Care and Responsibility Article - Sterling Hillmer

Care and Responsibility: Bearded Dragon

Author:Sterling Hillmer

Kind of space and amount

Bearded dragons are lizards, so they do not live outside or have a free-range over the house as a pet. They need living in enclosures similar to a fish tank but specifically for bearded dragons. Bearded dragons do grow to about 12 to 24 inches. With this in mind, for the correct setup and to make your bearded dragon the happiest and healthiest they recommend using at least a 20-gallon tank. You can use a bigger tank but know that it takes up more space. You will need to use a small amount of space in your living arrangements for your bearded dragon specifically. It shouldn’t be too much of a hassle unless your living in a small space and don’t have a lot of room to give up.

Cleaning this space

Cleaning the enclosure of your bearded dragon is very easy. You can clean the enclosure with the dragon in it. The carpet used to line the bottom of the tank can easily be washed and most things will not stick to it. You can also use a paper towel to line the bottom of your enclosure and replace it when needed. Most of the things you would clean you be the feces of the dragon and the sheded skin. They really don’t make much of a mess so you would really only clean the tank when needed as to your discretion. The only other cleaning you would need to do is dusting down and wiping down the surfaces to make sure no harmful bacteria or viruses are present to harm the dragon.

Health and Food costs

Bearded dragons eat live insects and plants. You can go to most pet shops and buy live crickets in bulk for a couple of dollars a week. The one thing is that you should have fresh non-citrus fruits and vegetables in the enclosure at all times. They provide useful vitamins and nutrition for your beardie. Some fruits you can give are strawberries, peaches, apples, and pears. Good vegetables are carrots, celery, yellow squash, and raw cabbage.

Health Care

Health care for your beardie has pretty much been stated in previous topics. They need regular care as most other pets do. The only special health care requirement is that if you suspect or see that your beardie is sick, you have to take it to a vet and get it checked because it could be a multitude of things.

Attention needed

Attention has been stated in previous topics. The only attention needed is feeding your beardie and making sure to check for shedding in juvenile beardies. They don’t need to be handled but they can be perfectly fine.

Care and Grooming

That’s one of the great things about beardies is that they don’t really need to be groomed. They don’t grow fur that needs to be trimmed, and their nails or claws don’t need to be trimmed if they have enough things to wear them down. You will need to trim them if you begin to see them curling underneath the toes. You can also bathe your beardie but it is not required unless they sat in their water bowl with their poop in it.

Cleansing and Bathing

Cleaning your beardie was explained in the previous section. Bathe your beardie as needed. Primarily only needed when your beardie has been sitting in its water bowl with its own poop in it. Their enclosure doesn’t really get any dirtier than that.

Local Laws

There are no laws regulating bearded dragons. They may be considered exotic but because they are bred in state and have become somewhat of a common house pet, you do not need to obtain any special license to own a bearded dragon. The only regulations are that you need to abide by any pet rules or regulations for hotels, apartments, or any other housing. They are not allowed in most public spaces as are most pets. However, that shouldn’t be a problem since you shouldn’t take you beardie outside of its enclosure for long periods of time. They would become stressed and you would risk the potential of harming your beardie.

Other special requirements

Bearded dragons require added vitamins and supplements to live healthy. The live insects, fruits, or vegetables can be coated in these vitamins and supplements to ensure that your beardie is 100% healthy. The main supplement is calcium. They can develop metabolic bone disease without it.

Sources

(n.d.). Bearded Dragon Costs. Retrieved from http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-price.php#dragon

(n.d.). Bearded Dragon Diet, Food, and Nutrition. Retrieved from http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-diet.php#vitamins

(n.d.). Bearded Dragon Health, Illness, and Disease. Retrieved from http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-health.php

(n.d.). Bearded Dragon Grooming and Cage Cleaning Routines. Retrieved from https://www.lizards101.com/bearded-dragon-grooming-and-cage-cleaning-routines/

(n.d.). Exotic Animal Laws by State - FindLaw. Retrieved from https://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/exotic-animal-laws-by-state.html