Bearded Dragon Care

Here is a quick rundown on Bearded Dragon Care..

Heating & Lighting
You should have a basking spot for your Beardie that is around 95-105 degrees F, as they need to get their bodies around 95 degrees to digest their food. Your Bearded Dragon will also need an area to cool down if he gets too warm. At the opposite end of the tank, you should try to keep the temp around 75-85 degrees. Night time temps should be fine if your house does not drop below 65 degrees.
You will need a UBV bulb for your dragon! Bearded Dragons synthesize vitamin D3 when exposed to UVB, and D3 is necessary for calcium metabolism. Dragons that are not exposed to UVB can develop MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease.) If the MBD isn't treated early, skeletal deformities, broken bones, kidney failure, seizures, and eventually death will occur. Allowing your Bearded Dragon to catch some rays from the sun is excellent but you can not depend solely on outdoor basking, you must buy a UVB bulb, we use Zoomed Repti Sun 10.0, make sure you dragon can bask within 12" of the bulb.

Housing
It is recommended that you house a single adult Beardie in a 55 to 60 gallon aquarium or equivalent sized cage.. Babies and small juveniles can be temporally housed in a 20 gallon aquarium. Dragons like branches or rocks to climb on (helps to get them closer to their UVB light too) and a hiding place. Make sure the accessories are stable so it can't fall and injure the Bearded Dragons.

Feeding Time!

Hatchlings and juveniles should be given as many crickets as the dragon will consume in a few minutes. Feed juveniles 2- 3 times a day with appropriately sized crickets, no larger than the width of the dragon's mouth. Place 1 or 2 crickets in the cage at a time until the dragon is full ( They eat allot!) Crickets should be dusted with supplements that support the fast growing bones of bearded dragons. We dust our crickets every day or every other day for one feeding. A vitamin supplement is very important too, we dust with vitamins once a week..
Crickets also need to be gut-loaded with other things to make them more nutritious. There are lots of gut load products on the market but you can also use high calcium foods like the heavy leaves and stalks from mustard and collard greens, some kale, a potato and green beans. Veggies supply both food and moisture to the crickets. Be sure to watch that the veggies do not spoil.
Do not leave crickets in the cage; they will eat your dragons! Other great bugs for your dragon include: Horn Worms, Silk Worms, Phoenix Worms, Roaches, Super Worms, Etc. DO NOT feed Meal Worms to your dragons, they are difficult to digest! It is best to give you Bearded Dragon a variety of foods.

Greens 
Every day give your Bearded Dragon greens that are high in calcium and provide moisture: mustard and watercress are excellent, as are turnip greens, endive, escarole, collards and dandelion. Romaine lettuce, kale, parsley and others can be given on occasion. The green also help to keep them hydrated. Vons has a packaged blend called country greens that we like to use sometimes. Bookmark this great Food Chart

Water
You can give your dragon a shallow water dish, but you must keep it clean (guess where they like to go poo!) You can also spray your dragon, he will lap up the water, and it can help with shedding. You must make sure that the cage does not stay wet and has good circulation; if the cage stays humid your dragon can get a URI (upper respiratory infection.) We suggest giving your dragon a lukewarm shoulder deep soak every other day for hatchlings and juveniles and at least once a week for adults.
Substrate
We recommend using paper towels, newspaper, packing paper, shelf liner, cage carpet, etc. for your hatchlings and juveniles. This will help you avoid impaction due to consumption of sand. It is also easier to keep clean.

Work in Progress, More to come!