Complete Bearded Dragon Care Guide | Everything You Need To Know in 2023

Bearded

dragon

s are the most popular pet lizards in the world and for good reason they are amazing, but how do you

care

for one? Today I'm going to tell you

everything

you

need

to

know

to take

care

of your

bearded

dragon

in

2023

. my name is Adam, this is Diamond, you're looking at evil, evil reptiles. Stay as a viewer of the channel for any length of time if you've watched more than one or two videos you've watched Diamond this is my co-host this is a

bearded

dragon a central bearded dragon a pagona vidiceps and that's what we're talking about today the species of most common bearded dragons and bearded dragons perhaps rival leopard geckos only the most popular pet lizard in the world and there are many really good ones.

There are several reasons, but caring for one doesn't have to be as difficult as you might think. There are definitely some obstacles, but let's get into it and I'll tell you how to do it. Let's start with size because size is perhaps the most important. The important thing in general, when you first look at an animal, is that it will be big, small, robust. As will be? Bearded dragons, in my opinion, are the perfect size. These animals will measure up to 24 inches or sometimes as small. like 16 inches, but usually around the 20 inch mark, so they will be about twice the size of a leopard gecko in length and a lot of here too, these animals are not heavy bodied, they are not super large, but they go They tend to be a little sturdier than something like a leopard gecko, so if you're buying this animal for a child, for example, and you want an animal that can't hurt them but isn't super fragile either, maybe a leopard.

A gecko may not be as good an idea as a bearded dragon just because they are a little bigger, they are a little more robust and easier to handle, so they are not delicate or at least definitely not delicate. I don't feel that way now, let's talk about the size of the room, the size of this thing in your house and how to furnish it well. Here is a bearded dragon care

guide

if you want to see

everything

about it. A to Z how to set one up, but now you'll want to start with a 120 gallon enclosure at least.

I

know

if you go to PetSmart they will tell you 75 gallons, these people went out to lunch and they didn't. They haven't updated their care

guide

s since 1999 so it's just not right, you can't keep a full size bearded dragon in an aquarium or something that size, if you get a 120 gallon aquarium it doesn't really matter right? The things are going to measure four feet by two feet by two feet high and this again is a minimum. This is a semire arboreal lizard. This is something most people don't really think about when they think of bearded dragons, but in nature, that is. what we're trying to replicate as best we can, of course, without predation, drought, famine and things like that, well, they'll be found on fence posts and things like that a little bit above the ground, but not too much. a lot and when we start sunbathing, we'll go deeper into that, so you've got to give them a little bit of height.

Mine is at four by two by two right now, but I think I'll change them and give it a four. feet tall and see if you use it, see if you like it and then we'll go from there either way, you have your four by two by two, okay, it can be PVC, it can be glass, wood, melamine, whatever. be. I'm going to want good ventilation and we'll get into the humidity later, but that's what we're foreshadowing here and in terms of substrate, starting from scratch, you can use something like tile or slate or, if you want, for an adult bearded dragon.

You can use a loose substrate, something like a top layer of organic soil mixed with sand, just play with sand, always play with sand, not Builders Great Sand mixed with a cocoa core, whatever, just make sure it's dry because these things, although they will not retain moisture when they poop. They build up like cat litter and you can just pick it up and throw it in the trash, it's very easy, stay away from things like reptile mat because reptile mat is a breeding place for bacteria, not only that but also You can catch your nails in it and if your nails get caught in it, it can tear them off and they can bleed.

Bad News Bears. That happened to me with a leopard gecko, never again, never again for babies. I suggest maybe not using a loose substrate because babies are much more susceptible. in patchum now i just got off a trip with a vet we talked about bearded dragons and he said he had never seen a bearded dragon a healthy adult bearded dragon came in with an action problem so that to me says it's okay always and when you use the right type of substrate, but again, if you ever have problems, go to a vet immediately. I just don't think it's impaction and you'll also

need

something like a hiding place. both sides of the enclosure because you will have a warm side and a cold side, so you will have furs on both sides so they can regulate the temperature, you will have a perch to bask in, so that it is close enough to the bulb that you are going to use or heat source that you're going to use and you're going to want something like a water bowl if you really want to.

Personally, I don't think bearded dragons need standing water. He probably won't drink from it very often, but you can offer it to him. They will get most of their moisture from food, which is what we are going to talk about in two categories from now on; otherwise, give them false cover. plants real plants, whatever, that's the basics and of course you can watch the video we mentioned above for a

complete

guide on how to set up enclosure number three, heat, humidity and lighting. Now these are very important things, like all reptiles. These guys are ectotherms. It means they can't produce their own body heat and that's why they need heat, humidity and lighting, so for heat I use a heating bulb, a halogen light, the wattage depends.

I'm going to get this question. I know, the wattage depends on how far away from the sunbathing spot it depends on how warm or cold the room you are in is, it depends on a number of factors and that is for you to decide and try. I personally use a 50 watt bulb over the sun spot and you want the gradient right so the cool side is between 70 and 70 degrees mine is around 73 71 to 73 depending on the day and then on the cool side warm, you want it to get to the mid 80s, you can even get to the high 80s Again, it's an area of ​​thermoregulation, a gradient is not what I'm trying to say here, so if it gets too hot in the hottest part of the warm side or too cold on the colder side of the cold side, they have a lot of room to go and that's why bigger enclosures are always better because they have more areas to go to and they have a wider range of gradients.

Now the sunbathing spot is going to want to be quite warm and there is a lot of debate. some people say 95 some people say as hot as 125. What I recommend is around 105 and if you give them a steep enough perch you will give them several places so that the top of the perch is 110 from the bottom of The perch position will be 100 degrees and you can determine where they want it or give them multiple perches and multiple basking spots, but I recommend a temperature of around 105 degrees Fahrenheit, that's what works for me, that's what which works for Diamond, that's what works for all my other bearded dragons.

I think maybe you should start with that or I mean, no, but you should, humidity is another animal, uh, the difference between a bearded dragon and something like an iguana or whatever, these are arid or more arid animals that needed about 30 to 40 percent in my opinion, 40 is reasonable, most people can get away with it, of course if you live in a place like Arizona it will be much easier to get to 20 or 30 percent, which is fine for a bearded dragon if you live somewhere like the South. Florida, southern Ontario where I live is very humid and sometimes it is difficult to reduce the humidity.

Now you want to make sure you use a halogen light like a basketball and that will absorb the moisture from that room. I get that question a lot, there's your answer. You can also use things like dehumidifiers if absolutely necessary, but if you are using a strong enough halogen light, generally, in my opinion, you will be fine and of course with the temperature and humidity. It will fluctuate at night, its temperature may drop at night. I would say even in the mid 60's it's totally fine and your humidity will go up a little bit and that's just because that's how it works in nature, that's how it works if you go to where these guys live in Australia you'll see that it's also totally well it's totally normal and if it gets up to 50 or 60 for a couple of hours at night you're fine as long as you give them the right humidity and temperature during the day every day and as far as lighting goes they need special lighting now of course you have your sunbathing bulb, that's something different, just a halogen light, reflector, whatever you're going to use, a lot of companies make them really cool.

Link in the description to the ones I use and you're going to need a tubular UVB, don't use the compact ones, the CFL, shit, don't use them, I'm not kidding, they're useless, however, if you use a linear one, true, I'm not affiliated with or sponsored by anyone, I'm just telling you I use Arcadia because I think they are the best or the best I have ever used. Zoo Med is good too, but anyway the Arcadia ones I use are the Dragon ones, they are made for bearded dragons, but if you wanted to use 10.0 12.0 14.0 they will all work fine.

I wouldn't go below 10.0 for your UVB, they need strong UVB. They don't come from a desert per se, but from a very, very dry and hot climate, so they will have natural UVB rays and direct sunlight and they are diurnal, so that's what I recommend next on the list is the diet if you feed your beardie. dragon, it will live a lot longer and smell less bad, but you understand what I'm trying to say: feed your bearded dragon and this is how you do it when you are an adult, you will want to feed your bearded dragon. mainly vegetables 70 vegetables, we're talking about things like chard, mustard, escarole, a whole, there's a ton right now, you can go ahead and search the internet, search for lists, there's even scorecards like this, it's from the best medium to worse.

I'll give them a little bit of fruit, we're talking five percent of their diet, and maybe once every two weeks I'll give them part of an apple or a strawberry berry or whatever, and then the rest is things like dubia roaches. or discoid roaches if you are in Florida or Canada where dubia roaches are illegal, you can feed them things like mealworms, superworms, crickets. I recommend crickets and roaches as a staple food, in my opinion it is best to sprinkle them with some vitamin powder, vitamin D, a calcium multivitamin, do more. -In-Depth Research I never cover exactly how I do supplementation in care guides because it's something you really need to do a lot of research on because if you neglect UVB and supplementation, they will get metabolic bone disease, it's terrible, they will die.

Slow death, you don't want to research supplementation for your bearded dragon, for example, every other day or every three days. I'll bring a salad, it's mainly chard, escarole and there's a spring mix that I buy at my local. store that doesn't have spinach or kale those things are not good in large quantities. I just throw them in there, sometimes I give them some strawberries or whatever because I have a lot of herbivores. I just make a big salad and feed it to everyone, turtles and my Fijian ringed iguana and all that, and then maybe twice a week I feed it crickets.

I usually go to the store to buy crickets, dust them off, and then throw them away, right? There is no need to do so. ask how many don't worry they will eat until they are full and at the end of the night if there are too many crickets take them out so they are not disturbed during the night but don't think about things too much and then of course sometimes they will feed the roaches or mealworms or whatever, this is more of a common sense feeling so by my calculations you don't need to do that, don't think about it too much, this is fun, this isn't . math homework and the second to last is behavior if you don't know how this animal behaves or you don't like how it behaves what's the point of having it and that's why I love bearded dragons how many times has it moved in the last five minutes, zero times literally sometimes I'll sit at my desk and edit one of these videos, it'll take six, eight, ten hours, whatever, he'll sit there the whole time and he won't even move other times if he's really excited because he's been sitting. under its basking spot for most of the day then it will move more so you can get an animal that moves a lot or doesn't move at all basically it just depends on once it cools down in as for temperature.

They will get a little slower, so you don't want to have them outside for too long if it's too cold, but if in your room, for example, you want to handle your animal and have it sit there andI watched a movie. three or four hours and your room is 75 degrees, you're fine, you're totally fine, however, if your room is 65 degrees, I wouldn't recommend keeping your bearded dragon outside for a whole day, I mean maybe for three or four hours, who cares? because at night it can be very cold but they need heat to warm up and digest food so again use a little common sense but in terms of behavior they don't lower their tail and they are very unlikely to bite you If they have a black beard and shake their head with their mouth open, this could mean they are upset.

I have never seen a captive bearded dragon do this if they wave their arms which is usually a female signal to a male that they are shipping and ready to be bred if a male is doing it they are usually submitting or might have Fear and of course never cohabiting bearded dragons like females in really large enclosures can work, but I would recommend against it. Don't do it at all and never keep two males together because they will kill each other. You'll wake up in the morning with one of them smeared on the glass. You'll get them out with a hose.

Some assembly required. I do not recommend it. Also don't keep males and females together all the time because the male will bully her and breed her to death, so don't do it, it's not a good idea, but overall, to handle one of the best, one of my favorites, I absolutely love this animal. Bearded dragons are, if I had to stick with one animal, it would probably be a bearded dragon because you can have an active animal and an inactive animal on the same animal all the time, they always eat. I mean, they're really abundant, they're just incredible animals all together. and lastly the price availability transforms, so the price will be cheap, the transformations will be abundant, but not like a bearded dragon or anything like that, and the availability everywhere, any reptile exhibition, any pet store, any reptile store, will have them now, of course.

I would recommend adopting one if you can go on Craigslist or Kijiji, they need good homes, never go to PetSmart or Petco because these animals come from Mills, so I know some people say, oh my PetSmart is okay, maybe the store is. well, and the lady in the blue shirt are super nice and know what they're doing, but at the end of the day, PetSmart or Petco got that bearded dragon from what is basically bloated reptile food they don't support these businesses, please go to a local breeder, go to your reptile store, which sources them from local breeders.

That's probably the one I would recommend to get them. They are knowledgeable and can help you if there is ever a problem. That animal may have the questions. You responded to the person you bought the animal from in the first place about its condition. Now the transformations you can get are normal ones like this. This is just a normal bearded dragon. Without transformation, there are things like silkies that are silk bags, which is a mutation with the scale well, so I'm not going to go into that anyway because I think leatherbacks are terrible and anyway, there are mutations with scales , there is a mutation with the color, so you can get Zeros that are all white, you can get Sunburst like a whole Citrus, there are so many of them and they are all beautiful.

I have a normal one, this is what they look like in the wild. I'm happy, I love this animal, but this animal will cost 40 dollars at a show or maybe. Less well, depending on if you go up and get a zero, it will be a couple hundred dollars. There are a lot of transformations that will be very expensive. It just depends on what you want, but either way, it's up to you. you want to get what you like but stay away from silkies or soapies because they don't have scales, they need a lot of extra care and they are just an animal that needs high UVB rays but don't have scales like them, just stay away from silkies.

They look cool, but gross anyway, that's all, let me know what you think in the comments section below. Would you get a bearded dragon? You have one? What would you recommend to the other people commenting below and other viewers? I would love to know, let's learn. about reptiles together and of course thank you for hitting the like button and subscribing, it really helps, makes this channel what it is and makes it reach more people and thanks to Patreon subscribers you guys get discounts on merch , Boys Club friend. He's named after a diamond, right, because he always bites my ear, by the way, the reason he bites my ear is because I usually wear earrings and he thinks it's food, so they don't bite anyway for just One dollar a month, you get it all.

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