Bathing my beardies?

[deckard931]

Hi,

I am an owner of two wonderful dragons, I have had them in the past, now I have two more. they are great. I have some questions though because I want to help my bearded dragons be happy. I have given a my dragons baths once. Not these ones I have now, but with the last one that recently passed away. I am wondering if the type of water you have to bathe them in would matter. We are on a well and we as humans, do not drink the water. We do bathe in it though. I was wondering if the well water would be too harmful for them to bathe in.

also, I noticed my female beardie the other day...She was on her rock under the heat lamp. She was all puffed up and gaping. I thought if she was too warm she would move away from the light. She never did, so I took her out and held her for awhile. Is it "Bad" if they open their mouth or is it okay as long as they don't do it on a normal basis?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Alon93]

Can't help you with the well thing but gaping while basking is normal.

 

[kariann]

If your well water hasn't been tested to learn if it is safe for drinking, then I would not let your beardies bath in it as they may drink some as you suggested. High mineral content would be the primary concern although occasionally infectious organisms can be found in such water.

 

[healthybeardie]

Hi and welcome to this site. This is a great site to read up on up-to-date information on beardies such as correct lighting, heating, substrate, etc. Matter of fact, I believe there is even a caresheet on the front of this page that will provide you with a lot of the basics. You can also do a "google search" found on this site and get a lot of your specific questions answered too!

Gaping is normal. Not sure about the well water but can't imagine it to be bad for them if its okay for you to bathe in.

 

[holnik]

in the summer i bathe my beardie in hose water, she is fine although she is about as hard to give a bath as a cat!

she also will open her mouth while basking. that is just a way they let the extra hot body hear escape, like the way a dog pants.

 

[ImAguy]

the gaping is fine it just cools them down