Housing
Enclosure Size
A 55 or 60 gallon size for an adult BD.
Babies can be housed in 10 gallon tanks then moved up as they
grow.
Temperatures
Reptiles are ectotherms, meaning they
require external sources to heat their bodies. Dragons need to
get to at least 90-95 during the day in order to digest their
food. If they're kept too cold, the food will not digest
properly and even rot in their stomachs.
Your dragon needs a temperature gradient
so s/he can thermoregulate. Thermoregulating means that an
animal moves between areas of differing temperatures in order to
regulate it's own internal temperature. The day time temperature
gradient should range from the high 70's or low 80's on the cool
side of the tank up to the mid 80's on the hot side with a
basking spot of 95-105 degrees F.
Night time temperatures can go down into
the mid 60's.
Make sure you use a thermometer to check
your temperatures. Don't guess. Guessing wrong could cook your
dragon.
Heating
Overhead incandescent bulbs or ceramic
heat emitters in metal reflector fixtures are best. Be sure your
socket is rated for the wattage of bulb you are using, and if
you are using a CHE, use a porcelain socket since CHEs get so
hot they can melt plastic sockets. You will need to experiment
with wattages to find what wattage you need to produce the
desired temperatures. There's no easy way to tell other than
that since there are numerous variables involved, such as tank
size and ambient room temperature.
If you want additional heat under the
dragon, use an undertank heater or human heating pad set on low.
It's not really necessary unless your house gets particularly
cold at night. Day time heat should really be provided by
overhead heat.
Do not use a hot rock. Hot rocks are
dangerous. They can overheat and produce serious burns and/or
short out and produce electrical shocks. Dragons do not have
heat sensors on their skin like we do so they don't realize
they're being burned. Reptiles will continue to sit on rocks
that are burning them until they're horribly burned. The
November 1997 issue of _Reptiles_ magazine has a graphic article
by reknown herp vet Douglas Mader on hot rock burns. There are
much safer methods of heating your dragon. If you already have a
hot rock, the best way to use it is to cut the cord off and use
it for a decoration or put a dimmer switch on it.
UVB-Producing Fluorescent Lights
Dragons synthesize vitamin D3 when exposed
to UVB, and D3 is necessary for calcium metabolization. In the
wild, dragons are exposed to the UVB in the sun's rays, but in
captivity, especially in colder climates, they just don't get as
much sunlight as they need to produce enough D3. Dragons
deprived of UVB develop Metabolic Bone Disease where the dragon
leaches calcium out of it's own bones to fuel bodily processes.
If the MBD isn't treated early, skeletal deformities and even
death can occur.
For more on lighting, see:
Lighting
by Melissa Kaplan.
Only fluorescent lights can produce D3, so
make sure the pet store doesn't talk you into an incandescent
"full-spectrum" bulb. Brand-wise, I only recommend
Vitalight or ZooMed 5.0 fluorescent tubes. Tubes lose their
ability to produce UVB before they burn out so you will need to
replace your lights every 6-9 months. You need a screen or
welded wire top for your enclosure as UVB is filtered out by
glass and plexiglass. A good rule of thumb is that if water can
pass through something so can UVB.
Putting your dragon outside on warm sunny
days is also desirable. Use a welded wire cage though rather
than a glass aquarium. A lizard can fatally overheat in an
aquarium awfully quickly. Even in a wire cage, you must make
sure your dragon has some shade so s/he can thermoregulate.
Cage Furnishings
Dragons should have branches or rocks to
climb and a hidebox to hide in. I typically make the basking
site a spot on a raised branch or rock so the dragon can move
both horizontally and vertically to thermoregulate.
Any cage furniture should be carefully
secured so it can't fall and injure the dragon. If you use a
particulate substrate, make sure the animal can't burrow under
any cage furnishings and have them come down on the animals
either.
Substrates
There are particulate and non-particulate
substrates. Particulate substrates consist of multiple small
particles and include sand, corn cob, walnut shells, and rabbit
pellets. I do not recommend corn cob or walnut shells. Corn cob
is not digestible and is large enough to create impactions,
requiring surgery. Walnut shells are also not digestible and
have sharp edges. Many people use sand and many use rabbit
pellets. The advantage of rabbit pellets is that they allow the
dragon to dig, and are safe, and even nutritious, if eaten.
Non-particulate substrates would be indoor/outdoor carpet, paper
towels, newspaper, unprinted newsprint, or towels. I use paper
towels for young animals and for animals with parasites, since
it's so much easier to keep the enclosure immaculately clean.
Cleaning
You need to both surface clean and
disinfect your dragon's enclosure. To clean off dirt and feces,
use a mild soap, such as Simple Green, and water mixture. After
surface cleaning, you will need to disinfect it. To disinfect, I
use dilute bleach or Nolvasan. You can read more about this at:
Cleaning,
Disinfecting And Sterilizing by
Melissa Kaplan
Feeding
Types of Foods
Dragons are omnivores, meaning they eat
both plant and animal matter. For animal matter, I offer my
dragon crickets, superworms (Zophobia morio), and occasional wax
worms. Crickets and superworms should be gutloaded with
nutritious foods to make them more nutritious for your dragon.
You can use fish flakes, dried milk, cat or dog food, chicken
laying mash, or iguana salad (see below). If you feed mostly dry
matter, you will need to add some sliced orange for moisture.
You will also want to cover the crickets with calcium and
multivitamins. To do this, put the crickets in a plastic bag,
add some calcium and multivitamins, and "shake and bake".
For plant matter, I feed Melissa Kaplan's
iguana salad, both the shredded hard veggies and the greens. You
can read more about the salad at:
The
Basic Salad
Another good reference for constructing a
healthy veggie portion of the diet is Jennifer Swofford's iguana
care sheet at:
The
Iguana Pages
Feeding Frequency and Amount
Dragons tend to regulate their food intake
themselves so I feed as much as the dragon wants. Young dragons
especially need a plentiful food supply as they grow so quickly.
Young dragons are frequently characterized by their owners as
"little black holes."
Babies should be offered as many crickets
as they want at least twice a day, and veggies should be left in
their enclosures all day.
Older dragons can be fed once a day, with
veggies left in their enclosures as well. I tend to just leave a
bowl of veggies and superworms in my adult's enclosure all the
time.
Supplements
Your dragon will need both calcium and
multivitamin supplements. The calcium supplement should have no
phosphorus added. I also prefer it have not any D3 since the
animal will produce its own D3 from UVB exposure.
I use Rep-Cal for calcium and Herptivite
for the multivitamin. Human Centrum and a plain calcium
carbonate are also acceptable.
Prey Size
You must not feed any prey that is larger
than 1/3 the size of the baby's head (or longer than the space
between the eyes). The reason for this is that too large of prey
presses on the spinal column as it passes through the digestive
system. The pressure can cause hind-leg paralysis and even
death.
By hind-leg paralysis, I mean the complete
inability to move the rear legs. I do not mean the legs kicked
back, happy basking dragon pose. As long as your dragon can move
his rear legs, don't worry about the position.
If your dragon has already eaten too large
of a food item and is showing symptoms, call your vet
immediately. In the meantime, shape a washcloth into a donut
shape, and sit him/her on it so that the stomach hangs in the
hole. This will help relieve pressure on the spine.
Commercial Food
I don't recommend it. None of the readily
available commercial foods on the market have been tested
longitudinally, meaning over time. We have no way to know if the
foods are nutritionally adequate or whether nutritional
deficiencies will appear later. To my knowledge no one has used
them for even a couple of years yet and that's just not a long
enough trial. My opinion is that it is the responsibility of the
company producing the food to run the feeding trials, not me,
and I don't want to use my animals as guinea pigs.
One of the major advantages of fresh foods
too is that they tend to contain trace elements of lots of
things. That makes it more likely your BD will get all the
nutrients s/he needs than an inadequately tested prepared food.
When you feed a commercial food, especially one that hasn't been
longitudinally tested, you're hoping the manufacturer thought of
everything BDs might need, whether we know about it now or
not....
The only prepared food I would consider
using is Susan Donoghue's Walkabout Mixes. Donoghue is a highly
respected veterinary nutritionist--in fact, she wrote the
Nutrition chapter in Mader's _Reptile Medicine and Surgery_.
Walkabout Mixes are dried veggies meant to be mixed into greens.
She has been doing feeding trials with the Walkabout Mixes for
over five years now, and she knows what she's doing, so there's
at least some data. Walkabout Mixes are only available by mail
order.
Water
BDs get most of their moisture from their
food, but you still need to provide water as well. You can
provide a water dish, mist them regularly, or soak them in the
tub or sink. If you give them a water dish, make sure it is
small enough that young BDs can't drown in it.
Reproduction
Mating
BDs reach sexual maturity before one year
of age. If you house a male and female together, expect eggs.
During mating, the male will grab the female's neck/shoulder
area with his teeth in order to hold her still and keep her in
place. If the female is not in the mood, she will slap his side
with her leg and he will stop.
BDs have sperm retention, meaning that
they can store sperm. One mating may produce several fertile
clutches of eggs.
Gravidity
Please note that BDs do not need to mate
in order to lay eggs. Virgin females will also lay eggs so they
need a suitable nesting site as well.
Signs of gravidity include pacing,
digging, increased activity, and lack of appetite. When you see
these signs, you need to give your dragon a nesting site.
The nesting site should be 10-12 inches
deep filled 2/3 with damp vermiculite. It should be damp enough
that the dragon can burrow without the burrow collapsing on her.
The container can be a separate container or be placed in the
tank. Point it out to her if you place in her home tank. If it's
a separate container, introduce her to it and partially cover
the top with a piece of cardboard or something similar. Don't
disturb her while she'd digging, but check on her when the
digging stops. If she's backed into a hole with only her nose
showing, she's probably laying. Don't disturb her. After she has
laid her eggs and covered them to her satisfaction, you can
remove her. Only remove the eggs when she's not watching. She
will get quite upset if you disturb them while she's watching
them.
Give the female water and her favorite
foods after laying. She will be quite skinny and possibly
somewhat dehydrated. This is a good time to pamper her.
Egg Incubation
You will need either a commercial or
home-made incubator. Hovabator is the most common brand of
incubator used by herpers. Melissa Kaplan also has instructions
on making your own at:
Preparing
For Egg-Laying And Incubation Of Potentially Fertile Eggs
You should get the incubator set up
several days before you get eggs if at all possible. You need to
have time to calibrate the temperature so you don't hurt the
eggs.
Once the eggs are laid, fill small plastic
food containers, about 4 x 6 inches, half full with moistened
vermiculite. Using your finger, make depressions for the eggs.
Using rubber gloves, remove the eggs from the nesting box
carefully. Shine a penlight on them to find the little pinkish
oval where the embryo is. Place the eggs in the incubator so
that the oval is on top. Then place the food container in the
incubator.
Eggs can be incubated at temperatures in
the low 80s. I recommend 81 degrees F so you have a little room
for variation. Overheating can be fatal to eggs. At 81 degrees,
the eggs should hatch at about 65-76 days. It may take several
days for all the eggs to hatch.
Once the egg is pipped, meaning the baby
has made a hole in it, the baby will take a rest. This is
normal. You don't need to intervene. Once the baby is completely
out of the egg, put him/her into a separate enclosure.
If you choose not to incubate the eggs, I
freeze them before disposing of them so they don't hatch
accidentally in a land fill somewhere.
Dystocia
Dystocia, or egg-binding, is when a female
can't lay her eggs normally. Causes of dystocia can be inability
of eggs to pass through the oviducts normally due to malformed
eggs or an obstruction or to absence of a suitable nesting area.
Symptoms include lethargy, depression and non-responsivity. If
your lizard begins showing these symptoms, you need to take her
to a herp vet immediately. She may need help laying or surgery
to remove the eggs. This can be a life-and-death situation. That
said, dystocia is relatively rare in BDs, so be alert but don't
worry. You can read more about egg-binding at:
Dystocia
Housing Babies
The babies cannot be housed with the
parents as the parents will eat them. They must also not be
crowded or they will nip off parts of each other. Babies have
voracious appetites and need to be fed regularly and well to
keep them from trying to eat each other as well. Babies should
be offered small crickets and veggies several times a day. They
should be misted 2-4 times a day. Babies can drown in as little
as 1/2 inch of water so I recommend misting over a water dish.
I recommend babies be housed on paper
towels. Being so much smaller, they are at more risk of
impaction than adults. Temperatures should be the same as for
adults but watch to make sure the babies don't overheat.
Health
Parasites
You should always take a new animal in for
a veterinary check and fecal test for internal parasites. Even
though they're captive bred, many BDs come with internal
parasites such as pinworms or coccidia. Make sure your vet does
both a smear and a float to the fecal sample. Coccidia is
typically treated with Albon. Nematodes, such as pinworms,
roundworms, or hookworms should be treated with Panacur
(fenbendazole). Ivermectin is contraindicated in lizards--it's
too easy to overdose and death can result.
In terms of external parasites, BDs can
get ticks and mites. Mites can be particularly difficult to
eradicate. I recommend the procedures outlined in Melissa
Kaplan's document on mite eradication at:
Getting
Rid of Reptile Mites
Shedding
Reptiles shed as they grow, and young BDs
will shed often. You can mist or soak your shedding BD in the
tub or sink to help with shedding, but do not pull off patches
of shed that are not ready to come off on their own. You will
damage the forming scales underneath.
Metabolic Bone Disease?
As mentioned earlier, dragons need UVB in
order to synthesize D3, which in turn is necessary for calcium
metabolization. For more on MBD, see:
Identification
and Treatment of Metabolic Bone Disease
Calcium
Metabolism and Metabolic Bone Disease
Mouth Rot
Mouth rot is a systemic infection that
often shows up a cheesy substance in the mouth. You need to take
your dragon to a vet for a proper diagnosis and antibiotic
treatment if you suspect s/he has mouth rot.
Food Size Paralysis
Too large of prey items put pressure on
the spinal cord as they pass through the digestive system. If
the pressure lasts too long, permanent damage can occur. That's
why you should be very careful of prey item size, and if an
animal accidentally ingests too large of an item, you need to
get him/her into a position where the stomach is hanging down
and not pressing on the spine. Shaping a washcloth into a donut
shape and sitting the dragon on it so his/her stomach is hanging
in the hole is the best thing you can do for it while you are
contacting a herp vet.
Brumation
Think of brumation as hibernation lite.
It's a period of semi-dormancy without the extreme physiological
changes associated with hibernation. Brumation probably
increases sperm count and egg viability so if you want to breed
your dragons, you will want to brumate them. Realistically
though, most adult animals will go into brumation whether you
want them to or not. Many adult BDs simply stop eating during
the winter and may or may not dig themselves burrows in their
substrate. I recommend brumating them in their normal cages and
maintaining a basking site so they can come out of brumation
when they want to. I also continue to provide veggies and
occasional superworms in case they want to snack. That's another
reason to provide a basking site so they can digest if they
decide to eat. Even without eating, BDs don't lose weight while
brumating normally.
Claw Trimming
Yes. Trim only the sharp tip so you don't
accidentally cut into the quick. Have cornstarch or quick-stop
styptic powder available if you do cut too deeply to stop the
bleeding if you cut too close. Adam Britton has an article on
trimming iguana nails complete with diagrams that is also
applicable to dragons. You can find it at:
Claw
Trimming 101
Missing Appendages
Baby dragons have voracious appetites, and
if they are housed too densely or not fed enough, they will eat
parts of each other--typically tailtips and legs. This is a
serious consideration if you want to breed BDs. You have to have
adequate housing for babies and provide ample food. This type of
cannibalism occasionally happens in the best of situations but
you need to do everything in your power to keep it from
happening.
That said, three-legged dragons can lead
happy, healthy lives, so if it happens to one of yours, s/he
will still be fine. Do take the injured baby to a vet and then
isolate the baby so nothing more happens.
Adenovirus
There is an adenovirus that shows up in
BDs. Unfortunately, there are no specific symptoms to watch out
for, but most dragons diagnosed with it have a history of just
not doing well. Sometimes they show reduced appetite or
diarrhea, but not always. Affected animals can be difficult to
distinguish from animals with coccidia or hypocalcemia without
the muscle twitching. The only way to diagnose adenovirus is via
necropsy, which is what an autopsy is called when it's performed
on an animal. Histopathology shows intranuclear inclusions,
primarily in the liver although an electron microscope would be
necessary to confirm the diagnosis by showing virus particles.
