To leave a bearded dragon alone, set up timers for heat/UVB, ensure ample fresh water (maybe add hornworms for hydration), clean the tank thoroughly, and for longer trips (over 3-4 days), arrange a pet sitter or use a gradual "hibernation" method, focusing on adult dragons and never babies. A sitter for daily checks is always best, but automated systems can manage short absences.
Ideally if you can have a friend check in on them that might be better and safer option but an adult dragon in good heath with access to water and proper day and night temperatures would likely be fine for a 3 day trip.
Giving your beardie a good meal or three of feeders pre-trip and leaving them a good salad is the bulk of your nutrition plan for trips. Some people will recommend leaving out a pile of freeze-dried mealworms or crickets as they won't go bad or cause problems when left unattended.
Release live insects into their enclosure for them to hunt, or scatter vegetables or small pieces of their favorite fruits around the tank, encouraging your bearded dragon to forage and hunt for their meal. This mimics their natural hunting behaviors and can keep them mentally engaged.
Healthy adult bearded dragons can go without food for up to seven to 10 days under normal circumstances. Some may survive longer during brumation (a type of reptilian hibernation). Juvenile or baby bearded dragons should not go more than a few days without food.
Each bearded dragon is unique but generally sociable and tolerant of humans. Some may be fine with other beardies in captivity, but many prefer to be alone. Beardies love their owners. They'll recognize you, look in your eyes, beg for food, and sometimes want to be held.
The most common causes of death in bearded dragons often stem from improper husbandry, leading to conditions like Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) (due to lack of UVB/Calcium), severe parasitic infections (like nematodes), or Atadenovirus (ADV), a highly contagious and often fatal virus causing liver/gut issues. Other frequent culprits include impaction from eating prey that's too large, respiratory infections, and systemic organ failure, with inflammatory diseases being a top category in pathology studies.
Warm Bath. A (supervised) warm bath can be just as relaxing for a dragon as it is for us. This will also help keep your reptilian pal properly hydrated. The water should be right around 85-92 degrees, and no deeper than your pet's chest.
Being a diurnal species, bearded dragons need a day and night cycle. According to data on sunrise and sunset times in bearded dragons' natural habitat in Australia, a cycle of 14 hours/day during summer and 10 hours/day during winter (with gradual adjustments in-between) is appropriate.
Bearded dragons are curious reptiles who like to keep an eye on things. Most beardies enjoy watching TV if it's a show with a lot of action. Every beardie is different, so they may not all enjoy watching the same things, but it's important to give them the opportunity for mental enrichment.
If you want to follow a schedule for how often to bathe your bearded dragon, the general guideline is once or twice a week. Ideally it's important to have a shallow reptile water dish in their tank, that is changed and cleaned daily, in case your beardie wants to soak sooner than their bath time.
How to pinch-test for dehydration: Gently pinch the skin on the side of your bearded dragon's body. If the skin settles back into place quickly, your dragon is hydrated. If it is sluggish in settling back into position, your dragon may be dehydrated.
It's a good idea to leave them on for 12 hours and turned off for 12 hours. Be sure to use a special heat source that doesn't emit bright light when it's night. Remember that each reptile and amphibian species might have slightly different needs when it comes to hours of daytime versus nighttime.
Handling times
Bearded dragons are quite docile reptiles and make great pets, you can reinforce this behaviour early on with a baby Bearded dragon by having regular handling sessions 2-4 times a day for 5-15 minutes at a time until they become comfortable.
If their terrarium is too cold, bearded dragons may attempt to regulate their body temperature by flattening out in order to absorb as much heat as possible. If you notice your dragon pancaking a lot in his tank, this is likely the cause.
Keep the lamp away from the ground, combustible bedding (like straw and blankets), and the newborn livestock at a minimum distance of 20”. Never lay a heat lamp on a flammable surface. Plug your heat lamp into an Arc Fault Interrupter breaker which will trip if the fixture sparks.
Even the most badass beardie can feel scared or stressed out when a perceived threat or something unfamiliar enters their environment. There are many signs that indicate when your pet is feeling threatened: Aggression - Even the most docile beardies can become aggressive and may bite when they feel they're in danger.
Symptoms of stress
Here are some toys that your bearded dragon might enjoy:
7 Signs Your Bearded Dragon May Be Sick
Bearded dragons can safely eat scrambled eggs.
They can also eat hard boiled eggs. Just remember these pointers: Adult bearded dragons should eat no more than half an egg at a time, max. If you're scrambling the egg, don't mix any additional ingredients with it.
The zoonotic diseases associated with reptile and amphibian contact are primarily bacterial infections. These include Salmonella, Mycobacterium, Campylobacter, Aeromonas, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Serratia and Flavobacterium meningosepticum.