It’s just too hot for Eugene! :-p

Eugene the Bearded Dragon

Eugene is an adult bearded dragon and at time of writing is almost 5 years old. I called “him” Eugene, but about a year ago now Eugene had eggs, which means he’s actually a girl, but for habit’s sake Eugene is refereed to as a “he” throughout these posts and real life.

We brought Eugene from a local reptile specialist called Scales & Tails on the 28th of August 2005. He is supposed to be a half-snow, though he has a yellow/gray colouring, which varies from really bright, and then duller when he’s due to shed. When Eugene was a baby bearded dragon, he was very skittish and didn’t like being handled much. Now Eugene is confident, greedy and very lazy. He like’s to sit and watch was is happening “outside”, and love’s his locusts.

Name

Well I was having a hard time trying to figure out what name to give him but then a friend said Eugene and, well it just seemed righ. Anyway Eugene’s quite original and it’s got a cute sound to it, I think.

Sex

I have no idea! But I like to think he’s a boy, as he has a very manly character.

Age

Coming up to 2 5 years, we purchased Eugene on the 28th of August 2005 and was around 4 week’s old when purchased.

Character

As a baby bearded dragon Eugene was a fairly nice bearded dragon, he only tried to bite me once but I think he was a bit stressed! He was also quite lively but very skittish and quite shy, he seemed to be interested in faces! Now Eugene is confident, but friendly, will let anyone give him a tickle and is general very lazy! He is still very inquisitive about what goes on “outside” and has random moments where he scratches on the cage until you show him some attention. (Which can be annoying when it’s early!)

Colouration

Eugene is supposed to be Half-Snow, although it ranges from a golden yellow (after he has shed) to a dull gray yellow when he’s due to shed. Although Eugene isn’t as bright has other bearded dragons, his markings are brilliant.

Crickets/Locust

Most bearded dragons like crickets and locust, when Eugene was a baby bearded dragon he started on Small/Medium sized locust and crickets and was fed twice a day, eating 3-4 insects at each feed. He is now on x-large locusts and is 7 every other day.

Any uneaten insects should be removed from the vivarium before nighttime as they irritate and harm your beardie.

You should dust your crickets with Sandfire Super Foods Dragon Dust ICB, this ensures your dragon is getting all of teh essential vitamins and minerals it requires in it’s diet.

Keeping Locusts

If you would like to keep a larger amount of locusts so you can buy in bulk and save more money, then all you need is a large animal container/carrier which are sold in most pet shops. Then simply put them in there with some egg crate and ensure you feed them lettuce, carrots etc to keep them alive. If you would really like to save some money you can try to breed them yourself, this requires more attention in nutrition, heat and light.

Salad

Bearded Dragons also like dark leafy greens, you can buy a normal bag of salad from the superstore (which doesn’t have iceberg lettuce in it), baby bearded dragons can have a couple of pieces each day. Adult’s should have a good handful, or however much they will eat. Sometimes Eugene can be picky and refuse to eat his greens until he’s had his locusts.

You should also dust your salad with with the Sandfire Super Foods veggie formula.

Water

You will need to provide a shallow water dish and put fresh water in it every day. You will also need to mist your dragons vivarium in the morning using a spray bottle and then mist his head as well (he should lick the water off the viv and his head). This is essential as bearded dragons can not recognize still water and will often not drink it.

The Spec

When we got Eugene we purchased a “starter kit” which consisted of a 36” x 18” 20” vivarium with vents, a UVB/UVA florescent tube and starter, a ceramic heat bulb and fittings, a thermostat and a thermometer.

We also purchased a few things to make Eugene’s new home more comfortable: water bowl, food dish, basking rock, log, hides and decorative plants.

Setting up the vivarium was a lot harder than I originally thought, but now two weeks in we are confident that the vivarium is now at a stage were it is the best for Eugene.

Heating

The hardest part of setting up a vivarium is getting the heat gradient correct. Basically you need a hot end and a cool end, the hot end needs to have a basking spot and a hide. The cool end needs a hide also.

After huge amounts of searching on the net I came to the conclusion that many people have different opinions of what they think is a suitable heat gradient, so I decided to try my own way (based on what people had told me) and Eugene seems to be quite happy with a temperature of 30-32° in the hot end day time and a drop to 20-26° nighttime.

I use two thermometer to keep a track on the temps, a digital one on the cool end and a dial thermometer at the hot end. The hot end also uses the thermostat sensor to keep the temp at 30-32° and 34-36° on basking spot.

Lighting

We were supplied with a reptisun 8.0 florescent UVB and UVA tube, this runs on a timer and is on for 12 hours and 30 mins every day, starts at 7am and goes off at 7.30pm.

Decorations, Hides & Feeds

The most important “decorations” are hides and basking rocks. I use a piece of slate on top of a rock for the basking spot, two logs for climbing (one almost vertical, dragons like that!) and two hides, one in the cool end and one in the hot end.

He also has a shallow water dish which we supply fresh water in every day and a small salad dish.

Substrate

I was given bark chips to start with but after further research I concluded that it is no good for baby beardies as they can swallow them while hunting which can result in illness or worse death, so for now I’m using newspaper but will use bark chipping’s when he is older. Do your research on this one, there are a lot of opinions.

The Spec

The minimum sized vivarium for an adult bearded dragon is 48” x 18” 20”. When Eugene outgrew his baby vivarium we purchased a 4ft flat-pack vivarium through Ebay. On top of this we needed to upgrade to a larger UVB/UVA florescent tube and starter, ceramic heat bulb and fittings, thermostat and purchase additional thermometers. We use the Habistat Heat Control, and a digital thermometer (which are now cheap to buy).

Now that Eugene is an adult, he can cope with having more extravagant furnishings. We purchased a few things include decorative plants, larger hiding caves and a fake back-drop wall, which Eugene now climbs happily.

Before Eugene moved to his new home, we made sure that it was all up and running so there would be as little stress as possible. We didn’t feed Eugene that day as to not disturb him while he was still settling in.

Heating

Adult bearded dragon’s don’t require as much heat as baby bearded dragons, however it is still an important part. It’s important that they have a hot end, in which they will have a basking rock, and a cooler end, which is where I tend to place the food. With Eugene we used a ceramic heater, because this omits no light, and get’s very hot, it is important to have a heater guard so that the bearded dragon, or yourself, can not suffer injury.

Lighting

It is important that Bearded Dragons get the correct lighting as this is essential for proper bone growth and health. Eugene has a 3ft long T8 reptisun UVB and UVA bulb. It runs on a timer (which you can purchase from any diy store) and is on for 12 hours and 30 mins every day, starts at 7am and goes off at 7.30pm.

Decorations, Hides & Feeds

Adult bearded dragons can have much fancier decorations, baby bearded dragon’s however must have simply decorations so that they can find their food easily. I like to decorate Eugene’s vivarium so that it looks a natural as possible, in order to make him feel at home and happy.

Bearded dragons should have a small water bowl, although they are unlikely to drink from it, at all times. Eugene also has a salad dish where he munches on his greens.

Substrate

This seems to be a controversial subject, for adult bearded dragons I recommend a very fine sand, I use T-REX natural desert sand, and Eugene seems perfectly happy with this. Baby bearded dragons should ideally have no substrate or newspaper, as sand and other substrate can get stuck in their mouths by mistake.

What’s a Bearded Dragon?

The Wikipedia defines a Bearded Dragon as:
The Central or Inland Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps) is a type of agamid lizard found in the desert regions of Australia. Of the several species of the Pogona genus, P. vitticeps is the most commonly seen breed in pet stores. Read Full Definition

Bearded Dragons are now one of the most common reptiles kept in the UK, this is because they are fairly easy to keep and breed, and they make very entertaining and interesting pets.

Keeping a Bearded Dragon

Bearded Dragons are easy to keep in general. Anybody is capable of having one as a pet but there are a few questions you should consider before buying one:

• Can you afford the £300+ setup fee required to not only buy your dragon but give it a suitable home.
• (This may sound stupid to some people but…) Can you handle feeding your dragon live food (crickets, locust)?
• Have you got enough time to look after a bearded dragon?
• Will you be able to afford the food costs and upkeep costs?

Latin Name

Pogona vitticeps

Origin

Australia

Adult Size

22 inches

Day Time Temperature

31° - 37°C for Adults Hot Spot

Night Time Temperature

16° - 21°C for Adults

Food Requirements

Insects & dark leafy greens

Lighting

Full spectrum (UVB)

Temperament

Generally docile

Complete Resources

• Bearded Dragons and Other Creatures - Some interesting information & a detailed FAQ.
• Reptiles among other things - A nice site with some great info for breeding and some nice photos.
• Bearded Dragons - Basically everything, forum, newsletter, magazine… the lot.

Photos & Mini Resources

• Bearded Dragons and Other Creatures Photo Gallery - Has a massive range of photos of different colour morphs
• Dragons Down Under: The Inland Bearded Dragon - A decent article, a must read.

Forums

• Bearded Dragon Forum - Appears to be a good online community with interesting posts (keep meaning to sign up!)

Shops

• Scales & Tails - Leicester based reptile specialist, really nice and helpful.