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.
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.