Frilled Dragon Care Sheet
Frilled Dragons (Chlamydosaurus kingii) are native to Australia but most captive frilled dragons are from Irian Jaya, the western half of new Guinea. They are members of the Agama family. They are one of the more impressive reptiles available in herpeteculture today, with their frilled display and bipedal running makes them a appealing to the hobbyist. They are not dis-similar in personality from the Bearded Dragon and if handled regularly are were tame and interact with there human keepers.
Here are the out lines for the basic care of your Frilled dragon,
if you are about to or have recently purchased a Frilled dragon
I would
recommend
the Bearded Dragon Manual (Contains detailed chapter on Frillies) for
a more detailed source to be able to fully care for your Frilled
dragon.
Housing
For
housing of a hatchling Frilled dragon a vivarium size of 16”long
by 16” wide and 16”-20 Tall is recommended. Frilled dragons
spend most of their time perched in the branches of trees high up off the
ground. This will allow the Frillie enough room to regulate temp and not
too much space to get lost or find hunting food difficult. They will need
a larger tank as they grow and for an adult they will need at least 36”long
by 18”wide and 36”-48” tall viv (The taller the better).
If you are housing a pair of adults you would need a viv 48”- 20” – 48” roughly.
The bigger the home for and adult or group of adults the better. When choosing
to home more than one Frilled dragon in the same vivarium you must note
that male Frilled dragons are very territorial and will fight any other
males in the immediate vicinity, so housing two males is not advisable
at all.
When furnishing you viv you should provide a basking perch such as
branches and cork bark where they can lay or perch to warm their
bodies. this
should be in the hotter end of the viv, a hide or shelter can be
provided too.
Thick branches and trunks vertically secured in the viv are good
Lighting & Heating
Frilled dragons require full spectrum UVB lighting, the UVB light should
run the full length of the viv and within 8-12 inch of the reptiles so
they can effectively absorb the light that stimulates the production of
vitamin D3 in the reptile. Vitamin D3 is essential for the absorption of
calcium. (UVB will not travel through glass or plastic.) I would recommend
using a self ballasted mercury vapor flood lamp this provides UVB and a
heat source in one with out the need for a thermostat it also has a considerably
larger range of UVB coverage (UVB from these can travel 6ft+) This makes
them Ideal for Larger vertical vivariums as UVB fluorescent type lights
have only a 8-12in coverage.
Your Frilled dragon will need temperature gradient in its vivarium to enable
it to regulate its temperature. This is done by providing a basking spot
at the top of the viv of around 100f – 115f, (please ensure that
your reptile has no physical contact with the heat source – to avoid
burns) an ambient temp of 75f and at the cooler end of the viv the temp
should be around 65f. A distinct day and night period should be provided
for your Frillie, 12-14 hours of daytime light should provided followed
by a night time period where the lights are turned off. The night time
temp should not drop below 55f – 60f so if you room temp is below
this you will have to heat the viv to achieve this temp through the night.
The best way to do this is to put a night bulb (red) in there over night
with a thermostat to regulate temp.
Feeding
Young Frilled dragons should be offered food twice daily. Crickets gut
loaded on fresh veg high in iron such as spinach is best. The rule of thumb
is to keep the size of live food your feeding them smaller than the width
of your reptiles head. Wax and small meal worms can be given as treats
but not daily as they are high in fat and can lead to health problems if
over fed to your reptile. Fresh veg should also be made available to your
dragon such as spinach, dandelion leafs butternut squash and greens are
all good. Frillies are not always interested in eating veg so its always
important to gut load their live food. As they grow increase the size of
their food you can start using hoppers and locust keeping in mind the rule
of thumb again these should be gut loaded. When you Frilled dragon reached
4-5 months old they will only require feeding once daily. Any food you
Frillie doesn’t eat should be removed, crickets are nocturnal and
will bite and disturb you Frillie in the night which can lead to stress
and health problems.
Frilled dragons are inherently calcium deficient so need to be supplemented.
We use a calcium balancer & multivitamin (Nutrobal) for growing Frillies
twice weekly adults once weekly. Combining this with UVB exposure should
help bone growth and general health.
A source of water is always recommended for you Frilled dragon, they may
originate from a desert environment but still require water, most of the
bearded dragons hydration comes from the vegetation you provide. When providing
water make sure its changed daily and for young its in a shallow dish.
You may be surprised how much an adult Frillie enjoys a dip in water if
a large enough bowl is provided. This also helps when our Frillie is shedding.
Hygiene
Frillies will usually pass waste once daily and its very important
that its removed ASAP again to avoid health issues
For any further information you can email me at simon.maudsley@sky.com
Thanks Simon
