Care Sheet

Housing

A 15 or 20-Gallon long aquarium is best as your new hatchling’s first home. This size is long enough to provide the temperature gradient beardies require but small enough to allow the hatchling to locate prey items. As your dragon grows, it will require a longer tank or cage set up.

Substrate

We suggest housing young bearded dragons on newspaper or paper towels to prevent problems with impaction. With newspaper, be aware that crickets will hide beneath the paper. We suggest that you replace the old paper with new paper nightly, allowing hidden crickets to be removed or eaten for a late night snack. Left over crickets can harm young dragons, so be careful. If there are extra crickets in the enclosure, provide them with food, so they do not nibble on your dragon at night. Basking logs should be placed within the enclosure to allow your dragon to thermoregulate and feel secure.

Cage Furniture

Hatchlings benefit from a simple environment. A small branch or a smooth, palm sized “River Rock” available at most nurseries makes an excellent basking rock. We use the dark rocks since the dark color holds some of the heat from the basking lamp, which aids digestion. Do NOT use “heat rocks” since dragon bellies are sensitive and have been burned by the heat. The only other items in our hatchlings cages are high range thermometers (2), a feeding dish and a small, shallow water dish.

UVB Lighting

Your dragon will need a full spectrum UVB light.

We use Exo Terra Repti Glo 10.0 fluorescent light  fixture that runs the length of the cage. UVB only penetrates 8 - 12 inches from the source. Raise your basking rock or lower the UVB light to provide your dragon with maximum benefit of the UVB. Also a 50 - 100 watt basking light depending on the size of the tank. We use Exo Terra Sun Glo Tight Beam bulbs.

Thermometers & Basking Lamps

Beardies require a temperature gradient in their enclosures because they can't regulate their body temperatures like we can. They have to thermoregulate, which means that they have to move between areas of differing temperatures in order to regulate their internal temperature. You should have a basking spot for your Beardie that is around 95-105 degrees, as they need to get their bodies to 90 - 95 degrees to digest their food. Your Beardie will also need an area to cool down if he gets too warm. At the opposite end of the tank, you should try to keep the temp around 75-85 degrees. Night time temps shouldn't be allowed to drop below 65 degrees, whereas 70-75 degrees is more comfortable for them. Don't guess on temps - you could cook or freeze your Beardie! Use a thermometer, one on the cool side and another near the basking site.

Dragons wake up and bask to warm up. This stimulates their appetite and allows the dragon to digest its food. If the basking spot is not hot enough, the dragons won’t eat. On the other hand, when a dragon’s internal temperature becomes too hot, the dragon requires an area of the cage that is 20 degrees cooler or more to get away from the basking lamp heat. This thermoregulation is required for bearded dragons to survive. If they cannot cool off, they will die.

Longevity:
A well cared for dragon will live from 6-12 years, maybe longer. The early years of a dragons life are often the most important. A young dragon that is not properly cared for is likely to have life long lasting problems. Proper exposure to uvb, vitamins, and minerals along with a well balanced diet in every stage of a dragon's life will help enable your dragon to have a long and healthy life

Crickets

Hatchlings should be given as many crickets as the dragon will consume in 30 minutes. Feed hatchlings 3 times a day with appropriately sized crickets, no larger than the width of the dragon’s mouth. Place 5 crickets in the cage at a time until the dragon is full.

Crickets need to be dusted with supplements that support the fast growing bones of the dragon. Our calcium powder of choice is RepCal with D3. We use this 3 times per day. Place the supplements in a saltshaker and dust crickets fairly heavily before feeding.

Crickets also need to be “gut-loaded” with other things to make them more nutritious. Products like Gut Load are fine. You can also use a potato or shredded carrots and other veggies that supply both food and moisture to the crickets.

Additionally, place a small dish of chopped salad greens that are high in calcium and/or moisture: Romaine lettuce, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, kale, escarole and endive.

Remove crickets at night. Crickets will crawl over the hatchling, which stresses them out.

Water

Provide a clean shallow (knee deep or less) dish of water every morning. The bowl should be large enough for the shoulders to enter into comfortably. Most dragons won’t drink from bowls but they will soak in a water dish, which provides other benefits as long as the water is kept meticulously clean. For drinking water we have found that a fine spray plant mister with warm water works best to stimulate the dragons to drink. Mist every evening at around dinnertime after the dragons have been basking all day but with an hour or two left on the timer to dry off before bedtime.

Mist from over the dragon’s head. Mist and then wait a second. Then mist again and until the beardie starts drinking. Keep misting until the dragon has stopped lapping up the water on his or her face. Dragons require a lot of moisture due to the high temps at which they bask.

More Than One

As highly social creatures, beardies thrive best in environments with more than one dragon. Arm Waving, which literally means, “Hello,” is one of our favorite beardie behaviors but only occurs if the dragon has someone else to greet! Just remember that dragons that are caged together need to be the same size, within ½ inch or so. Otherwise, the larger of the two will dominate the smaller one, sitting on top of him or her preventing the smaller one from eating. Beardies do have a social hierarchy, which, as adults, presents few problems. As hatchlings or juvvies, however, survival instincts are strong. The key is just to be watchful. Check the size of both dragons every day or so, since beardies grow extremely fast. If one hatchling grows noticeably larger or fatter, separation is necessary. This is likely to be short term since smaller dragons usually catch up to siblings quickly once they are given a “safe” environment and free access to food. Dominated dragons are stressed out dragons and this can lead to all sorts of health problems just as it does in humans. Don’t chance it.

Tips

Please remember that your hatchling bearded dragon is a baby and will be scared in his or her new environment. Make sure the dragon’s cage is in a stress-free area rather than in the kitchen or another high traffic area.

Dark markings or striations on a dragon’s belly are a clear signal that the dragon is stressed. When hatchling color morphs are stressed, they can also “go dark,” losing some of their bright color temporarily. Check temps on the basking spot. Is it 105-115 degrees? Check out the cool side. Is the temperature there at 80 degrees or below? If the temps seem right, look for other causes and make adjustments. When the dragon’s belly has returned to its normal white color and is free of markings your habitat has the correct temps and the dragon is adjusting to its new environment.

If the dragon does not eat the first day, mist in the evening and try again the next morning. The important thing is to keep the dragon hydrated.