how to properly care for a bearded dragon

This Instructable will show and instruct you how to properly care for a bearded dragon. Everything from cage, food, water, decorations, and basic facts. The picture below is of my 12" long bearded dragon Lola.

Step 1 Basic Facts

Bearded dragons are found in Australia in deserts and woodland. In the wild they will evade humans and often run up trees from predators. When confronted by a predator like a dingo or bird, they will sometimes puff-up and hiss to make themselves appear larger then they really are. Though they do not usually bite they are capable of biting. The males have black beards during mating season to attract females.

Comments

[manish15]

How will you take care of this if you can't even see this :
http://scimad.com/discovered-worlds-smallest-chameleon/

[care-bearded-dragons]

intresting article on bearded dragon care, but you have completely missed the UVB for the beardie, and you should not spray your dragon's cage for humidity.

[Nasubi77]

You should not spray your dragon's cage for humidity. They need an arid environment and misting the cage can raise the humidity to dangerous levels, making them susceptible to respiratory infections. Since most dragon's won't drink standing water, the best way to keep your beardie hydrated is with a bath every few days or at least once a week.

[Nasubi77]

Every single veggie you mention here is not healthy for a beardie. Use this site as a guide to know which veggies are healthy to feed your dragon (and which ones are not!): http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

You should also clarify that baby, juvie and sub-adult dragons' diets are made MOSTLY of bugs and that they should have bugs every day. Usually around 50 crickets a day. A full grown adult eats mostly veggies and can get by on bugs every other or every few days for a total of around 50 a week.

Seriously, this whole Instructable sounds like advice from a pet store, which is almost always wrong.

[radjadd]

cool instructable, your bearded dragon looks alot like mine in my instructables

[johnfreitas]

well I'll try to be nice, you have completely missed the UVB for the beardie. Without UVB, your dragon will not grow very well it can and will be harmful to your Dragon. MBD (metabolic bone disease) is the effect of having no UVB. They will have very fragile bones and will die from it. And from what I can tell from your pics, you do not run one, very big mistake. So I guess anyone can post an instructable on here even if the info is completely off base.

[MicahBeeman]

Agreed. You should've talked about basking lamps too for that matter. For a MUCH more comprehensive bearded dragon care Instructable, check out mine: http://www.instructables.com/id/Comprehensive-Bearded-Dragon-Care/

[JessySihk]

 I really hope you switched your dragon off the sand and rocks =/ thats is so sad that you would put him on those, look at how unhealthy he is in the photos.
Try slate tiles, they look nice and clean up really easy. 

[M4industries]

 You split an infinitive in the title.

[flamesbane]

Those pebbles in the bottom of your beardies tank are asking to get swallowed, you should finely sift your play sand unless you want to run the risk of your beardie getting impacted (looking at your picture it looks like you are just using dirt?).