Hello and welcome to the site
Here's a basic list of what you're going to need before you bring home a dragon:
Tank
- minimum of 6-8 square feet of floor space and minimum depth of 18 inches - works out to a 75g tank or larger
- 4 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft considered the ideal basic dragon enclosure
Substrate (ground covering)
- for babies go with something solid because babies are clumsy hunters who can end up with a mouth full of ground instead of the bug they're chasing, and loose substrates can block up their intestines and cause serious illness
- good solid substrates include paper towels, reptile carpet, and textured ceramic or slate tiles (just have the tiles cut to fit the tank, lay down a layer of paper towels - for easier cleaning - then lay down the tiles without grout or anything)
- if you really like loose substrates, can use washed and sifted children's playsand once your dragon is an adult, just need to clean out any poo immediately and change out sand entirely every 2-4 months (i think)
- avoid calcisand and vitasand sold by petstores - the added minerals make the dragon more likely to lick it but then it clumps up like cement when it gets wet, can cause serious impaction
Heat lighting
- need a dome fixture with a ceramic socket
- can use a normal lightbulb or a halogen flood light instead of the "specialty" heat bulbs sold by the pet store - they do the same job, cost less, and put out the bright clear light that dragons thrive in. Halogen flood lights have the added benefit of putting out more heat per watt, so they help your energy bill a bit.
- use a digital thermometer with a probe, or a temperature gun to keep the most accurate track of the temperatures (key element to healthy dragon)
- aim for basking temperature in the 100-110*F range, and cool side of tank should be around 80*
UVB lighting (two options)
- flourescent tube uv light - bulb needs to be replaced every six months because the coating that produces Uv rays wears off, dragon needs spot in the tank where he can get within six inches of the bulb, reptisun 10.0 is best, reptisun 5.0 and reptiglo 10.0 or 8.0 are acceptable, ESU and compact lights are junk because they have a fast decay rate which means they quickly stop putting out enough UV rays
- mercury vapor bulb - provide a higher quality/quantity of UV rays, some last up to a year before needing to be replaced, dragon needs to be at least 12" from the bulb - see
http://www.reptileuv.com for more info - Megaray is the best
Tank Furniture
- basically stuff to climb on, relax on, bask on, gets them close enough to UV bulb, etc.
- can buy premade logs, tunnels, etc. or build yourself using wood from outside (bake first to kill germs), bricks, etc.
- make sure no pieces small enough for dragon to pull off and eat
- can use fake plants and aquarium background to make tank look nice
Once all this is set up, then you need to get the food:
1. live feeders - for a young dragon order in bulk online because they eat a lot. Good feeders for young dragons include crickets and roaches (no longer than the space between his eyes), silkworms, pheonix worms, and hornworms. Stay away from mealworms because of high fat and impaction risk of shell. Superworms are a good staple for dragons over 16 inches long. Baby/young dragons should be fed live food twice a day, as many as they'll eat in 10-15 minutes (can be upwards of 60-100 crickets a day) Adults get 50 crickets or 35 superworms a week.
2. housing for live feeders - depends on the type of feeder you're dealing with. Crickets and roaches can live in a big rubbermaid container or 10g tank.
3. a variety of greens, veggies, and fruit (see lists of dragon appropriate foods for specifics). Dragons need a daily salad, preferably with 3 different good staples in each salad. Look for fresh veggies, don't feed any that are brown or otherwise not healthy looking.
