Beardies in the wild

Ok so my son come running into my room asking if I knew where my beardies are. I said sure and we checked on them(I use a utility room instead of a tank for Amber and Tank, my beardies). He found a beardie in the yard (deceased sadly) that was approximately 12 inches and my guess is at least 10-12 months old. This is not the first time beardies have been found in the wild in my home town (Grand Junction, CO) but the climate here is not very good for beardies and I would be amazed if they had been introduced into the wild here. I live in a mostly rural, desserty part of town here so it is like their homeland I guess. Anyone have any idea if this is possible? My beardies are 2 years old and dont seem interested in mating but I guess Amner could have laid eggs that I don't know about, maybe. And the babies could be under the house. (got through a crack or something and survived) Really has me wondering.

Can you post a picture of the lizard? It most likely wasn't a bearded dragon.

-Brandon

Claudiusx":1kxhbjnd said:

Can you post a picture of the lizard? It most likely wasn't a bearded dragon.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

It was a beardie for sure.Exact match to my Tank and enough to freak my son out that it was mine. Already gave it a proper burrial out of respect so sorry no pic. I've had beardies for 6 years and kinda consider myself a little bit sure of the difference between lizards. Also lived here my whole life and know what lizzards are around here. Deffinately not native.

That's sad. I wonder if it was a pet that got loose or was released from somewhere nearby. Western CO is pretty great for them in the summer, but not so much as winter sets in unfortunately.

Hello,

How sad, I am sorry your son had to see that.
I agree with Cooper, it may have been someone's pet that got loose perhaps. This is becoming
more & more common, lost pets, etc.

Tracie

This past summer, a local couple was sitting in their backyard when a bearded dragon, very tame, wandered up to them. They contacted our local zoo. I'm not sure what became of the little guy. Our zoo can't take in any animals except birds (some kind of law), so I assume he went to the Humane Society. I hope it was an escape and not an abandonment. I'm in South Dakota and the summers here are okay for beardies but definitely not the spring/fall/winter.

With so many people loosing their jobs or having hours cut , lots of pets will be getting let go or just dumped too.

A bearded dragon will NOT survive alpine / subpolar climates if dumped by someone who is stupid and thinks it'll just hibernate in the winter. Unfortunately exposure to sub 32 degF temps will simply turn even a fully grown healthy bearded dragon into a frozen and dead one.

If people can't afford to care for their dragons they should not ever buy one and if they find their financial situation changes and they can't anymore, they need to rehome their pet or simply hand it in at a vet or petshop.

Hi there, can you post some pics of your beardie utility room ? I was just curious to see how you have them set up and where the uvb lights are positioned. Did you make basking platforms for them or just collected some cool logs from outdoors ? Here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them