We knew nothing about owning a bearded dragon when we came up with the idea to purchase one. Before we jumped in, I wanted to make sure we at least had an idea of what we were getting into. We read books and surfed the Internet a bit. We thought we were ready. Turns out there were some things we didn’t learn and had to figure out on our own. I am going to share with you 4 very important lessons we have learned from owning our bearded dragons.
Lesson 1: High Maintenance
You would probably think that a lizard would be a simple and easy pet to care for; however, a bearded dragon is a bit different than other lizards. Bearded Dragons are social creatures and need to be socialized by their owners. As a parent, you will need to socialize them daily so they get used to being picked up and handled. This will help them not to be afraid and will also develop a trusting relationship between you and your pet.
Bearded dragons enjoy being out of the cage. Ours will often go exploring throughout the house. When they are out of the cage, you will need to monitor them as you would a 2-year-old. Dragons get a feel for their surroundings by licking everything. Once we had a wet paper towel on the floor after cleaning the cage and Cessna licked it up and started eating it. We had to go into action and get it out of his mouth. On another occasion, Hawker was outside in the sunroom when I went outside for a second to answer the phone. When I came back I couldn’t finance it anywhere. Just as I was about to give up and search another room, I saw his tail peeking out from behind a bookshelf. I had to use the strength of a mom to move it and get it out. He was quite shocked because he didn’t know exactly what had happened. Lesson learned, never leave your dragon unattended, not even for a second.
All this running is great exercise for them. Just like us, they need to stretch their legs and run. It helps the body move and work inside and out. This also means that your dragon will have “accidents” outside of the cage. Make sure you’re ready with a paper towel and some carpet cleaner. I may be able to train them on paper, but I haven’t tried that yet. One time, Cessna was in the sundeck sunbathing while I was reading the newspaper on the floor. She ran to my paper, did her job, and ran off. It hasn’t happened again, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t.
Because bearded dragons spend most of their time in their cages, they will need baths. We bathe our dragons about once a week or as needed. Some people suggest bathing them more often. A bath is beneficial for them because they can absorb water through their skin to hydrate themselves. Not all dragons enjoy their baths. Hawker, in particular, hates bath time and has put my husband’s arm up behind his back just to stay out of the water.
Lesson 2: Food
We thought it was cool that bearded dragons ate mostly vegetables. This is going to be easy because every week we buy vegetables for ourselves, we just need to buy a little more for the dragons. I also learned that they needed protein every day for the first year, but not forever. We simply did not take into consideration the amount of food that 3 dragons would eat in one day.
At some point we thought that growing our own vegetables would be profitable. The only thing we didn’t take into account was the fact that we haven’t found our green thumbs yet. Our soil is mostly clay and then there are the rodents, insects and diseases. If you have ways to discourage pests and diseases, you have to deal with the weather. In southern Virginia, our summers are hot and humid or dry. When our schedules are busy and we are in a drought, we can often forget to water our plants. Then there are the hurricanes and the plants that grow. It seems I still can’t figure it out. For those who can successfully grow a garden, I take my hat off to you. Regardless of whether you grow them or buy them, you’ll still need to regularly chop and clean food for your dragons.
Now on to the proteins, the bugs (I like to call them twisted). My husband thought it would be a huge money saver if we breaded our own crickets. Between 3 dragons they ate hundreds of crickets a day. He did some research and set up a container and tried to breed crickets. I must admit we had a few babies; however, they did not live long after hatching. The mess and stench weren’t worth the savings. We continue to buy crickets in boxes of 1000 and store them long enough to eat them. The worst was when we had to buy large crickets because they not only stunk but were also noisy. My husband was also curious about breeding dubia cockroaches because he read that they weren’t that gross, but he didn’t want to go through that again.
Lesson 3: Multiple Dragons
Little did we know that male dragons cannot live together in harmony due to dominance issues. Somehow we have ended up with 3 male dragons. Maybe if we had at least 1 female, things wouldn’t be so tense in my house. Needless to say, my house is full of testosterone with 3 male dragons, 2 male cats, a son and a husband. Yes, I am the only woman who runs this crazy house.
I have seen many videos on the internet where bearded dragons roam the house simultaneously or even share a cage. This will not happen with my dragons. Piper hates Cessna, Hawker hates Piper, and Cessna doesn’t care about either of them. Only one dragon can be outside at a time unless the rules are followed. To keep them from getting close enough to fight, my husband made them harnesses. Dragons should wear their harnesses and keep a good distance from each other if more than one dragon is out at a time. With laminate floors, you can’t get much traction and it can be quite entertaining to watch them slide across the floor and run in place.
We’ve noticed that when they get nervous in each other’s cages trying to fight through the glass, they often leave “gifts” in their enemies’ cage. They will also nod their heads, drop their arms, turn their beards black, and dance with crystals. Some days are calmer than others. They are in separate cages, but they all live in the same room and can be seen and heard climbing all over the cage.
Lesson 4: Financial Expenses
Not once did we consider the cost of these dragons. Due to his testosterone driven dominance, we needed to purchase 3 cages. In those cages are a log, lights, a heater, a house, exit timers, and food bowls. All of this can add up quickly and this is just to set up the house. Fortunately, we are saving some money on the substrate by using newspaper, but if you decide to use sand, it will cost extra.
Since your lights and heaters are on for most of the day, we definitely saw an increase in our energy bill. We certainly didn’t think about our electricity bill when we got the 3 dragons. However, a dragon probably won’t make much of a difference to your energy bill. Don’t forget spare bulbs! You’ll always have a burnt one when you’re not prepared.
Finally, we return to the food. Fresh vegetables, crickets, and then any extras you can get as treats. It all adds up quickly and can take you by surprise. I hope to spare myself the surprise of the financial expense that comes with owning bearded dragons.
Hopefully, after reading the lessons we’ve learned, you’ll be more aware of what you’ll be doing every day for your new pet. I wouldn’t change that about having 3 dragons, I would have liked to know a little more about what we were getting into. I enjoy and love my 3 dragons! Good luck and enjoy your new pet!