Family: Agamidae
Common Name: Inland Bearded Dragon
Scientific Name: Pogona vittcepts
Food: insects, flowers, soft leaves, and shoots.
Distribution: central areas of Australia, down to the south central coast near Adelaide.
Habitat: desert, dry forests, and scrubland
Color Discription: red and orange colors.
Physical Discription: Blunt arrow-shaped head which is typical of the agamids. The scales along the skin of the throat and the side of the head have specialized into spiny points. The scales along the sides of their bodies also carry these pointy extensions.
Size: 14"
Temperatures: The temperature gradient during the day should range from 76º F - 86º F. With a basking area ranging from 90º F - 100º F. Night time temperatures can drop no lower than 75º F. Beardeds spend the hottest part of the day in underground burrows and are well adapted to the cool desert nights. They hibernate during the winter months.
Breeding/Reproduction: They breed from May thru July. The female will lay 3 clutches of eggs 25 - 30. During breeding season, Males mature at a much smaller size, the beards of mature males turn black.
Cage Setup: Males tend to be territorial, 50-gallon tanks too small for them. Overcrowding can lead to aggression. They do not like too much moisture. However! they like, Occasional misting. Bearded dragons live in the arid, rocky, semi-desert regions and arid open woodlands.
Water: A flat bowl change drinking water daily. They also like a daily misting.
Special Needs: The enclosure should be large enough to provide a wide temperature gradient both horizontally and vertically. Inland Bearded Dragon are surprisingly quick (trotting with their bodies raised well off the ground), making top-opening enclosures a must. A top to the enclosure is required; this will keep the Inland Bearded Dragon from taking off on its own and will keep the crickets inside the tank. Bearded dragons like to sit on high points. The setup of the adults need to have some trunks and branches, and the setup of the babies have twigs. The lizards like to perch on them.
Special Note: This is the most common bearded dragon in the pet trade, and many different size and color morphs.
Adults of Pogona vitticeps are smaller towards the more southern limit of the distribution of the species.
The smallest animals occurring in the Big Desert in west Australia.
Bearded dragons are rather sensitive for parasites like nematodes, coccidia, bacteria and flagellates.
They do not show any illness problems untill they are very sick most of the time. When threatened, the dragons flatten out their bodies, making themselves look wider.