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Bearded Dragons are extremely hardy lizards, when they are provided with the proper temperatures and lighting in their environment. However, they are also pets who do their best to hide their symptoms from us when they become ill, as do most other reptiles. This is no doubt an instinctual behavior, since a sick Beardie, in the wild, would probably not live for very long.

Since your Beardie can't groan or complain about where it hurts, you must use your observation skills to determine when something is not right. There are times when a healthy Beardie will act differently, but these changes should be seen for what they are by the experienced veterinarian.

Because of this, you need to be very aware of what normal behavior is for each of your particular dragons, and what is not. An alert eye can generally spot a problem long before it becomes a major concern. Particular attention should be paid to each dragon's eating habits, and the amounts that they usually eat, as well as what is the norm as far as how often they present with bowel movements, and what they usually look like, when they do. Attention should also be paid to the amount of urates (the white solid or powdery materials) that are passed within the bowel movements, as a change in this can be a sign of kidney problems.

If you purchased your dragons from a pet shop, unfortunately you may have gotten more than the one living thing that you paid for... there is a better than a 50% chance that your dragon may be carrying some type of intestinal parasite, particularly if they were being housed with other dragons, and the conditions that they were being kept in were not exactly as clean as you would have liked.

They may be infested with coccidia, roundworms, pinworms, hookworms, or numerous other pests. If you should buy from a reputable breeder, this is much less likely to be the case, but even then, it is possible.

For this reason, once you have had your dragon for two weeks, you should make it a point to have him or her seen by a reputable vet, who is well versed in the care of reptiles, and take in a stool sample for testing. Give your dragon at least two weeks to settle in, unless it is apparent that they are ill, as when they are stressed, their parasite count, particularly the coccidia count, may be higher than normal.

Diseases and Disorders

Normally, if you provide your dragon the standard habitat, food and care, you will have the healthiest bearded dragon on earth. But, from time to time your dragon could get sick. The most often diseases, beardies get are:

1. Mites
2. Terminal Ingestion
3. Thermal Burns
4. Calcium Deficiency
5. Impaction
6. Hypovitaminosis A
7. Respiratory Infections
8. Dehydration
9. Stomatitis
10. Internal Parasites
11. Coccidia
12. Other Parasites
13. Dystocia (Egg Binding)
14. MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease)
15. Skin Problems

Detailed information on every on each diseas and treating solutions, along with everything you need to know about bearded dragons, you can find in the new complete guide on Bearded Dragons at http://www.pets-lovers.com/bd/beardeddragons.htm