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| Name: |
Durian
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Age: |
Five months old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Bearded Dragon
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| Home: |
San Bernardino, California, USA
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This is Durian, my and my girlfriend Seanna's first bearded dragon. Though we had a good knowledge of the proper care upon purchasing him, we soon found out how little we knew about everything else! They're a much more delicate animal than pet retailers would like you to believe. They have very specific environmental and dietary requirements to keep them in tip-top shape. In addition, these guys have on average a 10-15 year lifespan.
Here is what we have learned: First, lettuce provides little to no nutritional value to them, though I've seen a lot of pet stores offer it to the babies. Leafier greens like collard greens, endive, and the occasional kale provide most of the nutrients they need on the vegetable side of their diet. Calcium/Vitamin D supplements are also crucial to bone health.
Live insects are also needed. As a general rule they need to be no bigger than the space between their eyes. Impaction is a common danger with these guys. For this same reason, younger dragons shouldn't have substrate in their enclosure. Appropriately sized crickets are a good way to start when they're young. The hard shells on mealworms, superworms, etc can't digest properly and can lead to impaction as well.
Not long after getting him, we discovered the benefits of feeding him Dubia Roaches (Blaptica dubia). They have a much better meat to size ratio, and are a great source of protein! Their only downside is lack of availability in your average pet store, and price. What most dragon owners do, myself included, is breed our own. A self-sustaining colony of these insects can be kept in a ventilated bin relatively easily, provided you are keeping them warm and dark enough. As with any animal, adding a bit of variety to their diet is a good idea.
Their tank needs to be a minimum of 40 gallons for an adult to comfortably live. Babies can be kept in a 20 gallon, but it's cheaper to go all the way the first time. (We learned that the hard way, haha.) They also need two sources of light: A basking light, and a UVB light. I'm not going to get into the temp specifics or wattage here, but information is easily accessible. There are also bulbs that do both, but they're a heftier investment on the wallet.
Whew! Now that the basics are out of the way, I'd like to finally talk about our guy's odd quirks. Durian is truly an oddball, even by dragon standards. For one, he'll chase anything and everything that moves and (he deems) looks like prey. This includes, but is not limited to: Bracelets, rings, phones, toes, fingers, cups, laundry hampers, and shoe strings. I've been lucky to avoid his teeth so far, but I know his hunger for shiny objects will one day turn into a nip. Seanna hasn't been so lucky, and has been victim to his serrated little chompers. He really loves rings.
Though I've seen plenty of dragons enjoying their human captive's touch, he doesn't seem to share the same contentment. He'll flick his head and swipe his claws as we try to stroke the spines along his head. Almost as if it tickles! Though, he does seem to like the top of his head petted ...
When he was much smaller, he used to flee at the sight of our two cats, Cheeto and Nix. But now he either just sits there and observes them from his basking perch, or runs at our smaller girl Nix. Maybe he think's she's just a really big bug!
Another weird thing is that he seems to like blackening his beard. After almost three months of having him, we started to notice Durian's beard turning black a good majority of the time. Obviously this is cause for concern, so we made sure that we was healthy, and his temps, humidity, etc. were right. He seems to be perfectly fine though, and just likes looking cool.
Despite the challenges we've faced in having this dragon, Seanna and I love having him here as part of our animal family. It's been an absolute blast learning about such a unique and wonderful member of the reptile world. <3
Talk about Durian in Pet Talk!
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