Keeping a Bearded Dragon as a Pet

We began researching bearded dragons because we heard they had personalities and wouldn’t cause an allergic reaction or asthma problem. The children can actually play with this pet. A bearded dragon isn’t so fragile that we have constant anxiety that they are going to accidentally injure the pet or that the pet is going to injure the children.

We researched reptile housing and food. We researched the expense involved. We understood going into it that we would have to invest in reptile supplies.

The more we learned, the more intrigued we were about this reptile. The children liked the idea of a bearded dragon as a pet. They thought it looked a bit scary and intimidating, which they strangely liked. They liked the spikes.
 

Good With Children

This interesting looking pet is very active during the day and the children love getting to watch him. Our bearded dragon is very friendly. The children quickly learned to pet him going with the scales and not against them. They love actually getting to hold, play and feed him. He loves his water bowl and uses it as a swimming pool as he climbs in and out of it frequently. He also enjoys getting to soak in warm baths. The boys love it when it is their turn to feed the bearded dragon. The reptile food they always select is the live crickets. They watch the pursuit. The girls prefer to give him commercial reptile food or fresh fruits and vegetables. They don’t want to see the live insect being eaten as they practice a capture and release program with any insect that gets in our home.
 

Sharing and Responsibility

The kids have been walking him around the house with him wearing small animal harness to keep him safe. They’ve even been able to take him into the backyard and neighborhood a few times however, we always have to be careful of his temperature. Since the kids get to enjoy the bearded dragon, it only seemed fair that they learn the responsibility of taking care of him too. They aren’t permitted to enjoy the fun parts of caring for a bearded dragon if they can’t help with the smelly parts too. While this is a pet for the children, caring for this reptile is ultimately our responsibility and we would never leave the task to the children alone. All of the care, feeding and cleaning is supervised or monitored to be sure it is done properly and timely.
 

Not so demanding

We find our bearded dragon fairly low maintenance and love the fact that he is flexible with our routine. Some days he has lots of interaction and attention and some days he has to be by himself for a long day. As long as he has plenty of food and water, we know he manages the long days without too much stress. We needed a pet that could handle our long days.
 

He is loved

Many may not realise it, but having a bearded dragon has been a great learning experience. The children can tell you a lot about reptiles. They are better at taking turns and have learned a little bit of responsibility. We love having a bearded dragon as a pet in our home. He causes more smiles than frustration. He has quickly become part of our daily lives, and we became attached and in love with him very quickly.