Curios....Natural Enviroment vs Stuffed Animals

[MBrian]

Was just curious as I look through everyones picture threads.

Do you guys think beardies are more comfortable with decor such as Driftwood for climbing and basking or rocks and fake plants and things like that. Basically things meant to mimic there natural environment.

VS

Things like stuffed animals and platforms with carpet on them as well as blankets. I even seen one person with just stuffed animals and pillows as substrate if beardies looked fluffy I probably wouldn't be able to find the beardie. :mrgreen:

I'm not having the debate be about what looks better just a debate about what's more comfortable for your beardie in your opinion.

Not that I find either choice bad or anything like that. To each their own as long as there doing what's best for the beardie and I cant find any harm in either. I think rocks and anything heavy might be dangerous because there's the risk of getting their tail stuck or feet. However, I like the natural environment because I think it looks really nice that's just my opinion though.I would think stuffed animals are more comfortable for beardies because they are soft but who knows maybe they don't even care my last beardie use to end up sleeping in the weirdest positions and places and I think that goes for everybodys lol That was until I would wrap her in a blanket and then put her to sleep.

Thanks!

 

[PudgysMom]

I was also curious about this.

I am kind of worried about the fake plants. What if he tries to eat them? :shock: I don't want him to get !

Pudgy loved her blankies and I want to get one for Dr. Zhivago Einstein (aka Doc), but I never actually had a blankie in the terrarium with Pudgy. Is it okay to leave one in with Doc?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bunnyrut]

i think it is a preference of the owner (or beardie, whoever is in charge).

i like having something rough in their vivs, like a log with some bark on it. they can rub against it when they are shedding.

but sleeping wise, some beardies will sleep ANYWHERE and others prefer the softest spots.

Mr Dargon will always fall asleep on the fleece blanket, he always looks like he is smiling. and when i put him in his box he never looks happy and just stares at me. he has a pillowcase, but it's not as fluffy. now that it is warmer he sleeps on the blanket. spoiled.

Tasty Treat has her shoebox with a pillow case and other pieces of cloth. when her lights go out she climbs right in it and goes to sleep.

so it seems like if most beardies had a choice they would go for the fluffy things to sleep on.

as for the fake plants, i would put it in and watch them. maybe put it by their mouth so they can lick it and see that it is not edible.

but they don't NEED the decor, it's mostly for you.

 

[PudgysMom]

Guys and gals, regarding blankets...I am sort of a chicken. I left a blankie in his terrarium overnight - and he slept half on it/half off it. :sleepy2: SO CUTE. But I wasn't worried because his UVB and basking lights were off for the night.

I turned everything on this morning (I just got him, so I am waiting for the light timer I bought to arrive) and left the blanket inside with him since he was still on it. Is that okay? I mean I see a lot of blankets/hammocks/etc. in the Viv thread, but I am terrified it will be too hot and maybe catch fire? Please tell me I am being crazy! :shock:

Thank you.

 

[bunnyrut]

Guys and gals, regarding blankets...I am sort of a chicken. I left a blankie in his terrarium overnight - and he slept half on it/half off it. :sleepy2: SO CUTE. But I wasn't worried because his UVB and basking lights were off for the night.

I turned everything on this morning (I just got him, so I am waiting for the light timer I bought to arrive) and left the blanket inside with him since he was still on it. Is that okay? I mean I see a lot of blankets/hammocks/etc. in the Viv thread, but I am terrified it will be too hot and maybe catch fire? Please tell me I am being crazy! :shock:

Thank you.

it won't catch fire unless it is right on the bulb. if you see you have a lazy dragon that won't come out from under the blanket all day you will have to take it out.

the only thing i would be concerned about is him pooping on it.

 

[PudgysMom]

Okay, thank you. It's on the cool side of his terrarium, so no worries about it being directly under the basking light.

He's not wrapped in the blanket, it's under his hide so he just lays on top of it. Pudgy sometimes pooped on her blanket (it happens) so I don't mind washing it, but he's only pooped on his rock and in the tub (fun times LOL)...so I'll see what happens with the blanket. Hopefully he doesn't think it's his toilet!

 

[bunnyrut]

Okay, thank you. It's on the cool side of his terrarium, so no worries about it being directly under the basking light.

He's not wrapped in the blanket, it's under his hide so he just lays on top of it. Pudgy sometimes pooped on her blanket (it happens) so I don't mind washing it, but he's only pooped on his rock and in the tub (fun times LOL)...so I'll see what happens with the blanket. Hopefully he doesn't think it's his toilet!

i prefer the tub. easier for me to clean.

i had a pillow case in a shoebox for Mr Dargon, he was slightly smaller so i could just leave it in there all day. sometimes he would climb in the box in the middle of the day and knock the pillowcase around until it was on top of him and then take a nap. it was cute.

 

[PudgysMom]

I prefer the tub, too! I agree - SOOOO much easier to clean. Smelly, but easier.

sometimes he would climb in the box in the middle of the day and knock the pillowcase around until it was on top of him and then take a nap.

That is soooo cute.

He is still getting used to his environment and me. Sometimes I feel like he hates me! Pudgy was soooo loving and affectionate, and Doc is still a bit jumpy, but he does let me hold him and he will chill on my shoulder, so we're making progress.

Now I just need him to eat his greens on his own! He'll eat worms/crickets on his own, but he's only eaten greens once by himself. I have to handfeed him for now. But that's a story for a whole other thread.

 

[StaceysBuddy]

My setup is a little different now. Moved the hammock over to the hot side above a big rock, and moved the rocks so he could bask better and no white dish. It's more roomy now. Have to update my picture.

I have it half and half -ish I guess. He loves my doggie, which is his doggie now. He sleeps on it or next to it all the time. It's on the cool side. And under his hideaway is a cut tshirt so he always knows our scents (boyfriend and I).

The tile isn't realistic but it's safe. But everything else is nature like I guess.

I'm not sure what Buddy prefers. I wanted it to look more natural but ended up changing a lot and adding the doggie. So he likes it now and it doesn't match the best but it works for him!

 

[bltkpo]

We are all .. hard and rough in our tanks. We line it with tile, and have slate piled up for basking spots. We find when we wrap them in a blanket or leave a 'bed' in the tank for them.. they chose to sleep somewhere else. The only one who doesn't sleep splat on the ground (or in Hawks case, with his head vertically up against his basking spot) .. is Fawkes. He likes to sleep on this bridge he has on an incline.

Plus hard surfaces are so much easier to keep clean than soft, fuzzy, or even wooden surfaces. The rocks and tile get a hot bath of vinegar and water, and were baked in the oven to assure proper disinfection.

 

[casper31]

My tank is pretty bare bones...tile, dig box, food/water dish, driftwood, bridge. Miss eats in her tank so I didn't want a lot of hiding places for crickets. At night I do put a small plush hippo she sleeps next to and I take it out in the morning. The hippo started because when I moved her tank in a different spot she would not settle in to sleep. I didn't want her to get in the habit of me putting her to bed, so I kept the hippo in my bed for a few nights and then put it in her tank at night when the lights went out. It worked great. She settled in the night I put it there and went right to sleep. It has now become the routine. Each morning I take it out though when I turn her lights on.
Miss used to sleep in her dig box each night, but every since she's been back to back shedding and then I moved her tank she won't sleep there. I don't know if she abandoned it because of the shed and then the move started a new routine or what. If she goes back to the dig box for sleep, she won't have the hippo at all.

 

[BotanicalStig]

The way I see it, you can't undo millions of years of evolution and expect an animal to be happy in anything but their natural habitat. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving your beardie a blanket or stuffed animal, but I've also seen the vivs with nothing but blankets and stuffed animals. Sure it's cute, to us, but it is not somewhere they belong. They might not consciously understand what their natural environment should look like; but just like every other living animal, they were designed to live in the environment they were handed. Consider us, sure we love having houses, blankets, stuffed animals, shoes, you name it, we have a million different comfort items. BUT, if our man-made comforts were what we truly desire; why is it that we get such pleasure from going outside and breathing in that "fresh air"? Why do we like the smell of fresh rain? The feel of grass on our bare feet? Doesn't sitting outside in nature calm our nerves and make us happy? Is it awful to hear the soft buzz of the cicadas at night when you sleep? Again, the list goes on and on. Our genetics have been perfected over millions of years because of the natural environments that we used to live in. We prefer it when things are right, the way nature intends it. The same goes for our bearded dragons. We let them wonder about in our living rooms... a cold place with nothing but soft objects; no sun, no earth, polluted air, etc, and then we put them back in their padded insane-asylum. When are they supposed to enjoy their natural environment?

This is just my 2 cents here, but they should have a place that just feels like home.

 

[kFitz]

Looking around at everyone's viv pics, I saw tons of fleece blankets, beds, pillows, etc, so I decided to try it. Frank HATED the fleece. Either that or she doesn't like the color pink. I laid it flat under her log where she usually sleeps and the next morning I found it bundled up in the opposite corner of the tank as far away from her as possible. She was not having it. Usually she just crawls under her basking spot at lights out, but lately she's been so lazy, she just turns around on her basking spot and shoved herself into the corner of the tank. So I say it really depends on what the little pooper wants!

 

[carlisv]

I have rocks, branches and a log in Richard's viv with a washcloth on half of a branch. He usually situates himself so his front half is on the washcloth, especially after lights out. If I move the washcloth he turns so at least his chin is on it. He likes the green and beige ones better than the red ones though. He's neutral on purple.

 

[Irwinshealth]

Cooper and Palmer are complete opposite with this. Cooper seems to like his blanket. I find him cuddling into it on occasion. Palmer on the other hand seems to dislike his. He has given it the stink eye and pooed on it every time I put in it. Therefore one has a blanky and one not! I really think it is their preference. The old stink eye will tell you :wink: