Bearded dragon for the classroom

I am a 1st grade teacher and want to get a bearded dragon for my classroom. I have had other reptiles before (green iguana and snakes) but never a bearded dragon. I am nervous about the keeping of crickets in my room. What is the general opinion about a bearded dragon in the class?

Thanks!

Hi there!

Personally, I think any class pets are a good idea. What a beautiful way to introduce kids to biology and stuff. Especially herpetology!

As long as you read up on the care sheets here, and make sure your husbandry is all adequate (especially your UVB light, basking temps, and substrate) a healthy beardie would be a great pet. You can even teach the kids about how lizards need to absorb sunlight through their skin, which is why you have a special sunlight-mimicking (UVB) bulb!

An alternative to crickets is dubia roaches. They aren't able to hop or climb, so they're a lot easier to maintain than crickets, and they also have no scent to them (unlike crickets). Another alternative is black soldier fly larvae, marketed as Phoenix worms or calciworms; similar to dubia roaches, but so calcium-rich that they don't really require calcium dusting. I know mealworms might be an attractive alternative, but please avoid them as their tough exoskeletons commonly cause impaction, which is painful and can be fatal for a beardie.

I should mention though, beardies are poopers. When healthy, they have nice big wet poops. If I were you, I'd keep the substrate as tile and the basking spot as a basking rock, so that cleanup is easy to wipe up. I only mention this because I'm thinking about how I'd juggle kid-teaching and dragon-caring!

If you're considering any lizard in general, leopard geckos usually pick one spot of their cage to poop, and their poops are smaller, making them an easily-cleaned pet. (Please look at care sheets specific for leopard geckos though if you plan to get one. They have much different husbandry requirements than beardies.)

Also, to add:

First graders might be too impatient and curious for a small baby beardie who still is learning that human hands are friends. It's up to you ultimately, but a more grown beardie who's already used to being held and petted might fare better in the classroom. Good luck with things! This is an exciting endeavor, so keep us updated with what you decide.

Savora":c3zacifh said:

Also, to add:

First graders might be too impatient and curious for a small baby beardie who still is learning that human hands are friends. It's up to you ultimately, but a more grown beardie who's already used to being held and petted might fare better in the classroom. Good luck with things! This is an exciting endeavor, so keep us updated with what you decide.

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Definitely get a full grown one if you do. I work in a class and we have an adult beardie and the kids love him. He is super docile so it works perfectly. I just got a baby beardie and hes awesome but he is also very skittish. I think he may get overwhelmed in a classroom. But to answer your question, I think a Beardie makes a great classroom pet.

Just wondering if you ended up getting a beardie for your classroom. I'm also a teacher and had an adult beardie donated to my STEAM lab this fall. He's been a really big hit with the kiddos, but I am the only one who handles or takes care of him. The kids really love learning about animals and this just takes the lessons one step further when they can make connections to the reptile in our own classroom. Habitats, adaptions, predator/prey, life cycle, food webs, etc. So much better than just looking at pictures in a book.