Bearded Dragons as pets
If you are thinking about making the step into reptile keeping then one of your first considerations should be the Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps).
Bearded dragons have been the bedrock of reptile keeping now for the last two decades. They quickly rose from being an obscure species kept by specialists, back when green iguanas and boa constrictors were still the mainstay of reptile keeping to become the number one most kept pet reptile. Introducing many households who would never imagine owning a reptile to the amazing world of keeping reptiles as pets.
So why are they so popular?
They don't get huge! An adult bearded dragon at most is going to reach 24 inches, and that's at the biggest end of the scale, most bearded dragons will grow to around 15” nose to tail.
They are super friendly, ok so you can get the odd moody one, but generally they are a super docile, inquisitive species of reptile. They recognise owners, they become hand tame, will happily take food from you, will sit on your lap for cuddles and strokes.
They don't move like lightning, ok they can get a wriggle on if they want to, but if you have ever observed a wild reptile, one minute its basking in the sun, the next moment blink and you have missed it. Not so with bearded dragons, they are easy to hold and handle, you can place them down in a supervised enclosed area and watch them roam around without fear of them disappearing up the curtains.
They are day active, Bearded dragons are Diurnal creatures, they are awake during the day exactly the same as most of us. With some pet reptiles 99% of the time it can seem like you are keeping a very elaborately decorated pet branch or rock, if your pet is nocturnal like a leopard gecko your really only going to see it at its main activity levels in the middle of the night. Bearded dragons will be active during the day, fair enough a bearded dragon's definition of active usually consists of laying out basking on a rock, but he's awake and ready to interact with you.
Friends for life, well not quite life but they are with you a bit longer than the family hamster, bearded dragons have a lifespan of around 12 years on average, however as our keeping skills, technology and welfare knowledge increases over time we are hearing of dragons going well into their late teens. This is an important consideration when purchasing a pet, just how long you will be together.
Bearded Dragons in captivity are basically the reptile version of a dog! In my opinion they are the reptile to start out with, unless you want something more like a cat, then you need a Yemen chameleon.. But that's an article for another day!.
Feeding one is easy too, just simply select an appropriate food pack from our website