Question about bathing before lights go on

[Brieana]

I want to bathe my beardie every morning before I go to work, so it (ideally) doesn't poop in its tank. I'll have the timer set to turn the lights on at 6 am, which is about when I get up, if I don't hit the snooze button. Then I eat breakfast and get caught up on my Internet rounds while I wake up. This would be the perfect time to squeeze in a bath for the dragon. Is it ok to wake it every morning for a bath, before it's had a real chance to bask? While it's bathing I can get breakfast ready for the both of us.
Just curious!

 

[morphmom]

Bump!

 

[Brieana]

Thanks for the bump, morphmom! Guess I'll just assume it's ok then!

 

[ClydesGirl]

I would think it would be fine. I think it would be more important to make sure the lights will be on for a while AFTER the bath, so your beardie can bask and warm up afterward.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Daily baths are great for beardies, keeps them really well hydrated & if there is a poop, too, great. I have 4 dragons that mostly will poop in the bath. One gets a daily bath, he's a new rescue, the others every two days but they will actually wait to poop in the bath more than in their tank or on the living room floor on outside time. It's great because then they're done that for the day & the clean up is so much easier. So hopefully your beardie will get with the program & poop in the bath for you. It's just a matter of routine. And yes, make sure the lights are on for a few hours to ensure that your beardie gets nice & dry after the bath. Do you have lights out on the timer, too?

 

[Lauram63110]

Hi, I think you should be fine! I am on my 2nd potty trained Dragon and it makes keeping them a snap! As far as I know, neither were potty trained before I got them and both were mature , so you can teach an old Dragon a new trick! Our schedule works like this:
4:30 am - Big Bertha's lights go on
5:00 am - my alarm goes off and I get up, might hit the snooze once or twice.
I let the dog out and feed her, make coffee, feed Bertha her breakfast (she likes to be hand fed) and check email/surf for a few minutes
6:00 am - I shower.
6:30 am- I am finished in the shower and dried, the tub is still warm and I run a bath for Bertha. She is usually in the tub for 20- 30 min and I make sure her water stays warm; if necessary, I drain and refill. Warm water seems to encourage poop. She seems to be getting better and better at it - she goes sooner and also positions herself at the deep end of the tub, right over the drain. My first Dragon, Lizzy, always went to the deep end and pooped over the drain, so there seems to be something about that.
7:00 am - she is back in her house with the lights still on.

The timer will be a very valuable tool in establishing the schedule; if you want, you could have the Dragon's lights come on before you get up so it's warm and awake before you get out of bed. Is the tank in your room? If you want the lights on before yours, you might move the tank to a different room so you aren't woke by the lights. If you keep the Dragon in your room, maybe it could have a "night tank" someplace else so the lights don't bother you, and then put it in the tank in your room during the day.

 

[Brieana]

Thanks for the input! The timer I have now is simple, $4 and has an on and off setting. I love it! I will have the timer set from probably 6:30 am to 6:30 pm, because I was under the impression they need only 12 hours of light? My aquatic turtle gets 14 hours. Thanks for the reminder, LauraM, I was planning on putting the tank in my room, but my boyfriend doesn't even get up until after I leave for work every day. Guess the dragon tank will go somewhere else. We've been debating on where to put it.
My house only has a large walk-in shower (I've missed taking baths for 4 years!! Taking a bubble bath is the first thing I do when we go to a hotel) and my kitchen sink has two basins that are too small for an adult dragon, so I'm going to buy a large, plastic tub for bath time. It'll be more of a pain for draining, but at least I won't be tied to hanging around in the bathroom while it bathes.

 

[Lauram63110]

That sounds like a good plan. Just be very careful about leaving them in the tub unattended. You never know what can happen! While Bertha is in the tub, I am standing at the sink doing hair and makeup and I don't leave the room till she is out.
Go to youtube and key in POTTY TRAINED LIZARD or POTTY TRAINED DRAGON or POTTY TRAINED IGUANA. There are some amazing videos out there! There was one large Iguana that goes in the tub and then the woman hangs his towel over the side of the tub and he climbs right up the towel to get out of the tub! I am trying to work on that with Big Bertha. She is a good climber and has escaped from her previous enclosure in my house, so I know that the brain power is there! I put the towel in place for her and have been taking her to it and putting her hands on it. She will get it one of these days!

There was another video of a large Iguana that actually uses the toilet! They cut a hole in the center of a piece of plywood that was sitting on the toilet seat. He'd climb up and position his vent right over the hole and go potty and then climb down off the toilet!!!! Actually, he kind of fell off, because he'd get to the side of the plywood and it would tip off the toilet and sort of dump him on the floor.
They said that Lizards don't like to feel anything under their vent when they get ready to go, and try to position them selves over a hole. I wondered if that was why my 2 always go to the drain and do it.