How to prepare your beardies in emergency situations.

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HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
First of all, I'm not sure if this should be put in ER or just health. And I myself am not in any emergency, but I feel I should get the word out on this. So I'm sorry to any mods if this is posted in the wrong forum. Please feel free to edit this however you like.

So I just watched this wonderful video made by Emily from snake discovery on YT on how to prepare your snakes in case of an emergency situation. Watch it here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=djBzcdrhxhk&t=0s

But it got me thinking, that's for snakes, but how would you go about preparing your beardies for an emergency situation?

Many people here have Beardies, some may also have snakes, and Emily made many excellent and important points in the video, but that was more centered around snakes, not bearded dragons. It could work for beardies, but they're much more different than snakes.

And I wanted to compile a Beardie version of what to do in case of a fire. Especially with the way there has been so many wild fires, forest fires, etc in Australia as well as places like California and such. People need to know what to do with their herps in case of an emergency, especially when many of us keep multiple dragons and multiple species.

Everyone, please add any additional tips and ideas as well!! But here is what I think might be needed for your beardies.

Here goes.

Step 1: Risk prevention.

The first part of the video talked about prevention of fires.

It definitely would be a 100% must to put a fire extinguisher and a fire alarm IN any room that you keep beardies or other herps in.
Always use surge protectors for your lights, be very careful of what you put near your heat devices.
I once accidentally dropped a piece of playsilk on one bulb and within seconds it melted and destroyed the bulb and caused my whole room to smoke up. (But that was many years ago and prior to any reptiles, it was with a regular lightbulb but it's still a good example.
And Always unplug your lights before trying to mess with them. (i.e, Changing heat bulbs, moving them, Etc.)

I'm probably going to order a fire extinguisher and a smoke alarm, as well as thermostats for my leopard gecko'a heat mat and preemptively also get one for whatever snake that I'm planning to get soon. It's always far better to prevent a disaster instead of having to deal with one.

I also have photo sized and easily seen stickers on my front and back porch that tells emergency services that there are pets in the house and how many and where. Honestly, any pet owner should have these on their houses as well so in case you are not able to grab your pets in time, emergency services will hopefully be able to instead.

You can get these from regular pet stores or vets I believe, We got our stickers from a friend. But check into places like those and get a few.

Step 2: Preparation.

On top of all the things Emily listed in the video, These are some additional things that you probably should (as well as some optional things) pack In your emergency supply box if you had to evacuate:

• Paper towels or a package of diaper wipes for any poops the Beardies might do in their containers. A roll of doggy bags might also work.
• Uniheat heat pack.
• Non perishable foods for your dragon. Maybe get some good pellets that you can use temporarily to still feed your dragon if having to evacuate or something.
(Optional) Hard to kill feeder insects may also be good, so maybe include a small cup of mealworms or superworms, or even Dubia roaches or BSFL. But don't feed as much unless you definitely have a heating source so they can still digest their food without much problem.
• At least 2 bottles of water if you have more than one dragon.
(Optional) Small packets of Calcium to dust foods, You could ask your pet store if they have any sample packets of calcium that you could have (those are sometimes given out) Or you could make your own with just using a small Snack sized ziplock bag with your desired amount of calcium which is small and still easy to store.
(Optional) Small blankets that you can use to help wrap up your Beardie and calm them down and keep them warm. Sarah Southerland from Pampered beardies and Sarah's bearded dragon rescue sells emergency blankets for beardies in her etsy shop. ( https://www.etsy.com/shop/PamperedBeardies )

Now, for containers, you could get slightly larger sterilite containers depending on your Beardies size. Always drill or poke holes into any containers first.

I would line the container with just paper towels. At least 3 sheets thick in case your Beardie does poop you can just remove the paper towels instead of have to deal with a smelly container bottom. If you can use a heat pack or a heat pad put it at the TOP of your container and not in or under it as beardies need Above heat rather than belly heat.

Like Emily said, just stack the containers on top of each other with holes drilled in each container and then put them into a even larger bin, and cover them with a towel or paper towels.

And if worst comes to worst, and you are not able to grab a container for your dragon, then you can just stuff them down your shirt and that will TEMPORARILY work and hold them too. But it would always be better to just have a bin and things prepared.

You should definitely talk with family and have a plan on who will take what animal with them when escaping. And ultimately, You and your family are the most important too.

Step 3: Where to bring your reptiles.

In the events that you have had to evacuate and you have a bin full of beardies in the back of your car, the safety shelter might not allow animals in, So you should have some emergency people to go to and maybe even have them keep your beardies for a little bit for you until you get back onto your feet.

You should see if Family or friends or your reptile vet would be comfortable with housing your dragons for a bit in case such an emergency happens.

I really hope that this helped anyone and I hope you all please stay safe when disaster strikes! Please add any additions as well! Please spread the word.

Thank you,

HippieLizards.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Thanks for the nice & helpful post, we can all use information like this! :D
I appreciate it. I'm sure a lot of folks will read through this as well.

Tracie
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
You're very welcome, I felt like There needed to be something like that for beardies. I hope it helps some people in the future. :)
 

Zachman

New member
Thankyou very much for posting all this Information. You know you think about it and just never getting around to it. I will be making these things listed this weekend and will pass along to many friends . :D
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi Hippie!

What a great idea! Great job on putting in so much effort to benefit us all here! Truth be told, ER we usually try to reserve for emergency health issues that need to be addressed. Health is a little looser, and used for general health topics. However, since this isn't really about a health issue for your dragon, I think it will fit best in the general discussion section. It will get the most views there too (therefor helping the most people) so I am going to go ahead and move it there, and sticky it so it stays at the top for people to see :)

Great job once again, this will seriously help many people I'm sure :D

-Brandon
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Moved by Moderator from Beardie ER to General
And Stickied for being such a great thread :D
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
Zachman":gzo8rzzx said:
Thankyou very much for posting all this Information. You know you think about it and just never getting around to it. I will be making these things listed this weekend and will pass along to many friends . :D
You're welcome, and welcome to the website!! I hope you enjoy it here. :D

claudiusx":gzo8rzzx said:
Hi Hippie!

What a great idea! Great job on putting in so much effort to benefit us all here! Truth be told, ER we usually try to reserve for emergency health issues that need to be addressed. Health is a little looser, and used for general health topics. However, since this isn't really about a health issue for your dragon, I think it will fit best in the general discussion section. It will get the most views there too (therefore helping the most people) so I am going to go ahead and move it there, and sticky it so it stays at the top for people to see :)

Great job once again, this will seriously help many people I'm sure :D

-Brandon
Hello,

Thank you, I wasn't too sure about where to post it. I later figured that general would be best, so oops. :oops:

But thank you SO much for stickying the thread!! Now many people can see it and be prepared. I Really do hope it will help anyone who are at higher risk to emergency situations. The Main points of the post were just the first couple things that came to my mind. I'll probably add more things once I research more things and think of other safety measures you could take for your Beardie.

-HippieLizards.
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
After watching that video I was brainstorming ideas for my own house. I have 1 dragon, 1 cat, and 1 frog. An extra large zip up lunchbox, something like this [ OTTO BOX Insulated Lunch Cooler Bag: For Men & Women || XL Lunch Boxes Bags for Adults with Large Side Pockets and Shoulder Strap || Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBVHDGF/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_4DVnEb61CSQA9 ] might be a good option to have to put in 1-2 dragons each in a bag, like how dragons are shipped in a bag in a box, add the heated Beardie blanket from that Etsy shop as needed for heat. There is enough room for water bottles and you could probably grab supplements, through some bugs in another Tupperware container to add to the main compartment.

I could add my frog in his own wetted with paper towels in a Tupperware inside with Devlyn. I have a shoulder strap carrier for my cat already. Endotherm over one shoulder and exotherms over the other shoulder.
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
DorgEndo":3hkn3wnp said:
After watching that video I was brainstorming ideas for my own house. I have 1 dragon, 1 cat, and 1 frog. An extra large zip up lunchbox, something like this [ OTTO BOX Insulated Lunch Cooler Bag: For Men & Women || XL Lunch Boxes Bags for Adults with Large Side Pockets and Shoulder Strap || Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBVHDGF/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_4DVnEb61CSQA9 ] might be a good option to have to put in 1-2 dragons each in a bag, like how dragons are shipped in a bag in a box, add the heated Beardie blanket from that Etsy shop as needed for heat. There is enough room for water bottles and you could probably grab supplements, through some bugs in another Tupperware container to add to the main compartment.

I could add my frog in his own wetted with paper towels in a Tupperware inside with Devlyn. I have a shoulder strap carrier for my cat already. Endotherm over one shoulder and exotherms over the other shoulder.
Something like that MIGHT work, but I'd be too afraid that with the reptile heat pack from the emergency blanket combined with the insulated bag like that might overheat the Beardie, and probably would cook the frog seeing as frogs typically need much lower temperatures than beardies.

I'd definitely also put the beardie in a Tupperware container as well just so she'd also be safe from the bag potentially being a little squished from transport.

But if you were to do that bag I'd definitely keep it half zipped so it still has some good air flow and ventilation so excess heat can still escape and not overwhelm the beardie or frog but still keep in a good amount of heat.

But that definitely is a fantastic idea! Thank you. :)
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
So uhh, This thread was based on how to prepare for a fire, but does anyone have any tips on how to prepare your 5 beardies, 2 geckos, and cat for a tornado warning? My phone and my mom just woke me up telling me that there is a warning. :shock:
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
Good news we and our dragons are safe, no tornado warning and the dragons are fine. I followed the things in my thread and the suggestions of others helped greatly in keeping my animals safe. :)

I Pray that all of you in he east coast area are safe too!
 

Selkie1993

Juvie Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Drogon <3 RIP 2019- March 11, 2024 Lily: new girl in the house/ 5 months old
HippieLizards":f5pirldy said:
So uhh, This thread was based on how to prepare for a fire, but does anyone have any tips on how to prepare your 5 beardies, 2 geckos, and cat for a tornado warning? My phone and my mom just woke me up telling me that there is a warning. :shock:


I completely understand. I have a 75 gal aquarium with two goldfish, one a foot long the other about 8-9 inches, three African clawed frogs, a cat who freaks at anything, and a beardie. I'm going to buy everyone a hard helmet and hunker down for now :)

I also agree: if anyone has experience with weather issues, please let us know!

Selkie
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
Selkie1993":46rrcuob said:
HippieLizards":46rrcuob said:
So uhh, This thread was based on how to prepare for a fire, but does anyone have any tips on how to prepare your 5 beardies, 2 geckos, and cat for a tornado warning? My phone and my mom just woke me up telling me that there is a warning. :shock:


I completely understand. I have a 75 gal aquarium with two goldfish, one a foot long the other about 8-9 inches, three African clawed frogs, a cat who freaks at anything, and a beardie. I'm going to buy everyone a hard helmet and hunker down for now :)

I also agree: if anyone has experience with weather issues, please let us know!

Selkie
Dang, those are some big goldfish! Back when I was a kid I remember we had a 40 gallon tank with 3 goldfish in it, the largest one was easily I dunno around 6-10 inches long and a normal goldfish? The other was a white one and around 4 inches long, and the smallest one was also around 4 inches long but it was a fancy tailed one and was red and white.
We got them for free off of Craigslist and kept them for a while. Me and my siblings were really little back then, I can't remember what happened to them but I think we rehomed them.

My cat is as well always a nervous wreck when things happen. Lol

But thankfully After we went and stayed at my grandparents house for a while our neighbors told us that they had power again, but wifi was out for the night. All is good now however!!

But dang, We went through the area where the tornado hit just down the road from us, It was crazy. There was so many trees down and places with roofs thrown off. :shock: I'm glad everyone was safe though.
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
HippieLizards":2vk26xuk said:
Something like that MIGHT work, but I'd be too afraid that with the reptile heat pack from the emergency blanket combined with the insulated bag like that might overheat the Beardie, and probably would cook the frog seeing as frogs typically need much lower temperatures than beardies.

I'd definitely also put the beardie in a Tupperware container as well just so she'd also be safe from the bag potentially being a little squished from transport.

But if you were to do that bag I'd definitely keep it half zipped so it still has some good air flow and ventilation so excess heat can still escape and not overwhelm the beardie or frog but still keep in a good amount of heat.

But that definitely is a fantastic idea! Thank you. :)
Part of my thought process with the high level of insulation is because I am in Minnesota. It will easily be below 0°F certain times of year. Any place with terribly freezing cold temps is the most dangerous, even the air is too cold for a dragon to breath.
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
Ohh okay, that makes more sense. I'm in the south so it rarely gets cold except for jan-march. Usually it's pretty hot here mostly. For colder areas however that sounds far better.
 
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