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In this Instructable I will show you how to take care of your pet bearded dragon (Pogona Vitticeps). My dragon is pastel colored so in my photos it might look different from your green or otherwise differently colored dragon.
Items needed:
1. 40 gallon terrarium
2. 40 pounds of calcium sand (general rule is 1 pound of sand per gallon of terrarium)
(Note: if your dragon is still very young do not use sand. Use carpet bedding from your pet store.)
3. Food dish
4. Water dish
5. Basking stones
6. Assorted items for the dragon to sit/lay on (see photos)
7. Basking lamp
8. Infrared lamp
9. Electric timer for the lamps (see photo)
10. Cricket keeper (see photo)
11. Sand scoop
12. 2 Thermometers (see photo)
13. 1 Hygrometer
All these items can be purchased from the pet store where you buy your dragon.
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Signing UpStep 1Habitat Setup
To begin caring for your dragon you need to set up its habitat. To do this, you must first find a good sturdy table to keep your terrarium on, as the terrarium filled with sand will be very heavy.
Once you have found a good place fill the terrarium with the 40 pounds of sand. Spread the sand evenly across the bottom.
Next arrange the assorted items that your dragon will sit and climb on in whatever fashion you wish.
Now you will set up the lamps. Place the infrared and basking lamps on top of the grated lid of the terrarium as shown in the photo. In general these two lamps will create two different climate levels in the habitat. I have found it best to place the basking stones under the basking lamp and to place whatever item you have to provide escape from the lamps underneath the infrared lamps as shown in the photo.
Timer: I use an electronic timer to automatically turn on and off the basking lamp. I suggest setting the timer to be on from 9am-5pm daily. See photo below for an example of the timer.
Your dragon needs specific types of light during different times throughout the day. The infrared lamp provides 24/7 UVB lighting necessary for the dragons health. Since dragons are desert reptiles the basking lamp also provides sun-like heat in their habitat, but this is of course only needed during daylight hours. Because of this, I keep the infrared light on at all times to provide UVB rays during the day and to provide light at night.
Note: different timers may have different functionality.
Next you need to place the thermometers and hygrometer. Place the thermometers on opposite sides of the terrarium, 1 near the infrared lamp and 1 near the basking lamp. This will provide separate readings for these two areas. Also place a hygrometer near the center of the habitat to measure the humidity level of the terrarium.
Temperatures:
Basking area: 100 degrees farenheit
Infrared area: 80-85 degrees farenheit
Night: Never below 75 degrees farenheit
Humidity: 40%
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1.) Excellent advice for keeping crickets. It is much easier to buy them in bulk and just house them in a small tank. And as you mentioned, gut loading provides an opportunity to offer a more nutritious food to your reptile ("you are what you eat"). However, save your money. You don't need to buy products specifically for rearing crickets. Buy a bag of rabbit food or even regular breakfast cereal like Cheerios. As for moisture, just toss a moist sponge in there and re-wet it every day or so.
2.) Ditch the water dish. Coming from the deserts of Australia, Beardies don't need standing water. Between their diet (fresh produce — I've never had luck with pellets) and morning mistings (every morning is OK — morning dew is common in the desert and is a water source for many animals), they get plenty of water.
Also I agree with LankyDuke that you should provide a shaded area for your dragon.I also like to take mine out side when its warm so he can bask in real sunlight.
Also, you should position your lights at one end of your tank only. Have the basking site at around 35*C, and just let the other end of the tank stay at room temperature. You want to create a thermal gradient so that they have a place to retreat if it gets too hot. Having the lights on a dimming thermostat is recommended to avoid the tank getting too hot in summer or during heat waves.
I'm not sure if it's important for your american lines of dragons, but here in Australia we don't worry about monitoring humidity. Spraying babies to aid in shedding is okay, but vitticeps are desert species, after all.
Be wary of leaving the IR light on overnight. Some argue that the red globes are actually visible to dragons, and can disupt their sleep.
Your infrared would make a great night time heat lamp, though bearded dragons don't really require heating at night since their natural enviornment typically dips well below room temprature at night.
Also the house does not provide a great escape for heat, the bulb is also heating the ceramic house, so while it may be a little cooler, it isn't that much cooler. You really do need to provide a temprature gradiant. That is provide a warm side and a cool side in the tank.
I know it's never easy to be told that you're wrong. But since you posted this as a guide for others, I feel the misinformation needs to be cleared up
However I am certain that it does not produce ENOUGH uvb light. As a former reptile breeder, I can assure you that NO Incandesent bulb produces enough UVB light to stimulate proper production of vitaman B. Incandesent bulbs are much cheaper, and if they worked, everyone would use them. You have to have a florescent (even a compact florescent) in order to get the spectrum of light, in the proper strengths necessary.
I'm not trying to tell you that you're wrong to make me feel better about myself. There is alot of misinformation out there.. especially regarding light. I would highly reccomend you do A LOT more research on proper lighting instead of relying on what you read on a box.
it looks a little diffrent than most because of the muted colors... however there are no green bearded dragons...
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
If your dragons don't like to eat pellets, you can buy vitamin and calcium supplement powders from good pet stores. You dust their food daily with the powder to help keep your dragon in top condition ;)