How long can a beardie stay out?

I have had my beardie about 6 months now and lately he never wants to go back in his vivarium. My house is normally around 70 degrees and whenever he is out he usually sits on my shoulder for a while and goes to sleep but when I try to put him back he tries to hop back on my shoulder.

Today I just gave in and let him hang out. He went with me to the bank and to get gas and just sat on my shoulder the whole time. He was out for about 3 and a half hours. Can this be harmful?

Sounds like you have an adventurer on your hands. I consider it a good thing. If you keep him out for long periods of time it might be a good idea to set up a portable basking lamp. You can use a regular halogen basking lamp ore get a mercury vapor bulb to provide some UVB too. He will learn to return to it to warm up as he roams around. I've had pretty good success with that.

Do be careful putting him on your shoulder though. Sometimes they jump unexpectedly and can hurt themselves pretty badly from that height.

CooperDragon":93zh6dp1 said:

Sounds like you have an adventurer on your hands. I consider it a good thing. If you keep him out for long periods of time it might be a good idea to set up a portable basking lamp. You can use a regular halogen basking lamp ore get a mercury vapor bulb to provide some UVB too. He will learn to return to it to warm up as he roams around. I've had pretty good success with that.

Do be careful putting him on your shoulder though. Sometimes they jump unexpectedly and can hurt themselves pretty badly from that height.

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He isn't much of a jumper even though he did go through a phase where he would jump from anywhere. But I do see what you mean. He just clings to the side of my neck and lays there and it is very wise to convince him other wise. But thanks for the advice! I was thinking of getting a childs play pen and getting clamp lamps to set up a spot for him to get warm while he is out and about

It's excellent advice, do not put him on your shoulders while you're standing, doesn't matter if he's a jumper or not. Many beardies have died either immediately or within 24 hours by suddenly either jumping off a person's shoulder or slipping off for some reason, like you suddenly have to jerk around or you trip, etc. It happens every day and then people come on here panicking and so upset because they blame themselves. The last one I remember here was particularly heartbreaking, it was immediately paralyzed from its hips down, permanently because it broke it's spine. So this poor owner spent huge amounts of money at the reptile vet, thought he was going to be okay just paralyzed for the rest of his life, then like 2 weeks later he died anyway. It was awful. So it happens, and I just never ever risk it, they are never on my shoulder if I'm standing up, period.