Hatchling (day 1 – 6 weeks) > Juvenile (6 weeks – 9 months) > Adult (9 months +)
Beardies live for about 7 to 12 years. Adult Beardies can grow up to about 60 cm in length. Your terrarium must be a minimum size of 90 l x 50w x 40 h cm for a single dragon and 180 l x 45 w x 40 h cm for a pair. Do not keep different sized dragons together until they’re at least six months old. Larger Beardies “bully” the smaller ones, nippy toes and tails and can even cause fatal biting injuries.
Bearded Dragons require full spectrum UVB lighting for 12–14 hours a day. The fluorescent UV bulb must be placed inside the terrarium and should stretch its length. Your Beardy should be able to come within 30cm of the light. Exposure to UVB light is essential as it serves as the sun thus facilitating the absorption of calcium.
Beardies rely on external heat sources to keep their body temperature at a suitable level. A basking light should be fitted about 20 cm above a flat piece of rock giving your Beardy a comfy spot to heat up. Temperatures should range from 22–25 ºC on the “cool” side of the terrarium to 32 –35 ºC on the “hot” side
Night temperatures can drop to as low as 17 ºC. To ensure your Beardy is kept warm throughout the night, install a heating pad underneath the terrarium’s carpet.
DO NOT use heat rocks as these can cause serious burns on your animals underside.
Drago recommends a reptile carpet; it’s cheap, easy to clean and has no health risks for your repti. DON’T use carpets with little loops of fabric; your Repti’s nails can get hooked causing injury.
DO NOT use sand, shavings or any other loose substrates. Beardies are really curious and like to taste everything, including substrates! If they eat loose substrate, sand or shavings they can become impacted (their intestines become blocked and they cannot pass) and die.
Overfeeding baby and juvenile beardies causes the food bolus to exert pressure on the spinal nerves, causing paralysis and is usually fatal.
Food items should be no bigger than the space between their eyes. If bigger, it can cause impaction and/or hind leg paralysis. Either way your Beardie will suffer horribly!
Prey items: Crickets are the most commercially available insects and satisfy most of the Beardie’s nutritional needs. Insects can be fed dead or alive (although Beardies tend to go for things that move). Crickets should always be gut loaded 24–48 hours before feeding (i.e. fed fruits and vegetables as mentioned below for Bearded Dragons), and dusted 2–3 times a week with a calcium supplement.
Prey Treats: Cockroaches, Gugga Worms, Mealworms, Silkworms, Earthworms and just about any other worm available.
DO NOT feed your Beardie insects caught in your backyard. They could have parasites or could’ve been exposed to poisons that could kill your Beardie.
Any uneaten prey items should be removed from your Dragons enclosure.
Veggies: Gem squash and all other varieties of squash (cooked or microwaved to soften them up making them easier to eat), Green beans, Parsnips, Sweet potato, corn, peas and carrots. Carrots should be given as a treat due to high amounts of vitamin A; reptiles do not absorb a lot of vitamin A which can lead to a deadly condition called Vitamin A Toxicity.
Greens: lucerne, nasturtium, carrot tops, parsley, celery, rosemary, oregano and basil.
Fruit: kiwis, grapes, strawberries, bananas and papayas
Avoid: Onions, spinach, any cabbage type vegetables, any kind of lettuce; most types of lettuce are composed mostly of water and hold little or no nutritional value.
Baby and juvenile Beardies: feed small crickets 2–4 times a day– as many as your Beardie will eat in a 15 minutes. Young Bearded Dragons can eat anywhere from 20–60 small crickets a day. Your Beardie should also be given fresh greens daily. Spraying the greens with water will help them last longer and will also help keep your Beardie hydrated.
Older Beardies should be fed prey items every other day along with fresh greens daily.
Always provide fresh water every day in a shallow bowl. The bowl should be disinfected once a week to avoid any bacterial build up. Many Beardies may not drink from a water bowl so you may have to drip the water slowly onto your Beardies snout.
Bathe your Beardie in warm water once a week to keep them hydrated and will also aid in shedding. Make the water only as deep as your Beardies chest or half way up their front arms. Never leave your Beardie unattended in the bath, accidents only take a second to happen. | 
