The Bearded Dragon Lizard: 7 Interesting Things That You Should Know

There are quite a few different types of lizards out there. In fact, according to the San Diego National Zoo, there are over 4,500 species. However, amongst them, there are also quite a lot which make perfect pets. One of the most popular lizards that people tend to prefer having are the bearded dragon lizards. They truly make great pets, mainly because they aren’t hard to take care of. With this in mind, we have decided to take the liberty and provide you with quite some information that may help you out.

About the bearded dragon lizard

Group of bearded dragon lizard in nature.The first thing that you need to know is that these are diurnal and they are omnivores. The first thing means that, as opposed to nocturnal creatures, the bearded dragon lizard is actually active throughout the day. They would prefer it as opposed to the night when they would actually be inactive. Being an omnivore, the lizard is known for eating both meat and plants. This means that you can easily feed it with smaller lizards, insects, and mammals as well as with fruits, vegetables, flowers and other plant material that they enjoy.

1. Physical characteristics

When it comes to its physical characteristics, the bearded dragon lizard is known to have a yellowish color. It is actually called bearded because it has the chance to flare out its skin which is located right there in the region of its throat. This happens when it gets territorial or when it is threatened. The entire body is almost covered with spikes which are small yet hurtful upon contact.

When it comes to sex, it is truly difficult to distinguish males from females when they are juveniles or especially when they are hatchlings. When they become adults, the sexual difference is going to become a lot more visual.

2. How to tell the sex of a bearded dragon?

Differences of female and male bearded dragon on green background.
Source: http://www.beardeddragonlady.com/

This isn’t that hard as long as they are older. Males are usually a lot larger when it comes to their heads. They also have beards which are larger and a lot darker in comparison. The femoral pores of males are also an easy sign that you can take a look at in order to distinguish them from female bearded dragon lizards. Of course, their overall size is also particularly larger and they can get up to as much as 2 feet in length.

3. How to tell the age of a bearded dragon?

Now, this is something rather relative. Finding out the age of the bearded dragon lizard is not so hard when they are yet young and haven’t reached full maturity. This usually happens at about 2 years of age. Before that period, you can find it out on your own. However, if the dragon is older than 2 years there is absolutely no reliable way of finding it out than actually looking up the birth date with your breeder. That’s the best thing that you can actually do.

4. Bearded dragon lizard lifecycle

As we mentioned above, the majority of the bearded dragon lizards are most likely to reach maturity at about 2 years after their birth. This is roughly about 20% of their regular lifespan as they are known for living up to about 10 years.

5. What is their natural environment?

Now, it is important to understand that, even though they are usually bred as pets and are particularly well-known pets, they are also found out in the open. This is why it is important to be aware of their natural environment. This is going to help you understand how to better take care of these cute lizards. They are usually found in arid woodlands as well as in the deserts of the central parts of Australia. It is also known to spend the majority of its waking hours in trees, bushes and in between rocks. When it is particularly hot, the bearded dragon lizards will burrow underground as a means of handling the unbearable heat. This is something that you might want to take into account.

6. Enclosure or how to take care of them as pets

Beared dragon in human's hand.Now, their cages need to be particularly well secured with tight fitting lids – this is important if you don’t want to be looking for it around your home. The size of the bearded dragon is various as it depends on a few different things but they are known for staying rather small when they are bred in captivity so that’s not something that you should be worrying about.

On the other hand, you should also know that they are rather easy to take care of because they are not pretentious when it comes to their diet – they will eat practically a lot of the foods that you throw their way. This is something that you might want to consider when it comes to it.

Also, it is important to understand that the dragons are pretty well behaved and they are unlikely to cause you any serious issues or problems as long as you don’t irritate them. They are rather healthy so that’s not something that you should worried about. The ideal substrate for the bottom of their cage is not expensive, it is also rather pleasing in terms of aesthetics. You can clean it very easily and it is digestible if swallowed – this is something which is going to ensure the overall health of the animals and it’s something that you might want to take into proper consideration when it comes to it.

Going any further, there are quite a lot of things that you might want to know.

  • They are called bearded because of the spikes as well as the scales that they have right around their neck – they truly do resemble a beard.
  • Keep in mind that your bearded dragon couldn’t have come from Australia. This is illegal ever since the 1960s.
  • Bearded dragons are capable of producing very mild venom – it’s harmless to humans, don’t worry.
  • They do not regenerate body parts like other lizards so don’t go cutting their tails!

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