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Housing
A
36" x 18" x 24" is big enough to house a pair of
rankins. The more you keep then obviously the bigger the tank
needs to be. They like to climb so make sure to put some logs
or branches in the tank and some rocks for them to bask on. They
also love to dig so a substrate like Calci sand is ideal.
Several
basking sites should be provided under the hot spot and the UV
lighting. Rankins Dragons need to bask and they need high temperatures
to help with the digestive process. Basking area should be about
100 degrees Fahrenheit with an ambient temperature of 75F and
then dropping to about 65F at nighttime.
Rankins Dragons need to have UV running along the top of the tank.
In the wild they bask in the sun to absorb the vitamins from their
food. Obviously in a tank they won't receive much sun so a UV
will act as the sun. Rankins Dragons need to tell the difference
between night and day, to do this you need to have your UV bulb
on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours. The UV must be within 12"
of the dragon to enable it to get the full benefit of the UV bulb.
Your UV bulb will need to be changed once a year as it loses its
efficiency. You will need a ceramic heating bulb and a pulse thermostat
to control the temperature of the tank. You will also need a thermometer
inside the tank so that you can check they are being kept at the
right temperature. Some people use 2 thermometers, one at the
cooler end and one at the hotter end to monitor the temperature
range. If you use only one thermometer then place it in the middle
of the tank towards the bottom.
Never use hot rocks, as they are widely known to cause belly burns.
Feeding
Rankins Dragons like fruit and vegetables as well as meat. They
like a large variety of live insects, which include black and
brown crickets, locusts, mealworms and wax worms. A good measure
of the size of live insects to feed is that they must not be bigger
than the size of the dragon's head. Do not feed mealworms to baby
dragons as they contain chitilin which is hard to digest. Do not
feed them insects from your garden, as you do not know if they
have been sprayed with anything that can be harmful to your dragon.
Fresh fruit and vegetables must be offered daily and remember
that they like variety. Try to avoid spinach and kale as they
are calcium binders and affect the dragon's bones. Another thing
to avoid is iceberg lettuce, as this has no nutritional value
to the dragon. Make sure to chop the food into small bite size
pieces to avoid choking.
Rankins Dragons require extra calcium for their bones to remain
strong and to develop at the normal rates. They also need extra
Vitamin D3; this vitamin is needed just as much as calcium. This
vitamin is needed for your dragon's body to absorb the calcium.
All you need to do to maintain your Rankins Dragon is to dust
your live food every other day with a vitamin and mineral supplement
like Nutrobal.
Some
Rankins love water so offer fresh water daily in a shallow bowl.
If they do not drink from the bowl then offer them a spray of
water on the end of their nose until they finish drinking. Also
give the cage a mist spray once a day.
Recommended
Reading
Bearded Dragons: Facts and Advice on Care and Breeding
by Richard D Bartlett. ISBN 0764111256
Buy Now
Your Bearded Dragon's Life by Liz Palika. ISBN 0761527710
Buy Now
Bearded and Frilled Dragons by David Zaffer. ISBN 079380261X
Buy Now
Bearded Dragon by Tam Mazarlig. ISBN 0793830206
Buy Now
If you are at all interested
in buying a reptile then please do as much research into the subject
as possible. There is a wealth of information available.
Do not use just these
care sheets as your only source of information.
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