Care Guide | Round Table Dragons

At Round Table Dragons, we believe that proper care is essential to the health and happiness of your Bearded Dragon.

Our comprehensive Care Guide is designed to provide you with all the information you need to create a nurturing environment for your new pet.

From setting up the perfect habitat and understanding dietary needs to recognizing signs of health issues and providing enrichment, our guide covers every aspect of Bearded Dragon care. Whether you're a first-time owner or an experienced reptile enthusiast, our detailed instructions and expert tips will help you ensure your dragon thrives.

Explore our Care Guide to learn more about:

Habitat Setup: Creating a safe and comfortable home for your dragon.
Nutrition: Understanding the dietary requirements for optimal health.
Health Monitoring: Identifying common health issues and their solutions.
Handling and Interaction: Building a bond with your Bearded Dragon.

Your journey to becoming a confident and knowledgeable Bearded Dragon owner starts here. Dive into our Care Guide and discover the best practices for keeping your dragon healthy and happy.

ENCLOSURE:

We recommend from Zero to Six months of age using a 40 gallon or 36x18x18 PVC style enclosure. From six months through adult age, we recommend using a 120 gallon or 4x2x2 PVC style enclosure.

BASKING BULB:

Before we get into the particulars of the bulbs themselves, let me explain that there should be two zones in your enclosure, a basking zone and a cooling zone or alternative hang out zone for your dragon. Providing adequate basking temperatures is vital to your new dragon. Basking temperatures should be maintained at around 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit. Your cool side should be kept around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. There are many factors that come into play to ensure this is accomplished from the wattage of your heat bulb to the ambient room temperature and even the style of enclosure you choose. We recommend starting with a lower wattage bulb and working your way up. If you prefer to start with a higher wattage first, you can ensure proper temperatures by using a dimmer in conjunction with your basking bulb. Keep an eye on your dragon if it isn’t basking, your enclosure is too hot and vice versa if your dragon is constantly basking and never leaving its basking spot the enclosure is too cold. With all that in mind you have several options you can choose from in what type of bulb you can use for your heat source from Mercury Vapor Bulbs, Arcadia Solar Flood bulb, and even a Halogen bulb.

UVB:

A linear fluorescent UVB and fixture are imperative pieces you need in your enclosure. Your UVB fixture should span half the length of your enclosure. We use and recommend Arcadia T-5 12% bulbs and fixtures. You can find these at reptilebasics.com and lllreptile.com.

ADEQUATE TEMPERATURES:

Maintaining adequate temperatures can be tricky, we use and recommend an infrared thermometer. You can find various ones on Amazon.

TIMER:

Consistency is key to ensure your Dragon has a long and heathy life. We suggest you use a light with a 12 hour on/off light schedule. We use and recommend a Zilla power strip with a timer. They are available on Amazon.

BASKING PLATFORM:

Having a platform for your dragon to lay on while Basking is critical. Using slate will allow you to build up various heights to the source of the heat so that your Dragon may be able to adequately warm themselves.

COOL SIDE:

Having a basking platform is crucial for your dragon to be able to warm up. Providing a cave on the opposite side of the enclosure of the heat bulb will allow your dragon to be able to cool down and relax.

ENRICHMENT:

Adding various branches, hammocks, backgrounds etcetera will allow your Dragon to thrive.

SUBSTRATE:

Depending on your experience and confidence level will help in determining what substrate is best for you to use. If you are new to owning a bearded dragon we recommend using tile, non-adhesive shelving, Zilla terrarium liner. If you are a more seasoned reptile owner, and your husbandry is on point, you can use a loose substrate. Some suggestions would be, washed children's play sand, washed children's play sand mixed with organic soil, and rabbit pellets are just a few options. You should not use calcium sand, crushed walnuts, or colored sand that says it is for reptile use these can cause impaction.

SUPPLEMENTS:

Using quality supplements is essential in ensuring that your dragon grows properly. We use and recommend supplements made by Arcadia and rotate daily between calcium without d3, multivitamin, and calcium with d3. It is important to remember that you can overdo the vitamins so depending on your set up will play a big factor in the rotation of your supplements.

FEEDING AND GENERAL CARE:

When it comes to feeding your Dragon there is a significant difference between the type of diet a baby dragon and juvenile dragon have versus an adult. Babies and juvenile dragons need more frequent meals three to four times a day consisting of eight to ten appropriately sized feeders. Offer two to three bugs at a time and make sure to take out any uneaten feeders as they can cause stress to the animal. We introduce dark greens such as Collard Greens, Kale, Bok Choy, Mustard Greens dusted in daily supplements at a young age. Don’t get discouraged if they don’t eat them at first as Feeder bugs are their main source of nutrition at this stage. Make sure to offer a variety of feeder insects such as dubia roaches, super worms, mealworms, black solider fly larvae, crickets etc. It is extremely important to size your bugs appropriately. The general rule of thumb is no bug should be no wider than the space between the dragon’s eyes and no longer than the dragon’s head. To give you an example we feed our newborns extra small ¼ inch dubia and extra small super worms. Try to offer a variety of different feeders as they each have their benefits and drawbacks.

If you have more than one dragon, make sure to house them separately as they are solitary animals and do not need a roommate. They will compete for resources such as food and heat which can lead to serious injury or worse. For your dragon to properly thrive make sure it is by itself no cohabitation of any kind. I would encourage you to give your baby a weekly soak in lukewarm water about up to its elbows in depth, this will give it a chance to hydrate and to stay clean. You may also use a soft bristle toothbrush to clean it. Each dragon should have its own brush (no sharing allowed).

Before buying a dragon or any exotic animal please make sure that you find a qualified exotic veterinarian in your area. This is an absolute must; they will need a checkup once a year. This is a general checkup to check for any parasites and to maintain their overall good health. This becomes more crucial as your dragon ages because as they age your dragon may show signs of what you think is brumation when in fact they have gotten some sort of illness. Make sure throughout the year you watch for any drop in appetite, weight loss, lethargy, loose or watery stool; these are all signs of something going on and needs to be seen by a veterinarian.

Bringing Your Animal Home:

I know this is an exciting time but do yourself and your new dragon a favor and make sure that you have everything set up before he/she arrives as the dragon will already be under a lot of undo stress from changing environments we want to try and eliminate that as much as possible. We can always wait a bit longer before sending the baby. Your new dragon will most likely need time to adjust to its new home so don’t rush things, don’t panic if it doesn’t eat right away these are all normal behaviors. Try to limit handling for the first couple of weeks to only when you are cleaning or taking it for a soak. If the dragon acts scared and runs and hides don’t worry it's just getting acclimated it will just take a bit of time every dragon is different some babies will eat right away, and others won’t either way rest assured it will eventually warm up to you.

Lastly don’t hesitate to contact us at any time at 615-653-0225 we are more than willing to answer your questions.