Why you shouldn’t buy a bearded dragon

Reason #1: fecal odor

The first thing I’d like to start by saying is that bearded dragon feces have the worst smell of any pet I’ve ever owned! The smell is too strong to have in any room. I had my bearded dragon in my room and it stunk in my room so much I had to put it in the basement. Even then, he’d still suck at that too. The only place I would recommend keeping them would be in a shed, away from the house.

Reason #2: The massive amounts of crickets

One of the worst things about owning a bearded dragon is having to buy a LOT of crickets for my bearded dragon. When they are young they eat a lot of crickets. My bearded man used to eat almost 20 crickets per sitting. Now he would buy almost 200 crickets at a time, and that would last him almost 2 weeks. That’s about $20 per week. For an average teenager, that’s a lot of money to dish out just for food, not to mention the calcium powder and greens a bearded man needs, too. But about the crickets, you have to keep them in a separate cage and you have to feed them too! So not only do you have to feed your bearded dragon, but you also have to feed the crickets to keep them alive and nutritious.

Reason #3: Light and Heat

Although many people say that bearded dragons are very easy to care for, they still have many exceptions. Beards need special lighting and heat. You will need to purchase a very hot heat lamp that will produce a temperature of about 95 degrees on the hot side. At night you will also need a heating pad, for when the temperature is cooler. Worst of all, in addition to getting the temperature right, you also need to make sure the humidity is just right or else it could have an effect on your bearded dragon. You have to constantly spray the cage to keep it looking good.

Reason #4: Cage Size

Even though when you buy a bearded dragon they are relatively small, 6 to 10 inches as hatchlings, they will grow to considerable size. Most sites will tell you that they make an excellent first reptile due to their size, but when fully grown your cage may not be suitable. Most people say that a 55 gallon aquarium is an adequate size, but when you actually see the size of the tank, I think it’s negligible. I think an adult barbelt should have at least a 4 foot x 1.5 foot tank. It would be roughly a 75 gallon tank. In general, there are many different reptiles that can be kept in a smaller tank size.