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What about beared dragons2007-11-24 2:03:00

Heating and temps

To produce heat and a basking spot in your enclosure you can use either a ceramic heat emitter, a reptile basking light(red, blue or white) or just a plain old household light bulb. The best fixture for any of these choices is a porcelain dome light fixture. This type of fixture is a must with a ceramic heat emitter due to the amount of heat they produce. The temperature for this basking spot you created should be around 110f for juveniles and can be around 95f for adults. Although I don't recommend any temps above 110f, within a few degrees of these basking temps will be sufficient.

The cool side of the enclosure should be around 85f during the day. Once again within a few degrees of this temp is just fine.

Nighttime temperatures can fall as low as 65f. It is fairly easy to keep your night temps above this even in the winter. If you can't keep your temps above this you may want to consider buying an under tank heater (UTH) for nighttime use. Using this just during the evening hours will help create a warm spot for your Dragon to sleep. DO NOT use heat rocks as these can cause serious burns on your animal's underside.

A thermometer on the "hot side" and one on the "cool side" will make sure that your temps are in the range they should be in.

Substrate

For baby to juvenile Bearded Dragons I prefer and recommend either newspaper, paper towels, butcher paper or reptile carpet. These choices are cheap, easy to clean and hold no health risks to your animal. If using reptile carpet the stuff that looks and feels like grass is the best. The felt kind has little loops of fabric that may catch the nails of your Dragon and cause injury. DO NOT use sand, shavings or any other loose substrate for baby to juvenile Beardies. They can be very clumsy eaters and they are also very curious and like to taste everything. Any kind of loose substrate holds serious health risks to your Beardie. If they eat a loose substrate they can become impacted, which is a blocking of the intestines, and die.