Pregnancy and Owning a Bearded Dragon

Hey everyone! I've posted on here before about my bearded dragon Liz. Anyways, I wanted to ask about pregnancy and owning a bearded dragon. I just found out I'm pregnant and I currently live in a studio apartment with my husband and bearded dragon. We are moving in May, but for right now I'm stuck in the same room as her tank. I've been reading online that it's dangerous to have reptiles while pregnant because they can carry germs that could cause harm to me and the baby. I'll be asking my doctor about this but I wanted to ask if anyone else has had experience being pregnant while owning a bearded dragon. I'm really hoping as long as my husband handles her, feeds her and cleans her cage I will be okay. Rehoming her is not an option. The most I would do is move her temporarily to my step dad's apartment who lives nearby, but I would rather not do that if I don't have to. Would love any advice.

Congratulations =). I don't have direct experience with pregnancy, but I would imagine that the risk is minimal. While they are able to carry bacteria that could cause infections, with typical cleaning and sanitizing procedures, and regular hand washing (especially after cleaning and coming into contact with poop contaminated surfaces), it is not likely to cause any problems. In many years of reading stories through here and handling dragons myself, I haven't heard of any cases in which a caregiver becomes sick from their dragon. Perhaps others can chime in to add some personal experience, and of course consult with your doctor about it, but I probably wouldn't be too concerned.

CooperDragon":2agqf0di said:

Congratulations =). I don't have direct experience with pregnancy, but I would imagine that the risk is minimal. While they are able to carry bacteria that could cause infections, with typical cleaning and sanitizing procedures, and regular hand washing (especially after cleaning and coming into contact with poop contaminated surfaces), it is not likely to cause any problems. In many years of reading stories through here and handling dragons myself, I haven't heard of any cases in which a caregiver becomes sick from their dragon. Perhaps others can chime in to add some personal experience, and of course consult with your doctor about it, but I probably wouldn't be too concerned.

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Thank you for your response! I've also never gotten sick from her, so I feel the risk is low. I really think I can just keep her in the room as long as I don't handle her directly. My husband won't be super happy about always being the one who has to clean up her poop, but oh well!

I agree with Cooper, I've never known anyone that's gotten sick from their beardie and I expect that most people use common sense. Just like we wash hands after handling raw meat we do so after handling a pet. It becomes more important once the baby is here. Don't use your sink to soak your dragon in , nothing used for the dragon should be used for the baby. No " shoulder rides " for beardie [ they're dangerous anyway + should not really be done ] and then putting your baby's face on the same shirt when you hold them. So the caution is more so when the baby arrives but there are numerous owners of reptiles that have no problem with sickness of any kind as long as common sense is used.

AHBD":3pbzqjcz said:

I agree with Cooper, I've never known anyone that's gotten sick from their beardie and I expect that most people use common sense. Just like we wash hands after handling raw meat we do so after handling a pet. It becomes more important once the baby is here. Don't use your sink to soak your dragon in , nothing used for the dragon should be used for the baby. No " shoulder rides " for beardie [ they're dangerous anyway + should not really be done ] and then putting your baby's face on the same shirt when you hold them. So the caution is more so when the baby arrives but there are numerous owners of reptiles that have no problem with sickness of any kind as long as common sense is used.

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Parroting this!

-Brandon

Just whatever you do, stay away from cat litter boxes.