-Care Sheet

🦎Welcome to the Dapper Dragonz family!
This care sheet provides some basic facts about bearded dragons and will help you maintain the great start that your new beardie is off to based on methods that we use regularly. If you ever have questions, we’re here to help.

📏Adult Size

• Length: 16–24 inches from nose to tail tip

• Weight: 350–600 grams on average (some very healthy and large animals can reach 700+ grams)

• Males tend to be slightly larger and bulkier than females, with broader heads and thicker tails.

⏳ Lifespan

• Average Lifespan in Captivity: 8–12 years with good husbandry

• Exceptional Care: Some live 12–15 years (rare, but possible)

• Wild Lifespan: Much shorter (about 5–8 years) due to predators, lack of medical care, and food scarcity.

🐉 Handling Tips

• It's best not to handle them much the first few days to allow them to de-stress and get to know their new environment.

• Be gentle and calm when handling. Let them get used to you.

• Start with short handling sessions

• Support their body fully, especially the tail and belly

• Eventually, handle daily to build trust and reduce stress

✅ Recommended Enclosure Setup

• Size: 36"x18"x18" minimum for babies through juveniles. 48"x24"x24" recommended for sub-adults through adults. Your dragon will grow quickly!

• Substrate: Paper towels, tile or fine reptile sand.

• 💡Lighting:

  • UVB: Use a linear T5 12.0 or greater UVB bulb that spans 2/3 of the enclosure. Replace every 6 months.

  • Basking Light: Provide a bright white heat bulb (no colored lights).

• 🌡️Temperature:

  • Basking spot: 108–110°F

  • Cool side: 75–85°F

  • Night: No heat unless the temp drops below 65°F. In this case, alternate heat sources will be necessary. We recommend an under tank heat mat and/or a ceramic heat emitter to maintain temperatures above 65°F.

• 💦Humidity: Keep between 30–40%

• 🌿Hide & Decor: Provide climbing branches, a basking platform, and a hide on the cool side.

• 💩Clean-Up

  • Spot clean daily (remove waste and uneaten food)

  • Deep clean weekly with reptile-safe disinfectants

🍽️ Feeding Guide

🥗 Greens:
Offer daily, even if they just nibble. We prefer 60-90 minutes after their lights come on and before they're offered any insects. Healthy sources of greens that we use regularly:

• Collard Greens

• Arugula

• Mustard Greens

• Squash

🪳🦗Protein:
Offer 3-4 times daily, as much as they're willing to eat in a 5-10 minute period. Remove any uneaten insects after each feeding. We also recommend no feedings 2 hours prior to their lights turning off for the day. Our protein suggestions:

• Dubia Roaches

• Discoid Roaches

• Crickets

• Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL)

• Occasional: Silkworms, Hornworms

• Avoid: Mealworms and Superworms

💊Supplements:
Dust insects or greens before feedings with the following:

• Calcium 5x per week

• Multivitamin 1x per week

💧Hydration:
Properly fed animals on a diet of healthy veggies and properly fed and hydrated insects rarely require any additional hydration. If hydration is necessary, we recommend the following methods:

• Mist greens to provide moisture

• If needed, mist animal lightly in a separate receptacle (we prefer a plastic bin) to avoid soaking enclosure.