In this post, you will find everything you need to know to decide whether a bearded dragon is a good pet for you. Also, we will discuss all the pros and cons that you need to know before getting a bearded dragon. So, is bearded dragon a good pet for me? Let’s find out.
Pros of bearded dragons as pets
1: Bearded dragons are friendly and docile
What makes bearded dragons one of the best lizard pets is that most of them are very nice and docile. Bearded dragons are often friendly and docile even with strangers, and rarely bite.
Sometimes, bearded dragons might become slightly unfriendly, but there is usually a reason for this. Regular handling and good care will make your bearded dragon a truly loving pet.
2: They can (and should) live alone and won’t get lonely
Bearded dragons are solitary lizards, and don’t need to live with another bearded dragon. Also, your bearded dragon won’t get lonely, and will enjoy living on its own.
Bearded dragons enjoy their own space and become territorial when needing to share it. You should not house more than 1 bearded dragon in one tank.
3: Bearded dragons are of ideal size for handling
Most lizard owners, especially beginners, want a pet lizard that they can handle a lot. But if a pet lizard is too small, it might be hard to handle it. This is because you can injure or crush small lizards easily.
This is why bearded dragons make a good pet for handling – they are not too small or too big, and have a solid body for handling. Adult bearded dragons get around 17-24 inches (43-61cm) head to tail.
4: Bearded dragons are quiet
Bearded dragons make good pets also because they don’t make any noises.
The only noise that your dragon might make is a quiet hissing noise when it doesn’t like something. Otherwise, bearded dragons communicate by head bobbing, beard inflating and other body movements rather than noises.
5: Bearded dragons don’t need much space
Bearded dragons, unlike other larger lizards, don’t need massive enclosures, such as monitors or iguanas. An adult bearded dragon can be housed comfortably in a minimum 55 gallon tank similar to this one.
Bare minimum is 40 gallons, that is at least 36 inches long, but that is not recommended. You can house your bearded dragon even in a 75 or bigger enclosure, that is up to how much space you have.
You can read a post on choosing a tank for your bearded dragon here (new tab).
6: Bearded dragons can live a long time
Bearded dragons make great pets because they can live for around 10-15 years. Not all bearded dragons will live to 15 years old, but with proper care, your bearded dragon can easily live to up to 10-12 years old. This is a similar lifespan to cats and dogs.
7: Bearded dragons are beautiful
Bearded dragons are truly beautiful lizards that you can admire if you keep one as a pet. They have a beautiful beard, cute eyes, limbs and toes, and truly do look like small dragons!
Also, you can find a big range of various bearded dragon morphs of different colors – including classic, red, orange, striped, blizzard and more! You can find a list of bearded dragon morphs in this post.
8: Bearded dragons are good for beginners and advanced keepers due to a relatively care
It is relatively easy to care for bearded dragons comparing to other larger lizards, or for example chameleons. Bearded dragons don’t require too much handling to stay docile, either.
You will need to feed your bearded dragon 1-3 times a day depending on age (less with age) and clean its tank weekly. Your adult bearded dragon over 12 months old might also brumate through the winter, making maintenance very easy during these few weeks to few months.
Removing the poop will be one of the main cleaning aspects. Also, bearded dragons can also eat a big range of foods (including bugs and veggies, fruits), that you can try out. You won’t be needing to raise humidity levels or adjust lighting few times a day.
9: They don’t bite (or very rarely)
Because bearded dragons are docile and friendly, only a small percentage do actually bite their owners. This often happens due to confusion or when severely stressed or threatened.
Most of the time, bites are accidental when a bearded dragon confuses your fingers for moving insects. Bites will be very rare, often due to severe stress, and your dragon will show aggression signs before biting.
A stressed dragon will be more likely to run away or hide, rather than bite. Baby bearded dragon bite won’t hurt at all, while adult one can hurt and draw a little blood. But this is not common at all.
10: Bearded dragons have unique and fun personalities
Each bearded dragon has a fun unique personality. Your bearded dragon might enjoy spending time outside the tank daily, and some will actually scratch the glass to ask for it. They are very fun to observe and you can even take them outside for little walks!
Some bearded dragons will enjoy looking out of the window for hours, and some will enjoy laying on you while you watch TV. Your bearded dragon will also have its own food preferences and more.
Also, you will enjoy observing various behaviors, including arm waving, bobbing and etc. If you devote time to your dragon, it will turn out to be a good and tolerant pet.
11: Low cost and good availability
Bearded dragons are very easy to find and buy and don’t cost much (unless you are buying an exclusive morph). What is more, there are many bearded dragons for adoption, so you can adopt a bearded dragon that needs a good home for free.
Apart from initial costs, bearded dragons will only cost a few dollars in electricity a month and few tens of dollars for food. With age, your bearded dragon will eat mainly veggies/greens/fruits, so it will be an easy maintenance. What is more, you can start your own bug colonies at home and breed them for your dragon.
The only things that you have to think about is any unexpected vet bills in case your dragon gets sick. You might consider a pet insurance or save up for this unfortunate occasion.
12: Bearded dragons are often tolerant of other pets such as cats and dogs
Of course you shouldn’t put your bearded dragon near any smaller animals or other reptiles, such as mice, guinea pigs, small birds or other lizards.
This is because your dragon is highly likely to eat a smaller animal. It is not recommended that you put your dragon near another reptile. But however, your bearded dragon is likely to be fine with your cat or dog, and not stress out.
Make sure to have them near each other only under supervision, and separate them if something happens. However, settled bearded dragons tend to be calm around other large pets. So only introduce them to each other after the dragon has settled in your home for few weeks.
13: They are diurnal
Bearded dragons are diurnal lizards – which means that they are active during the day and sleep at night. This is unlike other lizards such as crested geckos and leopard geckos, who are crepuscular.
Being crepuscular means that these lizards get active primarily during twilight. Being diurnal means that your bearded dragon will sleep at night, just like you. This is also a good plus if you have children at home, so that your bearded dragon won’t disturb anyone.
Some people that work later hours shift dragon’s sleeping patterns to later at night, but it has to be done carefully.
14: Bearded dragons are hardy
Bearded dragons are hardy and will be fine with some of the husbandry mistakes that you might make. But however, long exposure to incorrect setups might cause lifelong health issues.
So your bearded dragon might not show any symptoms for some time. Please review your setup from time to time to make sure everything is optimal.
15: Your bearded dragon won’t drop its tail
Not dropping a tail in stressful situation is a big advantage of bearded dragons. Unlike many other lizards which drop their tail easily, such as leopard geckos or crested geckos, especially.
If your bearded dragon is stressed, it will be likely to puff up its beard, hiss at you, run away, or rarely bite. Even though your bearded dragon can lose its tail partially due to bites, infection and other reasons, it won’t be dropping it.
Cons of bearded dragons as pets
1: Baby bearded dragons will need a lot of live food
If you decide to buy a baby bearded dragon, you will have to deal with a lot of live feeding! Bearded dragon’s dietary needs change with age, though. Baby bearded dragons until the age of around 7-8 months will need to eat 2-4 times a day. You will need to feed a lot of small bugs (not to choke or cause impaction).
Thankfully, this changes after this age, when your sub-adult and adult bearded dragon will mainly eat greens/veggies and some fruit, and bugs only 2 days a week.
Depending on which bugs you buy, feeding a baby bearded dragon can be somewhat costly. If buying small crickets, they can eat up to 100 small crickets a day. This can cost around 20$ a week.
But as they need diversity, you will need to buy other types of bugs as well, which can be a bit more expensive. With age, occasional live feeding and veggies will not cost nearly as much, though.
One of the ways to cut down on food spending is to breed 1-3 types of feeder bugs at home. This will also mean that you will be in control of what these bugs eat. That is very important, as gut-loading with low nutrient foods will mean that your bearded dragon is eating that too.
2: They need specific lighting and temperatures
Your bearded dragon will require a high output UVB tube that will help it produce vitamin D3. Without the UVB lamp, your bearded dragon won’t be able to absorb calcium.
This will lead to Metabolic bone disease, which will take a long time to show, but cause irreversible damage. Your bearded dragon will also need a hot basking spot of 92-110 degrees Fahrenheit (33-43 Celsius), along with a cool side.
It can be a little challenging to reach these high temperatures, but you can always read a post on the website that will help you with the setup.
Make sure to change UVB bulb (or to be exact, it has to be a long tube that runs around 50-80% of the tank like this) every 6 months. This is because tubes/bulbs stop emitting UVB without you noticing. For heat lights though, you can use household, halogen or other simpler bulbs.
While a little challenging, almost all reptiles do need specific lighting and hot/cool spots. Once you learn how to set it up, it will get much easier to look after.
3: Their poop smells
Bearded dragon’s poop will often have a bad smell. Believe it or not, you will have to get used to cleaning your dragon’s poop as soon as you see it. Most of the time, this bad smell is due to eating live food, so with age, this has to improve a little as well.
But the good news is, their body don’t emit bad smells. You can also help your dragon poop whenever you want by bathing it (bathing relaxes them and often results in poops). Poop doesn’t smell as much in water, and you can easily flush it after.
Please don’t listen to people that say to use loose substrate because it makes poop cleaning easy. Loose substrate will make it much worse because the poop will get lost in the substrate, and will cause a lot of bacteria to grow. This will cause an ever worse smell and lead to poor hygiene.
Not mentioning that you shouldn’t use loose substrate in a bearded dragon’s tank, because it will cause impaction! Dragons are very curious creatures and will try to lick and eat everything.
4: Daily feeding and cleaning
While this is not a cons, keep in mind that you will have to feed your bearded dragon daily. This is few times a day for younger bearded dragons. Some other lizard pets can be fed only once in 2-3 days, for example. But feeding can be fun too – to explore new foods and spend some quality time!
However, nothing will happen if your adult (not young) bearded dragon doesn’t eat for up to few weeks to a month! This is often done when training them to eat veggies and so on.
This is not recommended, but it shows how hardy bearded dragons are. Bearded dragons that brumate also don’t eat for up to few months without losing any weight!
You will need to clean your bearded dragon’s tank lightly every day and more thoroughly weekly. Daily cleaning will include washing food bowls, removing poop, food and performing other small tasks.
Weekly cleaning will include wiping the tank, washing bowls and accessories and so on. It can be easy to do if you put your dragon in a spare container while cleaning.
But as mentioned, all lizard pets and other pets require you to feed them and clean for them, right?
Summary – is bearded dragon a good pet?
So is bearded dragon a good pet? Absolutely! Bearded dragons are amazing pet lizards for both beginners and advanced keepers, due to their manageable maintenance and great personality.
A bearded dragon can even be suitable for families with children that are over 10 years old. At this age, children can start learning responsibility and hold a dragon without any fear of it biting or losing its tail! Children that are 10 years old or under will require supervision, though.
If you are able to care for your bearded dragon and spend time with it, then it will become a great pet lizard that you will love for years to come! And remember, it becomes easier with time and practice.