Potentially giving beardy up - please see post

Hello

Looking for some advice and guidance as I have a bit of a dilemma

So we’ve had our beardy for 2 years, and in those 2 years he’s been a happy and healthy bearded dragon with good growth and no ailments/illnesses.

Neither of us have ever had a bearded dragon before and it was a steep learning curve.

We also have a dog, so getting beardy out over the last two years have been difficult and very rare, neither of us are too confident handling him but we are enough to move him around and give him his weekly baths etc.

Money is an issue and we currently feed him dubia roaches every other day with greens and just his greens on the alternative days.

A good friend of my partners used to keep bearded dragons and has offered to take him from us - he is confident handling him and it means beardy will be able to leave his vivarium probably daily ! Which to us seems like it would benefit him and give him a better quality of life as we always feel very very guilty about him always being in his viv, but I honestly think he’s quite happy chilling , he’s never got black beard never glass surfs has healthy bowel movements and is eating fine

Money wise I know his diet will be better as the person will be able to feed his bugs daily.

I’m leaning more towards letting him go for the quality of life aspect and the focus that can be put on him rather than our dog who gets the most focus here.

Please tell me if I’m mad or not as I just feel really guilty at the moment but still feel like this is the right move for him knowing that this friend will also help us transition by sending pics etc over time.

That's tough to say. Having time out of the tank is nice for them. As an adult he doesn't even need his roaches that often. Once or twice a week is fine as long as he's getting a nice big salad every day. A good variety of veges should be his main diet. In the summer you can even grow a lot of it yourself which saves some money. Farmers markets are also usually a cheap option for fresh produce.

Do you think I’m overthinking the whole getting him out the vivarium thing ?

I just worry he’s depressed or bored

It's a reasonable concern but if he has a bright beard and is eating well he may be content basking in his tank. Do you have a room that you can bring him in that is closed off to the dog? Maybe bring him outside to sit on your lap for a while in real sunshine. Some small steps like that may be doable and you'd see how he responds to more interaction.