Here’s How Often Bearded Dragons ‘Really’ Need Water!

As a Bearded Dragon owner, you are probably aware that you need to give them water but you may not be aware of is how often your Bearded Dragon actually needs water.

As this is a vitally important question to the overall health and well being of your Bearded Dragon I decided to do the research needed so you can be sure your Dragon is getting the correct amounts of water to keep them healthy and hydrated.

So how often do Bearded Dragons need water? Bearded Dragons need to be offered fresh water on a daily basis. There are several ways that a Bearded Dragon can consume their daily required water intake including drinking from a water bowl and having their food misted.

Read on to learn more about how often Bearded Dragons need water, how much water they need, easy ways that you can provide water and much more!

How Often Do Bearded Dragon Need Water (A Closer Look)

It’s important to you offer your Bearded Dragon fresh water on a daily basis. The most common way to offer water to your Dragon is in a water bowl.

(Later in this post, I will share many more ways that you can get your Bearded Dragon to drink and increase their hydration)

Bearded Dragons actually can get a lot of their daily water requirement from insects and vegetation if they have a good bell balanced diet, however, it’s always important to provide a water bowl and use other means of hydration to ensure they are thoroughly hydrated and have the fluids need to keep them healthy on a daily basis.

This is backed up by animal.moms who also state that this is vital to the health of your Bearded Dragon.

In the wild, a Bearded Dragon may have to go for longer periods without water or at least adequate amounts of water but by the same token, in the wild, their life expectancy is also shorter. This is usually because of a variety of diet-related issues due to a lack of availability.

In captivity, we have the opportunity to provide a better and more consistent diet containing high-quality insects, vegetation, calcium and of course water on a daily basis.

As an owner, you need to take advantage of this and make sure you provide your Dragon with everything they need to be as healthy as possible so they live a long and happy life.

How Much Water Do Bearded Dragons Need Daily?

As well as knowing how often Bearded Dragons need water, it’s also important to have a good idea how much water they need to be drinking on a daily basis.

This can vary greatly depending on their size and age and the amount will increase as your Dragon gets bigger and into adulthood in order to support their nutritional needs.

Below is a chart that details how much water a Bearded Dragon should generally intake on a daily basis based on their weight. (Please use this chart as a guide only)

How Can You Provide Water For Your Bearded Dragon?

There are many ways that you can ensure that your Bearded Dragon gets the correct amount of water daily.

Let’s take a look at some common and simple ways that you can keep your Dragon hydrated.

Water Bowl

Supplying a water bowl is the most obvious way to ensure that your Bearded Dragon can stay hydrated.

No matter how little of the water your Dragon drinks, you should provide fresh water in a bowl on a daily basis so they have access to a water source if they need it.

The size of the bowl and the amount you fill it are also very important. You need to provide a bowl that allows your Dragon to fit its full body inside and the level of the water needs to be up to your Dragons elbow level.

These two factors are very important because some Bearded Dragons don’t like to drink water directly but they prefer to submerge their body in the bowl and soak whilst drinking through their vent (more on this shortly).

This is why the size of the bowl and depth are important. I’ve recently written a post that shares some great water bowls that will allow your Dragon to both drink comfortably and submerge their body if they want to. You can check out the bowls in this post right here.

If you don’t want to read through the post, then I have listed 2 great bowls I recommend you use below…

You may find that your Dragon simply doesn’t like drinking water from a bowl, which is often the case. If you find this then I’ve also written a guide that shares how you can train them to drink from the bowl in simple steps.

You can check out the step by step guide in this ‘5 ways to train your Bearded Dragon’ post here.

It’s important that no matter how much or how little your Dragon drinks of the water you change it daily if not 2 or 3 times daily. This is because Bearded Dragon can urinate in their water bowl or walk in their poop and then carry the poop into the water bowl.

Ultimately providing regular fresh water is a must for hygiene purposes.

Misting

Misting your Bearded Dragon is a great way to keep them hydrated in addition to providing a water bowl.

By using a spray bottle to essentially cover your Dragon with water you can increase their water intake on demand.

There’s a lot of misunderstanding about mist and how it works. First, Bearded Dragons don’t actually drink through their skin, I’ve written a post that totally covers this from A-Z and you can learn all you need to as an owner in this post – ‘do Bearded Dragon drink through their skin?’

How Bearded Dragons actually drink when they’ve been misted is by lapping up the water drops that run down their face.

If you’re not sure how to mist your Dragon correctly then I’ve written this guide that details how to mist a Bearded Dragon step by step.

This is something that you can do daily outside of the tank to ensure that your Dragon is keeping hydrated while helping to keep their skin supple and in good condition which helps with the shedding process.

Misting Food

Misting food such as veg is a fantastic way to increase the hydration of your Dragon without them even realising it.

Many fruits and veg will hold a certain amount of water depending on how moist they are.

This will largely depend on how the fresh fruit and veg is and how long it’s been left in the tank as it will dry out in the heat over the course of the day.

Misting the food will keep it moist and increase your Bearded Dragons water intake with minimal effort on your part.

Misting The tank

Another clever way that you can ensure your Dragon is getting a healthy water intake is to mist their tank.

Bearded Dragons lick just about everything in their surroundings to help them get a better understanding of their environment.

Licking helps them understand texture, temperature and lots more. It’s a behaviour that is vital to Bearded Dragons and you can find out all the reasons why they constantly lick and why it’s so important in this post here.

If you mist the glass of the tank along with any rocks, hides and other decor then you will almost certainly see your Dragon licking and lapping up the water drops.

This technique is especially handy when you have a Bearded Dragon that doesn’t like to drink out of water bowls.

Having a Bath

Treating your Dragon to a bath is another fantastic way to allow them to increase their hydration levels.

Remember that they won’t drink through their skin (Here’s a post that explains why) but they can actually drink through their vent.

The vent is an opening at the base of the tail where Bearded Dragons actually defecate but it also allows them to intake water if they need to.

This is especially handy if you suspect that your Dragon isn’t getting their required daily water intake even after supplying both a water bowl and misting their body or food.

Giving them a 20-minute bath will give them the opportunity to increase hydration and is something to consider a couple of times per week.

What Happens If Bearded Dragons Don’t Get Enough Water?

If a Bearded Dragon doesn’t get enough water over a short period of time such as one to two days then they will become dehydrated.

Dehydration can cause a Bearded Dragon to become disorientated, lethargic irritable and weak.

Here’s are some visible signs that your Bearded Dragon is dehydrated.

• Wrinkles on the side of their body
• Sleepy eyes
• Slime threads running down their mouth

If you notice any of these symptoms then a fantastic way to increase their hydration levels fast is to ‘plump their food’.

This is a method where you soak worms in water then feed then to your Dragon.

The worms will absorb a decent amount of water and when your Bearded Dragons eats them they will quickly increase their level of hydration.

Phoenix worms are great for plumping and the one I would recommend to use.

I’ve written a post that shows how to mist a Bearded Dragon step by step, in that post, I also share how to ‘plump’ phoenix worms. 

It’s important that you notice the signs of dehydration early and take the appropriate steps to ensure your Dragon is getting the water they need as long term dehydration can cause serious health problems.

One of the main problems that Bearded Dragons can face after long term dehydration is kidney failure.

Kidney failure is very serious and can even cause death in some cases.

If you are worried that your Bearded Dragon has been dehydrated for a few days and a combination of providing fresh water, various misting techniques and food plumping hasn’t worked then I would strongly suggest that you take your Dragon to see the vet for a closer look. 

Can You Get Your Bearded Dragon to Drink More Water?

Not all Bearded Dragons will drink from water bowls, this is largely due to the fact that in the wild, they often don’t have access to a regular source of water to drink from.

They will get a lot of their fluids from the moisture that insects and fresh vegetation holds.

In captivity, it can help you tremendously if your Dragon will drink from a bowl because you know they are getting the levels of water they need without you having to take any additional steps such as misting.

If your Dragon won’t entertain the water bowl at all then you might want to try adding a little juice to the water.

The smell will often entice your Dragon and temp them to drink then once they taste the sweet juice they will come back repeatedly for more.

I’ve written a post that shares 5 different ways to train your Bearded Dragon. In that post is a step by step method that teaches this technique. If you are struggling to get your Bearded Dragon to drink then it’s something you really should take a look at.

Can Bearded Dragons Drink Too Much Water?

It’s very rare that a Bearded Dragon will be found drinking too much water. Usually, the main problem is that they aren’t drinking enough and become dehydrated.

Some owners do report that their Dragons guzzle water when taking a bath and then cough it back up, however, this is only consuming too much is one mouth full or in a short period of time but generally won’t have an effect on their hydration levels.

If you are concerned that your Bearded Dragon is consuming too much water in short periods or even throughout the course of the day then you should seek the advice of your vet.

I understand that vet bills can be expensive and going to the vets when it’s not vital isn’t something you want to get into the habit of that’s why I decided to research other alternatives to expensive vet bills such as reptile insurance and other options that most owners don’t even know exist.

I’ve documented my research in this post here, so you can decide if these alternatives are a better option for you rather than paying for vet bills upfront.

Related Questions

How long can Bearded Dragons go without water? Bearded Dragons can survive for around one to two weeks without water, however, during this time they will become severely dehydrated, lethargic and unwell. You should always ensure your Bearded Dragon consumes fresh water every day.

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