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Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of Reptil.TV!
Today I'll show you all the basics about Bearded Dragons.
I'll show you everything that you ever wanted to know about bearded dragons!
This is a young animal with a normal color scheme. It has the size I would advise you to buy.
I you plan on buying a Bearded Dragon and are new owner, you should try to get an animal of this size.
This animal is about 20cm long, from head to tail.
Animals with this size are easy to handle.
As with almost all reptiles, there are many color variations.
Some people like them and some people don't. I don't want to discuss this topic now. I just want to present you some color variations.
In my left hand I've got a typical variation. A red Bearded Dragon. It is also know as Sandfire Red or Redsand. There are numerous names.
In the End, they they are just all red animals. It has something to do with their area of circulation. I believe there are areas in Australia, where they have a more intense red color.
But in the end, you also get red animals by breeding them.
In my right hand is an animal with an orange color. I wanted to show it to you, because it is a nice tiger.
On their side they have these black stripes, When they have these stripes you call them Tiger. In this case Tiger Orange.
Then there are also the yellow animals, the Citrus. In my right hand - in this case it is also a Citrus Tiger. You can see the black stripes I talked about.
This Citrus is special, because it is a Hypo Citrus.
Hypo is the short form for hypomelanistic - just like you know from the snakes.
Hypomelanistic is the technical term for an animal that doesn't have enough black skin pigments. Because of this they have this special color.
The animal to my left is a Hypo Red. That's why the red color is so vibrant.
It's hard to identify a Hypo at first. If you look at the nails it is quite easy to find out.
Hypos have transparent white nails. A normal Bearded Dragon has got black nails.
Some facts about genetical inheritance: Hypo is inherited recessive. You have to breed Hypo with Hypo, in order to get a Hypo.
Or Hypo with Hetero Hypo and you'll also get a Hypo.
A short recap. To my left I've got a Hypo (have a look at the nails) Citrus (mind the color) and Tiger. A Hypo Citrus Tiger
In my left hand I've got a Hypo Red. Whereupon this animal is also special. He's a so-called Leatherback. If you look at his back, he's got significantly less scales.
If this is the case you talk about Leatherbacks. Some animals show this feature more or less.
Most animals still have some scales - just like this animal. And there are also some with even less scales. That's why you call them a Leatherback.
What's great about this species is that the color is more intense, because the scales don't disturb the color as much.
In this case Hypo Leatherback Red.
The next color morphs are Translucent animals.
You can identify 'Translucents' through their black eyes. They have really deep black eyes. And it's easy to identify them through their black colored belly.
Especially in Asia they are called Jelly Belly. This is because the belly is translucent.
In this case the animal is a Translucent Leatherback. It also has a reduced amount of scales.
Translucent Leather Red. The red color comes out really fantastic due to the translucent genes.
In my right hand I've got an animal, which is even a step above. This animal is a Hypo, as you can see with the clear nails.
Hypo Translucent, which you can see on the belly. Hypo Translucent Leatherback.
This is still a young animal, that's why the red color isn't that yet that bright. But the older the animal gets the more intense the color becomes.
The last animal is, as I would say, an extreme variation.
It is discussed controversial. I'll probably start a discussion and get bashed for it.
But that doesn't matter. I wanted to show you his animal, despite our opinion on this matter.
But what I have to say is, that these animals are healthy. Therefore I can take the responsibility and show you these animals.
These are so-called Silkbacks. A young, red, animal in my left hand - and an adult animal in my right hand.
You can breed a Silkback by breeding two Leatherbacks. The Leatherback gene is passed along co dominant.
You are going to receive 1/4th Silkback.
The feel is really great and very interesting. As I said, these animals are fed and kept just like all the others.
When they moult, it looks like they are loosing small pieces.
But when a common Bearded Dragons moults, it also looks like it is loosing small pieces. But on a Silkback it looks even more tatty.
As you can see the colors are really intense. The black color really stands out.
Or with this red animal, the bright red color.
Here I have two animals that you can compare. The animal in my right is the biggest animal we have in our shop.
At the moment we have a stock of 200 - 300 Bearded Dragons - and I picked out the biggest animal.
This great guy is about 50cm long. In comparison the two month old animal - so that you can compare them.
But you have to calculate with an animal of this size. They grow rather quickly.
With about one year, they are sexually mature.
With one year they are not as big as this male - but have about 3/4 of the size.
With 2 to 3 years, they can reach this size.
Let's talk briefly about their life expectation. Bearded Dragons can reach an age of 10 - 15 years.
I think this also depends on how long you maintain winter rest. Maybe also on how much you feed your animals.
Their metabolism is quite high, that's why their life expectation isn't as high as with other reptiles. But 10 - 15 years is a realistic number.
If you have ever thought about breeding reptiles, then I can only recommend Bearded Dragons. They almost proliferate as fast as rabbits.
If you have a couple - the best thing would be to have a male and 2 - 3 females - that way the females don't get stressed too much buy the male.
You'll probably have 2-3 egg batches per female and per year.
It almost happens without any help. They are to my knowledge a reptile species that are very eager to reproduce.
You shouldn't underestimate the terrarium size needed with Bearded Dragons. I prepared a little something for you.
A terrarium with a width of 1,5m, 60 cm in depth and 1m high. For me this is the minimum for a terrarium, if you want to keep 2-3 Bearded Dragons.
As I said, this terrarium is 60cm deep, but of course you can use a terrarium with 80cm depth, that would be even better.
And of course you need the appropriate lighting and heating for a terrarium of this size.
Let's talk about lighting first. Light intensity, UV-Light and the amount of heat radiation are very important.
This is a rather basic solution. These are the Sylvania ReptiStar UV light, in this case with 160W.
I placed two units here, because I wanted to show you, that for such a large terrarium you need both. With two units, 160W each, we have 320W.
You need this energy to heat up this large box and have a bright enough light - and provide the necessary amount of UV-light.
An alternative is the Solar Raptor.
It's the most modern lighting source available at the moment - it's based on the HQI technology.
The biggest unit has 150W. In this case you should also use two of these Solar Raptors.
Or you can mix the units. One ReptiStar and one Solar Raptor. It's absolutely ok to mix these two.
If you provide 300W of energy for lighting, than this amount is sufficient for a terrarium of this size.
An alternative, if you don't achieve the desired temperature - in this case this temperature is 45°C underneath the radiator.
The coldest area should not fall below 30°C. You should have a temperature drop in your terrarium. Hottest area: 40°-50°C. Coldest area: ~30°C.
At night you can switch of the lighting. These animals are from the dessert - in the night the temperature can reach room temperature.
If you can't reach the temperature with these radiators - it always depends on how good you insulated it and on the ambient temperature ...
I would advise you to insulate such a terrarium witch cork plates. If you don't reach the temperature, you can use an Elstein-Radiator for assistance.
Important to know is, that these radiators can be dangerous! Don't create a spot where the temperature reaches 50-60°C!
The Elstein-Radiator should only be used to raise the temperature in the terrarium by a few degrees.
If you place it in the middle, not as a sun spot, but as a temperature spot, then this radiator is very good in helping you raise the temperature by a few degrees.
But your main focus should be to achieve your desired temperature with these spots.
This is also because the animals perceive the light as heat. That way they can't overheat or burn themselves - when lighting is combined with heating.
Then we need a substrate for the terrarium. A classic solution is to use red or brown sand.
But the animal probably won't mind the color, so you can choose the one you like better.
The red sand is the one that is used the most. People, or we terrarium owners in general seem to really like the red sand.
For me the brown sand is a bit more natural. A very good alternative is this wooden substrate.
We'll probably have a long discussion about wood substrate on YouTube and Facebook.
I've been using it for years and for me it really is a very good alternative!
There are various opinions. Let's talk about it and not have a fight about it. Let's discuss if a wooden substrate is a suitable alternative.
You've good two options, sand or wood.
Of course a thermometer is very important. You have to be able to measure the temperature in the different zones inside.
Don't fixate it at the beginning. Measure the coldest area on the edge and the hottest area under the radiators.
Under the radiators the temperature can reach up to 45°C. Or even 50°C.
Measure all zones. If you have readings that are alright, then you can fix your thermometer somewhere. Maybe a neutral area.
An area with an average temperature, because doing this you can monitor if the temperature changes noticeably.
This was the essential electronic equipment that you need.
Of course you also need a water bowl, some nice decoration with twigs and maybe even real or fake plants, some nice roots for climbing ...
All of these are decoration items - how you arrange everything is up to you and your architectural skills.
It's completely up to you! What is important is that you have the correct intensity of light, the appropriate temperature and mind the UV-Light.
Because we have to use quite some energy with 150W, it is important to pay attention, because your radiators get really hot!
You must use ceramic bulb fittings! And of the same importance is that you use a heat resistant cable!
There are special cables made of of silicone that can resist these temperatures.
Never use a cable you can buy at a supermarket. Over time they become cavernous and begins to disintegrate and then you'll have a short-circuit failure.
As with all reptiles, the nutrition is very important. In episode 19 we talked about this in detail.
You should offer vegetables to your Beaded Dragons on a daily basis. You can also give them salad or dandelion from outside.
The more vegetables they eat the healthier it is.
But you can't avoid feeding insects or feeding them animals.
I can recommend everything that has legs: crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches are really good for chow.
And it's important that you enrich them with minerals. For instance you can just place some cuttlebone inside the terrarium.
Some animals or some of the prey animals take in some of the calcium. And your animal will eat it that way.
But don't forget to powder your prey animals with minerals before you feed them.
There are different vendors. This one is from Herbamed, or there are Herpetal and Nekton.
Powder them well and then feed them. That way you can be confident that your animals have enough minerals provided for them.
If your technical equipment is set up correctly, then Bearded Dragons are very easy to keep and you have almost no worries with them.
As I mentioned before, they are almost as easy to bread as rabbits.
If you do encounter problems and are not sure if your animal is alright, then the first person you should talk about it with is, is the breeder you bought your animal from.
For example, if you got your animal from us, then you should ask us. 'This and that doesn't look normal.' In most cases we can help you directly.
Ask the person you bought your animal from. Not everybody in Germany should send us a mail about it.
Ask the breeder, they normally know their animals quite well. He'll probably be the person that can help you the best and give you the best advice.
A frequently asked question is: 'Why does my Bearded Dragon open its jaw?'. That is a technique Bearded Dragons use for cooling themselves.
You can compare it to a dog panting. They use the same technique when they are hot - not necessarily too hot - it's a normal behavior, even in nature.
They sit and open their jaw - due to evaporation they cool down. Don't be surprised, this is a absolutely normal behavior.
That was a short summary of what you need to know about Bearded Dragons. But in 15 minutes I'm not able to talk about every fact that you need to know.
You can't be a pro after just one episode.
If you want to become one you should go out and get some books.
At least one, better are two or three. By now there are really fantastic books about Bearded Dragons. Get some and read them.
Don't use the internet as your sole source of information, because you can find a lot of rubbish.
Use the books as your source. If someone wrote a book, he or she generally has a lot of knowledge and only writes facts that have rhyme and reason.
And in the end with a Bearded Dragon, just like with every dog or cat and almost every other animal, can be infected by parasites.
A tip you should follow, is to have the scat examined once a year. There are these sets that cost about 20€.
You can send your sample to a lab and will get a result back and know if your animal is free of parasites or not. And if it has some, you'll receive some treatment tips.
And of course you can go to your local vet with the scat sample or send it to Exomed in Berlin - which is a very good institution to have your samples analyzed at.
Let a sample be analyzed once a year. And if your animal has parasites or is sick, you should go and see a vet that has knowledge about reptiles.
Show him your animal and let it get treated. Even reptiles deserve to receive a good treatment, if they are sick.
If I managed to raise your interest for Bearded Dragons, but you don't know where to put a terrarium with 1,5m width in your single room apartment...
The good news is that there are Dwarf Bearded Dragons - Pogona Henrylawsoni. They only reach half the size of their brothers. About 35cm on average.
A terrarium with 1,2m is sufficient for them. They also are very easy to keep and are very handsome and gentle animals.
They are a really great alternative. If you are interested but don't have enough space, then you should get Dwarf Bearded Dragons.
That's all for today’s episode. I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget...
Check my balls! And check my Bearded Dragons!
Also ... the camera is still running.
That was a dozy!
Just wait, know I really know it quite well.
Alright, here we have the red animals. To my left totally red and to my right only a bit red.
And I'm in between...
Stefan: That wasn’t bad, but let’s does it again Camera: That really wasn't bad.
Director: Wait, something isn't working. Stefan: Come on!!
We're lucky if we manage to shoot even one episode today!
Stefan: Alright, let's do it again. Director: Let's do it again!
Very important we have UV... Once again.
Wasn't bad, was it?
I'll show you how well our background actors are treated here. This is our pretty male.
He's taking a break, that's why he is sitting here. Here we have a very nice Bearded Dragon rest.
It is formed specifically so he can rest his head upon it. He can take a break and rest.
And when we need him for the next take, we'll take him.
[laughs] where was I? What do I have to say? The books?!
Director: Please! Stefan: Action! As with all reptiles, as I mentioned ... uhm .. the mention ..
Stefan: Uhm, I didn't notice. Director: Yes, you did.
If I woke your interest for Bearded Dragons ... I've got a fantastic idea!
Director: Ok, please! Ahh, wait!
Uhm, now I'm starting to drivel. Up to now it wasn't bad at at all.