Learn The Basics Of Bearded Dragon Care

 

Learn The Basics Of Bearded Dragon Care

You may learn the fundamentals of keeping bearded dragons in a variety of methods. Bearded dragons are native to Australia's dry regions, and the inland or central bearded dragon is the most frequent species. Because of the severe rules restricting the export of these reptiles in Australia, almost all bearded dragons sold as pets will come from captive stock. They are easy to train and have kind personalities, making them ideal pets for most households. Bearded dragons appear to appreciate their owners' company, and they may even recognize their favorite humans. 

The first thing you'll need to get ready for your new pet is a vivarium with proper lighting and heating. A 40-gallon tank is recommended by most experts as the minimum size required to maintain a bearded dragon happy and healthy. During the day, you'll want to set up the tank with temperature changes ranging from 85 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This will allow your lizard to travel to a warmer or colder location to maintain a comfortable body temperature. Because these animals are cold-blooded, they will require a temperature of at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit to adequately digest their food. 

You can employ a variety of heat sources, ranging from ceramic heating elements and incandescent lights to temperature-controlling under-the-tank pads.

You'll also want to keep them on a light and dark schedule, similar to what they'd have in the wild. You can use a timer to turn on and off the lights in the tank at a specific time each day. You can adjust this to reflect the dragon's native habitat's changing seasons. Heating sources can also be turned off at night, enabling the temperature to drop to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, which helps to imitate the varying temperatures found in nature. 

Sand should not be used as a substrate for young dragons since it may be accidentally consumed with their food and cause intestinal problems. Newspapers and artificial turf-style mats are the greatest options because they won't get stuck in your pet's intestines. Wood items should also be avoided as bedding materials because they can cause difficulties if accidentally ingested. You can finish their cage in any manner that you and your pet choose, but you should leave branches and pebbles in their cage so they can climb and sit on them. 

Feeding your bearded dragon is another essential skill to learn if you want to successfully keep one as a pet. You should avoid feeding young dragons things with hard exoskeletons, such as mealworms because they might cause digestive problems comparable to sand. Adults can have occasional treats of meal worms or super worms, but you'll want to utilize crickets, wax worms, and other soft-bodied meals. Fruits and vegetables should also be provided to your dragons, with adults preferring veggies to most young dragons. Your pet dragon can become as much a part of your household as a cat or dog with proper care.  

Various Species Of Bearded Dragons And Their Differences:

Bearded dragons come in seven different species, however, this article will focus on the three that are often kept in captivity. They share various characteristics, including a huge triangular head and communication techniques such as hand waving and head bobbing. In their native Australia, they are highly regulated, and practically all captive specimens available today are from captive parents. All of the species favor dry habitats and can be found around rocks or sunbathing on them. The inland or central bearded dragon, the coastal bearded dragon, and the Rankin bearded dragon are the three main bearded dragon species held in captivity. 

The central or inland bearded dragon is most likely to be found in a pet store near you. These lizards are sometimes referred to as bearded dragons, and they are the easiest to care for. This species is known for being naturally gentle, which has contributed to its widespread appeal. They're one of the most social lizards you can keep as a pet, and their antics and gestures will keep you entertained for as long as you own them. They are intentionally grown in captivity to produce distinct color variants, which include red, orange, yellow, and even blue accents. 

The coastal bearded lizard is about the same size as the inland variety, but it is located around Australia's eastern and southern beaches, as its name suggests. These two species occasionally coexist in the wild, but the coastal species can be differentiated by their absence of dots on their necks and overall duller color patterns. These dragons have a more robust physique and can survive cooler temperatures as well as higher levels of humidity than their inland counterparts. They're also notorious for being more aggressive and difficult to settle down in captivity, which is presumably why they're not as popular as pets. 

The Rankin bearded dragon is the tiniest of the three, at roughly 13 inches in length compared to 20 inches or more for the other two. They are found in Queensland's central and western regions and are rarely given as pets. Because they do not require as much space as their larger relatives, their diminutive size may make them popular in the future. They can also be identified by their lack of the inflated beard for which these lizards are known. 

The bulk of bearded dragons offered as pets will most likely come from bearded dragons that are currently kept in captivity. Color and size preferences will continue to be bred into the inland dragon, and new color varieties are continually becoming available. They will also likely remain the most popular of the various bearded dragon species kept as pets, as they are the simplest to tame, breed, and appear to like human company.