So I have a 2 week long trip coming up and I’m curious what you all recommend in terms of tips for pet sitters. I have a friend that has some experience with beardies who agreed to look after my Fernando while I’m gone. (That way he doesn’t have to go anywhere and become unduly stressed)... I have timers for lights and such, but do you have any other suggestions that would make having a pet sitter less stressful?
Exposure to the person doing the sitting beforehand with you still around should help. Beardies don't like their routine disrupted from what I can tell, so if the person doing the sitting can follow roughly the same daily routine of foods, feeding, out-of-cage time, etc., that might also be beneficial. For the most part, though, the worst that will happen is that his eating pattern may get disrupted and he might seem mopey to the sitter, but he'll recover once you get back.
As for the sitter themselves, I always leave detailed instructions + the vet's number just in case. If yours is generally familiar with beardies, that's a good thing. We had to train ours up from scratch, but she's doing great now & loves spending time with our little guys