Bathing?

[SoraMiller]

Hello.
Do you need to give your bearded dragons a bath? If so, how often? Mine's only a month or maybe two old.
Thanks!

 

[kingofnobbys]

They are evolved to live in very dry regions here in Australia , and rarely see standing / running water , and only see rain when the remnants of a tropical cyclone (hurricane) pass overhead.

Bathing for beardies is NOT NECESSARY and if done too frequently can result in a sick beardie who has a respiratory infection.

The usual practice here wrt bathing beardies is :
- luke warm water (room temp - about 30oC) , very shallow
- only bath if
- - - the beardie has soiled itself (sat on or walked through it's poo
- - - is shedding and some of the shed is stubborn (water helps loosen it)
- - - it is very hot (to help cool the beardie down

So long story made short , bath very infrequently and ONLY when NEEDED.

 

[AHBD]

Beardies do need to drink, especially as babies and I always provide water via eyedropper or spray bottle. Just drip or spray a very gentle stream right to the snout....spray for a couple of seconds, stop repeat until he/she drinks. Sometimes they will, sometimes not but it should be offered. If any water is puddled afterwards you can wipe it up.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

The care sheet that I got from the breeder said to bathe for 15 minutes every other day. I actually bathe mine every day so she will poop in the water instead of her cage. If anyone has proof that this causes RI please let me know where to find the article showing link between bathing and respiratory infections.

 

[Fauzt0]

The care sheet that I got from the breeder said to bathe for 15 minutes every other day. I actually bathe mine every day so she will poop in the water instead of her cage. If anyone has proof that this causes RI please let me know where to find the article showing link between bathing and respiratory infections.

I bathe mine every few days. He loves to drink the water, and hasnt learned how to poop in it yet! I feel that if you dry the dragon off completely and let him bask right after it shouldnt be a problem. Im sure there are a lot of other factors though...

 

[kingofnobbys]

The care sheet that I got from the breeder said to bathe for 15 minutes every other day. I actually bathe mine every day so she will poop in the water instead of her cage. If anyone has proof that this causes RI please let me know where to find the article showing link between bathing and respiratory infections.

http://reptileapartment.com/water-bearded-dragons/

I bathed Rex and Puff much more frequently as hatchlings / juveniles , very infrequently as now as adults. Really I'd rather not take the risk of my dragon developing a RI , this is very bad for beardies.

Note the natural range of CBDs (the most common found as pets) is very arid territory, less than 300mm of rain PER YEAR and this is only in the Northern Australian Wet Season and very infrequent rain fall is the norm, standing water almost none-existant and there are only short bursts of flowing water which is rapidly soaked up by the soil and what vegetation there is.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

Thanks for the link I read it and will discuss with my vet at the next appointment. The article did say a rare chance of RI and mentioned ear or eye infections from chlorinated water. I get my water from a well. Thanks.

 

[Taterbug]

Bathing can give dragons a chance to drink - some animals are more apt to drink in water they are in. However, there is no evidence that they absorb water through their vent or their skin - which is the typical reason given to bath them. If they aren't drinking, they aren't getting water.

As for pooping in the bath, there are some mixed opinions on if that is actually a good thing. If the warm water acts as a stimulant or if they are trying to thermoregulate quickly after a drastic temperature change....

My booger hates it - so I don't bath it's not worth the stress for him. I give a water dish and spray him to drink from.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Bathing can give dragons a chance to drink - some animals are more apt to drink in water they are in. However, there is no evidence that they absorb water through their vent or their skin - which is the typical reason given to bath them. If they aren't drinking, they aren't getting water.

As for pooping in the bath, there are some mixed opinions on if that is actually a good thing. If the warm water acts as a stimulant or if they are trying to thermoregulate quickly after a drastic temperature change....

My booger hates it - so I don't bath it's not worth the stress for him. I give a water dish and spray him to drink from.

I had water in Rex's and Puff's enclosures up until they were about 4 months old, I often had to replace the water and clean the water dish with both of them because they liked to do their poos in their water - and I decided since I never once saw either drink from their water dish (unlike the water skink or the BTs who love to have drinks and do so frequently each day, and also like a refreshing dip too) to remove\ the water dishes and never put them back.

I'd offer fresh greens (full of water) and softened pellets and live insects , and sometimes if it's hot and dry here , I'd mist the beardies in the am and pm with a spray bottle , but stopped that as I was worried about RI from inhaled water droplets, so I resorted to using an eyedropper to get them drinks.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

I've never seen mine drink from the water. This is the first dragon I've had that I bathe daily. I did not bathe my two previous ones. My understanding is that the water acts like an enema. Every way seems to have its own problems. If you mist the cage you can raise the humidity too much. If you just rely on vegetables for water the dragon may not be eating enough veggies to get adequate water. I like spritzing water on the dragon's nose. I just bathe so she will poop in the water and not in her cage. It keeps her enclosure more sanitary and that was helpful when I was treating for parasites.

 

[ashen]

Wait...

So why is bathing regularly a bad idea? Since their skin is water resistant I don't see what the problem is... or am I missing something?

I've been told that regular bathing is good because it means the lizard doesn't poop inside the enclosure like daisy said. That's literally the only reason (as well as loosening shed) I can think of to bathe a dragon regularly.

I've been bathing my dragon for like 5 minutes every day so that he poops and i can flush it down the toilet instead of stripping down the floor and/or log he pooped on. After he's had his poop i rinse him under the tap if his tail touched it (He enjoys the water running on his back and gets annoyed when i take him away from it). He never ever attempts to drink from it unless i splash it attractively like i do with his water dish..

Is it a really bad idea and I'm completely missing the point? The only bad thing i can think about is that maybe he wasn't ready to poop, but to counter this he always glass dances at around 5-6pm like clockwork. Although he dislikes his baths, he hates pooping in his enclosure twice as much, and to be honest so do I :lol:

 

[SoraMiller]

Ok just wandering. I spray mine with water to keep him hydrated. he runs through his water dish sometimes but doesn't, like, soak in just. He just runs in it. Should I be worried?

 

[kingofnobbys]

No.

So long it's getting moisture from it's live insects and salad and vegs and an occasional light misting or drink from a eyedropper or syringe it'll be fine.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

I think we have two issues that are becoming intertwined. Do dragons, juveniles in particular, need bathing and if so how often? Second, does bathing increase chance of respiratory infections? I was instructed by my breeder to bathe and she has been raising dragons for a number of years. She also has her dragons treated by an exotic vet when problems arise. When I took my dragon to the vet she was a little dehydrated and the vet told me to soak her for at least 15 minutes a day. It seems to me that if bathing caused RI's the vet wouldn't have recommended it. I bathe her in a sterilite container outside of her enclosure so her humidity levels are not being raised inside of her enclosure. So you can bathe without raising humidity levels if you are bathing outside of the enclosure. My understanding of respiratory infections is that they are caused by improper husbandry such as wrong temps, humidity levels to high, and unsanitary environment along with improper diet putting stress on immune system. Now if you leave a mini pond in your enclosure you will raise the humidity and put the dragon at risk. That is why I bathe in a separate tub container. If unsanitary conditions can predispose dragons to these infections it would seem to me that having them poop in a tub then immediately removed would be better than pooing in the enclosure and running through it. If your dragon poops five minutes after you leave for work, he has eight or so hours to smear it everywhere and lick a spot he smeared it on.

 

[ashen]

Even though I don't think it makes a huge difference but surely if you dry your beardie off before letting him/her back in their enclosure it wouldn't raise the humidity at all.
So what actually causes RI in dragons being regularly bathed?