Bearded Dragon

An adult needs a minimum footprint of 120 x 60 x 60 cm (a 4 x 2 x 2 foot enclosure), with bigger being better; front-opening wood or PVC vivaria hold heat and UVB well. Use a naturalistic loose substrate such as a topsoil and sand mix or bioactive soil that allows digging, and avoid loose calci-sand for young dragons and slippery bare tile long term. Provide a raised basking platform or rock under the lamp, plus hides, cork bark, sturdy branches and a shallow water dish. Good airflow keeps the arid environment healthy.

Omnivore whose balance shifts with age. Juveniles eat roughly 70 percent insects and 30 percent greens fed one to three times daily; adults flip to about 70 to 80 percent leafy greens and vegetables with insects two to three times per week. Offer gut-loaded crickets, dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae and occasional hornworms; dust insects with calcium at most feeds and a multivitamin once or twice weekly. Staple greens include collard, mustard and dandelion greens, rocket and squash; avoid feeding wild-caught bugs, fireflies (toxic) and excess fruit.

This is a high-energy basker. Provide a basking surface of 40 to 43 C for adults (juveniles tolerate the upper end), a cool end of 24 to 27 C, and a night drop to around 18 to 24 C with no coloured night lights. Strong UVB is essential: use a high-output T5 tube spanning much of the enclosure to give a basking UVI of about 4.0 to 6.0 (Ferguson Zone 3 to 4) at the dragon's back, mounted correctly for distance and mesh. Keep humidity low at around 30 to 40 percent, and run a 12 to 14 hour photoperiod; without correct UVB and heat, dragons rapidly develop metabolic bone disease.

Strictly solitary. Bearded dragons do not need company and cohousing leads to dominance, stress, missing toes and tails, and even loss of a weaker animal that is denied the basking spot. Keep one per enclosure. They are very tolerant of calm, supported handling and often enjoy human interaction.

Provide basking platforms at different heights, digging substrate, hides and branches to climb, and rotate decor to keep the environment novel. Supervised floor time or a securely planted outdoor pen for real sunlight, plus scatter-feeding insects to chase, all encourage natural foraging and basking behaviour.