CareSheet4

Bearded Dragon - The scientific name for this animal is Pogona vitticeps. More dramatic is it's common name of Bearded Dragon! Certainly congers up visions of monsters breathing fire and terrorizing the countryside! Well, quite the contrary to those errant visions is a docile, people loving lizard. They are indigenous to the Savannahs, and arid areas of Australia. They share their domain with another popular animal with Herpetologist, the Blue Tongue Skink. I have had several of these intriguing lizards, and have found a definitive personality within each one of them. They are inquisitive, and alert to their surroundings. Unlike most reptiles that would prefer a secure hideaway, these creatures of curiosity, will avoid that hiding place and seek you out as if to be sure they are not missing out on any of the fun. The first year of their lives they are tentative to the interaction that is inevitable during feeding, and general maintenance of their habitat. They may even launch a rush toward that hand that feeds them. Miraculously as they approach the one year mark in their life, they seem to go through a mental metamorphous. It's as if overnight they have figured it all out. They are at peace with us, and the relationship we will share with them for the rest of their life. It immediately goes beyond the dependence on us for their well being. They begin to look forward to, and even crave the attention, from touching and being touched. Well, you can see I have been captivated by this terrific lizard! I am so intrigued by it's willing to be kept that I chose this lizard for my granddaughter as her very first attempt at serious animal keeping. She has had the advantage of my animal influence for sure, but she deserves the credit for her commitment to this, her first "exotic" animal. She was ten years old when she first became the keeper of "Pokey", who was six months old. She has shown what a serious attitude toward responsibility can achieve. It's almost two years later as I write this with Jessica (that would be my grand daughter ), and Pokey ( that would be the lizard ) still sharing the experience of growing up together. These lizards can live from ten to fifteen years or even longer.

One Bearded Dragon doesn't require a large enclosure if your personal interaction with this animal will remain high. An aquarium approximating a twenty gallon long will work nicely. A temperature gradient provided buy an under the tank heating pad on one end, that is coupled with a basking spot on the same end will provide the necessary temperature variance. A play sand substrate will be easy on clean up requirements, as well as a natural looking medium for your Vivarium. A little strainer and the cleanup is a breeze. You'll need to have that habitat covered over with a screen top to deter this animal from checking out your domicile. They are born with an inexhaustible appetite. They will require live crickets, of the appropriate size, in large quantities for several weeks to support their rapid growth. After a couple of months you can begin to add some chopped vegetables to the daily diet. All their food requires regular dusting with calcium. While it won't hurt to provide a high UV lighting source, it isn't necessary. Proper diet, and heat seem to be the keys to the successful keeping of these animals. As they approach one year old their diet needs a larger quantity, and variety of vegetables, while being supplemented by regular feedings of crickets, and meal worms. They do not require a source of water in the form of a water bowl if the proper quantity and variety of vegetables is maintained in their diet. Having said that, I would encourage you to entice you Bearded Dragon as a baby to take a drop of water off the end of you finger. You can introduce them to this idea by misting a section of the side of their enclosure. Follow this up by placing a drop of water on the end of your finger and offering it to your lizard. In time they will take you up on the offer. This will also aid in the development of the bond between you and your Bearded Dragon.

Breeding, although not difficult with the right setup, will require an elevated level of dedication. The referenced publications below are good sources of information for this venture. These animals offer so much to the hobbyist that many are enticed to breed them. The captive breeding of this animal has become quite sophisticated in recent years with extraordinary color variations becoming available from breeders. Spectacular gold's, reds, and lusistic mutations have become available recently in the Herpetocultural trade. While not the best choice as a first for the novice hobbyist, with the proper attention to their requirements you can be successful.

Mali Uromastyx - The scientific name for this African desert lizard is Uromastyx maliensis. This is one of those rare occasions when the adopted common name for an animal is closely related to the scientific name. This is one of several species of this relatively new member of the Agamid family of lizards to appear in the Herp trade. The most popular, and sought after has been the species, Uromastyx ocellata ornata, that is found in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. Easily the most colorful, and hence the desirability of this spiny tailed lizard. I additionally house a sub adult pair of "Rainbow" (also called "highland or mountain Benti"), Uromastyx benti. They originate from Yemen, and in my opinion, rival the beauty of the Ornata (or Ornate ). These two are housed in an enclosure that is a duplicate of the one I use for the Mali's described below, except that it is five feet long and almost two feet wide. It contains a tunnel system made from three inch PVC, which may have to be increased in diameter if needed. Of particular note is some of the statements in the below referenced text. Reference is made to the captive breeding of this genera to be virtually impossible. Give a Herpetologist a challenge, particularly one involving such a likeable creature, and it will be solved! While this is currently the most comprehensive text available, I expect this to change in the near future. For now of this writing several have successfully bred this species (or sub species, as the case may be). Don't misunderstand me, this is still a good guide to proper husbandry of this unique animal. Currently the Maliensis, is the most available captive bred species, but others, including the Ornatus, are becoming more readily available each year. These facts alone should signal you that these are not a beginners, nor even a somewhat experienced novices' best choice for an animal to keep in captivity. The Maliensis (which I will focus on here) comes from the extreme southwest section of the Algeria, and the northeastern area of Mali in Africa. Immediately this will alert you to the requirement of extreme heat that these animals need every day. Further complicating the captive requirements of this particular species, is their incessant need to dig, and dig. With out the ability to fulfil this need they will not fair well, and will eventually die. Their diet is similar to that of the Bearded Dragon. They prefer vegetables even as juveniles (although Bearded Dragons prefer insects, and crickets at this age), but will eat some crickets, and meal worms when presented. I will outline the enclosure for my pair of captive bred Maliensis, and refer you to the diet prepared for the Prehensile-Tailed Skinks, with one addition. Those that are successful breeders of these animals have now taken the dietary analysis to a new level. Legumes, and more legumes is the new secret to a healthy diet. I have added baby Lima Beans, extra Peas, and Black Eyed Peas, along with what ever is available in the frozen food section of the grocery store. I have used fine sand box sand as the substrate. It lends itself to a natural presentation of these animals, and serves to dissipate the heat better across the surface of their habitat. There are other proven choices for a substrate, but sand remains my choice. I have housed this pair for their first year in an aquarium enclosure that has the same foot print dimensions of a twenty gallon long aquarium, but is only seven inches tall. Remember these animals are sub-terrestrial in their needs. I then increased the size of the enclosure to a forty inch long by nine inch high enclosure, and finally toa six foot long twenty inch wide by ten inch high glass tank with a one piece screen top It has a heating pad along the entire length of the bottom of the Vivarium. A screen top with a strip light on the top, as an additional heat source completes the physical set up. This light is on a timer to provide a photo period as well as allowing a small drop in the temperature in each night. The temperature rises each morning to 115 degrees F, plus/minus 3 degrees on the surface. At each end of the tank heat pads maintain two seperate temperatures. The highest reaching 130 degrees at one end and the other end reaching 120 degrees. The nighttime temperature will drop to a range of 68 - 72 degrees at the surface with a temperature at one inch deep into the substrate higher at 80 - 85 degrees. They are provided with food every other day. Experimenting with their appetites will allow this feeding schedule and reduce the amount of waste, and exposure of their food to the extreme heat of their enclosure. The hide box in the center of the tank is kept at a cooler 85 degrees during the day and drops tothe same temperature as the surface at night.

Remember their need to dig? I have added an under ground system of prefabricated tunnels for them. I used two inch diameter PVC pipe in the original enclosure, which has now been enlarged to three inc PVC in the new enclosure. It is configured with several branches that "Y" off of each other to form a small network of tunnels. A hide box is located midway as part of the underground tunnel system. It is not glued together, but only slip-fitted along with five entrance/exit openings. Sand filling up these openings has presented no problem for them. They adjusted to this prefabricated tunnel system in a matter of days, and have used it for their underground home ever since. Vivarium house keeping is assisted along with meeting the animals need to tunnel.

If you become interested in breeding these animals, providing a nesting box within their Vivarium will be needed. I have added it not to necessarily breed these animals, but to give them a den that more realistically replicates their natural environment. A "Tupperware" type box in line with one of the underground tunnels will provided an adequate den. I have used one filled with moss that "snaps" shut tightly. I cut a hole in the top, and mounted a piece of PVC pipe vertically to act as a stand pipe that I can periodically use for pouring a small amount of water into the nest box. This provides a "cool zone" as well for you animals. It can be visited occasionally to check for eggs, that then can be removed for incubation.You will also need to increase the size of the enclosure significantly from what I have outlined above for breeding. Several other housekeeping considerations should also be included. It has become a popular consideration by the most successful breeders of Uromastyx, that a source of water be made available. The availability of water seems to bring the animal up another notch, if you will, to the peak of health that is so essential to to successful breeding. This is not a universally shared opinion, but one for you to decide. As for keeping healthy animals, they easily get the moisture they need through the food they eat. I currently provide a water source only for the benti's.

The increasing popularity of these animals is understandable once you have the opportunity to watch their inquisitive behavior. They are not readily handled as juveniles, but become more so as they reach adult size. Don't misunderstand, I don't advocate the automatic handling of any animal with out understanding it's nature, and particularly their reaction to the stress of being handled. Some animals look forward to it, some accept it, while others can not tolerate it. You need to know! Your animals life may depend on it.

If you plan to keep any species of Uromastyx, I insist you visit the Uromastyx website in MY FAVORITE LINKS section of this site. It is, in my opinion the definitive information source currently available. It is compiled by Eric & Suzy Sorin. It is well done and well referenced, while being presented in a format that provides current animal husbandry practices for these animals.

Bearded Dragons, General Care and Maintenance of -by Philippe de Vosjoli and Robert Mailloux is a Herpetocultural Library publication that is readily available. This is a very comprehensive reference by two of the best Herpetologists.

Bearded Dragons, Reptile Keeper's Guides - by R.D. Bartlett, and Patricia Bartlett is an excellent companion publication from Barron's to compliment the Herpetocultural publication above.

Uromastyx & Butterfly Agamid's - by Jerry G. Walls is a readily available TFH publication. This is the book I referred to above as being the best comprehensive book available today. This was published in 1996. The advancements in captive breeding of these animals has largely come since this book was published. Their have been a number of articles written in various herpetology oriented magazines that should be read as well if you have any serious ideas of keeping these animals.

Agamid Lizards - by Ulrich Manthey and Norbert Schuster. This TFH publication serves as good information for identification of various species of Uromastyx along with some information on their natural habitat .