It’s critical to understand how much sleep a Bearded Dragon needs daily when you own one. This helps bearded dragons to develop in a pleasurable and healthy manner.
But how much sleep do they need? Is there a set time that bearded dragons need to sleep for, and how can we find this out?
It can be tricky to know how much sleep your bearded dragon needs, especially for first-time owners. It leaves us wondering how we can best care for our bearded dragons and ensure they get the sleep that they need.
Well, no more! Today we are here with the answers that you need. Just keep reading to find out how much sleep bearded dragons need, how they regulate their body temperature when sleeping, and much more.
We’ve got all the facts you need coming up!
How Much Sleep Do Bearded Dragons Need?
Let’s dive straight into it and find out how long-bearded dragons need to sleep! Bearded dragons need between 8 and 12 hours of sleep every day.
You should strive to build a consistent routine that closely mirrors nature’s natural day-night cycle.
Allowing your Bearded Dragon to sleep the same length of time and, preferably, at the same time each day may help your Bearded Dragon establish a healthy sleeping routine.
Now that we have established how long a bearded dragon needs to sleep let’s look a little closer at its sleeping pattern and habits.
Why Do Bearded Dragons Sleep So Long?
Bearded Dragons need a great deal of sleep to be healthy and develop appropriately.
They must keep a consistent ‘bedtime schedule’ since Bearded Dragons follow the sun’s day-night cycle in the wild. This is a natural process that the majority of the animal world, including humans, participates in.
Consider how important it is for us to have a consistent sleep schedule. Similar to Bearded Dragons, we awake in the morning and sleep at night.
Additionally, this helps your bearded dragon keep a proper body temperature when outside. They sleep at night when it is colder and sunbathe during the day to save energy for activities like food acquisition.
It is very recommended that you keep your Bearded Dragon on a consistent hourly schedule. For example, if you wish to enable your Dragon to sleep between 9 pm and 9 am daily, attempt to keep to this schedule.
Using timers to control this is a simple technique.
Do Baby Bearded Dragons Need Less Sleep?
Baby Bearded Dragons should sleep around the same amount as an adult Bearded Dragon, between 8 and 12 hours each day.
Baby Bearded Dragons grow swiftly, reaching 90% of their total length during the first 12 months.
Allowing children to sleep for long amounts of time is a wise decision that will guarantee they get the sleep they need.
Additionally, you’ll want to consider keeping a constant pattern for not just the amount of hours they sleep but also the time the lights go down, for example, 9 p.m. until 9 a.m.
If you set a consistent pattern for your Dragon while they are young, they will learn what to expect as they get older, and activities such as morning feeding should become simpler as your Dragon will anticipate food at the same time each day.
Do Bearded Dragons Sleep At Night Time?
Bearded Dragons, unlike the majority of animals, are diurnal, meaning they seek food during the day and sleep at night.
Consider your Bearded Dragon’s natural day-night cycle when determining what hours of the day your Bearded Dragon should sleep and pick something equivalent.
This is simpler than it seems since it is the same pattern used by humans to sleep.
If you get to work at 7 am, you may utilize this time to turn on the lights in your Bearded Dragons tank and then turn them off between 7 and 9 p.m.
This will guarantee that your Dragon receives enough sleep while closely duplicating the natural day-night cycle.
It is not required to exactly align the day-night cycle in the tank with the sun in your region; only keep it near enough to make a realistic representation.
Certain Bearded Dragon owners like adjusting the lights in their Dragon’s tank to match the precise dawn and sunset times. This is entirely optional but highly encouraged.
Additionally, you may adjust the number of overnight hours your Dragon receives according to the season, for example, 12 hours in the winter, 10 hours in the spring, 8 hours in the summer, and back up to 10 hours in the fall before returning to winter.
While how you use this cycle is entirely up to you, maintaining a consistent 8-12 nighttime pattern throughout the year is also suitable.
Do Bearded Dragons Sleep With A Light On?
While a UVB lamp is important for Bearded Dragons, they do not need it to be on throughout the night.
As long as you supply your Dragon with at least ten hours of UVB light per day and have a setting that allows for an adequate amount of exposure, you can be certain they are getting enough UVB light.
Allowing lights to remain on at night may be perplexing for your Bearded Dragon, who is physically designed to sleep when the sun sets.
This may create restlessness in youngsters and prevent them from getting the necessary amount of sleep for growth and well-being.
Do Bearded Dragons Need Heat To Sleep?
At night, Bearded Dragons need heat, but only if the temperature drops below around 65°F.
This is a reference to their effort to replicate an encounter with a wild animal. While temperatures will stay rather warm throughout the day, they will fall to about 70-75°F at night.
If your room is already this temperature or similar, then you don’t need to purchase any additional heaters to keep your bearded dragon warm.
However, if the temperature drops below the 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit mark, you may want to consider purchasing a ceramic heat emitter. There are lots to choose from online to suit a range of budgets.
A ceramic heater will provide enough heat to keep the tank’s temperature stable without generating light.
This is crucial to prevent disrupting your Dragon’s sleep cycle and deceiving them into thinking they are in the presence of sunshine.
Do Bearded Dragons Sleep After Eating?
This is sometimes ignored, yet it is critical for the health of your Bearded Dragon.
Bearded Dragons need basking to help in their diet’s digestion. Indeed, without the chance to bask, they would have difficulty digesting their meal.
If you feed your Dragon its last meal and then lower the lights for ‘bedtime,’ you run the danger of them sleeping with partly digested food in their stomach.
While this is trivial in humans, it may cause a variety of health problems in Bearded Dragons.
Impaction is one such issue. This occurs when food becomes lodged in the intestines of your Dragon due to poor digestion, resulting in constipation.
This may result in significant discomfort in Bearded Dragons, as well as irritation and appetite loss.
Additionally, as a result of their inability to digest food, they will be nutritionally deficient, which may result in health concerns.
Because baby Bearded Dragons have such high nutritional requirements during their first 12 months, it is critical to allow them time to digest their food.
Allow at least three hours after their previous meal for your Bearded Dragon to digest their food and get the vital nutrients.
Final Thoughts
And just like that, we have reached the end of our article today! Hopefully, you will have found this information useful, and you now better understand how much sleep your Bearded Dragon needs each night.
The critical point to remember is to ensure that children sleep for at least eight to twelve hours each night.
Maintain a regular sleeping and waking pattern each day to aid in the development of a sleeping and waking habit in your Bearded Dragon.
Give them their last meal around three hours before the basking light goes off to allow them ample digestive time.
This time of rest should be unbroken, with all lights turned down and the temperature adjusted at roughly 70-75°F in their tank.
If their tank temperature goes below this level, you may choose to boost the heat using a ceramic heat emitter.
If you follow these simple principles, you should be able to develop a strong, consistent sleep cycle for your Bearded Dragon.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Temperature Do Bearded Dragons Need To Be When They Sleep?
Numerous individuals struggle to maintain an optimal nighttime temperature of around 70 °F. This temperature, in my view, is easily attained if your dragon tank is not located in the basement.
If the temperature of the tank falls below 70 °F at night, I suggest purchasing a ceramic warmer. Bear in mind that a cooler temperature at night will prevent your bearded dragon from basking.
Is It Normal For My Bearded Dragon To Sleep All Day?
The sleep cycles of bearded dragons are mostly determined by light and temperature.
However, in rare instances, your bearded dragon may exhibit unusual behavior and sleep the whole day. As a result, why does my bearded dragon spend most of the day sleeping?
If the bearded dragon is older than 12-18 months, it may be brumating. Brumation is a natural process through which bearded dragons limit their activity significantly during the chilly winter months.
How Do You Care For A Brumating Bearded Dragon?
Maintain temperatures at 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 degrees Celsius) in the warm area and 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) in the cooler region during brumation.
Continue to keep the lights on, but restrict them to around 9-10 hours each day. It is advisable to use a timer such as this to avoid manually turning lights on and off each day.
Before initiating brumation, your bearded dragon will seek to empty its bowels thoroughly. Therefore, if your dragon often poops yet consumes little food, this may indicate brumation.
Another sign that your bearded dragon is brumating and not ill is that it should seem alert when it opens its eyes. During brumation, it should lose very little, if any, weight.
What Happens If My Bearded Dragons Tank Is Too Cold?
If the temperature in your bearded dragon’s tank is too low, he or she will be unable to digest food, bask, maintain a healthy gut flora, or fight disease.
Low tank temperatures over time may cause nausea, fatigue, and other problems.
Low temperatures have the most beneficial impact on digestion. As a consequence, your bearded dragon will consume little, if any, food and will have constipation.
Inflammation and a deficiency of food will result in low energy levels and weight loss.
Temperatures between 92 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (33 and 43 degrees Celsius) on the warm side and 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit (23.8-29 degrees Celsius) on the cool side are best for a bearded dragon’s tank.
What Can Happen When A Bearded Dragon Gets Sick?
The symptoms will be quite similar to those of early brumation. If, on the other hand, your bearded dragon is losing weight, has soft or crooked bones, sunken eyes, or refuses to open its eyes when stroked, it is almost certainly ill.
Additionally, you should be concerned if your bearded dragon is still a juvenile and shows these characteristics.
This is because babies should not brumate until ten to twelve months of age. If your infant bearded dragon is always napping, it may have been obtained lately, maybe anxious or ill.
You should consult a veterinarian who is knowledgeable about bearded dragons in this scenario. Someone who can definitively tell you whether your bearded dragon is ill or brumating. This may need more testing.
If, on the other hand, the symptoms are severe, you will know your dragon is sick.
Does Stress Affect A Bearded Dragon’s Sleep?
Numerous variables may contribute to the agitation of your bearded dragon.
Additionally, cage mates and bullying demonstrate this kind of behavior. Insects that lurk inside the tank and attack your dragon when it is hungry.
As previously said, this may involve temperature changes, loud noises, harsh light, a scarcity of skins and accessories, and a small tank. Each of these situations has the potential for stress.
Additionally, illnesses and circumstances contribute to sleep deprivation and lethargy.
Additionally, chronic stress may have a detrimental impact on a bearded dragon’s immune system. As a result, your bearded dragon may get unwell, eat less food, and bask less often, leading to less activity and more slumber.
