The Bearded Dragon Manual. Philippe De Vosjoil
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dark, making the entire enclosure dark, which would have made a bearded dragon miserable. Bearded dragons like their enclosures bright and white to reflect as much light as possible. Remember, these dragons are from Australia!
Bearded dragons like bright enclosures that let in as much light as possible.
In another example, a very wealthy person built a spectacular outdoor bath and shower room out of stone. His idea was to create a huge matching bearded dragon enclosure in this room. Without ever having raised a bearded dragon before, he spent many thousands of dollars erecting what he thought would be a beautiful spectacle to impress those who visited. He had an exhibit built that was 7 feet tall by 10 feet wide by 2 feet deep, with an all-glass front and an end-to-end rock wall. The rocks covered the entire 7-foot height, and a waterfall ran the length of the enclosure, ending in a floor with a recycling drain (the same water from the waterfall went back up and over again and again). There were also some narrow rock ledges up the entire height of the wall.
When I saw this elaborate enclosure, I was stunned (but not for the reasons that the owner intended). While the animal-free exhibit was gorgeous, my first thought was: respiratory infections. My second thought? Parasitic overload. My third thought? The smell. Bearded dragons defecate like any other living creature, but this incredible expanse had no way to adequately clean and disinfect it. The water was recycled! Also, no one took into consideration that the dragons could easily slip on wet, narrow rocks and fall 7 feet to their deaths. I could go on and on. The bottom line? It would have made a fantastic rainforest exhibit for ferns, plants, and dart frogs, but certainly not for bearded dragons.
Another customer built a bearded dragon enclosure into a bar. However, this person designed the bar around the needs of his three bearded dragons. He built the actual enclosure to be 7 feet long by 3 feet wide by about 3 feet tall. He had lights installed in the interior, and the lights and temperatures were autoregulated. There were sliding glass doors on both sides for misting, feeding, and cleaning. He then built a carved-wood bar around the dragons’ enclosure. In this scenario, the owner addressed the dragons’ needs first, and his wants second. As a result, his dragons lived happy, healthy lives for years. The bar looked great, too!
That said, it is not necessary to go to extremes to maintain a healthy dragon. A simple 48-inch by 24-inch by 24-inch enclosure for an adult bearded dragon will keep the dragon healthy and happy throughout its life.
Any plants inside the enclosure must be free of pesticides and other chemicals.
Outdoor Setups
In a few warm areas of the United States, such as southern California or some parts of Florida, bearded dragons can be kept in outdoor screened or covered pens year-round as long as they are provided with shelters from rain and have areas of soil or piles of hay to burrow into. In some other areas of the United States, bearded dragons can be kept outdoors in simple pens during the warm months. Breeders have built effective pens inside greenhouses. To be a suitable place for a bearded dragon pen, a greenhouse should have controls for monitoring and maintaining desired temperatures, including whitewash, opening panels, fans, and heaters. It should also have pipes run nearby for easy access to water.
Bearded dragons can enjoy some supervised outdoor time in a safe environment.
Inexpensive alternatives to pens are large plastic enclosures, screened on all sides, that are sold in the reptile trade. They are ideal for allowing lizards to bask outdoors in sunlight (see Chapter 4 on heating and lighting); however, do not place these all-screen enclosures on concrete or asphalt. Because both of these surfaces absorb heat when exposed to sun, dragons may quickly overheat and die. In any outdoor situation, the dragon will need access to shade, water, and climbing areas.
Some new owners think that any outdoor exposure is beneficial, but this is not true. Keep in mind that if an adult bearded dragon’s preferred basking temperature is 105 degrees F, and your outdoor temperature is 70 and breezy, that dragon will be cold.
Watch your dragon for its reaction to the outdoor conditions. When we were in Maryland, we frequently had summer days of 90 degrees F. Because we had read that exposure to natural sunlight was good for the dragons, we built an expensive screened outdoor pen for summertime sunning. Surprisingly, our dragons hated being outside. They were dark and stressed in the outdoor enclosure and tried every way they could to escape. When placed back in their indoor enclosures, their bright colors returned, and the stress marks faded away. Always pay attention to your dragon’s reaction.
Substrates
Because of the potential risks of sand impaction, some people choose to initially raise baby bearded dragons on newspaper instead of sand. However, there are better options. Our evaluations of various substrates follow:
No substrate: Many breeders raise their babies on bare floors within plastic tubs or glass tanks. Advantages of bare floors include easy cleanup, easy stool monitoring, a lack of hiding places for crickets, a minimal risk of impaction, and less intensive overall maintenance. Bare-floor enclosures are easy to empty of landscape structures and can be moved outside for washing with a garden hose and disinfecting. A disadvantage is that a bare floor requires regular wiping. As the dragon grows larger and messier, the bare tank becomes unattractive and tedious to clean. With larger animals, the hard, smooth floor surface can also lead to overgrown nails (unless trimmed) and bent toes.
Newspaper: This is the substrate most recommended for quarantine and treatment of sick animals. Newspaper is cheap, readily available, easy to replace, and well suited for examining feces. Many specialists recommend newspaper for initially raising babies because it allows monitoring of stools and eliminates any risks of impaction. The downsides are that newspaper is visually unattractive, and regular or daily replacement can be labor intensive. If used with adult dragons on a long-term basis, there is a risk of overgrown nails and bent toes. If you are going to use newspaper, print-free newspaper is the best option and is readily sourced locally or online.
Sand: There are many different types and colors of sand available. It is better to stay away from sand during the juvenile stage. Many breeders still use silica-based play sand but, in my opinion, scooping through sand to remove feces day after day leaves one thing at the very least: bacteria. Add in leftover bits of greens baking in the 100-degree basking area, and you get a bacteria-laden environment. And, let’s face it: no matter what kind of sand you use, it will stick to greens, veggies, and feeder insects. Intestinal impaction from sand ingested in this way is likely to occur. Additionally, there are instances of a bearded dragon’s eyes swelling from sand particles that have made their way in.Additionally, there are instances of a bearded dragon’s eyes swelling from sand particles that have made their way in. If you must use sand, the least harmful of those we tested was white Repti-Sand by Zoo Med. It will still stick to the greens somewhat, but because it is almost dust-free and the particles very fine, there were no issues with the dragons’ eyes swelling, as we’ve seen with other types. We also had no issues with impaction. I would still limit this sand to adult enclosures only. Logically, adults have larger intestines and thus a better chance of passing ingested particles.
Paper towels: We use “select-a-size” paper towels for all of our babies. It is easy to keep clean. To feed, we remove the towel and then replace it after pulling uneaten prey. It is a semi-alternative to No Substrate and keeps the baby environment very clean.
Reptile carpet: You can use reptile carpet as long as you change and wash it daily. Select a light color that the dragon will not mistake for food. We found that when bearded dragons are placed on dark carpets, they tend to dull in color; light gray seems to work well. Replace the carpet as soon as it the carpet loops start to loosen because