Are bearded dragons good pets? In short, yes. Bearded dragon is one of the best pet reptiles for a brand new reptile keeper. The truth is any reptile you get is going to have some pros and some cons. And you’ve got to decide is this the right reptile for you.
Bearded dragon is great in oh so many ways. Let’s break his overall score in five criteria: handling, care, hardiness, availability and upfront costs. I can tell you this right away – they are far easier to maintain then iguanas.
1. Handling
For handling I’d give them a 4 out of 5. The only reason they didn’t get a 5 out of 5 is because you’ve got to be careful that they don’t poop on you. That could be a big deal for some people. The good news is that is because bearded dragons come straight from nature basically potty trained. If you give them a little bath before you handle them they will do their business in there. You can give them a little rinse off, no worries.
Other than that they’re just unbelievable. You can see how they are happy to just hang out with you. They like to be in the highest place they can get to. So if you put them on your arm they’ll climb up on your shoulder they’ll hang out – they’re good to go. I’ve been places before where I set a bearded dragon on a table and it just sat there for an hour, hour and a half, during a class or or a seminar and just looked at people. And just looked around. And for a while people were like “is that real?” and then it turns its head and they just “whoa!” It’s the coolest thing they’ve ever seen in their lives – they love him.
Bearded dragons are unlikely to bite you. I have accidentally been nipped as part of a feeding response by a bearded dragon but I’ve never been bitten by a dragon while I was holding it. They’re unlikely to scratch you, and if that happens you’ll get superficial little cuts. They do have nails but they’re not gonna break the skin or anything. You’re not gonna bleed because they scratched you.
Something I adore about the Agamid lizards, which are the group that the bearded dragons belong to, is that they don’t lose their tails! It’s the greatest thing ever, that a lizard could have as an attribute, is it doesn’t drop its tail so you don’t have to worry about that with a bearded dragon. A bearded dragon is no more likely to lose its tail than your cat is.
Additionally they’re big enough that they can handle a little bit of rough handling. Not too rough, you always want to be careful with them. But you can hand them to a relatively small child and as long as they’re well supervised and you make sure they’re not going to drop, kick them or squeeze them hard. With normal handling they’re just gonna do great, they’re gonna be mellow and they’re gonna hang out. I adore bearded dragon – you can tell.
2. Care
When it comes to care, I’d give them a 3 out of 5. There are actually a lot of drawbacks to bearded dragon care. One of them, and a big one, is that their diet is somewhat complex. These guys are omnivores, which means they meat and plants and they need a lot of variety when it comes to meat and plants. So you’re gonna need various different kinds of insect feeders – which could mean things like dubia roaches, crickets, superworms . You can find them relatively affordably. You can buy them in bulk online – because dragons can really go through the insects.
You’re also gonna need really good plants and a variety of them. Mustard greens, collard greens, kale. These things are excellent. Baby spring mix can also be very good for them. Try to avoid things like spinach and broccoli which bind calcium (this is similar problem to diet of iguanas, that you can read about on this website). Bearded dragons need calcium and vitamin supplements in addition to the variety of both insect feeders and plants.
Bearded dragons need to be kept at relatively high temperatures which can be achieved with basking lights. You need an ambient temperature of 78 to 80°F (25.5-26.5°C) with a basking area 90 to 100°F (32-38°C).
In addition to just heat, they also need UV bulbs. UVB is very important to them. They need UV exposure and those lamps can be fairly expensive, but that is something you’re going to need to keep up with. Bulbs need to be replaced every six months to a year because they gradually lose their UV radiation power.
Also, a common complaint about bearded dragons is that they can be kind of stinky. I will be honest – they have a distinct bearded dragon-ly aroma. It’s not necessarily a terrible smell, but you usually can tell at least when you walk into a room that this is a room that has had bearded dragons in it recently.
3. Hardiness
When it comes to hardiness, I’d giving these guys a 4 out of 5. They are a very hardy animal. They can tolerate a lot of little mistakes. One of the easiest ways to kill them would be to get them too cold for a long time or way way hot. Main thing here is that they need a really hot basking area which is hard to achieve in a very small enclosure. So they need a fairly large enclosure so that they can have a good temperature gradient and be able to decide what temperature they to be at, and you don’t accidentally cook your lizard.
If you’re not giving them UVB radiation from a UV light source and not giving them things like calcium powder, then you’re going to run the risk of them getting metabolic bone disease – which can kill them off, not as quickly as heat or cold but fairly quickly.
4. Availability
When it comes to availability these guys are everywhere – so this is a 5 out of 5. You go into a pet shop that sells reptiles they sell bearded dragons guaranteed. If not they’re out and they will have more next week. What would be better is to go to a breeder (and there are lots of breeders because bearded dragons are easy to breed).
Bearded dragons are a little bit spiky in nature, but not always. There are all kinds of different texture and color morphs out there for bearded dragons. So if you’re willing to look a little bit you can find some really neat looking bearded dragons.
5. Upfront cost
We give them a score of 3 out of 5. The reason they don’t get a 5 out of 5 comes exclusively to their enclosure. The cost of a bearded dragon is very reasonable. You can pick up a bearded dragon very cheap and for this reason a lot of people buy them but, unfortunately, then they don’t keep them appropriately. Housing is going to be essential if you want a happy long-lived bearded dragon. They need a fairly large enclosure and fairly expensive lighting. These are going to be your big expensive upfront costs. Once you’ve paid for that, you’re still going to need to replace that bulb periodically.
Food gets kind of expensive for them. So they can be an expensive pet but they are very rewarding. For something with as much personality as they have, that is handleable and hardy and just fun as a bearded dragon – they’re hard to beat for any price.
Bearded Dragon as Pet - Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy to handle. Friendly.
- Hardy. They tolerate small mistakes in keeping.
- Available in bigger pet stores and cheap.
Cons
- Moderate costs. Big enclosure and UVB lights needed.
- Relatively complex diet.