male+female=egg

Terrarium

 Size

The dimensions of the terrarium must be adapted to the size of the bearded dragon. Indeed, for several juveniles, a terrarium of 100 centimetres long, 40 wide and 50 high is perfectly fine for a few months. Nevertheless, one needs to be careful and ensure that everyone can eat enough and that they can all take advantage of the heat and the UV.

When my bearded dragons reach a size of more than 15 centimetres, I don’t keep more than three per terrarium of the size indicated above.

When my three bearded dragons had exceeded a height of 20 centimetres, I put them in a larger terrarium, which dimensions are 180 centimetres long, 75 wide and 90 high.

According to the draft Ordinance for the Protection of Animals (OPAn) issued by the Federal Veterinary Office (FVO) Switzerland, the dimensions of a terrarium for a couple of Pogona Vitticeps are calculated as follows:

Surface: 5 x 4 HT (HT, means the length of the body, for lizards it’s the length of the head and the trunk, without the tail or the length of the rostrum to the cloaca),
Height: 3 HT

For a duo whose HT will be 18 cm (my greatest male has an HT of 18 for a total length of 44 centimetres), this would give a terrarium with the following dimensions: :

Lenght: 90 centimetres
Width: 72 centimetres
Height: 54 centimetres

For any additional bearded dragon, the draft ordinance says it is necessary to increase the surface area by 2 HT for the length and 2 HT for the width.

For a trio whose HT will be 18 cm (my greatest male has an HT of 18 for a total length of 44 centimetres), this would give a terrarium with the following dimensions:

Lenght: 126 centimetres
Width: 108 centimetres
Height: 54 centimetres


For a duo, personally I would recommend a terrarium of 150 centimetres long, 60 wide and 80 high.

Heating

There must be a temperature gradient in the terrarium, namely a warm area and a cool area. This is very important. As the Pogona Vitticeps are poikilotherm animals (or cold-blooded animals), their metabolism needs this temperature gradient to function properly.

The temperature of the warmest area of the terrarium should be 44 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit).
The temperature of the cool area should not drop below 29 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day.
The temperature at night can drop to 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit). Indeed, the nights in the Australian desert are cool.

Hygrometry

The hygrometry should be around 40%. I spray once a week water at room temperature in the terrarium. When the bearded dragons are sloughing off their skin, I spray directly on them.

Lighting

The light belongs to a spectrum called electromagnetic spectrum. This spectrum includes the gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, infrared rays, microwaves and radio waves.
The human eye can see rays with a wavelength ranges between 400 and 700 nanometers (nm). This is called "visible light." Unlike some animals (including reptiles), we cannot see ultraviolet.

Here is how the ultraviolet range locates in the electromagnetic spectrum:

The ultraviolet light is divided into 3:

UVA: This light enables reptiles to see their surroundings better. UVA highlight colors and paterns that the human eye could not see. It increases social behaviour, appetite, activities in general and reproduction (UVA stimulates the pineal gland (also called third eye, it is a perception organ placed at the top of the skull). This type of light is produced by light bulbs that we find in shops to light our houses.

UVB: this light allows many reptiles to absorb vitamin D3 in their organism. This vitamin ensures that the assimilation of the calcium in the metabolism is optimal. If the bearded dragons run out of this type of light they may have a vitamin D deficiency and can develop bone disorders (osteofibrose). One of the first symptoms of this deficiency is shaking. UVB are also used in dermatology for humans to fight against psoriasis, for example. Warning: this light doesn’t go through plastic neither glass, it is essential to place the source of light within the terrarium!

UVC: that light is harmful. Fortunately for us, it is naturally filtered by the ozone layer. It should not be reproduced in a terrarium!

To summarize, sources of UVA and UVB should be installed in the terrarium. For UVA, it's easy: a light bulb will work perfectly. In addition, a bulb can also increase the temperature at one end of the terrarium. As far as UVB is concerned, different type of linear bulbs are available (it needs to be replaced every six months), or compact bulbs (that need to be replaced every year). I use a mixture of compact and linear bulbs with a UVB index of at least 8.0. There are also bulbs that combine both UVA and UVB and that act as heating source. Personally, I do not use them.

I create a day / night cycle of 12h-12h. During the night cycle, lighting and heating are turned off.

Set up

The set up of the terrarium is important. The bearded dragon must have a place (rock, branch, ..) near the warm spot where he can benefit from the UV. Nevertheless, to avoid burning himself, the animal should not be able to touch the basking spot. The terrarium must also have some hiding spots, as well as a place with less light and UV.

I use special sand sold in pet stores as substrate. It is important to remove the feces daily, in order to prevent diseases from developing.

I put at the disposal of my bearded dragons a tray of water. For juveniles, I take that tray out every night to avoid them falling asleep in the water and drown. For pregnant females, we must also be careful, if they do not find a place to lay their eggs, they are likely to lay in the tray of water and all the eggs will be lost.