Bearded Dragon
The beard is a throat pouch it puffs and blackens to make a point. Australian, awake in the day, and it waves one arm at other dragons to keep the peace.
Overview
The bearded dragon is a semi arboreal Australian agamid from the dry country of south and central Australia, 13 to 24 inches long including the tail, and it is a day active sun basker. That last point drives every other decision about keeping one.
It is also the most expressive lizard commonly kept. Head bobbing is a male showing dominance to smaller males and to females he wants to mate with, and arm waving, standing on three legs and rotating one forelimb slowly, is species recognition and submission. Both are worth knowing, because both look like something is wrong when they are not.
Temperament
Confident, curious and genuinely tolerant of handling, which is rare on this shelf. A bearded dragon that has been handled from young will sit on a hand or a shoulder and watch the room.
They are opportunistic omnivores in the wild, taking plant matter, insects and the occasional small rodent or lizard, and they treat almost anything moving as potential food. Two adults should not share an enclosure. Males will fight, and in a mixed pair the female is pursued constantly and gets pushed off the basking spot, which matters because the basking spot is how she digests.
Care and grooming
Greens daily, insects by age: heavily insect based as a juvenile, shifting to mostly plant matter as an adult. Insects are gut loaded and dusted with calcium.
The diet and the lighting are the same problem. Nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism, the metabolic bone disease that fills reptile clinics, comes from a poor calcium to phosphorus ratio, a lack of vitamin D3, missing UVB, or a cage that is not warm enough, and usually several at once. The signs are a poor appetite, weakness, a swollen or distorted jaw, and fractures.
Living and exercise
A four foot enclosure, about 120 gallons, with a basking spot at 95 to 105 F and a cool end near 75 F. Branches and rock to climb, because this is a lizard that basks on fallen branches and fence posts in the wild rather than on flat ground.
UVB is required and it is replaced every year. A fluorescent tube keeps producing visible light long after it has stopped producing useful UVB, so the bulb looks fine while the animal slowly stops being able to use its calcium.
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