini, sweet potato, and carrots. (This supplementation is not as important as most care sheets recommend, especially when the dragons are offered UVB and occasional access to direct sunlight.)      In nature, Bearded Dragons get their water from rainfall and when dew is licked off of plants. To simulate this in captivity, let water drip into a dish in the enclosure to stimulate drinking. You can set up a simple system with a plastic drinking cup that has a perforated bottom. This cup is set on top of the cage's screen top, fill it twice a week and let the water drip slowly into a shallow dish in the cage below. The dripping water stimulates the dragons to approach and to drink. This drip system helps keep the humidity low in the dragon's enclosure by allowing the water to drip into a small space of the cage.

Environment:      Bearded Dragons evolved in a hot, arid environment. Their captive enclosure should reflect this need. Glass terrariums can be wonderful enclosures for Bearded Dragons. A 20-gallon long terrarium (12"w x 12"h x 20"l) can house up to three small Bearded Dragons. As they grow, they will of course need larger enclosures. Adult Bearded Dragons will require at least a 60- to 75-gallon terrarium (18"w x 18"h x 48"l).      Typically terrariums are relatively inexpensive, available in a variety of sizes, and look nice when set up in a special part of your home. Secure and sturdy screen tops are available for these glass terrariums and are usually easy to find at local pet stores. Custom built enclosures are also popular and can be built inexpensively in a variety of sizes. Remember: Bigger is better.      Substrates are an important addition to the look of a naturalistic setup. There is a growing movement in herpetoculture for the establishment of creative and elaborate naturalistic vivaria for reptiles. The business of selling driftwood, moss, misting systems, colorful sand, and supplies is thriving.      There is some concern about Bearded Dragons ingesting sand as they pounce on crickets that wander their enclosure. Many are now using new "digestible" sand products such as T-Rex's Calci-Sand ®. It is not only safe to use with most reptiles, it can provide a beautiful and realistic substrate, closely matching the red desert sands of Western Australia.      Young dragons are easier kept on a paper towel substrate. It is easy to clean, inexpensive, and prevents the young dragons that are just "finding their feet" in attacking prey from ingesting harmful amounts of sand. We do not support the use of newspaper and reptile "carpet" as a substrate, nor aquarium or pea gravel because it could certainly cause problems if ingested. Cypress mulch or pine shavings are not good substrates because they can hold excess moisture and they can also cause problems if eaten.      There is no doubt that the addition of driftwood, cork bark, stable rock piles, and other cage decorations is important in keeping captive dragons healthy and stimulated. These decorations will provide both basking areas and areas for dragons to hide, to rest, and to sleep. If you collect branches and other decorations from nature, be sure that they come from an area that is not sprayed with pesticides and that they are non-toxic.

Temperature and Lighting requirements:      Obviously, a reptile from a hot, sunny environment is going to require plenty of environmental heat in its enclosure. In nature, reptiles move between hot, sunny areas and cooler, shaded areas to regulate their body temperature, called thermoregulation. A Bearded Dragon's enclosure should provide them with the ability to act out this thermoregulatory behavior by having a hot end and a cooler end.      Add a hot spot over one end to serve as the basking area and add some shelter at the other end so that a captive dragon can remove itself from the heat. This is the reason that 20-gallon long aquariums and other longer profile enclosures work much better for pet dragons than vertical ones.      The basking spot should reach temperatures of 95 ° to 105 ° F (35 - 40 ° C), which can be provided by an overhead lamp in an aluminum clip-on hood. Use 100 watt T-Rex UVB-Heat ® bulbs that emit both UVB and heat mounted in a ceramic fixture on a sturdy screen top (or hanging just overhead). The UVB is important and allows diurnal reptiles to produce Vitamin D3 which in turn allows them to properly absorb the calcium they need to form healthy bones and to have healthy, working muscles. In cooler areas or during winter months, you can add a heat source under the enclosure in the form of a reptile heat mat. The goal is to keep the entire enclosure in the 78 ° to 82 ° F (25 - 28  ° C) range and to keep the hot spot around 100 ° F (38 ° C).

Social Behavior/Activities:      Bearded Dragons do fine when kept singly, but they are social and can be kept in groups in a large enough enclosure. If there is more than one male, you can expect some territorial aggressive behavior when they are in breeding mode. A group of one male and several females will have fewer problems.

Handling:      Newly acquired Bearded Dragons need to be allowed to get acclimated to their new enclosures and should be feeding well for at least a couple of weeks before you attempt to handle them. Once acclimated, Bearded Dragons will typically accept short periods of handling and even hand-feeding.      All children should be supervised and instructed on careful handling procedures. Sit on the floor when handling your reptile pet, then in case the dragon jumps or falls, it will probably not receive any serious harm from the shorter distance. As with all reptile pets, anyone who handles the reptile should be sure to wash his or her hands after handling their pets.

Breeding/Reproduction:

     This container should be filled with 2-3" of a mixture of  ½ moist sand and  ½ peat moss or damp vermiculite (1:1 vermiculite and water, by weight). (The incubation medium should be damp and clump in a clinched fist without dripping excess water.) The eggs should be placed in small depressions in the incubation container. Try to keep the eggs in the same position in which they were laid as rotating the egg may cause the embryo to detach and kill the embryo. Once the eggs are placed in the indentations in the medium, the medium should be carefully pushed up around the eggs to help them better retain moisture.

Ailments:      Bearded Dragons have relatively few common health issues. Those that are fed improper diets, are not given proper vitamin supplementation, and those that are not kept hot enough will suffer terrible and sometimes life-threatening bone deformities. They must be fed a varied diet, given supplementation, and they must be offered enclosures that offer them a hot basking area under bulbs that provide heat and UVB rays.      Bearded Dragons that are kept in humid areas outdoors (Florida), are often afflicted with a skin fungus. This fungus appears as yellowish, brownish, or black irregular spots. This fungus will grow and will prove fatal to your Bearded Dragon. The answer is to provide them an enclosure that is dry and a keeper must make sure that the ground in the enclosure is dry as well. Damp substrate is not an option.      Bearded Dragons are captive-hatched, so they should have no problems with internal parasites. Occasionally, a keeper with many dragons will see an outbreak of coccidian. This parasitic organism may arrive with feeder crickets or may arrive in the dragon from a breeder with hygiene issues. Signs of coccidia infection include runny stools and failure to put on weight. Coccidia can be eliminated by a qualified veterinarian.

Availability:     Bearded Dragons are readily available from better reptile stores, on-line, or at reptile shows and expos.      Bearded Dragons are very prolific and in warm areas can produce year-round. Try to purchase your dragon from a breeder or someone with intimate knowledge of Bearded Dragons. They will help you set up the proper enclosure and will give you helpful hints so you are successful. A beginning keeper should purchase a dragon that is at least a month or two old to make sure it is past the hatchling stage, in which dragons are quite delicate. Though there are a wide range of prices, usually based on the dragon's color, even a drab, gray dragon will make a wonderful pet.

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Latest Comments
This is an awesome looking dragon!!! Chloe 2009-08-16
Bearded Dragons are such awesome pets to have. I have a Bearded Dragon named Riley. I've had him for about two years now. He is the best reptile I could have ever asked for. He is such a good pet. And let me tell ya... he has a big appetite for crickets, pinky mice, peas, carrots, and clovers. But that's just his favorite foods, he likes plenty of other fruits and vegtables. He loves to go outside on hot summer days and soak up the sun. He also loves to be misted off when it's hot outside too. I can't even explain how much I love my Riley Boy. I don't think another Bearded Dragon could ever take the place of Riley. Kaitlyn 2009-07-21
I have one of these terrific lizards. I got him when he was just under 9cm. I've had him for about 4 months and already he is 16cm. He is a normal phase and very tame. I love beardies! James van Wyk 2009-04-12
Along with calcium sand being ok no solid substrates as babies, and for adults if you maintain a high temperature range (110 or so) you can use wash and sifted playsand. They should still get a calcium suppliment especially when they are babies. They should get fed greens everyday and adults only get 25-50 feeders a week and dragons should NEVER be housed together, they are not social and could cause harm to each other. There are other things I didn't mention but the main thing is to read as many caresheets as possible so you can gather as much information as possible. herplover22 2009-03-15
I have had my beardie (Rex) for about 5 months now. He is the coolest little guy. We got him for our son who is 5 yrs old. They love each other, my son makes pictures for him and everything. Rex is so calm and mello. Greatest pet I have ever owned! We're thinking about getting another one so rex can have a play mate:) Smiles 2009-02-20
Some of the coolest comments:
Wow you are actually saying calci sand is good when every other forum on the internet agrees that it kills them, no sand in digestable and its fact that no sand should be used with bearded dragons especially young ones. As for news paper and reptile carpet most other sites recomend them. The number one cause of bearded dragons dying is sand and calci sand is the worst and people like you should know better than to put it in a tutorial. Use tiles and clean them once a weak empty poo out every day. EDITOR'S NOTE: There are may different opinions and debates in this area. When any hard particle or substrate is ingested, there is a chance it can lead to an impaction - blockage of the intestines. However, the main cause of death in Beardies is said to be overly large prey. Other causes of death, especially in juveniles, includes ingestion of too much hard chitin (exoskeleton) from food prey, usually from feeding too many mealworms as well as ingestion of hard substrates. Other causes of death include egg binding in females when not provided with proper nesting. Kidney disease is known to be an occasional cause in older dragons. Impaction can occur more easily in the fragile delicate digestive system of younger dragons, while beardies at age 5-6 months or 10" - 12" in length are said to be kept on fine sand or other types of substrates. Washed play sand, alfalfa pellets, cat litter or wood stove pellets made from recycled newspapers are a few of the substrates suggested by some breeders. The debate over calci sand is quite involved. It is not a 'sand' in the sense of being fine particles of rock, such as a play sand. It is made of 100% calcium carbonate, which is dissolvable with moisture. Reportedly the problem seems to arise in that when calci sand gets wet (beardies tend to lick things) it can dry into very hard lumps which is no longer easily dissolved and so an impaction problem could result. Substrates some sites suggest avoiding include calci-sand, walnut shells, and corn cob litter. richard 2009-05-31
You do not want to use calcium sand. The beardies WILL start eating it and there is a huge risk of impacting smaller specimens. Steffi 2008-12-11

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