By Ada Méndez
PetLifePro.com
Some people love dogs, some love cats, and others just love reptiles. If you belong to that group you’ve probably heard about the bearded dragon, one of the most popular pet reptiles.
Bearded dragons originate from all over Australia, with the various species occupying slightly overlapping areas of the landmass. In the wild, they live in the arid and subtropical woodlands, scrublands, savannas, shore areas, and into the great interior deserts.
Adult bearded dragons are very territorial. As they grow, they establish social hierarchies and as part of their interactions they display aggression and appeasement when needed. In captivity, they prefer a solitary life.
If you have ever considered getting a bearded dragon, have in mind that they can live in captivity for as long as 10 years, which is a long-term commitment, and grow up to 24 inches, which means that you need a glass terrarium of at least 40 gallons in volume (about 36 inches long) with a screened lid.
Since bearded dragons live in a dry and warm environment, you also need a heating source for his home.
If you want to have a bearded dragon as a pet, here are some tips that will help you:
1) Bedding
To make him feel at home, line the bottom of the terrarium with two to three inches of calcium sand, or buy an accessory called reptile carpet, which is a better choice for younger bearded dragons. You need to scoop waste at least once a week and lay fresh bedding once a month.
2) Heating
For heating, your dragon’s habitat should have a thermometer at each end of the terrarium and a device to measure humidity called hygrometer. Bearded dragons thrive when humidity is between 20 and 30 percent.
3) Lighting
Just like humans, bearded dragons are active during the day and sleep at night and they like basking under a UVA/UVB bulb for about 12 hours each day, so you need to buy one.
4) Diet
Bearded dragons are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and meat, and you need to feed them two to three times a day.
Twice a week, you need to feed them with insects such as crickets, mealworms and wax worms, dust with a calcium supplement twice weekly. Every other day, use dark leafy greens or carrots, which should be 25 to 50 percent of their diet.
Complement the diet with small quantities of fruits such as apples, bananas, and melon.
You can also feed your bearded dragon once a day with a pelleted blend sold at any pet supermarket. As for water, change it daily and provide plenty of it.
