Do you bathe your dragon

[nrich]

I've been bathing my dragon because it's the only time that she drinks water. I keep a full bowl in her cage, but she does not recognize the water unless she is splashing around in it, which she does occasionally, but not enough for my liking. When I plop her in the bath, she immediately drinks some water, so I know she needs it. I also feed her fresh greens and fruit (usually more of a treat/laxative item than a staple) on a daily basis, so she does get some moisture from that.

 

[Alliemac]

Just got another dragon and this one loves water too!

 

[gixxer3420]

Yup I bought one of those plastic pools from walmart and use that for them to swim around in.

 

[TheVirus]

Anybody ever think why we have to take an animal from a semi-arid climate classification, and soak them in water, in order to keep them hydrated and to have good sheds?

 

[gixxer3420]

Anyway, my dragons love to be in the water. Its a lot of fun watching them splash around.

 

[Alliemac]

Anybody ever think why we have to take an animal from a semi-arid climate classification, and soak them in water, in order to keep them hydrated and to have good sheds?

I'm interested to hear your theory.

Personally, it's the same thing for me as providing a humid hide for a gecko, dusting food items with vitamins or daily misting to increase humidity. Or the way I have to bop one of my ball pythons on the nose with his rat so he can find it. I'm pretty sure that the wild prey wouldn't give him the same courtesy. :main_laugh:

We're taking these animals out of their natural habitat and trying our best to give them what they need. Since it's isn't a "natural" setting sometimes we have to do things that wouldn't happen in the wild to keep them healthy and happy.

 

[eric]

I'm interested to hear your theory.

We're taking these animals out of their natural habitat and trying our best to give them what they need. Since it's isn't a "natural" setting sometimes we have to do things that wouldn't happen in the wild to keep them healthy and happy.

I'm sorry Allie but it's not the same. Providing a gecko with a humid hide is recreating the cave or crevice that they would naturally take refuge in.

Soaking a Bearded Dragon in a tub isn't recreating anything natural. Light misting to simulate rain or misting down veggies to recreate morning dew, that's natural.

This, IMO, is asking for health issues.

 

[gixxer3420]

Ive been putting my dragons in a kids plastic pool with 2-3 inches of water in it for the last 8 years and I have yet to have any health problem because they were in water.

 

[TheVirus]

But did you ever think why.....

 

[eric]

What's great about this forum is that we can all agree on disagreeing.

 

[TheVirus]

We're taking these animals out of their natural habitat and trying our best to give them what they need. Since it's isn't a "natural" setting sometimes we have to do things that wouldn't happen in the wild to keep them healthy and happy.

So what is it about our un-natural conditions that makes it so that we have to soak a dragon in order to hydrate them and allow them to shed properly (to keep their toes and tails)?

I'm just trying to stimulate a conversation on husbandry. We, as a community, keep our animals a certain way, simply because some one told us too. We seem to just take their word for it and never ask "why" So I'm asking just asking why

 

[gixxer3420]

Because all the bearded dragons ive had love the water. Its that simple, they love the water

 

[TheVirus]

I've hatched around a thousand dragons. They don't love baths. They can become submissive to baths, but they never love them

But even enjoying baths doesn't answer the question as to why we have to bath them for health reasons.

 

[Alliemac]

So what is it about our un-natural conditions that makes it so that we have to soak a dragon in order to hydrate them and allow them to shed properly (to keep their toes and tails)?

I'm just trying to stimulate a conversation on husbandry. We, as a community, keep our animals a certain way, simply because some one told us too. We seem to just take their word for it and never ask "why" So I'm asking just asking why

Ok, my opinion and theory because I have thought about this. Keep in mind that I've only had 2 dragons not thousands but I'm a logical person who researches things to death and is always open to new ideas even if they are contrary to mine. :main_laugh:

Beardies in the wild, of course live in arid, dry areas in Australia for the most part. It makes sense that baths or soaking are not a normal part of their daily lives. However, and this is where they differ from captive held animals, they are active, hunting, running, puffing, bobbing, climbing and hanging out all day long. In comparison captive held animals are chilling, eating from a dish, basking, having a little stroll around, getting some pats and maybe a trip outside where their owner is hovering over them to make sure they don't run. Soooo....very different activity levels and daily routines.

Wild beardie is shedding today. First he climbs a tree to scout out some prey. That should help loosen that belly, arm and leg shed. Then he runs into a kangaroo....AHHHH....wild beardie makes himself very fierce, puffs his beard and body and looks ferocious. Mr. Kangaroo runs away due to toughness of Wild Beardie and wild beardie now has cracked his back and face sheds. Another couple of climbs to scouts some more snacks and the shed is coming along. A quick scratch on a tree loosens some more. Now an award winning dash to catch a tasty breakfast! Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, all that action will help that shed too. Lol....you get the idea. Wild beardie equals active beardie.

Now Captive beardie is waking up...we'll call him Joe. Joe blinks because an extremely bright light is blinding him and ruining his dream. Ahh...Joe's owner is up and has turned on the sun. Joe stretches and wanders to his food dish....hmmmm....empty. Joe then turns and gives owner stink eye while keeping one foot in his food dish so owner knows what stink eye is for this time. Owner rushes to make a balanced salad with tasty superworms on top to present to his highness, then owner rushes to clean and fill water dish because Joe likes to have a drink after his breakfast. Yum! Joe is sooo full so he waddles to his favorite basking rock, slowly climbs up and basks for the rest of the morning. Meanwhile, Joe's shed is stuck and not moving....oh wait....there is a slight crack in the shed on Joe's foot from his climb onto the basking rock but no more. Poor Joe. It's just not that easy to shed when you're the king.

In my opinion the biggest difference is activity level and the activities themselves. Compare it to two human bodies. Human one lives in the woods, hunts for their meat, chops wood, hauls water, repairs the cottage, tends the garden etc. Human two gets up, takes a shower, goes through the Timmie's drive through and sits in a desk all day. Human one is probably in excellent physical condition just by the nature of their lifestyle. Human two would need to go to the gym, walk on their lunch hour or do one of a million EXTRA things that human two doesn't need to do to have the same level of personal health. That is probable not the best analogy but you get the idea.

Bathing captive beardies is just one of those things that we can do to help them along since we've deprived them of their natural habitat. I should also clarify that I don't "bathe" my beardies anymore. I have a beardie sized water dish in each of their enclosures that they chose to soak in (sometimes several times a day). I know I clean both water dishes at least twice a day because they both are in them that much. My latest beardie was an adoption that didn't even have a water dish in her tank for the first 4 years of her life with them. After disinfecting the enclosure the first thing I did was put in a water dish and she was in that dish within 30 seconds of being placed back in her enclosure. That isn't submission to me. It was her choice and it's been her choice to get in the water dish everyday since. The rest of my husbandry is spot on, they are both great eaters and poopers, friendly, socialized and relaxed beardies.


I'm really interested in your comment about being submissive regarding bathing. Now you turn to give your thoughts.

 

[TheVirus]

Great description in your response Allie. I felt like I was there with that wild dragon

My opinion isn't as pretty or entertaining. Dragons don't like baths. Over time they can submit to them, but every dragon out the egg goes crazy trying to escape the bath. I'm sure sudden pools of water means flash flood to a beardie and their instinct would tell them to go high.

I feel we have to soak our dragons (or mist, or feed watered down greens) because the conditions of the habitat we provide for our dragons is too harsh (dry). These animals have evolved to survive in extreme conditions, yet in our care, we have to remove the animal from the enclosure in order to satisfy its hydration needs.

Wild beardies spend a lot of time in burrows, cracks crevices, etc. These areas will have higher humidity levels then the air outside. In order for a burrow to hold, there needs to be moisture in the soil. Moist soil coupled with little air movement leads to a moist environment. The moisture will help keep a dragon hydrated and allow for good sheds.

Screen top or open top enclosures, dehydrate the enclosure much faster than a solid top enclosure. The hot air being shot down from the lite bulb turns right around and rises up and out the enclosure. The hot, dry air, sucks up moisture from the enclosure (the greens, water bowl, your dragon) takes it up and out, and is replaced by the cool air of the room. The process is continuous. In order to keep the temperature warm enough for the beardie, high watt lite bulbs are needed (its like trying to heat your house with no roof). The higher watt bulbs shoot out more heat, and makes the air around the bulb very hot.

So the harsh conditions (dry) and the poor air movement (too much), leads to a dehydrated dragon. In good conditions (not harsh) and with good air movement, you'll never need to mist or bathe your dragon. You'll allow your dragon to fulfill its needs instinctually, by using the temps and humidity levels it needs to satisfy its needs. I feel beardies are very good at being beardies. I feel they know what they need far better then we do. All we have to do is give them the tools they need and they will do the rest.

Tim

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Morning all,
Ill chime in here as well. My Husbandry is simplistic compared to Tims. (raise a glass to ya Tim). I build my own enclosures and simply keep a water bowl in them. They soak themselves as needed and I have been able to maintain a healthy humidity level at the same time. I may soak in a bath from time to time but not often.

 

[KrakenQueen]

I bathe Face once a week since he has a tub of water in his cage and mist him every other day or so.

 

[latshki]

the reason your beardies "love" bathes is because they are from an arid environment in the wild they get their water from humid burrows and morning dew
and if they come across the puddle they waste no time to get as hydrated as possible because only god knows when they will see another one
so that is why your dragons go nuts and drink water until they are fat and full
it's the same reason they eat so much, if they pass up water or food they could die because they might not have the opportunity again
it's that simple

 

[cryptid_hunter]

I give my beardie a bath once per week and mist every other day. She has an always full water dish but I never see her drink from it. When I give the weekly baths I get the water to between 85 and 90 degrees F, and after I put Phoenix in I will pour some lukewarm, unflavored pedialyte into my hands and let it drop onto her back. And I'll also pour 1/3rd of the bottle around her and then with my hands splash water constantly over her back.

Also, before I pour the pedialyte in, I make sure she's not gonna poop in the bath first. She used to do that, probably because of stress, but she doesn't do it often anymore. She was a rescue that had a horrible life, so in my mind she deserves to be treated like a queen. She was abandoned in an apartment and left for dead. No food, no heat, no water. She developed MBD and had an infected hole in her jaw. The vet didn't think she could be saved, but she miraculously recovered, and that's why I named her Phoenix.

And honestly I don't know how much the pedialyte helps, but when I have herps overnighted to me, like AFT's, the trip tends to dehydrate them a bit. So as soon as they've had a moment to settle I give them a 50/50 - pedialyte/fresh water soak for about 15 minutes to rehydrate them and they perk right up.

 

[SnakeKeeper]

Usually bathe my spoiled rotten bud every few days, sometimes daily, depending on my schedule. He loves his baths!