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| Frilled DragonEnclosure Selection Health Feeding BreedingEnclosure Size Suitable Materials Substrates Décor Temperatures Hides Lighting Plants Maintenance Enclosure size Frilled dragons are arboreal, so a vertically orientated enclosure with plenty of climbing and basking areas is needed. An enclosure of 4 feet wide, 3 feet deep, and 6 feet high is the best, bigger if you have the space and money. Because of the scale, it is better to build your own at home. Custom made ones can be ordered, but the price is going to be extremely high. Material Your enclosure can be of a variety of materials, personally I prefer wood. There is a tendency for temperatures to fluctuate quite quickly in glass tanks as there is such poor insulation. The problem arises not only from heat loss but also from heat gains, so it is preferable not to locate the enclosure in direct sunlight. The other problem with glass is that the dragon may try to get through it, and may end up with abrasions and sores on its snout from rubbing against the glass. Wood can cost a fair bit more but in my opinion is worth it. It looks nicer, and is better for the health of the animals. It should be of laminated chipboard, sealed at all edges to ensure water-tightness and a long life. If you are making your own, Jerry Cole recommends in chapter 11: "Frilled Dragons and Their Care and Breeding" of "The Bearded Dragon Manual" ( p. 154) that the floor, back and sides be of wood, the front of glass and the top made from screen. This allows adequate ventilation, enables easy viewing and provides security and strength to the enclosure. The wooden sides also allow for better thermal performance, as described above. Substrate Bark chips were mentioned as the best substrate by J. Cole (see above for full quote), however other possibilities include Astroturf, newspaper, sand, paper towels, and a sand/soil mix. Never use coloured sands, calci-sand, non-reptile carpet, or gravel. Dont use any form of large particulate substrate without first clearing it with a reptile vet. Many "reptile friendly" commercial substrates are exactly the opposite so check before using any. All lizards supplement their diet with calcium picked up off the ground. In captivity, they will try to continue this behaviour, even captive bred specimens, which can lead to impaction. Err on the side of caution at all times. Hatchlings and juveniles should never be on particulate substrates at all. Décor You can create some quite beautiful vivariums for your frilled dragon, using some clean and dry branches and rocks. With a bit of patience and trial and error a safe, natural environment can be produced. Wood and rocks can, of course, be bought at rather extravagant prices. Depending on where you live this may be your only option but if you are lucky enough to have access to a public forest where you are allowed to remove one or two suitable branches this can be more economic. Various rocks and stones should also be collected and cleaned as described below. If you cannot source natural materials locally then a local aquarium specialist or reptile supplier will have dried and cleaned sections of wood in many interesting shapes which can be cleaned as below and used to furnish the enclosure. Recently there has been a significant rise in the availability of fake rocks and structures that you can purchase and place directly into the vivarium. These can look very realistic and are worth considering, since they are very lightweight compared to their natural counterparts. To clean items for use in a vivarium, use a stiff brush to remove all loose material, and in the case of wood strip it of its bark. Mix up a 5% bleach solution and thoroughly scrub the surface, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. Rinse well and allow to dry completely before use. When setting out, make sure branches cannot slip and that rocks and structures cannot topple over. Not all types of rock and wood will be suitable for your dragons. Avoid any sappy woods such as evergreens (conifers etc) and rocks which appear porous. Any rocks which are especially smooth and shiny may contain high amounts of metal minerals so should also be avoided. Cork bark is an excellent material for sculpting enclosures. Temperatures Frilled Dragons are cold blooded, which means they take in the heat they require from the surroundings. They do this using a process known as thermoregulation, and they require a variety of temperatures within their enclosure to allow them to do this. By providing them with a warm end and a cool end, you can allow them to choose what temperature suits them best at any given time and promote good health and comfort. The temperatures should range from about 90-95F (32-35C) at the warm end where the dragon will bask to about 78-85F (25-29C) at the cool end. Night time temperatures should not be allowed to drop below 70F (21C). Frilled dragons absorb heat from above, and are unable to detect heat from underneath. Therefore, all heat sources should be from above with the exception of a night time heat mat which will provide only a gentle background heat. With this being said, it is important that SOME heat is available from below to aid digestion, and a rock or branch should be placed under the heat source to allow the lizard to bask. It is worth noting that most lizards only sense a general heat, that is they only know an average heat over their whole body. They are unable to detect small areas of localised heat and are susceptible to burns. For this reason I strongly recommend avoiding hot rocks. They are unreliable and in some cases can cause serious burns to your new pet. There is a high instance of faults developing within them, resulting in hot spots in excess of 100F. At night a heat mat should be used on a thermostat to ensure temperatures do not creep too low. There are a few manufacturers of thermostats, and the heat mat manufacturer may recommend the one that works best with their product. To gauge the size of mat needed, aim to cover at the most about 25% of the floor of the vivarium. For glass tanks, the mat should be placed externally with a small amount of ventilation space underneath. This can be achieved using a small piece of cardboard or wood under each corner. Providing air movement reduces the risk of the glass overheating and cracking. If you have a wooden vivarium however the mat will have to be placed on the inside, preferably under the substrate. Care must be taken not to allow the dragons to come directly into contact with the mat, and I personally fix the thermal sensor for the thermostat directly to the surface of the mat to prevent it becoming too hot. Hides A hide at ground levell is usually all that is necessary, as they will normally choose to sleep in the branches. Hides can be fashioned from anything, such as a broken plant pot, an old margarine tub with a hole cut in one end, or a small structure made from stones. There are also a number of artificial hides available which can look great. As long as there is room inside for a dragon and it is safe and clean the possibilities are endless! Why not make an elevated hide with something from them to climb for access? Lighting Lighting is very important to your new dragon. They require UVB wavelengths to ensure allow them to produce vitamin D3, which in turn allows them to break down calcium. Failure to provide a suitable UVB source will lead to metabolic bone disease which can be fatal if left untreated. A brightly lit vivarium will also encourage a lively and active lizard. It is also imperative that the dragon be able to get to within 8" of the UVB source. Megaray and other combined heat/UVB sources should be used with care. They are only suitable for very large enclosures where they can be positioned the proper distance from the dragons. Using these bulbs in a smaller enclosure where there is insufficient distance will result in blindness, and possibly other medical conditions. They should be properly researched before being used in any enclosure. If in any doubt always contact the manufacturer for advice. Any vivarium with live plants will need at least two full length full spectrum tubes to provide enough light to allow the plants to thrive. Plants You can incorporate live plants into your setup to improve aesthetics, and create a more natural look. You can either use wide and shallow pots with a sandy compost mix, or use a sand/soil substrate and plant them directly into this. The following species of plants are well suited to Bearded Dragon enclosures, and may also be suitable for Frilled dragons. I advise you to check up before adding any to your enclosure. Snake Plants (Sanseveria) Pony Tailed Palms (Beaucarnea Recurvata) Philodendron (Zamiaculcas Zamiifolia) Haworthias (Hathworthia) Climbing aloe (Aloe Ciliaris) Caudexed figs (Ficus Petiolaris) Optunia (Consolea Falcate) Vivaria with live plants require suitable lighting. In order for your plants to thrive you will need to install at least two fluorescent strip lights, fitted with full spectrum tubes and running the full length of the tank. Plants will need watered one or two times a week. Maintenance Vivaria need regular cleaning and maintenance to ensure a long and healthy life for your dragons. There are a number of things that should be done routinely, either daily, weekly or monthly. Daily Scoop out any faecal matter lying around the enclosure Change the water in the water dish, clean thoroughly every 2 days Weekly Clean food dishes and hides in a 5% bleach solution Monthly Sift sand substrate, change every 3 months Clean entire cage with a 5-10% bleach solution and rinse thoroughly
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