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How to Take Care of Your Pet Bearded Dragon

How to Take Care of Your Pet Bearded Dragon

A helpful guide on how to properly take care of your pet bearded dragon for both adults and kids to reference so your pet is healthy and happy.

My son asked me to get him a pet bearded dragon – so I went into mommy research mode.

I recognize that taking care of any pet can be challenging. And I discovered that it’s especially challenging when your pet is something out of the ordinary – like a bearded dragon.

When you have a bearded dragon as a pet, there are certain measures you need to take to care of them. They aren’t regular house pets. As a result, you need to be extra careful about their health and needs. Plus you need to help them to adapt to a new environment.

Bearded Dragons seem to be the only reptiles known to exhibit fondness towards human partners. They are not slothful creatures. In fact, they’re classified as energetic reptiles. They are excellent exotic pets if you’re seeking a reptile.

What are Bearded Dragons?

Bearded dragons are also known as pogona, a genus of reptiles containing six lizard species. They are called bearded dragons because of the flaps under their throats. These flaps turn black and puff out for a number of reasons, most often as a result of stress or if they feel threatened.

Bearded dragons can grow up to 16 to 24 inches long and live for 6 to 10 years.

They originate in Australia and come in different colors, mainly light tan to brown with spikes and a long, thick tail. Even though they’re great as pets, they do have fairly complex nutritional and environmental needs. Also as oddlycutepets.com mentions that bearded dragons are also most used to a humid, desert climate so you will need to maintain a high temperature in their tank – as well as make sure that your bearded dragon is getting enough UVA and UVB light exposure.

They are extremely fascinating to watch and are generally social and easy to tame.

How to Take Care of Your Bearded Dragon

Being an exotic pet, special equipment and a fair amount of time are needed to care for it.

1. Understand its Temperament and Behavior

There are spines all over the reptile’s neck that usually lay flat. However, when it feels threatened, the spines become erect, and the throat widens.

Bearded dragons are usually calm and gentle, so owners don’t often see their aggressive side. They are active during the day and typically learn to adapt well. Many even enjoy riding around on their owners’ shoulders and hanging out. However, male bearded dragons should be kept separate, as they can be territorial.

2. What to Feed Them

Bearded dragons are omnivores. They eat a mixture of invertebrate and vertebrate prey. This includes insects and smaller animals and plants. You can buy their food from https://www.topflightdubia.com/, which has sold nutritious, quality feeder insects since 2009.

Their diet should contain a combination of vegetables and insects. Usually, you should feed an adult bearded dragon once per day, but be on the safe side, consult your vet.

Try to avoid feeding them anything so big that they might have trouble swallowing or even chewing. Their diet should contain food like wax worms, silkworms, butterworms, red worms, earthworms, newly molted mealworms, super worms, and pinkie mice.

The insects you feed them should be dusted with calcium and vitamin D supplements and multivitamins to prevent metabolic bone disease. Make sure you don’t only feed them the insects. If you make them a leafy salad bowl, they’ll munch on it happily.

3. The Temperature of the Tank

You might need to periodically adjust the tank’s temperature. Since they’re reptiles, their body temperature constantly changes. It should be from 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit on the cool side, up to a basking temperature of around 95 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can provide heat in the tank by incandescent light, ceramic heater, or a mercury vapor bulb. Use thermometers in the tank to monitor the temperature. Don’t just estimate.

4. The Perfect Humidity

The perfect humidity index for bearded dragons is around 35 to 40 percent. This imitates the humidity index of their natural habitat. Usually, this is only difficult to maintain if you live in a high-humidity area.

You can also mist your bearded dragon to maintain the percentage. You can use a hydrometer to monitor the tank’s humidity level.

5. Light Exposure

UV light exposure is extremely important for bearded dragons. Fluorescent bulbs can provide UV light, and these can be found in pet stores as well.

The lights should be placed through a screen top rather than glass, as glass blocks some UV rays. Provide roughly 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness each day. If you can’t keep the time on a track, set up a timer for your convenience.

If you have a place where you can put your bearded dragon outside, let them soak in some sunlight. It’s the best thing for them. However, don’t put them outside in a glass tank, which can overheat and make them sick. If time outdoors is provided, shade and shelter must be available so your bearded dragon can thermoregulate.

6. Substrate Flooring on the Tank

A substrate is a type of flooring that you use in the tank of your pet bearded dragon. This is to maintain the humidity in the environment, and it can give the tank a more natural look and feel, making it easier for them to feel at home and adapt quickly.

If you are new to this, avoid using sand as a substrate. The bearded dragon can ingest sand, which will result in intestinal impaction. Use paper towels or reptile carpets as a beginner. For adult bearded dragons, you can use sand and use cat litter scoops to remove the litter.

Sand allows bearded dragons to dig and burrow. Avoid using wood shavings, corn cob, or walnut shells.

Find Your Buddy in a Bearded Dragon

Bearded dragons are usually calm and pretty well-mannered. They might be a bit high maintenance, but for the most part, they are the coolest pets you can have. Moreover, it is a lot of fun to have them keep you company by riding on your shoulder.

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