Bearded Dragon Facts: Habitat, Diet, Care & Information

Bearded dragons are a popular pet. For most bearded dragon owners, playing with them is fun and raising them is quite easy.

However, as a bearded dragon owner, do you fully understand bearded dragon facts?

Let’s take an example.

Bearded dragons in nature live in the desert with sand, rocks, etc. But did you know that those raised as pets are not suitable for living on grain substrates like sand?

That is why we write this post.

Hopefully, you will have a complete view of this animal’s behavior through the bearded dragons facts for kids.

Besides, you will undoubtedly realize that raising bearded dragons brings about a fun time for you.

Description

• Bearded dragons are a cute reptile, whose scientific name is Pogona barbata – Pogona vitticeps.
• Bearded dragons originate from Australia. They live in deserts, steppes, in forests with arid, rocky lands, on branches or in bushes.
• Baby bearded dragons do not need to be domesticated. They are naturally gentle by default.
• Within the first few months of life, a dragon can grow three to four times as much.
• Bearded dragons have an average life span of 20 years in captivity.
• You should avoid kissing bearded dragons no matter how adorable they are because they can carry Salmonella. However, the possibility of food-borne infections to the pet is still higher than that from you.
• Bearded dragons should not be raised with cats and dogs.
• You can distinguish your pet’s sex when his body length reaches over 25cm.

Facts on Bearded Dragon History

They were initially found in the Australian deserts. Their habitats include forests, steppes, and deserts. We may notice them on tree stumps, branches, or above the rocks throughout the morning.

Bearded dragons were not known in the United States until the 1990s. Since then, their numbers have become remarkable and can be found in most major pet stores.

Bearded dragons have been considered a gentle and easy-to-raise animal, sought by many households.

Facts on Bearded Dragons Appearance

• Bearded dragons have a triangular head and flat body. On the sides of the head and body, there are a lot of thorns. They look dangerous, but actually, they are very soft. So, they are not harmful to pet owners.
• It belongs to the lizard class, but the size of the bearded dragon is much larger.
• A newborn baby bearded dragon has a length of about 12 cm. With these types of beardies, it is often difficult to raise. Therefore, we advise you not to buy baby dragons of this size.
• The maximum length of an adult bearded dragon is about 50 – 55 cm, and it will take this species three years to reach such measures.
• If the bearded dragon’s tail is lost, then it cannot grow back.

How to Determine a Bearded Dragon’s Sex?

Most bearded dragons develop genitalia between 8 and 12 months of age. This is the period when you can recognize the gender variation between them.

At this time, their body length reaches over 25 cm. If the animal has two bulges on both sides, he is a male. If not, the pet is a female dragon. For some professionals, it is possible to see the gender from the size of 18cm.

Factors Determining the Size of a Bearded Dragon

Species

The most popular is the Pogona Vitticeps which is 60.9 cm long, so perhaps you’re owning this dragon. But keep in mind that most of them will not develop to their maximum size.

Environmental condition

Like any species, the beardies only grow to the maximum size when the environment facilitates them. This means that if you place a growing bearded dragon in a cage that is too small, he will not be able to develop to its full size.

Diet and health

A healthy bearded dragon will grow faster and be bigger in size compared to a dragon that is not in good condition. You can help your pet reach his full size by feeding enough best-bearded dragon food and noticing signs of illness.

Gender

Like most animals, males are usually larger than females. So, if the dragon you own is a male dragon, then your pet will be able to develop into a big one.

Remember the bearded dragons are not different from us 100 percent. What we want to mention here is, some can grow faster or slower than others at different times of life.

Measure the size of the dragon

Quickly, you can determine the age of a bearded dragon by marking the length from the top of the head to the tips of their tails. In general, their length represents how long they have been living.

Facts on Bearded Dragon Habitats

Enclosure

Bearded dragon enclosures are a must need to grow it.

• Bearded dragons’ cage size must be based on their body size to decide.

Before raising bearded dragons, you will need a cage that is large enough for pets. The ideal cage size for bearded dragons is 65 cm wide and 50 cm high.

• It’s essential to cover the cages.

Bearded dragons are very good at climbing, so escaping from the shelter won’t have any problems. You should use a net to make a lid, also to circulate air.

• Only one individual should be kept in a cage.

That’s because if you let two or more dragons stay in the same cage, the bigger one may attack the smaller ones. Or, when raising two males, they may fight due to their instinct to occupy their own territory.

• The cage must have two food bowls that one for main dishes and the other for insects. Besides, you will need another one for water.
• Some bearded dragons have a habit of excreting while soaking in the bath.

Therefore, when raising a bearded dragon, you need to change water frequently to keep the pet clean. Although they are desert animals, they love water. Immersion also helps them to digest more easily.

You need to consider best-bearded dragon beddings also;

For the best-bearded dragon cage, you can consider among these high-quality products: Exo Terra Allglass Terrarium, Tetra Deluxe Aquatic Turtle Kit, Zilla Vertical Tropical Kit, and Terrarium Table – Glass Display for Plants.

Substrate

• The bottom of the cage should have a substrate. It will make the cleaning process much easier later.
• Among substrate materials, newspaper, wrapping paper, paper towels, or specialized carpets are considered the safest for our bearded dragons. In addition, these materials are easy to find and cost-saving.

Our recommended substrates include Zilla Reptile Terrarium Bedding Substrate Liner, Zoo Med Eco Earth Loose Coconut Fiber Substrate, and Zilla Alfalfa Meal.

• Sand is considered to be not good for bearded dragons.

Bearded dragon substrates should be safe and easy-to-clean. You should not consider using gravel, sands, or plastic beads, etc. That’s because if the pets ingest gravel or plastic beads, it will cause intestinal obstruction and death.

• With bearded dragons raised in a wooden, glass cage or net, the substrates need to be replaced once every 3 weeks to ensure hygiene.

Decorations

• Cages for bearded dragons should have a lake area and a dry area like a desert. They also need stones, twigs, or logs for pets to climb and sunbathe. Besides, a hiding area is indispensable for bearded dragons.
• Otherwise, if you have plenty of time or if you want to make their habitat more lively, you can design a cage that looks like a bioactive terrarium. You can use fake trees, wood, or decorations to highlight the barn for dragons.

You can put some branches, rocks like Zilla Shale Rock Den, and Niteangel 2 Packs Breathable Mesh Reptile Hammock in the cage for the animals to climb and warm when needed.

These best-bearded dragon hammocks are also helpful to keep warm the cute one.

However, you should not use branches found in the wild because they have the potential to carry harmful pathogens.

• It’s essential to have some refuge in their cage.

This is very important, so do not ignore it. In case your beardie does not use the built-in hiding places, try moving them to another location.

Heat and lighting

• You can use red light bulbs or UVB fluorescent light bulbs.

Humidity is also a factor that greatly affects the adaptability of the habitat of the pet. The cage for bearded dragons needs light and proper temperature to help them grow healthily.

The ideal temperature in the cages must be 25 – 30 degrees Celsius during the day. At night, it needs to be maintained at 21 – 26 degrees Celsius. For adult dragons, they need lower temperatures than babies.

You probably don’t know about these interesting bearded dragon facts that UVB lamps help the dragon to absorb vitamin D and calcium. You can buy this light at pet shops that sell reptile accessories.

The best UVB lights will be used for lighting for 12 – 14 hours a day. You should change the lamp every 6 months because after the lamp is used for a long time, it will reduce UVB output, affecting the development of the Australian dragon.

In this field, the MyComfyPets UVB Light and UVA 2-in-1 Reptile Bulb and BYB Ceramic Infrared Heat Emitter Lamp Bulb are the best choices for you.

• If you have a budget, you can make heating pads under the shelter for bearded dragons. It is usually made of infrared light bulbs.

Facts on Bearded Dragon Behavior

• Immature bearded dragons usually skin every 2 – 3 weeks. As for the adult dragons, the skin peeling cycle will take longer, usually 3-4 months once.
• Too clean is not good for them.

It’s better for them to shower once a week, 5-10 minutes each time. Bathing can help their mentality as well as body relax. Moreover, during bathing, they also excrete to cleanse the inner body.

• Many individuals also skin while bathing. By soaking in the water, they can compensate for the loss of water through the skin.
• Bearded dragons need to be exposed to the sun between 7:00 am and 10:00 am (about 45 minutes).
• They do not lay children but eggs.
• This species loves to bathe, but they can’t swim.
• Bearded dragons are animals that live independently in the wild, especially with adults.
• They are very dynamic, so they eat a lot. As a result, the pet owners need to supplement their nutrients in time for their strong growth.
• They instinctively climb and move a lot.
• Bearded dragons use body language to speak within the territory like hand waving, nodding up and down, etc.
• Skinning behavior is one of the common reptiles’ behaviors, and with this species, it’s no exception.

The regular skinning is accomplished in response to the development of the dragons. Their skin only stretches to a certain extent, and when it is no longer able to grow anymore, the body must perform skin peeling to help the body get larger.

With young pets, the skinning process will take place more than 3-4 times/year. And the adult bearded dragons only perform skin peeling 1-2 times/year.

Before they skin, you can easily see that they are not as agile as usual but dull and slow. The skin of their eyes will be more swollen than before, and the colors on their body will also become paler.

• Helping bearded dragons shed their skin is hurting them.

That skin of the bearded dragons will be peeled off the body at any time when its health is ready. The only thing you can help them in the present time is to offer a care regime and create a suitable environment to help the skin peeling process go smoothly.

Read more: Best bearded dragon harness reviews

Facts on Bearded Dragon Diet

• Bearded dragons are omnivores

They eat both insects and plants. Notably, adults can eat baby mice, lizards, and anything that they find attractive.

• The insect needs to be supplemented daily for bearded dragons.

That’s because they are a great source of nutrients for them. The baby bearded dragons eat 20% vegetables and 80% crickets, and when they grow up, it is the opposite.

• You should prepare a diverse and logic diet for them. Prioritize feeding them with more green vegetables.
• They don’t eat cooked food.
• Eating enough substances makes their colors look a lot better.

Besides, supplementing with calcium, vitamins and dry food for also works to prevent bone deformation for bearded dragons.

This bearded dragon diet will be more helpful.

Food for Bearded Dragons

• Vegetables, tubers, and fruits should be fed to the dragon daily and as fresh as possible.
• Greens for them are lettuce, broccoli, perilla, watercress, green peppers, rose petals, hibiscus, etc.
• The most appropriate tubers for them are carrots, kohlrabi, pumpkins, tomatoes, etc.
• Fruits that you need to provide them include apples, apricots, pears, bananas, watermelons, etc.
• Bearded dragons should not eat mustard greens and lettuce.
• The fruits and vegetables fed to the pet should be chopped.

They need to be smaller than the distance between the pets’ two eye sockets. If you feed the big food, it will affect the dragon and cause paralysis, convulsions.

• Common insects for bearded dragons are crickets, worms, super worms, cockroaches, baby mice, etc.

You can consider buying dried crickets of Fluker’s, Zilla Reptile Munchies Mix Treat, or Live Waxworms for Feeding Reptiles.

• In addition, you should also buy supplements of vitamin D3, calcium for them weekly.

You can add powder supplements by sprinkling on food or insects. Pregnant females or newly born bearded dragons should be supplemented more.

• You should give them 1 bowl of clean drinking water every day.
• After each meal, leftovers must be removed immediately to avoid creating an environment for bacteria to multiply.
• You should not catch live insects or mice for pets because they are easy to carry harmful pathogens.
• Absolutely do not feed the bearded dragons fireflies because these insects are harmful to them.
• When the pet is pregnant or sick, silkworms are the best food for her.

Facts on Bearded Dragon Color variations

Bearded dragons have many different colors and sometimes, looking at their colors, you can know the environment in which they live.

The change in color on bearded dragons’ skin is not the same as what people often see on chameleon.

For bearded dragons, it takes place very slowly during the animals’ development. The females’ scales can also turn darker when they breed.

Conversely, when your pet suddenly changes color, it has many causes. For example, he turns black or dark colors on the neck if he feels threatened or turns yellow when he has an intestinal disease.

Because the colors of bearded dragons are also determined by selective breeding, it is difficult to list their available skin colors. However, in the pet industry, most bearded dragons are red, white, and yellow.

Facts on Bearded Dragon Reproduction and Mating

During mating, the male will bite the female’s neck. Note that if he bites too hard and there is bleeding, separate them to avoid serious injury to the female.

If fertilization is successful, you need to supplement the calcium for the mom bearded dragon because, during pregnancy, she will need a lot of calcium. Besides, bearded dragons will lay eggs within 6 weeks, so you need to prepare a box for incubating. The best substrate for incubating is a mixture of soil and sand (or you can buy it at pet shops).

After the mother spawns, you put down one egg every 2 cm. And, remember that after picking eggs up, you must place them back to the incubator box as the original position and shape. Never rotate or shake eggs. You bury the egg about half of its height in the mixture substrate.

As one behavior of bearded dragon lizard facts, the female can lay 15-40 too eggs once. The incubation temperature should be maintained between 27 and 30 degrees Celsius. After about 74 days, the eggs will hatch.

Facts on Bearded Dragon Diseases

• Bearded dragons should not be released in the room because the cold floor can make them pneumonia.
• If your pet refuses to eat, he could be stressed or sick.
• Still doesn’t eat for 3 days or more, you should bring him to the vet.
• If the habitat temperature is too low, the bearded dragon will not want to eat or drink.

Because they are cold-blooded animals, the process of digestion depends very much on the ambient temperature.

• Bearded dragons may also refuse to eat if they suffer from inflammatory bowel disease.

The only sign of this is a constant state of excrement. The most suitable remedy, in this case, is to mix the medicine into the bathwater. Then you soak them once a day. At the same time, you must add electrolytes to their drinking water and food.

• Improper feeding or inappropriate food may also cause the species to refuse to eat.
• Females in the reproductive period or males in estrus time hardly eat or drink anything. If any, they eat very little.
• Common diseases of this species include infections, parasites, skin diseases (such as helminths, ticks, fleas), Salmonella infection (which affects their digestive tract).

When infected with Salmonella bacterium, the bearded dragon will stop eating, sleep more than usual, lose weight quickly, and have a foul-smelling feces.

In case you find your dragon is infected with this bacterium, you must isolate him from other pets and bring him to the nearest veterinary facility to treat thoroughly.

Other Interesting Bearded Dragon Facts

• Bearded dragons love to be stroked, so when holding them up to play, you should stroke or spray water on them. This will also have a positive impact on the humidity on their skin.
• Letting them soak in warm water regularly is great for cleaning and help them digest more easily. However, the amount of water in the pot must be lower than their chin.
• They are very friendly, close, and intelligent.
• They are usually very gentle even in nature, and you will also rarely see them aggressive, especially with humans.

The fancy bearded dragon facts are also reflected in nature when they feel threatened. Instead of fighting, they stand still, inflate their throat, bend their tail, and change their color to threaten back the enemies.

• Bearded dragons can see full of colors.
• Although they are relatively sedentary lizards when raised indoors, bearded dragons can run fast, up to nine miles per hour.
• Their appearance when feeling threatened is the cause of their name. They inflate their throat like they wear a beard.
• Usually, in the fall, the pet will change his habit of sleeping at noon. This is completely normal, just as the behavior of the species, so you don’t need to worry about it.

FAQs About Bearded Dragon Facts

Is it OK if I plan to give them a 60°C habitat to look like a desert?

There are many types of desert, and most of us always think that the desert is very hot, arid, and bearded dragons are born to adapt to that.

The reality is not so. With an environment of thousands of square kilometers where offer foliage of trees, underground burrows, the natural desert environment of Australia has given them a second chance to live at a temperature of 50 – 55 degrees Celsius throughout the year.

How about living in the cage? With an area of less than one square meter and a temperature of up to 55 degrees Celsius, this animal will undoubtedly die from heat and lack of oxygen.

So, you need to adjust and set the hottest point in the cage of 40 degrees Celsius and the coolest point of 35 degrees Celsius.

How about the oldest bearded dragon?

In captivity, under the best-bearded dragon habitat conditions, the animal can live healthily up to 15 years. There are some documents stating that bearded dragons can live up to 20 years. However, no document has recorded this individual.

My pet is ugly and thin. What can I do to improve his physique?

Like humans, in order to have a good body, apart from genes, it is also based on the process of training, eating, and living habits. So are the animal. Therefore, there’s no better way than facilitating them as much as possible.

Should I let my pet sunbathe even if he has the UVB lights?

Our advice is yes. You should bring them to the sun 1-2 days a week but remember to provide a shading area for them to rest.

This is also the period of communication and interaction of this animal with nature. This will eliminate parasites on their skin and helps the bearded dragon to look better.

How long can they live without food?

The answer depends on many factors, including the environmental conditions, health status, and age of the bearded dragon.

Normal, adult bearded dragons can survive without food for 2 months. That’s because there are many fat stores and weights in their body. When they don’t get enough nutrition, the fat from there replaces the shortcomings for them to have the energy to operate.

In contrast, smaller bearded dragons will not be able to live for more than 2-3 weeks. They are in the stage of needing food to develop and perfect their functions.

No matter how your pet is, letting them starve is not recommended. If you do not have plenty of time to take care of them, you can choose convenient products for bearded dragons such as dry food, smart water troughs, or substrate mats.

Is this species smart?

Yes.

Although bearded dragons are not as famously intelligent as other pets, such as dogs, if you observe closely, you will find them very mercurial and skillful at solving problems.

They can be gentle and inactive, but the species can memorize quite well and respond to what they have learned. Don’t be surprised when we say that they can recognize you if you spend a lot of time playing with them.

They are also capable of learning from other individuals in the species, while this is only noted in mammals.

How to best control their diseases when raising bearded dragons?

From all the theories that we outlined above, let’s execute and strictly follow it if you don’t want anything bad to happen. The criteria here is that prevention is better than cure.

Besides, you should keep the cage and feeder clean. Water and food need to be renewed daily.

Is gender important when raising a bearded dragon?

The answer is no because both male and female bearded dragons are easy to raise, and they are very gentle. It only matters when we need them to breed.

Can you give subjective and objective assessments of raising a bearded dragon? Should or not?

It depends on the amount of time, effort, love, and money you spend on raising bearded dragons.

However, we personally find the bearded dragons a cute and easy-to-care species. Moreover, it is very suitable for newbies to adopt reptiles, even children. So, their parents can feel secure when letting them playing with the animals.

Where should I buy bearded dragons to be consulted and provided with the best breed?

Please contact the shops where you feel reputable and high-quality in the city. However, if you have an acquaintance raising a bearded dragon that is in the breeding period, you can negotiate to adopt a baby when he is 3-4 months old. That would be much safer.

Our last words

Raising a bearded dragon is not difficult, and it will be much more comfortable when you know many bearded dragons facts here. Also, it is a fun duty that will make your days more interesting.

If you need further information, feel free to contact us or visit our website. Don’t forget to like and share the article with others if you find it useful. Thank you.