There are alot of variations in how to keep bearded dragons, some are old ways that have worked so far, others are modifications done to experiment or how things worked with that particular bearded dragon keeper or breeder etc. In the list of differences you listed, none are blatantly wrong, if considering adult dragons only.

However, as bearded dragons are almost always acquired as young babies, their care requirements are slightly different. A slightly higher basking temp and ambient temperature works better with babies, as they seem to perfer it (ie they stay on the area of a basking spot that is closer to 105-115F). They do dehydrate quicker so daily misting of the dragon itself (not the cage) or soaking, is good, to keep them well hydrated. Large water dishes do increase the humidity in a cage, but depending on the actual cage design, this may not really increase the humidity significantly to be a problem. Bearded dragons should be kept with humidity no higher than 50% Keeping it too high too long can lead to respiratory infections.

Sand as a substrate, though children's washed playsand is often recommended, still carries the inherient risk of causing impactions. Hence why people have decided to eliminate the risk completely by using papertowel etc. instead.

Baby bearded dragons should never be housed on any loose substrate. Smaller digestive track, higher chance any loose substrate can cause impaction.

Also, babies need more food, needing 2-3 meals daily of insects and access to finely cut greens all day. Once the babies are 3-4 months old 2 feedings a day is fine, and after 6 months, one feeding of insects with greens is fine. Once the dragons reach adulthood at about 12-14 months, 2-3 times a week of insects is fine, with greens once every day. It is very important adult dragons only receive about 10% of their diet in insects.

For me, I tend to look at all the differences and figure out which makes logical sense and has the most risks/benefits and then go from there. For the most part, the biggest choice the dragon has, the better he will be. This includes variety of foods, basking spots, cooler places in teh cage, large roomy cages and many hides, gives the dragon the choice to go where he instinctively feels is best. Currently I don't own any bearded dragons but hope to acquire one again soon. I used to keep my adult bearded dragon in a 5'x2'x2' cage, wanting something larger than just the bare minimum. Once she was adult, my dragon was about 18-19" long and very healthy. She was active, always moving about her cage, except when she was brumating. Things I have observed during the two years I owned her, she would go to the hottest part of the basking spot as soon as she woke up and right after eating. Throughout the rest of the day she could be at different levels of the basking spot or on teh cage floor, either in the warm or cool end. On particularly hot days when my appartment was warmer than normal, she would often hide in her cave in the cool end or under the large driftwood I used as a basking spot.

What all this means is I find it is very important to have various basking areas of different temperatures. A large wide driftwood is great, especially if it has several different heights. The highest point of the driftwood I used was about 118-122F, the central part of the driftwood was about 105F and the sloping ends closer to 95F. The floor of the cage was around 90F and teh cool end room temperature or a bit higher, so about 70-75F depending on how warm it was outside (didn't have AC so couldn't control the temps too much during the hot summer days, other than by opening alot of windows).

I have seen many bearded dragon setups with skinny grapevine branches which are fine for babies but for adults, I think they are really inadequate. Large wide bricks securely stacked, or flat rocks, wider pieces of wood, ramps built into the back or sides of the cage etc, give that needed support and 'lounging' space for your dragons and decrees of basking temps, as the light will be more intense higher up on teh branch. It is instinct for lizards to climb up to higher elevations (rock piles, brances etc) to get warmer faster.

THe water dishes for the most part are not used by dragons. They are not really known to drink from standing water as much as they are water than rolls down the sides of the cage or off their own backs. I always kept a very small dish of water as my bearded dragon will sometimes drink from it. Not all the time but once in awhile. Weekly baths gives them an opportuntity to drink and defecate (which they often do in water) though not all dragons like bathing and find it very stressful. Mine hated it so I didn't bathe her often, maybe once a month, usually while I was cleaning the cage. (I spot cleaned every day and did a full cleaning once a month). Again the waterdish can be put in, it won't harm the dragon having it in, as long as it is kept clean and too small for the dragon to soak in (thus increasing the change it gets soiled). If you can get baby dragons to drink from water dishes young, it may be very beneficial, as it is much easier to ensure they are well hydrated if they drink willingly from a small dish of water.

I rambled on long enough. I don't think my way is the Best and Only way, even though I do volunteer work here at Kingsnake. I spent nearly a full year researching and reading about bearded dragons before I was able to get one. I asked questions and read responses, care sheets etc and saw the same contridictions you have but I took what seemed to be the average, the logical and the least risky of what I read to care for my dragon. It is only unfortunately a career change forced me to move to a distant city and have to sell her, since I would be staying at friends homes till I was able to find a new place of my own, while I worked. From the short two years I owned her, I learned alot about reptiles and bearded dragons. They had much more character and personality than I even expected, and i had been fascinated by reptiles since I was a child. They are much more interactive and intelligent than I expected and it makes me feel all those people who hate or fear reptiles mostly out of ignorance or unwilling to learn about them, are realy missing out.

Sorry for the long post...
And thanks for those who actualy made it this far before becoming totally bored with my ramblings LOL.



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PHLdyPayne

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