Bearded Dragon Cages, Housing, EnclosuresFor a single Bearded Dragon, use a minimum 40G breeder tank. For 2 dragons, 8 sq.ft. is recommended. It is best to have more horizontal (floor) space than vertical (climbing) space.Do not keep males together, they will fight causing injury or possibly death. Females can usually be kept together. Keeping Males/Females togetherIf you want to keep males and females, one male and several females in a tank is okay provided you intend for them to breed.They should be at least 18 - 24 months old, from different blood lines, and healthy. Any dragons kept together should be about the same size, if one is bigger it will dominate, or even eat the smaller one. Laying females need extra calcium as well as breaks from breeding/laying to recover their health after pregnancy. Baby Bearded Dragons are very time consuming and expensive with a high mortality rate. Be sure to research well before breeding your dragons. Any fertilized eggs you do not intend to incubate can be frozen for 24 - 48 hours and disposed of. Cage Set Up & AccessoriesHammocks can be bought or made using a washcloth and string or suction cups.Branches whether bought or collected and treated. Rocks whether bought or collected and treated. Rough stones kept under the heat lamp are nice and warm on the belly and also help to keep nails worn down, which means less nail trimming for you. Plants can make the cage look nice. Real plants are difficult to use as they get dug up and pooped on, and must be non-toxic. If you decide to use fake plants, wash them regularly and make sure your dragon doesn't try to eat them. Hides or Caves can be bought or made using boxes from chips/cereal/etc. Bathing Tubs can be improvised using a shallow dish. Digging Boxes (see substrates below for explanation). SubstratesPaper towels, old bath towels, newspaper, paper bags, astroturf, vinyl flooring
and alphalfa pellets, are easily cleaned and cheap. Paper is very
easy to keep clean as it is easily removed and replaced. If you use astroturf or bath
towels, buy 2 or 3 pieces, that way you can replace the soiled one quickly giving you
time to clean it. Clean the soiled astroturf using a mild bleach solution.
(One part bleach to ten parts water) Trim off long strings from astroturf so
they are not accidently eaten or wrapped around toes.
Choose a substrate that is easy to keep clean and is not harmful to your
bearded dragon if eaten or inhaled. Kitty litter, wood chips, calci sands, or corncob are NOT good choices because they may be eaten or inhaled causing impaction. Alphalfa pellets, while generally considered safe, can be an impaction hazard if your dragon decides to eat them, also, the pellets are very dry and bearded dragons are prone to dehydration, so eating them may cause problems.Bearded Dragons do enjoy digging, so as a safe way to provide this, use one of the above substrates throughout the cage, and provide a box with either wheat bran or playsand. Don't use calci sand or commercial sands, use the same washed playsand that would be used for a childs' sandbox. |
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