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3: MAKING A HOME FOR YOUR DRAGON


We strongly urge you to keep your bearded dragon within a suitable enclosure. Allowing a dragon to roam free in your home or even in a single room may appear at first to be a good thing, but what may be perceived as freedom for the lizard can become a death trap.

Dragons that are loose in households fail to keep themselves adequately warm and hydrated and thus can become immune-suppressed, potentially falling ill from infections. Moreover, humans might step on loose dragons, or household dogs and cats may treat them as prey. They may receive serious or fatal electrical shocks from wires or equally serious trauma from toppling books, lamps, and the like. Loose dragons risk setting fires by bringing combustibles, such as curtains, into contact with hot items, such as light bulbs. Responsible bearded dragon owners who are dedicated to providing the best for their pets keep their dragons in appropriate enclosures and let them out only when they can be supervised closely or share time with the family.


Consider the number of dragons and their sizes when planning an adequate habitat.

Enclosures

Bearded dragons are moderately sized lizards that, as they grow, require larger enclosures. When deciding on an enclosure, it is important to consider the bearded dragon as a two-stage lizard even if you want to invest right away in the larger enclosure it will need when fully grown. The very best size for a 6–7-inch juvenile dragon is a 30- inch-long by 12-inch-high enclosure, which is essentially a 20-gallon long tank. You can keep the dragon in this size tank for about four months after bringing it home. Keeping a baby dragon in a larger enclosure is problematic because the dragon may fail to find its food, water, basking sites, and shelters. He may be overwhelmed by the size of the tank and feel insecure and stressed. The UVB may be placed too high to be effective. As the baby grows, however, you will need to provide a larger enclosure.

The smallest enclosure for one or two adult bearded dragons is either 4 feet long by 2 feet deep or 6 feet long by 18 inches deep. A standard 55-gallon (48-inch-long by 13-inch-deep) aquarium can house a single adult specimen, but do not go any smaller. A smaller tank will restrict activity in a way that is not optimal for the animal’s welfare. Bearded dragons cannot thermoregulate in a tank or enclosure that is too short. Bearded dragons need to adjust their internal temperature accordingly to become hungry, to digest food, and to cool off to prevent death.

The most widely sold enclosures in the reptile trade are all-glass tanks. These are fine for bearded dragons, but there are two potential problems: many stores do not carry the larger sizes, and their size and weight make them challenging to transport. There are also large, lightweight plastic molded enclosures with sliding glass fronts sold in the reptile trade (e.g., Vision Herpetological) that can be designed for housing bearded dragons. You can order these enclosures online if your local reptile store does not stock them.

Fire and Ice Dragons uses 48-inch-long by 24-inch-wide by 24-inch-high white melamine enclosures with solid tops, bottoms, backs, and sides; sliding glass front doors; and vents in the back. They are easy to clean and very bright internally. They keep the dragons happy and, thus, showing their best colors.

When choosing an enclosure, it’s important to consider your bearded dragon’s needs first and foremost—not what will look best in your home. One customer built a bearded dragon setup from an old cabinet because he collected antiques. The floor of the cabinet was almost square in length and width, and the cabinet was very tall. It had a dark wood stain. He removed the front doors and installed glass. Then, he went to buy the bearded dragon. There were some problems, though. First, the size of the cabinet was inappropriate: 36 inches by 24 inches, rather than the minimum 48-inch length that an adult requires. Next, the stain on the wood was very 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 the dragon’s nails can get snagged in the loops, and the dragon can do itself serious harm trying to get the entangled toe(s) free. Loss of toenails, or worse, can result.

 Sandy soil: Mixes of sand and soil work well with bearded dragons in outdoor enclosures; in outdoor setups, natural soils make up the floors of most screen houses and greenhouses. As with sand-only substrates, spot cleaning is easy. Sandy soil must be replaced on a regular basis. A problem with soil is that it can make dragons’ colors appear browner and less colorful over time. Dust is also a problem.



Landscaping

Many new owners make the understandable error of not including climbing areas in their adult bearded dragons’ enclosures. This not only limits the space available for the dragons’ activity but also makes for dull displays.

Remember, in Australia, beardies are often seen on the tops of fenceposts and railings, and you can reproduce these perching sites in captivity for adult dragons. By adding large pieces of driftwood, cork bark, or imitation rocks, you’re providing your dragon with raised areas that make ideal basking sites; most hobbyists design their enclosures so that an elevated area is located under the basking light.

The down side of driftwood and cork is that feeder insects can wedge themselves into the natural cracks and lines or underneath, where the dragon cannot find them. They are also somewhat tedious to disinfect. We prefer low, flat rock-replica shelves and ledges, which are long enough for an adult dragon to stretch out on and are easy to clean.

Provide at least one raised site per enclosure, and maintain at least two-thirds of the floor surface as open space. Adult bearded dragons also enjoy shelters for sleeping at night or for brumation (shutting down) during the winter rest period. You can add suitable shelters when the time for brumation is approaching.



Plants

We have received many inquiries requesting suggestions for plants that are well suited for bearded dragon setups. Popular vivarium plants, such as pothos or Chinese evergreen, become quickly crushed, nipped, trashed, and dried out in a bearded dragon setup, and only a few plant species are tough enough to hold up to bearded dragon abuse indoors. Our top choices include ponytail palms (Beaucarnea recurvata) and snake plants (Sansevieria spp.), particularly the tougher ones with thick or cylindrical leaves that are better adapted to arid conditions.

With indoor setups, it is better to place plants in pots buried in the substrate rather than planting them directly into the substrate. This makes watering possible without wetting the entire setup and helps reduce water loss to the surrounding substrate. It also allows easy removal and replacement of plants as needed.

In terms of design, larger plants are best placed toward the back of the vivarium and smaller ones at midlevel to provide a sense of balance. Generally, placing plants at the base of landscape structures such as rocks or wood will have an attractive natural effect. Remember, though, that plants in an enclosure may look appealing to you, but they limit the dragons’ floor space and must be placed carefully (or not included in the enclosure at all).

Once you introduce plants, monitor your dragons closely. Destructive activities such as climbing (which can break branches and topple the plants over) and attempting to eat plants (which damages or destroys the plants) tend to occur early on as the dragons explore the new items in their space. Your observations should provide you with guidelines for plant placement and selection.


An elaborate setup requires more work to maintain and can cause a dragon, especially a young dragon, stress.

Enclosure Maintenance

It is important to monitor your bearded dragon daily to evaluate its attitude, condition, and health and to make sure that the enclosure is meeting your dragon’s needs. Bearded dragons are active lizards that eat large amounts of food and consequently defecate correspondingly large amounts. In short, they tend to be messy. For this reason, regularly maintaining the enclosure is a must. With adult dragons, this means regularly scooping fecal material from the substrate or, better yet, using a substrate that can be frequently changed, such as print-free newspaper or paper towels, which should be changed every day.

In addition, if you keep water in the enclosure, you should replace it at least every day—more frequently if the dragons soil the water or the container. Wash and disinfect the water container regularly with a 1:10 bleach-to-water solution (using regular-strength bleach) to remove accumulating bacterial slime and traces of feces; rinse thoroughly after washing.

Remove dirty landscape features, such as rocks or driftwood, and disinfect them by soaking for a couple of hours in a container with a 1:10 solution of regular-strength bleach to water. Rinse them well to get rid of all traces of bleach before replacing them in the enclosure. This can rapidly become a chore, which is why we choose to keep our bearded dragon enclosures simple and easy to clean.



The Bearded Dragon Manual

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