In our January newsletter we ran an article on Bearded Dragons as an alternate pet. To our delight we received feedback from an avid owner.
Max Contarino is 11 years old and the owner of two Bearded Dragons. Max is a keen motorbike rider so he named his pets accordingly, Reed after Chad Reed and Rossi after Valentino Rossi the motor bike champions. These lizards are housed in large fish tanks with lids, this allows for the temperature to stay constant with UVB and infrared lamps and also makes cleaning, feeding and maintenance easy.
The fish tanks contains branches that Max refreshes occasionally, shallow water dishes, rocks and plant matter that they can camouflage with. Max knows when something may be wrong as he notices their colour change slightly. They lose that spectacular bright orange and go dull and a tinged brown. He understands them and their needs as they are his mates. They are constantly out of their tanks interacting with him, love being stroked on the head and close their eyes when he does this. They wander around as if they are protective but if threatened will fan their neck and look majestic.
One morning in early January Max awoke to find eggs had been laid in the tank. This was to be a clutch of 20. Unfortunately they were not successful but weeks later there was another clutch of 28 eggs. It will take 60-80 days in ideal conditions to see if any hatch. Vegetable peelings and scraps are the Reed and Rossi’s favourite meal but garden creepies are also on the menu. Best of luck Max for your hatchings and thanks for sharing your story.
