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Kricket's Kritters is a proud member of The Bearded Dragon Breeders and Suppliers Network The aim of this network is to create one location where you can find
breeders and suppliers of Bearded Dragons who have adopted a common
ethics policy. It is designed to help provide you with the ability to
avoid those pet stores and breeders that sell very small, too young or
sickly Bearded Dragons. (Read more...)
Bearded Dragon Care Information Top of Page
BEARDED DRAGON (Pogona Vitticeps) CARE INFORMATION
Download a Kricket's Kritters Bearded Dragon Caresheet (click here)
Download a list of appropriate and inappropriate fruits, vegetables and insects for Bearded Dragons (click here)
If the natural behaviors and requirements of each species is researched by caregivers, and then appropriate care and husbandry practices are followed, reptiles would not experience many of the health issues that they do while in captive care. Based on years of experience and a reputation for outstanding care practices, below you will find information, suggestions, and recommendations from Kricket's Kritters regarding what to expect as a beardie parent, how to properly care for your new friend, and hints to help you recognize and take care of problems when they occur.
A day in the life of a Bearded Dragon: Generally you should expect your dragon
to wake in the morning and feel cool to the touch, they will make their way to
their basking area and warm up a bit.
They tend to lighten in color a little and spend some time puffing
themselves and their beards up. They prefer to eat their veggies in the
early morning and eat their crickets mid-day. 
They should be active during the day, often running around bobbing and
waving (their breeding and communication behaviors), glass-surfing, digging, etc. Then they return to the basking site, warm
up, and repeat the cycle again and again throughout the day. They should spend
nearly equal amounts of time in the basking area as in the cooler areas. If your dragon is lethargic or inactive, there is something wrong! Please read through this website carefully and thoroughly. Figure out what is wrong immediately. We are our dragon's keepers; we are responsible for their health and survival in captivity. Be sure to check out the Frequently Asked Questions section too! NOTE: If you live in Oregon or Washington, there is a downloadable list of Reptile Veterinarians on Kricket's Kritters Links Page to assist you in finding someone qualified to care for your pet(s).
Kricket's Kritters bearded dragons are individually housed all of the time, and they are unable to see each other across the room. It is NOT recommended to house Bearded Dragons together once they begin to reach puberty beginning at 4 months of age, no matter the size of the enclosure and no matter the gender mix, no matter how well they seem to be getting along. (Please scroll down to see the Frequently Asked Questions Section at the bottom of this page for more information regarding this topic.) NOTE: Periodically contact paper/shelf liner is added to the front or sides of the enclosures in order to provide a visual barrier between dragons, this is helpful when they seem to be stressed-out or seem to need some "alone time."
| Required
Supplies: |
| Very Highly Recommended Supplies:
|
| Enclosure - New Home (55gal or 2'x2'x3') | Food (appropriate veggies & insects) | *Timer-Controlled Power Strip (example: ESU Power Center, digital also availble)
| Insect Gutload | | Hood/Dome
Lamp Fixtures | Dish for veggie salad | *Electronic Thermostat (example: Alife 1000w Temperature Controller, or Helix Thermostats)
| Water Spray Bottle
| UVA/UVB light source (ReptiSun 10.0 or Mercury Vapor Bulbs depending on enclosure size) | Calcium Supplement w/ D3 (no phosphorus) | Substrate - Bedding (Organic Millet or contact paper/shelf liner is recommended to reduce impaction risks)
| ReptiSafe Water
Conditioner | Heat lamp/basking bulb (wattage depends on size of enclosure)
| Thermometer - Digital (Stick-on and analog are not reliable) | Vitamin/Mineral Supplements (T-Rex makes some good ones)
|
|
 NOTE: Kricket's Kritters does not recommend purchasing a Bearded Dragon until they are at least 6 weeks old or at least 6" long (snout to tail). They are very fragile and too sensitive to stress and change when they are so tiny. Breeders, petstores, and hobbyists that sell dragons less than 6 weeks of age should be avoided.
Lifespan:
7-10 years generally (sometimes more, I've heard up to 13 years of age), provided that the Bearded Dragon comes from healthy
genetic stock, and that they are given proper care by being provided with the
necessary foods, equipment, and appropriate environmental conditions to live a healthy life in captivity.
Demeanor:
Bearded dragons are generally tame/docile, curious, active, and able to
be held for short periods of time. They are generally a good
starting pet for children (with appropriate adult supervision and guidance)
and are often kept in schools as classroom pets. They are excellent confidence
builders for new reptile owners.
Diet: Bearded Dragons must eat a variety of insects, fruits, and vegetables. Their diet must be varied and nutritionally balanced. 
Click here for a list of appropriate and inappropriate vegetables, fruits, and insects. (The information included has been collected and compiled from multiple web and magazine resources.)
A good calcium rich balanced Veggie Salad Recipe for Bearded Dragons includes the following Certified -Organic Fresh produce: Collard Greens, Dandelion Greens, Arugula, Mustard Greens, grated Yam/Sweet Potato (not shown), grated Zucchini/Squash/Pumpkin (not shown) NOTE: White dust on salad is Calcium w/ D3 supplement.
 As a general
recommendation, the insects provided should not be larger than the
space between the dragon’s eyes. NOTE: This is not necessarily true
during all periods of growth; however it is a good reference point, especially
when the dragons are small. - Do not feed
crickets that are too large. It can be dangerous to the health of your dragon. Large prey may cause impactions or intestinal
damage and could kill your dragon. Feces should contain fully
digested crickets and vegetable matter, as well as a white section (urea).
NOTES: 1) If you find large quantities of undigested
crickets in the feces, then the food is likely too large and/or your dragon is not warm enough.
As dragons get older they will eat less crickets (of a larger size) and more coarsely chopped vegetable salad. As adult dragons, they can be fed other insects, however crickets should be the staple insect because they are easy to digest (as long as the right size is fed) and they are easy to gutload therefore they can be quite nutritious (as long as they are obtained from a reliable source and are gutloaded properly prior to being fed to the dragons).
 NOTE: Kricket's Kritters does not recommend using and processed, manufactured, or freeze-dried Bearded Dragon foods, diets, or insects. They often contain sugar, dyes, preservatives, and other unnessary ingredients.
(This note does NOT include supplements and vitamins such as calcium. Supplements such as calcium, vitamins, and minerals are crucial to the survival of captive reptiles!)
NOTE: Kricket's Kritters also does NOT recommend using Giant Mealworms. Please visit the Kricket's Kritters Insects Page to find out why.
It
is NOT recommended to house Bearded Dragons together once they begin to
reach puberty beginning at 4 months of age, no matter the size of the
enclosure and no matter the gender mix, no matter how well they seem to
be getting along. (Please scroll down to see the Frequently Asked Questions Section at the bottom of this page for more information regarding this topic.) - Temperature and UVA/UVB Requirements: Bearded Dragon's native habitat is Australian desert scrublands where temperatures are very hot in the daytime and cool in the night hours. Therefore, Bearded Dragon's bodies require high heat and lots of UVA/UVB to properly metabolize and for digestive purposes.
NOTE: If reptiles are not provided with appropriate heat and UVA/UVB, then they WILL suffer from Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD), which is a soft bone disease, much like osteoporosis in humans, as well as various digestive disorders, they will not live a healthy life and it is likely that they will not survive for long in captivity. Basking area temperatures MUST be 105-110*F, and ambient temperatures must be 80-85*F. Heat is provided by using basking lamps. A temperature gradient within the enclosure must be created. (Please scroll down to see the Frequently Asked Questions Section at the bottom of this page for more information regarding this topic.) Too much or too little heat can cause health issues like: dehydration, lethargy, decreased food intake, impactions, stress, respiratory infections, potential death, etc.
NOTE: Too low of temperatures is one of the largest causes of health issues in captive Bearded Dragons. If your dragon is lethargic, lazy, barely moves around the enclosure, doesn't eat properly, doesn't poop every 1-2 days, it is very likely that your temperatures are too low and the Dragons body systems are having a hard time coping with it. Get a digital temperature gun and monitor your temps! Kricket's
Kritters recommends going to Radio Shack or your local
hardware/department store, or visiting www.tempgun.com for digital thermometers and temperature guns. Put your heat sources on a reliable thermostat/temperature controller and let technology do the work for you. Kricket's Kritters recommends going to radio shack or your local hardware/department store, or buying the Alife 1000w temperature controller (it can control 3 devices per enclosure). (Please scroll down to see the Frequently Asked Questions Section at the bottom of this page for more information regarding this topic.)
UVA is in the visible range, and is responsible for normal behaviors such as feeding, diurnal movement, mating and others. UVB is a non-visible wavelength, and allows the
synthesis of vitamin D3, which helps to process calcium and prevent
metabolic bone disease. Most snakes DO NOT have high UVB requirements,
as they get the vitamin D3 from the liver of their prey. Amphibians
also do not seem to require UVB lighting. Diamond pythons, Lizards and
turtles REQUIRE UVB lighting, otherwise they will develop metabolic
bone disease and turtles can also have soft shell problems. UVC is also a non-visible wavelength, and does not
seem to be required by reptiles, although little is know about it at
this stage. UVC is often used as the light source for UV sterilization
for killing bacteria, and at high levels of exposure can be harmful to
most animals.
Additional basking lamps are almost always required, especially for high temperature species like bearded dragons. Night time temperatures should be allowed to drop (not less than 55*F), to simulate a nighttime cool down period. In the evenings, all Bearded Dragon enclosure lights and heat devices should be turned off. In the wild, Bearded Dragons experience hot days and cold dark nights in the desert. They should experience the same thing in captivity, otherwise their bodies don't metabolize properly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's): (Click on the question below to jump to the answer)
1) Can Bearded Dragons be housed together? 2) Is my Bearded Dragon a Male or a Female? 3) What should I know and consider before breeding Bearded Dragons?
4) Can a Bearded Dragon female lay eggs without
mating with a male? Are the eggs
fertile? What can I do to help her?
5) How do I give my dragon water? Can I give my dragon a bath? Is my dragon dehydrated?
6) What bedding substrate should I use? Which are dangerous to my dragon? 7) Why is my dragon not eating, lethargic, not very active? My dragon hasn't pooped, what is wrong?
8) What are some temperature related behaviors? Why does my dragon have its mouth open?
9) How do I monitor my enclosure temperatures? How do I create a temperature gradient? 10) Winter weather preparations - What nighttime temperature is too cold? Is my dragon brumating? What is brumation?
11) Does my Bearded Dragon need it's nails clipped? 12) Can I feed my dragon freeze dried canned crickets and worms? What about Bearded Dragon pellets and prepared foods? 1) Can Bearded Dragons be housed together?
Buying multiple dragons? Here are some points to consider: Bearded Dragons do not "need friends." When Bearded dragons come across each other in the wild, they will often bask together, determine territory, which may include fighting, and they perform courting and breeding rituals; then they take off and go about their own business. In the wild Bearded Dragons are able to leave or escape if they feel threatened, stressed, due to food scarcity, or competion. In captivity however, they are unable to escape and therefore
can suffer from unnecessary stress, dominance issues (often
unrecognizable to human caregivers), territorialism, submission,
fighting, injuries, over-breeding, malnutrition/anorexia, lack of heat
and UVA/UVB, etc.
 Territorialism does not necessarily manifest as aggression. With reptiles, it may also manifest as: One dragon getting larger than the other - The larger one will have the ability to eat more, because at feeding time it can weigh down the smaller one, by climbing on and over it. This prevents the smaller one from catching food as readily as it might otherwise.
Taking over the basking area(s) - By stacking and selecting the best and hottest spots for themselves. This results in the smaller one not getting as hot as it needs to, and it also doesn't the the UV rays it needs. This means they don't digest their food properly, which results in slower growth rate and impactions.
Bearded Dragons do not live in families in the wild, nor do they
have any parental responsibilties for their young beyond producing,
laying, and safely burying their eggs, they do not come back to check
on them, protect them, or care for them in any way.
As a matter of fact, if they were to come upon a small lizard (one of their babies or not) they would likely eat it!
It is not recommended to keep more than one bearded dragon in the same enclosure beyond 4-6 months of age no matter the genders. If you do try to keep more than one bearded dragon in the same enclosure and they are less than 4-6 months of age, it is extremely important that they both be the same or very similar in size AND weight. Otherwise the more dominant one will take over and boss around the smaller likely causing stress, health issues, inability to attain full size, injuries, and many other issues you may not recognize until it is too late.
 Hatchling bearded dragons housed together may exhibit territorialism, it may cause stress and sometimes malnutrition or death, it is always recommended that hatchling dragons be kept in small groups (6-10) and separated by size/weight (monitored and moved around as they grow).
- Hatchlings of the same size and weight should only be housed together until they are about 4-6 months of age when they begin to hit puberty, at which time breeding, courting, fighting, etc will become more prevalent if not separated.
Even if you get/have multiple dragons, and they seem to be getting along, you should still be prepared with a second enclosure
in case of illness, injury or territorialism issues. You may also need
to provide visual separation between enclosures, especially during breeding times or high
stress times, otherwise they may drive themselves "mad:" glass surfing,
jumping, digging, etc" and sometimes to the point of not eating
properly. Contact paper works really well for visual barriers.
All
newly acquired animals should undergo a fecal exam and a 30-60 day
quarantine in order to monitor health, appetite, and ensure that you
won’t be exposing your existing colony to anything. This is very important, no matter who you purchase your dragons from!
2) Is my Bearded Dragon Male or Female? 
Start
with the sexing hints and suggestions above and see where that gets
you. Generally you can be pretty certain of the sex if the dragon fits
a few of the descriptions above for that particular sex, some dragons
are tricky depending on their age/size, but you can get pretty close to sure based on the info
above...good luck! There are some great sexing photos here: http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/sexing/ and also here: http://www.lihs.org/files/caresheets/sheet16.htm
3) What should I know and consider before breeding Bearded Dragons? NOTE: Please read FAQ#4 about egg laying also! Kricket's Kritters recommends buying Bearded Dragons that you're planning on breeding younger rather than older, and never from a petstore, only a reputable breeder. Buying a bearded dragon young means that you can know how the dragon has been fed, raised, and about its health history because you are the one raising and taking care of the lizard until it is mature enough to breed (1.5 to 2 years of age).
Kricket's Kritters acquired all of our breeders from the best captive breeder in the US at 6 weeks of age. We raised them on a strictly certified-organic diet (our crickets are fed organic too), the way we wanted/needed them to be in order for them to produce the quality offspring we wanted to provide to our customers.
In addition, this "raising-up" time allows for time to learn how to take care of the individual lizards, determine if the individual has the qualities wanted to pass on to offspring, learn about breeding preparations, acquire additional equipment and enclosures for the hatchlings, and acquire the knowledge needed to produce quality, healthy animals.
**Female Bearded Dragons can store sperm for extended periods of
time, so that they don't have to breed multiple times, since breeding is so stressful. A female dragon can produce multiple clutches of 20-30 eggs after only ONE breeding session.* *
For Example: Kricket's Kritters hatched 117 bearded dragons between two females and one male, as a result of only ONE breeding session which lasted less than 30 seconds per female.
The male and female dragons chosen for breeding must to be of an appropriate age (1.5 years or older) and weight (absolute minimum of 250 grams), both adults also need to have a clean and clear health history. Dragons selected for breeding must demonstrate: Good temperament/demeanor Be active Eat well and often Come from good, strong, and healthy genetic stock Not be related to one another within 5 generations. (If you don't know the genetic history, don't breed it!)
After breeding just ONE TIME, a female bearded dragon is able to
lay multiple clutches of eggs. A new clutch is laid every 2-6 weeks. Healthy clutches should consist of 20-30+ oblong
(oval-ish), white, firm leathery eggs. Generally 3-6 clutches are laid in the first year, 6-8+ the second year, and then back down to 3-6 clutches the third through fifth years. NOTE: It is not recommended to breed bearded dragons beyond their fifth year.
 Some dragons have been reported to have laid up to 13 clutches in a year. Others have produced clutches containing nearly 70 eggs! Many breeders do not breed their dragons beyond year five due to decreased reliability of clutch size and quality of stock, as well as wear and tear on the female.
Bearded Dragons have no parenting responsibilities other than being healthy, breeding, laying the eggs somewhere safe, and then covering the eggs over so that predators don't notice the nest. The mother dragon then leaves her eggs behind to incubate for more than 2.5 MONTHS (55-75 days), during
which time the eggs swell slightly as the tiny lizard grows inside.
 NOTE: Many books
and articles suggest that bearded dragons hatch at the same time.
Many
breeders on the other hand, experience clutch hatchings over
the course of 1-2 weeks in captive hatching situations, where eggs are
removed from the burrow and incubated in an incubator. In
the wild, on the other hand, when the first few dragons emerge, become
active, and begin to dig
their way out of the burrow, they “wake-up” the other hatchlings and
inadvertently also "help" to split
the remaining eggs by clambering over them in the digging process.
Once hatching time arrives (see image, 2 dragons hatching in upper right corner and lower left corners of image), the eggs hatch on their own, with no assistance or protection from either parent. The hatchling dragons dig out of the burrow and take off on
their own. By hatching and emerging "at
the same time" (see explanation above), they have more of a chance to escape being picked off by birds
or other predators ("survival in numbers"). Hatchling dragons need to be kept in small groups according to their size and weight. This means a lot of enclosures, equipment, expense, space, food, and cleaning for you.
Each baby bearded dragon will eat up to 50 crickets per day; that is a lot of crickets!
Additonal Information: NOTE: Please read FAQ#4 also!
Bearded Dragons are not easily sexed until they are about 6 months old. If you have a male and female, and they are kept together, whether they are related or not, they WILL breed. Male and female adult siblings should be housed
separately for the entirety of their lives, no exceptions, to prevent
inbreeding and contamination of the gene pool. If you get 2 dragons, whether you intend to breed them later or not, make sure that they are not genetically related within 5 generations. NOTE: You'll need to check even if you get them from different breeders, breeders buy each others dragons too!
Hatchlings from immature, unhealthy, and/or inbred dragons are often deformed, nutrient deficient, and are otherwise pre-disposed to various heath issues which often result in a poor quality of life, small size, disease, a lot of vet bills, and pre-mature death. Immature, unhealthy, small, and/or sibling dragons should NOT be bred, under any circumstances. Otherwise the quality and integrity of the gene pool is contaminated when the dragons are hatched and distributed to the public. Breeding of any living organism should be done in an educated, humane, caring, and responsible way. If you will be unable to properly care for the hatchlings, or if breeding occurs between immature, unhealthy or sibling dragons, then the responsible thing to do is to freeze the eggs immediatly upon being laid so that embryo development is ceased. After 24 hours freezing, the eggs should be discarded.
None the less, the decision is yours. Please be Responsible.
For more information about Breeding Preparations and Considerations please also check out the document below:
Which is also posted at: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bearded_Dragon_Community/files/
Back to FAQ List 4) Can a Bearded Dragon female lay eggs without
mating with a male? Are the eggs
fertile? What can I do to help her?
Bearded dragon females will lay eggs even if they haven't
mated with a male, this is usually stimulated if a male is visible. However, some bearded dragon females who have
never really seen a male, other than when cohabitating as hatchings, have laid
eggs too.
Eggs laid without a successful breeding event have not been
fertilized, and therefore should be removed from the enclosure and discarded.
The female will likely lay more than one clutch of eggs,
this may happen every 2-6 weeks, clutch sizes are likely to be smaller than
fertilized eggs, the eggs laid will likely be smaller as well.
Producing eggs, whether fertilized or not is very taxing
on the female body and psyche. Here are
some suggestions about how to prepare a soil bin and what to expect from a gravid female (this process is the same, whether the eggs are fertile or not):
- You'll generally notice a change in the female when it's
time to lay her eggs, she may become a lot more active, start digging around,
glass surf more, etc. We find that the gravid
dragon gets really hyper and a bit neurotic.
The female should be provided with extra calcium rich
foods and supplements in order to maintain her health, weight, and fat
resources. Females also tent to want to drink more water than usual as well. (See FAQ#5 about providing water, baths, and dehydration)
- We recommend providing a 12" deep container filled
with moist certified-organic potting soil, to allow her to dig a burrow, the way she
would in the wild and if she were producing fertile eggs.
This facilitates a less stressful experience for the
female, allows her to learn to build a burrow, and you get to watch her do
something really cool! NOTE: Yes it is okay to watch what going on. The room should be quiet, and she should not be handled unless she is in a dangerous predicament. The female should not be disturbed in her egg laying process or burrow digging. If she is disturbed, this could cause her to retain her eggs because she feels unsafe to lay them. Egg retention can be fatal to the female, and the eggs could be at risk as well.
In the images below, you see that we started with a 31
gallon rubber bin that we adapted into a temporary egg laying enclosure.
This is how we made it:
We used a 19qt (12” tall) clear plastic bin as the soil container
for egg laying. We used wood to make a
ramp for the female to climb up and a frame that the bin could sit into, so the
female couldn’t fall off the edge of the soil bin. (Note: There is also a back
wall under the ramp which creates a den, and also prevents the female from getting under or behind the soil bin
and getting trapped.) Having this configuration allows us to remove the soil
bin once the eggs are covered back up by the female and she has left the soil bin.
- We recommend providing a 12" deep container filled
with moist Certified-Organic potting soil.
- The Certified-Organic potting soil should be moistened
and mixed to the point where if you pick up a handful and make a ball, when you
let go it stays in a ball, but that there is no excess water.
- You do not want it to be muddy or soupy.
Fill the 12” deep container with soil and pack it down lightly. NOTE: This egg laying bin is a temporary bin, so when a female starts showing us that it is time to lay eggs, she is moved into this bin. Later, once her egg laying is done and the burrow is covered over, she is moved back into her regular enclosure.
This is how the burrow digging, egg laying, and burrow covering process works:
The female will enter the soil bin, and start digging, some first time to lay females need
to be coerced into it at first. Sometimes they’ll dig one
burrow and then try again in another place. In the wild, this would be done
to confuse their predators, and also to ensure that their burrow is not going
to collapse on them while they’re laying.
Once the female has dug her burrow, she’ll turn around
and begin to lay her eggs. She may use
her feet to control where her eggs land, what orientation they are placed in,
and how fast they are pushed out of her body. (See photos in FAQ#3 also) 
Once she’s done laying her eggs, she’ll begin to cover
them over with soil, and she’ll pack down the soil with her head and nose. When
she’s done, you’ll barely notice that there was a burrow.
She will leave her egg clutch behind and leave the soil bin. Once she has left the soil bin, remove the bin with the soil and
eggs in it. Replace it with an empty bin and lid, so she doesn’t
fall down inside if you're using my "ramp contraption" idea.
NOTE: When
it is time for the next egg laying session (2-6 weeks later), the empty bin is filled up with soil
and the process started all over again.
If you're planning to incubate fertilized eggs follow these instructions: WASH YOUR HANDS WELL! Carefully excavate the eggs. Remove the soil around the eggs small in handfulls. Do not push on the soil too much, you don't want to damage the eggs. When you get close to where the eggs are, remove smaller amounts of soil. (See image at left of excavated eggs). Wash Your Hands again before handling the eggs
If the eggs are fertilized, then they must be incubated at 81*F and 50% humidity for 55-75 days, if your planning to keep them. (Please read FAQ#3 BEFORE making this decision!)
If the eggs are fertilized or you are unsure, and you don't want to keep them, you should freeze them and then discard them.
If the eggs are not fertilized, they should be discarded. In the wild the eggs would be left for 55-75 days to
incubate, the female would not come back to check on them, would not protect
the nest, and would not nurture or feed the hatchlings.
Back to FAQ List
5) How do I give my dragon water? Can I give my dragon a bath? Is my dragon dehydrated?
Most impactions, dehydration, and/or other health issues can be prevented if you spend time with your Bearded Dragon and get to know its habits and behaviors and educate yourself and your family about their proper care. Keep a log of your care and cleaning schedule and any issues you notice so that you can refer back if you need to, make sure you have date/time listed. Designate a block of time daily to “study” and visit with your reptile friend; this allows you to watch behavior patterns, learn about, understand, and notice when your dragon “tells” you that they are ill, injured, constipated, stressed, not eating, etc. One of the main keys to catching dehydration is paying attention to defecation patterns. Dehydration directly affects the dragons’ ability to pass digested materials. - Not defecating on a regular basis (every 1-2 days)
- Lazy eyes, not fully open
- Less active, sleeping more
- Dark eyes, "sunken sockets”
- Decreased appetite
- Hanging out in den, less social
- Not very active, listless
All water fed directly to the dragons is filtered and treated with ReptiSafe Water Conditioner, plus occasional electrolytes. It is not recommended to bathe, soak, or spray the dragon within the last hour or two of their day. Otherwise, they may be too cool during the nighttime hours and this may lead to respiratory or other health issues.
Open water containers are NOT recommended in Bearded Dragon enclosures. In the wild, Bearded Dragons come from a hot and dry environments, they require the same in captivity. Evaporation of water due to the high enclosure temperatures leads to high humidity in Bearded Dragon enclosures. High humidity causes respiratory infections and eventual death in desert dwelling lizards like Bearded Dragons.
6) What bedding substrate should I use? Which are dangerous to my dragon? If you find that your dragon is kicking food into the dish of food, try putting the dish more into the middle of the enclosure or finding something deeper. This may decrease the contamination of the food. Contaminated food (feces, dead insects, dried up leftovers, bedding substrate, etc) should be removed and replaced immediately.
Many intestinal impactions that occur in reptiles are often not from the food they eat, but instead the bedding substrate they are housed on.
NOTE: Although the packaging for Calci-Sand and other similar products suggest that the product may be digestible, they are not digestible and instead are major contributors to gut impactions in captive lizards.
Photo provided by Kristin King @ Eau Gallie HS. Due to the risk of impaction with most bedding substrates available in the pet industry, Kricket's Kritters sought an alternative bedding substrate that would be less of a risk, be aesthetically pleasing, and natural. Kricket's Kritters chose Certified-Organic Millet.
Millet can mold, however as long as your enclosure is dry enough.
Kricket's Kritters recommends not using a water dish in the enclosure (which can cause respiratory infections anyway), to restrict daily mistings/sprays to just the dragon (not the entire enclosure), and to do water feedings using a baby medicine dropper by dripping directly on the dragons nose.
1.5" deep is plenty, make sure that you scoop the enclosure daily so that bacteria doesn't spread. You can use a kitty litter scooper to scoop feces from millet.
Are there are differences between using bird seed millet vs. certified-organic millet? YES! The first difference is that birdseed millet still has the hull on it which makes it less absorbent and also harder for the dragons to digest. Another difference is the way that it is grown, processed, and chemically treated. Birdseed millet is sometimes grown from genetically modified seeds, treated with pesticides and insecticides sufficient tests have not been conducted to know the full effects of these chemicals. In addition, birdseed millet is often treated with antibiotics meant for birds, not reptiles, and who knows what they've added since bird flu became an issue around the world.
Below are some benefits of using Certified-Organic Millet:
* Not treated with any chemicals (no pesticides or herbicides), |
Dragons
