baby bearded dragon

Everything your Baby Beardie’s Parents want you to know…

 Bringing home  a baby Bearded Dragon is a joyful event, but being aware of what they need to not only survive, but to be healthy and happy is crucial. Just like any young baby there are things that they need and things that will hurt them if either neglected, or mishandled so read, on and you can be confident of what to expect and where to buy the supplies you need.

When you first buy your baby beardie hopefully you ask and are informed of some of the basics at the pet store or wherever you get your bearded dragon from. I know when we got Rocxee (our beardie) the pet store clerk acted like having a beardie was easy and we didn’t need much to have one…boy was he wrong. Maybe the fact that he looked like he was still in high school and had “all the answers” should’ve gotten our attention (no offense other high schoolers), but it didn’t and our little beardy was sick and hurting the first week or so after we brought her home :(

The good thing was that lead us to find out the truth from various sources and to verify, verify, verify. Hence this article is based on what we learned and hopefully this will be a good start for a new owner of a fine bearded dragon.

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Resources:

Here’s some great resources I wish I knew about when we got our beardie. They are full of good info, dirt cheap, and have a 100% money back guarantee if you don’t like them. These are not my products, but I felt it helpful to point you in the right direction. I found a few decent ones you can check out. Be aware, the websites that offer them have a bunch of info about the ebooks, but you may just scan through some of the main points and see where to get them at the bottom:

  • Advanced Bearded Dragon Manual- This resource covers all the basics and also some of the advanced topics of being a beardie owner. It even covers breeding beardies to some degree and is a good add on to the others. Click Here!

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bearded dragon Here are some basics you’ll need to have prepared BEFORE you bring your beardy home with you (or at least at the time you get them). We will list them no real order, but this will be enough to get you started:

Lighting- You’ll need UVA & UVB bulbs and make sure the wattage is good enough for the size tank/cage you have for your pet. We started with a 10 gallon tank and had a 50 watt UVA in the beginning them a few months later moved up to a 75 watt. Check with your pet store clerk (not the high school kid!) and let them know the set up you are planning. Also keep in mind there are the “Night heat bulbs” which are red or black and just keep the beardie warm at night you may want (optional).

Substrate (flooring)- We started of using sand with the calcium powder so it would automatically dust the crickets when our beardy was fed, but our baby kept getting sand in the mouth and it was not good for her. We used some of the “carpet” type material for the tank and it is great and recommended, plus easy to clean.

Basking Area- Within the cage/tank you want to have an area that is designated for basking and also the other side that is a little cooler for the beardy to be able to retreat to when it’s hot. Also remember to have thermometers on both sides to keep the temperature right. We have the hot side at between 98 to 108 degrees and the cooler side between 89 to 96 degrees. This can vary and check with your vet if you’re not sure, but we have found this to be optimal for our little baby bearded dragon.

Food Supply- Please also make sure you don’t get those HUGE crickets for your little beardie at the pet store. Start with the little ones and also try to include some romaine lettuce or something like it. You won’t really know what your pet will like at first and their tastes change so be open and don’t buy a month’s supply of anything until you know they like it. DO make sure you have the crickets either calcium dusted or have the cricket food that adds nourishment to them for when your beardy eats them. You want to make sure your pet is getting all the necessary nourishment from it’s food.

Schedule- Make sure you have the lighting and feeding schedule at least considered. Make sure you don’t give the beardie more than 12-14 hours of the basking an UVB light and make sure you feed them enough to where they aren’t going too long between meals. We would feed our baby beardy every few hours until it stopped getting hungry, but realized they can eat forever! So we now feed her a 2-3 times a day and switch between veggies and cricket or superworms or we give a little of both. Test and see what works for your pet.

Bath and Soaking time- Not sure this is a necessity, but putting an inch or 2 of warm (NOT HOT) water in the sink and letting your pet soak is a good idea and can also help them digest their food a bit and help them when they are beginning to shed their skin. Just thought I’d mention it.

Lots of Love- Above all…love your pet and hold them. Pet them and spend time with them. It might sound corny, but doing this is what helps them mature and stay docile and friendly with you. It’s probably also the reason you got one in the first place.

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I really hope this article helped you get a general idea of what life with a bearded dragon looks like and what you can expect. It was not intended to be exaustive, but a good starting point for info on the subject. If you found this article useful Re-tweet or pass it along another way and help someone else out.

Best of Luck!