Things You'll Need
- Cage or aquarium (at least 4-foot-by-3-foot)
- Substrate (such as reptile carpet, paper towels, coconut bark or newspaper)
- Branches and rocks
- Water bowl
- Heating lamps
- Thermometers
- Multivitamins
- Insects, fruits and vegetables
Instructions
Feed the frilled dragon plants, insects and animals. It prefers insects but will eat fruits and vegetables. Newly born dragons should be fed twice a day and like to eat crickets, superworms, butterworms and silkworms. Adults also like the occasional pinkie mouse or cockroach. The insects should be gut-loaded, or fed nutritious foods, before they are fed to your pet. Also feed the dragon vegetation like turnip greens, dandelion, collard greens, sweet potatoes, carrots and split peas. Sprinkle a calcium and multivitamin supplement on the food every day for babies and every other day for adults. Keep a dish of water in the environment at all times and make sure it stays clean.
Regulate the temperature in the tank. There should be an area in the tank that is 75 degrees, an area of at least 85 degrees and a place for basking that gets as hot as 100 degrees. One way to do this is to put the heat bulb on one end of the cage. Place several thermometers in the habitat to ensure the correct temperatures. The temperature at night should be about 75 degrees and should never drop below 65. Humidity in the habitat should be about 55 to 66 percent and no higher. Direct sunlight from above should be accessible throughout the day to get natural vitamins. Place broad spectrum heat bulbs and a bulb with UVB in the environment.
Buy a good substrate that the frilled dragon can digest, or won't try to eat. This ground cover can be reptile carpet, paper towels, coconut bark or newspaper. Place rocks or branches in the enclosure for the reptile to lie on and bask. They also like to use them for hiding.
Plan a big enough environment for your dragon. A 4-foot-by-3-foot area is acceptable for one lizard but a larger tank is recommended for more than one. Do a spot clean daily, and a thorough cleaning on a monthly basis. Mist the area on a daily basis.
Let the dragon sleep. Frilled dragons sometimes go through a period of brumation (like hibernation) because food is less easily found during the winter. The dragon might become sluggish and sleep from November to February or so. He will eat less and less, take more naps while the food in his stomach digests and have one final bowel movement before brumation to empty his stomach. If the dragon's stomach isn't empty when it enters the sleeping phase, the food will rot and cause infection because the dragon won't digest it.