When going on vacation, you can have someone check in daily, board your bearded dragon at a reptile-savvy facility, or take them with you (for shorter trips), ensuring proper heat, UVB, food, and water are provided using timers and travel setups like plastic tubs with heat mats and appropriate lighting. For longer trips (over a week), a sitter or boarding is best; for short trips (a few days), they can often stay home with automated systems if set up correctly, but a sitter is still ideal for feeding and ensuring water.
Two weeks is far too long to leave them alone. You should never do this. “My beardie didn't die” is not a good way to judge whether or not they are receiving proper care. Letting a bearded dragon live in a week's worth of feces with no food and no one there in case something bad happens is simply not a good idea.
When traveling with a bearded dragon, maintain stable temperature (75-85°F) using heat packs or portable lamps. Use a secure, ventilated container with soft substrate to prevent injury. Hydrate before and after travel, and minimize handling to reduce stress. Monitor for signs of lethargy or refusal to eat.
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).
If your beardie hasn't pooped in five to seven days, or you notice changes in color/consistency, contact your vet.
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.
Notoriously finicky eaters, bearded dragons sometimes refuse to eat anything but their favorite items. Some have been known to refuse to eat for weeks. If you cave into their dark desires, these adorable, yet stubborn, lizards will know that they've got you – and will probably do it again.
While these lizards are better off in isolation when captive, they do tend to form a bond with their owners once they develop a sense of trust for that individual.
In our experience, pet travel with bearded dragons can be a safe (and warm) experience once you've done a little advance planning. To start, we recommend checking with your vet to see what advice they have about eating schedules, temperature control, etc.
Do I need to have more than one bearded dragon in a terrarium so they don't get lonely? In the wild, bearded dragons are solitary creatures so they don't necessarily need another bearded dragon friend. In fact, interaction with their owners may be enough.
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.
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.
They drink almost no water so your tap water is fine.
Play with Your Bearded Dragon Outside the Habitat
Playtime indoors could include chasing a ball or playing with fun cat toys, like a feather wand. Some bearded dragons enjoy chasing a laser-pointer dot. You can also take your bearded dragon outdoors if the weather is nice and the humidity is less than 65%.
What is the best Bearded dragon substrate to use? To most closely resemble the natural habitat of a Bearded dragon, you can use compacted clay-like sand, which will create a fairly solid surface similar to the dry, hard ground in parts of the Australian outback where Bearded dragons originate from.
Play Ball: Many beardies like balls, such as those you may get for a cat, a hamster, or a small dog. Don't give them anything small enough that they could choke on. Stuffed Animals: Bearded dragons sometimes enjoy snuggling up with plushies. (Did we mention how cute these guys are?)
Read their body language, if your Bearded dragon is consistently showing signs of stress when you go to handle them, for example, if they are doing all they can to avoid human contact, have a black beard or dark beard compared to normal or have a consistently raised tail, then you have some work to do.
Even if picking up your bearded dragon isn't an option, most still like being pet and getting gentle scratches, even in their enclosure. This activity also builds trust.
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.
This article provides a quick and easy guide to the most common signs that your bearded dragon may be sick.
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.