Tips For Choosing Habitats For Bearded Dragons

It's important that you provide your dragon with a proper enclosure.  There are a few things you need to consider when buying one.  This article will give you a few tips for choosing bearded dragon habitats.

Size

The most important consideration by is size.  Your beardie will be unhappy and unhealthy if you keep him in an enclosure that's too small.  Dragons up to seven inches long can be kept in a 10 gallon aquarium.  20 gallon tanks are suitable enough for those measuring up to 12 inches.  Adults over 12 inches long should be kept in 20 gallon aquariums.

Space

Whatever size enclosure you choose, it's more important to have more ground space than vertical space.  Unlike many other types of lizards, bearded dragons don't spend a lot of time off the ground.  They only climb trees and other objects occasionally, so you need to make sure they have plenty of ground space.

Material

Another important consideration when choosing habitats for bearded dragons is material.  You should get one made from wood or glass.  These two materials will help retain heat inside the enclosure. 

Avoid wire cages because they don't retain heat.  Also, your dragon may injure his nose or feet if he's kept in this type of cage.  If you must get one of these cages, look for one that has plastic-coated wire.

Lid

You may be wondering why you'll need a lid if bearded dragons don't like to climb much.  Well, your lizard will certainly climb towards the opening if he sees it's a way to freedom.  Therefore, make sure you get a lid that fits tightly so that it can't be pushed open easily.

There is a lot you need to learn about caring for bearded dragons. So, stop by bearded-dragon-care.net today to learn about things such as common bearded dragon illnesses.

Bearded Dragon Habitats

Your bearded dragon needs a good place to live and a proper enclosure. This is known as Bearded Dragon Habitats. These are some important tips you need to know when choosing the proper enclosure for your bearded dragon.

Aquarium: It's important that you keep your beardie in a glass aquarium and Not a wired cage. The wires are dangerous and will not supply them with the heat they require. Wired cages can cause damage to their nose and feet. The price between a glass aquarium and wired cages is not that much, so be smart and get your beardie the glass aquarium

Size: Beardies 3 to 7 inches can be kept in a 10 gal. aquarium while 7 to 12 in. beardies can be kept in a 20 gal. tank. Beardies over a foot long, which is 12 in., should be kept in a 40 gal. tank. You can keep two adult beardies in a 40 gal. tank but this is not, I repeat, not recommended. Beardies also enjoy running room, beardies are very social with people and love attention.

Diet: Beardies enjoy a wide variety of foods but theres a catch, each beardie likes different foods. Some will like fruits more than veggies. When they're between the ages of 1 day old to about 9 months old you need to feed them crickets more than any thing else, start offering greens when they're 4 to 6 months old. Adults hill eat greens more than crickets, beardies can also eat meal worms, king worms(only when they're adults), and much more.

Substrate: Now this is a very tricky section, why? Because each dragon is different and it seems to depend on your region. My beardies cant stand any kind of sand, even the so called "edible" Calci-sand. When I used Calci-sand with my dragons even my Leopard Geckos, got sand impaction. I recommend reptile carpet because its easy to clean, its inexpensive, and it comes in variety of colors and sizes.

Lighting/Temperature: Make sure you have a heating lamp and a uvb lamp. The uv/uvb rays provide vitamin D witch helps with the body's ability to adsorb calcium. The temp should be around 90 degrees and 100 degrees during the day, and during the night the temp shouldn't go below 70 degrees at all during the night, however if it does your beardie can survive one night if it drops that low then you should invest in a night heating light.

A few parting tips:

Beardies need a lid to keep your cats out, and even you don't have cats, you should still use a lid to keep insects out. You may think beardies can eat any kind of insects but this is not true. If a beardie eats a spider it will die within 24 hours. The spiders venom cont be broken down by the beardies digestive system. If want to breed them then once a week give your females a pinkie mouse with its rump dipped in calcium. Give males one pinkie mouse a month. Also the male and female should be at least a year and a half old before you breed them.

These are the best tips for your bearded dragon habitat. So do your research before buying a beardie make sure you are set up properly

You can learn more about feeding a bearded dragon

I invite you to discover more tips and guidelines at my site at http://www.beardeddragoncaretips.com