Does anyone have a bearded dragon?

[jewellsmommy]

My dd (7) wants a bearded dragon. I am not sure where the fascination came from. We went to a pet store and let her hold one a month ago. She was mildly disturbed to learn that they eat crickets. When we found a loose cricket on the floor, my dh picked it up and I made my dd look at it and say "I am going to feed you to a lizard now." My dh was slightly horrified at this, but I told him I wanted to be sure that she was ok with feeding crickets to something. Ofcourse, the cages were locked and the attendant was gone so we couldn't follow through with the feeding. I am just concerned that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth every time we have to feed the poor little crickets to the lizard.

Dd promises that she is ok with this. We have told her that we will think on it and get back to her. By the way, she doesn't seem to mind sending the meal worms to their death, just the crickets!

 

My question: Does anyone have a bearded dragon or similar lizard. Is your child the sensitive type? Is it a big deal? Tell me your avg day of feed and care. I already have one set of very high maintenance animals (ferrets) and not sure if I could handle anything on that level.

 

We are considering telling dd that if she reads 100 books, she can have her bearded dragon. This bearded dragon fascination has been going on for about 2.5 months now! By the way, she feeds, waters and plays/exercises all the current animals and does a good job.

[Perry]

We have a dog, cats, guinea pigs, and a bearded dragon, and the BD is by far the lowest maintenance pet. There's quite an investment up front, as the tank and lights are expensive, but once it's all set up, there's not much cost involved. Make sure you learn about the kind of lights and heat they need before you purchase, or you might end up with a set-up you don't like.

 

Feeding is easy. We give crickets every other day and salads/fruits/veggies opposite days. He doesn't eat all that much, so on salad days it might just be a few tablespoons of chopped up cabbage and carrots, or a handful of peas and corn. I buy cheap bags of frozen veggies, thaw a few tablespoons at a time, then chop it up small. Once you get a system going, it's very easy.

 

My kids don't have any problems feeding him crickets. It's sort of fascinating to watch him eat, but it doesn't bother anyone. They aren't exactly the sensitive warm fuzzy type though.

 

I do have to go to the Petco for crickets every couple weeks. We keep them in a cricket cage, and you have to provide food and water to the crickets or they won't live long. And they need to be well nourished or they aren't providing much nutrition to your lizard. It's not too much of a hassle to throw some cricket food and water cubes in there every now and then though. Some people raise and breed their own crickets, but I think it sounds like too much hassle. Plus, crickets stink.

 

He also sleeps a good part of the winter, and doesn't eat much then. He has gone for weeks without eating. When he comes out of his hidey log and starts walking around, I know he wants to eat, but after a meal he often goes back and sleeps for weeks again. I don't know how he survives on so little food during the winter months, but he sure seems healthy.

 

Good luck. They make great pets, if you like reptiles.

[Tree House Academy]

We have a gold dust gecko that eats crickets. He is much smaller than a BD, but still eats crickets and salad. I have to get crickets every few weeks - we buy about 2 dozen at a time and feed them potato and water so they stay alive longer.

 

The maintenance is minimal with a lizard. You do want to be careful when cleaning out the cage. All lizards carry E-coli in their intestines which comes out in their poo.