Bearded Dragons are members of the Agamid family and originate from Australia. Adults can attain a length of twenty four inches. They are a diurnal species, and are generally ground dwelling, but will climb given the opportunity.

They require a high quantity of UVA/UVB and also heat, for this purpose I use a Mercury Vapour Bulb which are now available for the European market, and in my personal opinion there is no alternative for this species as the standard UVA/UVB tubes don’t come close to the quality, the change in my beardeds since I changed over from a strip bulb and heat bulb are phenomenal, the only thing to be very aware of with this product is the basking distance, and this should be no less than a minimum distance from face of bulb to animals of 122 to 14”. I am currently running the 160watt version in a standard 4 foot vivarium until the new custom built version is ready for them to occupy when they will have basking platforms at different heights so they can choose their most comfortable position. I can’t stress enough the importance of reading the instructions that come with these bulbs if you choose this option, as with anything too much of a good thing can be bad. I leave about a 1cm opening at either end of the glass doors to allow for additional air flow because of the heat produced by this bulb, and it requires installing in a screw type ceramic light fitting that can be purchased from reptile shops.

This is another species that has several colour variations, and also comes in a giant version. Their most noticeable features are their beards which can be jet black and puffed out in displaying males, and the spikes that run down their sides. They can be fast moving when they feel like showing off, but generally prefer to lounge around basking. Males should never be housed together, as they can be VERY aggressive. Though they can be housed in groups a group should never contain more than 1 male, and an ideal harem should consist of 1 male to 3 females, but can be more of you have the space for a very large enclosure. I purchased the two that I own together, and despite best efforts and educated examinations they did in fact turn out to be male and female, and not both female as originally hoped. Beardeds will quite happily live alone, and some in fact enjoy this as it means they get all the attention. Having said that they have lived together happily for the last 3 years, and although the male can be a little bossy at times, the female gives as good as she gets, and they get along very well. The only concern in this situation is obviously breeding, and they do have to be kept an eye on. Though I have never intended to breed these two a resulting clutch of eggs would mean paying very close attention to the female’s calcium intake to prevent calcium deficiency, and also the males unwanted attentions after she has laid her eggs, and a laying box would need to be provided if breeding was witnessed.

They are fed a diet of fresh vegetables daily which I dust with Dragon Dust, which they seem to enjoy, and as a treat my male loves strawberries, and grapes are always gratefully received by both of them. I also feed large gut loaded meal worms about 3 times a week treated with calcium on 2 days and vitamins on the third. They occasionally get the odd pinkie with its bottom dipped in calcium, and butter worms and locusts never last very long at all. As babies they ate mostly crickets, with the occasional nibble of vegetables, but with continued determination on my part that they would learn to love veggies they eventually took the hint, and now there isn’t much they won’t eat in the vegetable line.

They make excellent pets and have been referred to as ‘the puppies of the reptile world’, they love and even seem to crave human attention, and take every opportunity to be with people, they also love to swim in shallow warm water, being almost crocodilian in their swimming style. We have had many enjoyable hours watching their antics, and they are never lacking in their entertainment value.

No Current breeding plans.

Bearded Dragons Gallery