Bearded Dragon Care Guide: Brutally Honest Setup & Costs

Bearded Dragon Care: The Brutally Honest Beginner's Guide

Bearded dragons are marketed as beginner reptiles.

They're not.

They're marketed that way because they tolerate handling, don't bite often, and survive long enough in terrible conditions that pet stores can sell them to people who have no idea what they're doing without the dragon dying in the first week.

That doesn't make them easy. It makes them durable enough to suffer slowly instead of dying fast.

If you're reading this before buying a bearded dragon, good.

You're about to find out what actually happens when you own one, the equipment costs, the daily maintenance, the vet bills, the insects that smell like death, and the constant vigilance required to keep a desert lizard alive in a glass box in your living room.

If you're reading this after buying a bearded dragon, you've probably already discovered that the pet store lied about half of what you were told.

This guide will fix the rest.

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What Bearded Dragon Ownership Actually Costs

Pet stores sell bearded dragons for $40-60 and push a "starter kit" for another $50-80.

That's $100-140 total, which sounds affordable.

Here's what a proper bearded dragon setup actually costs:

• 40-gallon tank (minimum for juveniles): $100-150
• 75-120 gallon tank (adult requirement): $200-400
• T5 HO UVB fixture + bulb: $80-120
• Basking bulb + fixture: $30-50
• Digital thermometers (2): $20-30
• Infrared temp gun: $20-30
• Substrate (tile, paper, or mat): $20-50
• Basking platform + decor: $30-60
• Food/water dishes: $15-25
• Dimming thermostat (optional but recommended): $50-80

Initial setup cost: $565-995.

That's before you buy the dragon.

And before you factor in ongoing costs:

• Live insects: $20-40 per month
• Fresh vegetables: $10-20 per month
• Calcium supplements: $10-15 per month
• UVB bulb replacement: $35-50 every 12 months
• Basking bulb replacement: $10-15 every 6-9 months
• Vet visits (annual checkup + fecal exam): $100-200 per year

Annual ongoing cost: $550-850.

If you can't afford that, don't buy a bearded dragon.

Cheaping out on equipment kills them, and treating the resulting health problems costs more than proper setup would have.

Enclosure Setup: Size, Heating, and Why Your Tank Is Too Small

Tank Size: Stop Listening to Pet Store Employees

Pet stores sell 20-gallon tanks as "perfect for bearded dragons."

They're not perfect. They're profitable.

Minimum enclosure sizes:

• Hatchlings (0-6 months): 40-gallon breeder tank (36" x 18" x 18")
• Juveniles (6-12 months): 75-gallon tank (48" x 18" x 21")
• Adults (12+ months): 120-gallon tank (48" x 24" x 24") or larger

A 20-gallon tank doesn't give an adult bearded dragon (18-24 inches long) enough space to move, thermoregulate, or behave naturally.

It's a display box that looks good in a pet store but causes chronic stress in the animal living in it.

If you can't fit a 120-gallon tank in your home, don't buy a bearded dragon.

Buy a leopard gecko instead. They're actually small.

Heating: Two Sources, Not One

Bearded dragons are desert reptiles from Australia.

They need a basking spot at 100-110°F and a cool side at 75-85°F.

You need two heat sources to achieve this:

• Daytime basking heat: 75-100 watt halogen basking bulb
• Nighttime ambient heat (if room drops below 65°F): Ceramic heat emitter or deep heat projector

One heat lamp doesn't create a proper thermal gradient.

It creates a hot spot directly under the bulb and leaves the rest of the enclosure too cold.

The Zoo Med Basking Combo Pack includes a porcelain dome fixture and a 100-watt basking bulb that actually produces focused heat instead of the weak diffused warmth you get from cheap plastic domes that warp within three months and become fire hazards.

UVB: The Thing That Prevents Metabolic Bone Disease

UVB lighting is not optional.

Bearded dragons need UVB to synthesize vitamin D3, which allows calcium absorption.

Without UVB, your dragon's bones slowly soften, its jaw swells, its legs bend, and it dies.

This is called metabolic bone disease, and it's the #1 killer of captive bearded dragons because people skip UVB or use expired bulbs.

Correct UVB setup:

• T5 HO 10.0 or 12.0 UVB bulb (not compact coil, not T8)
• 24-36 inch fixture mounted inside the enclosure or on screen top with no glass barrier
• Bulb positioned 12-18 inches from basking platform
• Replaced every 12 months even if it still glows (UVB output degrades before visible light does)

The Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 T5 HO UVB Bulb and matching fixture is the gold standard, it delivers proper UVB for 12 months, covers the full length of standard tanks, and produces strong enough output that you can mount it 12-18 inches away instead of forcing your dragon to sit 6 inches from a weak T8 bulb that stops working after 6 months.

Substrate: Stop Using Sand

Pet stores sell "calcium sand" marketed as safe for bearded dragons.

It's not.

Bearded dragons eat substrate while catching insects, and ingested sand causes impaction, a blockage in the digestive tract that requires surgery or kills the animal.

"Calcium sand" doesn't dissolve. It clumps. It's worse than regular sand.

Safe substrate options:

• Ceramic tile: Easy to clean, holds heat, looks natural, zero impaction risk
• Non-adhesive shelf liner: Cheap, replaceable, easy to clean
• Reptile carpet: Reusable but harbors bacteria if not washed weekly
• Paper towels: Ugly but functional and disposable

Avoid:

• Sand (calcium or regular)
• Walnut shell
• Wood chips
• Anything loose that can be accidentally eaten

Temperature Monitoring: Stick-On Thermometers Are Useless

Those adhesive thermometers pet stores include in starter kits measure air temperature at the glass, not surface temperature where your dragon actually sits.

They're consistently off by 10-15°F and give you false readings that make you think everything is fine while your dragon slowly freezes or overheats.

You need:

• Digital probe thermometer on basking spot (measures surface temp)
• Digital probe thermometer on cool side (measures ambient temp)
• Infrared temp gun (spot-checks temps throughout the day)

The Etekcity Infrared Thermometer Gun lets you point-and-click to measure basking platform temps, floor temps, and hide temps instantly instead of guessing based on cheap analog gauges that haven't worked correctly since 1987.

Diet: It's More Complicated Than "Feed It Crickets"

Age-Based Diet Requirements

Bearded dragon nutritional needs change as they grow.

Hatchlings (0-6 months):

• 80% insects, 20% vegetables
• Feed insects 2-3 times per day
• Offer as many insects as they'll eat in 10-15 minutes

Juveniles (6-12 months):

• 50% insects, 50% vegetables
• Feed insects once daily
• Offer vegetables daily (most will ignore them, offer anyway)

Adults (12+ months):

• 20% insects, 80% vegetables
• Feed insects 3-4 times per week
• Offer fresh vegetables daily

Most people overfeed insects and underfeed vegetables, producing obese adult dragons with fatty liver disease.

Feeder Insects: Gut-Load and Dust Everything

Pet store crickets are nutritionally worthless without preparation.

You need to gut-load (feed the insects nutritious food 24-48 hours before offering them) and calcium dust (coat them in supplement powder immediately before feeding).

Good feeder insects:

• Dubia roaches (best option, don't smell, don't die, better nutrition than crickets)
• Black soldier fly larvae (naturally high calcium)
• Crickets (cheap but require gut-loading and smell terrible)
• Superworms (occasional treat, not staple)

Avoid:

• Mealworms for juveniles (hard exoskeleton, impaction risk)
• Waxworms except as rare treats (too much fat, addictive)
• Wild-caught insects (pesticide and parasite risk)

The Rep-Cal Calcium with D3 is ultrafine powder that actually sticks to insects instead of falling off before your dragon catches them, and the D3 content is properly dosed for dragons with UVB lighting so you're supplementing correctly instead of guessing and causing either deficiency or toxicity.

Vegetables: What to Feed and What Kills Them

Staple vegetables (feed daily):

• Collard greens
• Mustard greens
• Turnip greens
• Endive
• Escarole
• Butternut squash
• Acorn squash
• Bell peppers

Occasional vegetables (1-2 times per week):

• Carrots
• Green beans
• Parsnips
• Okra

Avoid completely:

• Spinach: High oxalates block calcium absorption
• Iceberg lettuce: Zero nutritional value
• Avocado: Toxic
• Rhubarb: Toxic
• Onions/garlic: Toxic

Chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces (no larger than the space between your dragon's eyes).

Most juveniles ignore vegetables, offer them anyway to establish the routine.

Hydration: Water Dishes and Baths

Bearded dragons rarely drink from water dishes.

They get most hydration from vegetables and from licking water droplets off surfaces.

Provide a shallow water dish anyway (refreshed daily), but don't expect to see your dragon drinking from it.

Weekly soaks: Place your dragon in a shallow tub of lukewarm water (chest-deep, not deep enough to swim) for 10-15 minutes once per week.

This aids hydration, helps with shedding, and stimulates bowel movements.

Never leave a dragon unattended in water, they can drown.

Health Problems: What Actually Goes Wrong

Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD)

Caused by: Lack of UVB, insufficient calcium, improper diet.

Symptoms:

• Soft or rubbery jaw
• Bowed or bent legs
• Swollen limbs
• Tremors or twitching
• Difficulty walking
• Seizures (advanced cases)

MBD is 100% preventable with proper UVB and calcium supplementation.

Once bone deformities appear, the damage is permanent.

Treatment involves aggressive calcium supplementation and UVB correction, but the dragon's skeleton never fully recovers.

Respiratory Infections

Caused by: Low temperatures, high humidity, poor ventilation, stress.

Symptoms:

• Open-mouth breathing
• Mucus around nostrils or mouth
• Wheezing or clicking sounds when breathing
• Lethargy
• Loss of appetite

Respiratory infections require antibiotics from a reptile vet.

They don't resolve on their own, and delaying treatment kills the dragon.

Parasites

Most bearded dragons sold in pet stores have parasites, pinworms, coccidia, or both.

Symptoms:

• Diarrhea or runny stool
• Weight loss despite eating
• Lethargy
• Loss of appetite

Get a fecal exam from a reptile vet within the first month of ownership.

Parasite treatment is simple if caught early, fatal if ignored.

Impaction

Caused by: Eating substrate (sand, wood chips), eating insects that are too large, dehydration, low temperatures.

Symptoms:

• No bowel movements for 7+ days
• Bloated abdomen
• Lethargy
• Loss of appetite
• Dragging back legs

Impaction requires veterinary intervention, warm baths and gentle massage sometimes work for mild cases, but severe impaction requires surgery.

Behavior: What's Normal and What's a Problem

Basking All Day: Normal

Bearded dragons sit motionless under their basking light for hours.

This is not laziness. This is thermoregulation.

If your dragon is active, alert, eating normally, and just spends most of its time basking, that's normal.

Glass Surfing: Stress

If your dragon frantically scratches at the glass walls, pacing back and forth, it's stressed.

Common causes:

• Tank too small
• Seeing its own reflection (cover glass with background)
• Not enough hides or cover
• Incorrect temperatures
• Boredom (adults especially)

Beard Puffing and Darkening: Threat Display

When threatened, bearded dragons puff out their beard and darken its color to appear larger.

This is normal territorial or defensive behavior.

If it happens constantly when you approach, your dragon hasn't acclimated to you yet.

Give it time and handle it gently and consistently.

Arm Waving: Submission

Bearded dragons wave one front leg in a slow circular motion as a submissive gesture.

Juveniles do this more often than adults.

It's not a problem, it's social signaling.

Brumation: Reptile Hibernation

Adult bearded dragons often brumate (hibernate) during winter months.

Brumation behavior:

• Reduced appetite or complete refusal to eat
• Sleeping for days or weeks at a time
• Hiding more than usual
• Less activity

Brumation is normal and natural, but first-time owners often panic and think their dragon is dying.

If your dragon shows brumation behavior in winter (November-February in Northern Hemisphere) and is otherwise healthy (no weight loss, no visible illness), leave it alone.

Reduce feeding frequency, maintain lighting schedule, and let it sleep.

If you're unsure whether it's brumation or illness, see a reptile vet.

Common Beginner Mistakes That Kill Bearded Dragons

1. Using the Pet Store Starter Kit

Those kits contain undersized tanks, weak UVB bulbs, analog thermometers, and sand substrate.

Everything in them is wrong.

Ignore the kit. Buy proper equipment individually.

2. Cohabitating Multiple Dragons

Bearded dragons are solitary and territorial.

Housing multiple dragons together causes fighting, stress, injury, and death.

One dragon per enclosure. No exceptions.

3. Handling a Sick Dragon

If your dragon is lethargic, not eating, or showing signs of illness, stop handling it.

Stress worsens illness, and handling a sick reptile stresses it.

See a vet, not Instagram.

4. Overfeeding Insects, Underfeeding Vegetables

Adult dragons are primarily herbivorous.

Feeding insects daily produces obese dragons with fatty liver disease.

Stick to the 80% vegetables, 20% insects ratio for adults [web:168].

5. Skipping Vet Visits

Bearded dragons need annual checkups and fecal exams, even when they appear healthy.

Parasites, early-stage MBD, and organ issues aren't visible until they're advanced.

Find a reptile vet before you need one.

Final Thoughts: Are You Actually Ready for This?

Bearded dragons are not low-maintenance pets.

They're not "easier than a dog" or "perfect for kids."

They require daily feeding, daily cleaning, temperature monitoring, UVB replacement, insect gut-loading, calcium dusting, weekly baths, and annual vet visits.

They live 10-15 years if you do everything correctly, which means over a decade of sustained effort and expense.

If you're ready for that, bearded dragons are rewarding animals, they recognize their owners, tolerate handling, have distinct personalities, and thrive under proper care.

If you're not ready, don't buy one because it "looks cool" or because a pet store employee said it's easy.

Get a stuffed animal instead. It won't develop metabolic bone disease when you forget to replace the UVB bulb.

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