Bearded dragons are excellent pets for reptile-lovers. Their docile and gentle natures make them safe for kids to keep and are great for teaching responsibility at an early age. While caring for baby bearded dragons is relatively easy, there are several important things you should bear in mind.
To care for a baby bearded dragon, you should ensure proper lighting and heating, keep it well-nourished and hydrated, and do regular health checks. Beardies are creatures of habit, so pet owners will need to provide regular meals, attention, and maintenance of their habitat.
The rest of this article will go into more detail about how to care for a baby bearded dragon—or, as they are affectionately called, beardie. It will also provide you with a thorough background of what you need to know about caring for bearded dragons.
How To Care for Baby Bearded Dragons?
The care of bearded dragons is relatively simple. However, it is crucial to plan ahead and to know what you’re doing before you commit to bringing one into your home. Although bearded dragons are naturally resilient in the wild, in captivity, your beardie relies on you to provide the right conditions for its health and safety.
Here’s a list of things you’ll need to do:
- Create a habitat for your beardie
- Provide proper lighting
- Provide adequate heat
- Accessorize the habitat
- Ensure a healthy diet
1. Create a Habitat for Your Baby Beardie
When creating your pet’s habitat, you have to mimic its natural environment to achieve conditions that would be conducive to its growth and development. Pet bearded dragons are usually housed in terrariums, and their habitat consists of 2 main elements:
- Tank
- Substrate
The Tank
For a baby bearded dragon, you can start with a tank of at least 20 gallons (75.71 liters). However, as your beardie gets older, you will need to upgrade the size of your tank to keep pace with its growth. Some bearded dragon owners have found that starting with an adult-sized bearded dragon enclosure is practical, as it avoids the expense and inconvenience of upgrading tanks.
Adult enclosures are usually 128-gallon (485 liters) tanks. When it comes to beardie enclosures, length is the priority over width. A long tank—not a tall tank—is the goal.
The Substrate
A substrate is a material that is overlaid on the floor of your bearded dragon tank. Some substrates are relatively easy to clean, while others are easily replaceable. Here are some recommended substrates for your bearded dragon:
- Slate Tile
- Reptile Carpets or Cage Liners
- Newspaper
It is worth mentioning that there are some substrate options out there that experts disapprove of because of the risks they pose to your beardie’s health. As a principle, substrates composed of small pieces that are either ingestible or respirable are discouraged. Some examples are:
- Sand
- Pebbles
- Gravel
The tiny particles of these substrates could be ingested, leading to gut issues that could become fatal if not treated immediately.
To summarize, here are the pros and cons of each substrate mentioned above:
| Substrate | Pros | Cons |
| Slate Tile | – Adds aesthetic value to the terrarium – Easily cleanable surface | Pricier than other alternatives |
| Reptile Carpets or Cage Liners | Mimics the grassy terrain of beardies in their natural habitat. | Poses a risk of snagging beardie’s claw and ripping it off |
| Newspaper | – Cheap – Easily replaceable | No aesthetic value |
| Sand, Pebbles, Gravel | Adds aesthetic value to the terrarium | Poses a risk of gut issues after ingestion. |
2. Provide Proper Lighting
Bearded dragons need to have a UV light source. Without this UV light, they cannot process calcium, which results in a range of different health issues. UV light also aids their digestion. Just remember to replace UV bulbs every six months to ensure that they provide adequate UV levels.
3. Provide Adequate Heat
A bearded dragon’s habitat should be configured to have a thermal gradient. One side of the gradient is maintained at 80°F (26.67°C), while the warmer side, which normally contains a “basking spot,” is kept at temperatures of 100 to 110°F (37.78 to 43.33 °C). The gradient ensures that the beardie has a warm area as well as a cooler area where it can go if it gets too warm.
4. Accessorize Habitat
Bearded dragons are energetic and inquisitive. Accessorizing their space with plants, platforms, and other structures helps keep things interesting. A stimulating environment is essential for keeping them active, which helps keep their health at an optimum.
Just bear in mind that, much like reptile carpets, some of these accessories carry the risk of injury to your pet. Be careful in choosing what accessories to adorn your beardie’s terrarium with.
5. Ensure a Healthy Diet
As omnivores, bearded dragons have a mixed diet of insects and vegetables. As babies, a ratio of 80% insects and 20% greens is recommended. As the beardie gets older, this ratio is flipped. Mature bearded dragons require 80% greens and 20% insects.
Some of the best insects for your beardie are listed as follows:
- Crickets
- Mealworms
- Phoenix worms
- Superworms
- Waxworms
Occasional fruity treats are also recommended. Some fruits that your beardie will surely love are:
Two or three feedings of insects per day are considered sufficient to meet your beardie’s nutritional needs. Feeding periods should be kept under 10 minutes to avoid overfeeding your pet.
Keep in mind this general rule for the feeding size of your bearded dragon: the insect should be no bigger than the distance between your pet’s eyes.
Gut-Loading Insects Optimizes Nutrition
To ensure your beardie receives optimal nutrition, you will need to gut-load the insects you feed it. Gut-loading insects consists of feeding them a healthy selection of fruits and vegetables, a while before feeding them to your pet. This will increase your pet’s nutritional intake.
Dusting Insects Provides Additional Nutrition
Dusting live feeder insects with vitamins and calcium is a great way to supplement your beardie’s diet. Calcium is typically dusted onto insects daily, while multivitamins are dusted a few times per week.
Dusting insects is a pretty straightforward process which entails popping insects into a bag, sprinkling the supplement, and giving it a good shake to make sure all the insects are coated with the powdered supplements.
6. Provide Hydration
We’ve emphasized the need to maintain a warm and dry environment for our beardies, but this does not mean we should not provide water for regular baths. We can do this three to four times a week. Aside from getting them clean, this provides hydration.
Place some water in a dish that isn’t too deep to minimize the risk of your beardie drowning. Some beardies are known to “soak” in these baths. Aside from the bath times, some beardies require “misting” from time to time. Some bearded dragon owners alternatively mist the tank to keep their pets hydrated.
Why Bearded Dragons Make Good Pets?
The fact that there continues to be a market for bearded dragons is a testament to how great they are as pets. When asked why they prefer bearded dragons as pets, beardie-lovers generally answer:
- They have calm temperaments. Bearded dragons are easy-going and generally friendly to humans, even though they are known to be hostile towards their own.
- They require only simple care. Although the care of bearded dragons requires attention, it’s a pretty simple routine that even young children can learn.
- They are straightforward to feed. Beardies aren’t picky eaters. If you feed them the right insects and vegetables, you can expect to have a healthy and happy lizard.
- They have a reasonable life expectancy. Although many factors affect life expectancy, bearded dragons can live up to ten years when given the proper care.
- They can show affection. Beardies are known to curl up next to their owner’s neck or face. This bond, however, takes some time to form.
- They are intelligent. Beardies have inquisitive minds. It’s always a joy to watch them appraise their surroundings.
- They are affordable. Bearded dragons are usually sold for less than $100.
- They are house-friendly. The size of bearded dragons enables you to have them on display while keeping them out of the way.
Choosing a Bearded Dragon
Before getting yourself a pet bearded dragon, it would be a good idea to learn what to look out for when selecting one. There are signs that point to good health, and others that are indicators of poor health as well.
Signs of health to look for:
- Active and mobile
- Bright, clear eyes
- Energetic
- Alert and attentive to surroundings
Signs of sickness to look for:
- Swollen hind legs or rubbery jaw
- Lethargy or sluggishness
- Runny or watery stool
About Bearded Dragons
Bearded dragons are a lizard species that originated in Australia. Although their export was banned in the 1960s, they have been bred in the US for the pet market. Needless to say, the breeding of bearded dragons was a practice that continued through the decades.
To be a capable beardie-keeper, it is vital that you acquire a broad knowledge of the species. Let’s get better acquainted with bearded dragons.
Appearance
The name “bearded dragon” is owed to the dragon-like features of the lizard’s appearance. It has an armor of spiny scales with spikes on the underside of its throat, which can puff up or turn black when it is stressed or feels threatened.
The average bearded dragon measures 18 to 22 inches (45.72 to 55.88 cm) in length and weighs 10 to 18 ounces (283.5 to 510.3 g).
Life Span
The average life expectancy of the bearded dragon is four to ten years. Bearded Dragons bred in captivity and kept as pets tend to have a longer lifespan than their fellows in the wild, owing to the absence of predators and the abundance of food. With proper care, Bearded Dragons can max out their life expectancy.
Diet
Bearded dragons are omnivores. They usually eat insects and have jaws strong enough to clench down on even hard-shelled bugs like beetles. As omnivores, they have an excellent appetite for leaves, flowers, and fruit as well. When they’re younger, beardies feed mostly on insects. As they mature, the proportion of plants in their diet increases.
Behavior
While bearded dragons generally make docile pets with calm and peaceful temperaments, the same is not true when it comes to their demeanor towards other bearded dragons. Beardies are quite territorial and have been known to display aggression toward trespassers on their turf, compete for food or a mate, and even attack females that aren’t submissive.
Their “beards” are essential to their communication. They use them to convey dominance or submission by changing the colors of the beard along with a head bob. A snappy head bob signals dominance, while a slow bob is taken as a sign of submission.
Seasonal changes may cause bearded dragons to undergo brumation, which is a type of hibernation in which the beardie stops eating and only drinks water. This is usually observed in the cooler seasons.
Habitat
Being cold-blooded creatures, bearded dragons depend on external heat sources to help them regulate their body temperatures. In the wild, they prefer warm, arid areas. Bearded dragons are often observed basking in the sun to keep warm or burrowing in the sand to escape excessive heat.
Breeding
A bearded dragon attracts a mate by pounding on the ground, waving its hands, and bobbing its head in a courtship ritual. The male will pursue the female until she submits. Once mating has commenced, male bearded dragons usually bite the female’s nape for the duration of intercourse.
Final Thoughts
Caring for baby bearded dragons is a big responsibility, but it is a reasonably manageable one. Understanding your pet’s needs is a must when bringing a beardie into your home.
The essentials of bearded dragon care are providing it with a safe habitat and nutritious food while ensuring it has adequate heat, lighting, and hydration. Luckily, caring for a baby bearded dragon isn’t too different from caring for an adult bearded dragons.
