Beardies are very docile, like the dogs of the herp world. I'd say that they're the best pet reptile out there. Of course, they have to be handled a lot to stay that way, males moreso than females.

Housing:
The enclosure should be no smaller than 36" x 18" (standard 40 gallon breeder) for a single adult or pair. Two females may be housed together but never two males. It is also adviseable that males and females not be housed together permanently, but only for a short time to mate, and only if proper care can be given to incubating and raising young. If you do not intend on breeding, don't mix genders. The enclosure must be large enough to establish a proper heat gradient with the necessary equipment such as a slate basking rock and driftwood perch. For substrate we recommend ReptiSand. Adults may be kept on Play Sand (bought from Home Depot) but the grains are too large for juveniles. The enclosure must be sifted every day for feces and other detritus.

Lighting:
Beardies need both UVA and UVB lighting in order to properly metabolize their food. We recommend Exo-Terra Repti Glo 8.0. Situate the driftwood perch below the fluorescent bulb so they can bask as needed. The rays cannot penetrate much more than 8-10" from the light source, so the Dragons must be able to get within that range. Their heat spot must stay within a day time range of around 105 - 110 degrees. Situate the slate basking rock under the light. It absorbs heat so they will warm their bellies on it. The cold side of the cage should be allowed to reach room temperature. About twelve hours of daylight is advised, unless you plan on breeding your Dragons. Then their natural brumation cycles should be followed (longer daytime hours in the summer, shorter in the winter). We recommend getting a timer to control the light schedule.

Food:
Bearded Dragons are omnivores, meaning that they eat both vegetable matter and insects. I feed fresh greens (cut into bite-sized pieces that vary on the age of the Dragon) every day. It's a good idea to stay away from anything that uses the word "lettuce" in the name, as they are generally devoid of much nutritional value. I use turnip tops, mustard greens, and collard greens. All greens are sprinkled with a 50/50 mix of Repti-Cal and HerptiVite. For insects, I offer my juveniles both crickets (no larger than the space between their eyes) and small/med superworms. They get fed crickets once a day and have a dish of the superworms available at all times. That way they can eat at their leisure. My adults are fed large superworms only (along with the greens). As they age, Dragons generally begin to prefer greens over insects.

Most Dragons (though some will) will not drink from standing water. They must be misted at least once a day (juveniles twice) with room temperature water. Spray lightly, like rain, don't blast them. They will drink the droplets from each other and their surroundings. Spray until they are done lapping up the water. Juveniles that haven't begun to eat a lot of greens will drink more than the adults that get a lot of their moisture from the greens that they eat. A water dish must be available at all times and kept very clean. They may not drink from it, but they enjoy wallowing in it, especially when shedding. We also bathe our Dragons in warm water once a week (belly depth).

General Care:
Dragons change their color very quickly and frequenly based on their mood. Excited Dragons will be very bright, and mature males will even flare a black beard (very rare, but even some females) that will fade when they calm back down. A stressed Dragon, however, will have noticeable blotches in a pattern on their stomach.

A good way of keeping track of how your Dragon is fairing healthwise is to keep a diary of weights. We use a gram scale to weigh ours. Adults are weighed weekly and juveniles every other day. Weighing regularly will tell you if your Dragon is eating enough. If your Dragon starts losing weight, you will know before it goes too far so the problem can be addressed and rectified. For breeding and raising purposes, weighing regularly will tell you if a juvenile needs to be separated if it isn't gaining as fast as its cage mates.

Profile by Melissa St.James of http://dragoncharm.com