The home of Bearded Dragons - Pogona Vitticeps
Bearded Dragon Useful Words, Definitions and Terminology
In this page you will find definitions of Beardie-related words which are commonly used. You will also find some Frequently Asked Questions.
Adeno Virus / Adenovirus: A serious disease in Bearded Dragons, potentially lethal. It has different effects for each Beardie, is extremely contagious, and has effects comparable to HIV/AIDS in humans.
Basking: Sitting in the sun or under certain lighting in captivity in order to get warmth and UVB rays (see UVB).
Basking Light: Light that provides heat and some UVA (see UVA). This is needed for day-and-night cycles as well.
Basking Site/Area: A piece of cage furniture, such as a log, that is meant specifically for allowing the lizard to sit on under the heat and UVB lamps. It should reach a surface temperature of 105-115 degrees F.
Beardie / Beardy: Nick name for the Bearded Dragon.
Brumation: AKA hibernation-lite. This occurs for some Beardies once they are over a year old. It ranges from a Bearded Dragon slowing down and becoming lazy during to falling fast asleep for months.
Ceramic Heat Emitters: Lights that provide heat but no light, ideal for night time if your enclosure goes below 65 degrees F.
Clutch: the name for a group of eggs laid all at one time.
Coccidia: a parasite that lives in the intestinal lining of Bearded Dragons.
Cool Side: an area in the tank away from the basking spot (see basking spot) that reaches 85 degrees F.
Dusting: Adding calcium and multivitamin supplements to your Beardie’s food.
Egg-Binding: A potentially deadly condition in which the female Bearded Dragon is incapable of laying the eggs she has in her body. Symptoms are lethargy, depression, and straining to lay eggs. The medical term for this is dystocia.
Egg-Sac: A small sac attached to some Beardies when they are hatched, that provides their nutrients for the first part of their life. If this is attached, the hatchling should be placed on a wet substrate to protect the egg-sac.
Fatty Liver Disease: Occurs when the liver is unable to take on rapid influxes of fat. This can happen from feeding a lot of fatty things (like pinkie mice) in the diet, and may also occur in conjunction with metabolic disorders like Diabetes. The Medical term for this is hepatic lipidosis.
Feeder insects: Insects that are appropriate for the feeding of Bearded Dragons or other reptiles.
Gravid: The lizard equivalent of pregnancy.
Gut-loading: Process of feeding your insects 24 hours in advance of being fed to your lizard. This greatly adds to the nutrition of the insect.
Hides: Huts or some similar object that a Bearded Dragon can go under for privacy or fun.
Hypo: A bearded dragon with reduced melanin (less pigments) and has 100% clear nails.
Impaction: A potentially deadly condition that involves getting things (food, some substrates, etc.) stuck in the digestive system without being able to pass it out of the anus.
Lay Box: Any large enclosure filled with 12 inches of moist potting soil, sand, or a mix therein. This is used for a pregnant Bearded Dragon to lay her eggs in.
Leatherback Bearded Dragon: A bearded dragon with reduced number of tubercles (scales) throughout its back.
Metabolic Bone Disease - MBD: A potentially deadly disease resulting from the lack of calcium and UVB rays (see UVB) that results in stunted growth, lethargy, broken bones, paralyzing, and possibly death.
Mites: External blood-drinking parasites, usually of a red color, that are very small and multiply quickly.
MHB | Metal Halide Bulbs: UVB lighting and heating bulb used in a vivarium.
Morphs: Name for different colors of Bearded Dragons that come from their bloodline. E.G. there can be a red morph if a Bearded Dragon is red and comes from a line of red dragons, and breeders will tack names on for particular shades like “Blood” for a vibrant red line/morph. This is somewhat similar to the concept of breeds in dogs, but there aren’t as many differences unique to morphs as there are to breeds.
MVB | Mercury Vapour Bulbs: UVB lighting and heating bulb used in a vivarium.
Nolvasan: A cleaner used for cleaning enclosures. It has no harmful fumes.
Omnivore: An animal that eats both fruits/veggies and some form of protein, in the Bearded Dragon’s case that protein is in the form of insects, so for Beardies it means that they eat both fruits/veggies and insects.
Parietal Eye: AKA third eye. This is a photo-sensitive part of your Bearded Dragon, about the size of a scale, on the top and in the center of their heads. It detects light and shadows.
Perlite: A type of white soil used in incubators.
Pinkie: A baby mouse, completely furless and only a few days old.
Pinworms: are common parasites found on fecal examinations in bearded dragons.
Pogona vitticeps: The scientific name for the most common species of Bearded Dragon kept as a pet.
Rankins Dragon: A much smaller, more social species of Bearded Dragon.
Respiratory Tract Infection: Bacterial infection of the lungs characterized by constant gaping, mucus coming out of the mouth and nostrils, and a clicking/rattling sound when the animal breathes.
Salmonella: Bearded dragons are like any other reptile and they may carry Salmonella.
Shedding: A bearded Dragon will shed it's skin ocassionally.
Semi-arboreal: Describes an animal who likes to climb and spends a lot of time doing so, but doesn’t actually live in trees.
Sexing: How to tell the sex of a Bearded Dragon?
Silkback Bearded Dragon: A bearded dragon morph which has no scales and spike throughout it's body.
Spot-Cleaning: Cleaning only the part of the enclosure that is dirty, rather than the entire thing
Stomatitis: Known as mouth rott in Bearded dragons
Substrate: What you put at the bottom of the tank. E.G. paper towels, sand, etc.
Tail Rot: A disease of the tail in which dead tissue accumulates and chokes off the good tissue, creating more dead tissue. Can work its way up the tail and kill the infected animal.
Translucent: A bearded dragon with a translucent appearence in body and spikes.
UVA: Light in the visible spectrum.
UVB rays: Light between 280 and 320 nanometers, that allows Bearded Dragons to use calcium.
Vermiculite: A type of golden soil used in incubators
Vittikins: a hybrid that you get when you breed a Rankins Dragon with the more common Pogona vitticeps.
Yellow Fungus: A disease, sometimes deadly, that is characterized by areas of yellow fungus on the scales of a reptile. Thought to be a yeast infection that exits with feces and then infects the outside of the reptile.
