You might also consider either building a chicken wire cage or buying a premade one for rabbits or chickens. That way he can enjoy the outdoors with no danger of him wandering off.
When my dad was little, they had crossties in the front yard. He had a snake and it escaped in the yard and my dad thought it was gone forever. Then, about 2-3 years later, he found it, safe and fat in between the crossties. :study:
make a harness...im all for diy, i was on ebay looking at harnesses for the beardie im about to buy and i saw a bunch of decent ones but i also saw a simple version that seems pretty easy to replicate and could be used on a beardie of any size
what you need/what i plan on using:
a few feet of para-cord and a few beads
basically you loop one end of the para-cord through a bead then make a second loop through a 2nd bead (basically these are the two loops for the legs to go through) then u string both ends of the para-cord through a 3rd bead and tie a slip knot to act as a lock on the 3rd bead.
basically you should have 2 loops for legs and a space between them that your beardies head would go through the beads are to adjust the size of the loops, the 3rd bead should be carefully tightened then "locked" in place with the slipknot
the knot allows it to be easily tightened one way but has to be manually losened to preven the beads from slipping off the para-cord. ill try to get pics of the one i found and make a video of me actually making one if this is too confusing
So glad you found your beardie, such a relief. But yes def pick up a leash and harness set so he can safely be outside..or something for him to be secured in.
He sounds like my Rex, she'd wonder off to explore and probably get lost if I let her outside without monitoring her movements very closely and having her waring harness and connected to a leash..
We are surrounded by neighbours who have big dogs (the people next door have 6 - 8 big dogs in their back yard and a cat that is a known lizard and small animal killer that roams at will 24/7 , so my beardies have only ever gone out in the sun in tubs and been nursed by me when outside, I'm not game to let them roam about in my garden or front or back yard, not beardie excape proof and I can't afford to make them so.
Maybe you need to invest in a harness or a "beardie playpen".
Go buy a lotto ticket , and don't tempt fate a 3rd time , you may not be so lucky next time this happens.
What some here (in Australia) who have yards that can't be made cat / dog or beardie (excape) proof is they buy a metal raised garden bed , and securely attach wire mesh to the base (beardies can dig and a determined beardie will make a hole in the ground and grass in very quick order) , they also attach a wiremesh lid (aviary mesh) with a hinged entry and simply place the relocateable pit in a part if the yard where the beardie can get some shade or direct sunlight as it wants.