Bearded dragon and children

I got my beardie Ike over 3 years ago. 2 years ago I had my first baby. Ike’s cage was previously in my room. But since the baby was up all night and disrupting him We moved him into the Hallway. We moved a year ago and his cage was put in my husband’s gaming room. My child is now obsessed with him. Always wants to say hello and see him. Would moving his cage out into our front room/the play room be stressful for him? My nieces and nephews come over regularly so it gets quite loud. Would all the noise and constant commotion be too much? Another question is when we take him out to wonder we’ve kept him away from the rooms the baby is in. when beardies are out and about do their germs spread all over the floor making it unsafe for babies/children? I’d love for Ike to have more area to explore but I don’t want to put my baby at risk. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

I would be more worried about the bearded dragon for most of the reasons you listed. If the kids are out to school 5 days a week and there is a nice window view for the dragon, that might be an acceptable reason to have the dragon in a room that becomes busy. Otherwise if dragon has a regular routine, window view, is already happy, no need to disrupt that happiness. Teach the child about respecting the animal's need for quiet and relaxation (and this should be done either way you decide to go).

Your dragon can only spread an illness if they have an illness. Also, only if someone puts their hand in poop then their hand in their mouth or directly puts poop in their mouth. You can get a fecal exam with your vet to check for any signs of illness that could be spread from dragon to human. Use veterinary grade cleaner, F10, read the instructions to apply correctly to clean any spots in the enclosure when poop happens or if poop happens on the floor. Also wash hands before and after handling a dragon, for those old enough to handle a dragon.

I suggest the dragon be a look but don't touch pet until the child learns it's not a toy and how to touch gently . I take it the cage has a child proof lock on it.

So only supervised physical interations for a while yet .

I also have a baby so I know where you're coming from.

We have carpet so it's even worse than if we were to have hardwoods or tile (easy to sanitize). For that reason, I pretty much only let the dragons roam the dragon room. My daughter is allowed in there, but I generally make sure she isn't putting everything in her mouth in that room.

Like mentioned, parasites would likely only be transmitted if your child was around their poo, or was handling the dragon after it ran through it's own poo. And that's only if your dragon has parasites.

I've loosened up a bit as she's gotten older, and I have allowed one or two of my dragons to roam the living room floor. I'd say if you wear your shoes in the house, your floor will be just as germy as it would be by letting your dragons out anyways, so if that's the case, don't worry about it.

Now onto your other concern, moving the dragon. I would say it's your call. I do think they enjoy the enrichment given by having stuff to look at in their "outside world" I could go either way on it. You can always move him back to his original spot if it seems to be stressing him out too much.

Let us know how it goes.

-Brandon

Lots of good advice given. I just want to mention one thing though, a human can definitely get salmonella, giardia or e-coli [ testing for salmonella is not always helpful because of false negatives ] but with common sense + hand washing the risk is minimal. Never bathe your dragon in the tub or kitchen sink, don't allow a small child to handle dragon unsupervised. A dragon can have small bits of feces on any part of their body, mostly feet + tail , or if they poo while being soaked then it's all over . Always assume that your dragon has salmonella, many animals do and most reptiles do. No one knows the number of healthy people that contracted salmonella from a reptile because in many cases the symptoms are the same as food poisoning or a bad stomach virus, all of which most people recover from on their own but a person with weak immune system or very young babies would be affected more seriously .