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Care
Experience: Novice lizard keeper
Food: Vegetables and insects
Adult feeding: Several times a week.
Feed young: Feed present at all times
Water basin: Yes
Change water: daily
Food
Just like us, bearded dragon are omnivores, which means that they eat both plants and meat. Half of their diet consists of insects and invertebrates, including crickets, morio worms, dolas, dubias, silkworms and sometimes even small rodents (young mice). The other half consists of vegetables, usually these are leafy vegetables. A few examples of this are endive, chicory, bok choy, radish and dandelions. Now the bearded dragon has a real appetite in addition to his varied diet. This is because there is not much food in nature, so if it can eat, then it must eat all there is. For this reason you should keep a close eye on the weight of the bearded dragon and adjust the diet accordingly. Not feeding them a day once in a whille is also fine.
The diet that we offer the bearded dragon does not meet its full needs of minerals and vitamins. For this reason, additional calcium and vitamin supplements must be added to the food. You can find this in most pet stores and specialty shops.
Water
Despite the fact that the bearded dragon lives in dry areas, it must have water available every day. You can offer this in a small water tank, but change the water daily to prevent bacterial accumulations in the water.
Cleaning
Like the hungry eaters they are, they also relieve them self of the excess food. For this reason, it is advisable to remove the faeces from the accommodation on a daily basis and to remove the dirty soil cover once a week. In addition, it is wise to thoroughly clean the entire stay a few times a year, so you prevent the accumulation of germs and bacteria.
Handling
Bearded dragons are one of the easiest animals to handle. This is because they are very tame and can easily get used to handling with time. If you handle the bearded dragon pick it up by gently sliding your hands under his body. Support the lower body and lift it off the ground. Hold one thumb on its back during handling so that it cannot run away easily. While handling it is advisable to keep it above your lap or above a table. This prevents the bearded dragon from falling a long distance. Finally, it is advisable to wash your hands before and after handling. Here you prevent the bearded dragon and yourself from getting sick.
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Housing
Minimum size of stay for this animal: 100 * 50 * 50
Surface: 0.5 m2 per bearded dragon
Day temperature: 25-35C
Night temperature: 20-22C
Hours of light: 12 hours
Humidity level: 50% or lower
Ground cover: Sand or bark / shavings
Enclosure
The bearded dragon needs a so-called steppe terrarium. This is a bare terrarium with here and there a piece of wood and stone. The pieces of wood and / or stone serve as shelter for the animal. Make sure it is placed in such a way that it is possible to hide. In addition, the enclosure must be divided into a warm and cool side, so that the bearded dragon can control his own temperature. The warm part must be between 32 and 35C during the day, you can create this by lighting one side of the tank with a spot. The other side of the tank may be a little cooler with a daytime temperature of 25 degrees.
In addition to design, the bearded dragon also needs UV light to stay healthy. They need UV radiation to make vitamin D. To get UV radiation into the residence, you can use a UV lamp.
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Costs and Purchase
Legislation: There is no legislation on keeping the animal around the bearded dragons.
One-off costs: This includes the costs for accommodation, lighting, heating, water bowl and decoration. This can together cost a few hundred euros to a few thousand euros. The final amount depends on the quality and size of the products.
Fixed costs: Fixed costs include the costs for the feed, this is several tens of euros per year.
Unexpected costs: There are costs incurred if your bearded dragon happens to fall ill or your equipment breaks down.
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Origin: In the steppe and savannah of Australia