Don’t plan to place this enclosure in direct sunlight since the heat from the sun’s rays can make it hotter inside the pet’s home than you mean for it to get. Overheating can result in sickness or death for beardie and one of the signs that he’s too hot is what’s known among dogs as a cooling mechanism. You’ll witness your lizard begin to pant and that’s a warning sign you really should heed. Regulating body temperature for their pet is one of the number one problems many beardie owners find themselves battling.

A lizard enclosure that you set up outside your home should not have wide openings that a predator can reach a paw through to strike at your pet. Cats are known to stalk lizards and the trauma of being swiped at could result in shock or injury to your beardie. Crows and other large birds also view lizards as a meal and beardies do feel threatened by large birds. But since beardies do like to sun themselves, you can safely have them outside on a special lizard leash you can find at many reptile shops. You can walk your pet across your yard and keep him safe from predators and keep him from eating any insects he shouldn’t have.

In the past, some reptile owners gave advice to new owners that they could use any kind of substrate in the bottom of the cage. This is faulty. You should never use substrate that your beardie finds tasty and lizards have a tendency to eat shells such as walnut shells. Even if the shells are crushed into tiny pieces, your lizard will still nibble on them. Taking a chance isn’t worth the risk. You can safely use newspaper if that’s all you have handy. If you leave the newspaper whole, just remember the bottom of your beardie’s feet will turn black from the ink rubbing off.

Once you get your bearded dragon, to buy food supplies for him can seem a costly expenditure for someone who isn’t used to caring for exotic lizards. But there are ways to cut down on that cost. For example, you can learn how to keep insects yourself and raise them to feed to your beardie. But if the thought of having a tank full of insects around your home bothers you, then you can buy them from shops or from other owners.

Before you think you can simply go out around your house and dig up whatever worms you find, stop! It’s not safe for your pet to eat insects that you find because even if you don’t spray your yard, it doesn’t mean those insects came from your yard. They could have traveled from your neighbor’s property and if your neighbor sprays for pests, then those insects could carry that pesticide straight into your beardie’s delicate stomach.

Wherever you get bearded dragon worms or other insects, you want to make sure you do a process called gut loading before giving them to your beardie as a meal or a snack. You’ll want to gut load insects at least a day in advance before feeding them to your beardie. You can feed your beardie mealworms, butterworms, waxworms and even earthworms.

You do want to be careful when giving your beardie earthworms that aren’t raised as food because again, earthworms dug up from a yard can carry chemical residue. Never under any circumstances give your beardie centipedes. Even though they might appeal to your lizard, centipedes do bite and their bite is venomous. So they could potentially make your beardie sick if he eats them and they can make him sick if they bite, so best just to leave those worms off the menu.

Some owners end up with a bearded dragon that gets sick because they think that the UVB can double as a primary means of heat and it’s not the case at all. Nine times out of ten though, a sharp eyed owner can spot problems with the beardie long before it reaches the stage where it’s fatal. You have to pay attention and know his pattern of behavior. Some situations owners can’t prevent such as diseases. There are diseases that can strike a beardie that are serious but even then, watchful owners can curtail the seriousness of most negative conditions that beardies encounter and can treat or get help for the pet in time.

Still other owners wind up with a dead bearded dragon because while they’re enthusiastic and caring in nature, they just don’t know all the facts about providing for beardies. They’re not sure what the pitfalls are. One pitfall for beardies is the size of the prey they eat. Too large and it can set in motion a chain of events leading to a blockage. These gentle lizards are easy to bond with and fairly easy to take care of but only if you know the care tips and instructions.

Once you’ve considered and decided upon the size of the cage, the next step you’ll need to take is to gather the necessary materials. Not all materials are suitable to use for some reptiles. You can find lumber that’s been treated that contains hazardous chemicals that if your Beardie ingests it, the wood will harm him and some woods emit toxins even without being treated. You also don’t want to use any type of mesh that’s been spray painted since many paints still contain some level of lead. Plus, using mesh can make it hard for you to be able to maintain the correct temperature the lizard needs. Don’t use all Plexiglas for the sides of your enclosure since Plexiglas can heat up the inside of the cage and make your Beardie become overheated.

So when you’re ready to build Bearded Dragon cage, you’ll want to sit down and draw up a set up plans. Make sure you cover aspects that will make it easy for you to access the Beardie to handle him. Design the cage so that when it’s time for you to take it apart it won’t be a problem.

One item that some owners find themselves in need of when keeping Beardies is an incubator. An incubator is used to hatch Beardie eggs. What it does is help to keep the temperature at a constant rate to help make sure the eggs are successfully hatched. That’s one of the problems some owners have when incubating eggs. They fail to keep the temperature at a consistent level. If it gets too cold, it can delay the hatching and if it gets too hot inside the incubator, the embryo can be destroyed by the heat. Eggs that look deformed in any way such as dented or collapsed egg may not contain a viable embryo but there are no absolutes with dented eggs and live Beardies have hatched from eggs that seemed malformed.

If you choose not to buy an incubator, you can build Bearded Dragon incubators yourself. You can get a small fish tank and use the heater that came originally with the tank setup. You can place a brick down in water-don’t let the water cover the brick, put vermiculite in a tray and put the tray on the brick. Once that’s set up, place the eggs in the tray.

With a Bearded Dragon why would you need to be careful with their housing needs? Don’t they survive well in captivity? The answer to that is yes, but only as long as they have their requirements met. You cannot stick a Beardie in any type of enclosure and expect him to thrive. You need an enclosure where he’s free to roam around and you need that enclosure to give him both space to warm up and space to cool off. Your Beardie will let you know by certain behaviors whether or not he’s too cold or too hot. If he gets too hot, you’ll see a panting type action. If he gets too cold, he’ll become lethargic.

When you love a pet that’s a Bearded Dragon why would you need to know about how to take care of impaction situations? Because it’s a common problem among these lizards. They either eat something that’s too big for them or they swallow something they shouldn’t and a problem develops. More often than not, an attentive owner can quickly solve the problem without further care by placing the Beardie in a warm (never hot!) bath.

While you can feed adult Beardies pinky mice, you cannot feed juveniles the mice. The insects you can give the younger lizards include mealworms, waxworms, crickets and earthworms. When you give insects to Beardies, you want to be sure and gut load them. Gut loading refers to feeding the insects either foods you have at home or a commercial based product designed specifically for gut loading. Some of the foods you can use to gut load insects are carrots, cornmeal, and cereals. Juveniles should also be fed insects that have been dusted with calcium carbonate.

Handling the food is also an important part of how to feed Bearded Dragon. You can train your Beardie to take insects from your hand but you’ll want to be nimble to avoid getting nipped until they learn how to take it from you. It’s important that you feed your pet enough at mealtimes. If they don’t get enough to eat, they’ll develop the habit of biting on their tank mates or even their own tail.

Here are the top 10 bearded dragon supplies every owner needs:

1.) Terrarium – make sure it’s big enough for your new pet (which means measuring it). You may choose to build an outdoor enclosure if you’re in a warm climate, too.

2.) Substrate – a must have bearded dragon supply because it absorbs the odors in the cage.

3.) Food Dish – the food may not stay there, but it’s good to have a food dish – especially if you’re feeding your pet a supply of wet food.

4.) Water Feeder – don’t let your beardie dehydrate. They love the heat, but they also have to stay hydrated or they will become sick and die.

5.) Plant Decor – do some research from the pros and find out if the fake or real plant decor you’re choosing could harm your new pet.

6.) Flat Rock – bearded dragons love to sunbathe so make sure they have a place to sprawl.

7.) Heat Source and Thermometer – your windowsill isn’t a strong enough heat source in most instances. You need a reptilian heat lamp. You can also get a thermometer for the habitat to make sure it stays at a comfortable level for your pet.

8.) Live Prey – the bearded dragons love crickets and you can buy a cricket keeper for your home. They will also eat mealworms and even small mice in some cases.

9.) Vegetables – watch out when feeding vegetables to your pet. Carrots make a good treat but too many and your pet could die of Vitamin A toxicity. Choose fresh greens like collards and mustards (but not spinach).

10.) Prepackaged Bearded Dragon Food – you can get this at Amazon but make sure you choose the right kind for adults versus juveniles.

It’s important that before you even become the owner of a bearded dragon, you find a vet who can treat it if and when it becomes sick. While it might be your fault for feeding it the wrong foods or not properly caring for it, beardies also get sick for reasons you can’t control.

Stress and anxiety can make your beardie sick and cause it to stop eating. Don’t put it in a bad habitat or tease it with a mirror to see its reaction. And don’t let other pets such as a big dog terrify it for fun. Your beardie could get very sick from this stress.

Your bearded dragon might go into brumation, and shed its skin. This is normal and they won’t eat a lot during this time. But if it’s bleeding, not going “potty” or getting dehydrated looking, rush it to a vet right away!