Research and Sources

[Rampagingraptor]

So as any good pet owner should do, I want to learn more about bearded dragons in general. I wanted to find out more about beardies from scientific sources or highly reliable sites. I know a decent amount already, but even my general knowledge of bearded dragons is not so great, despite any amount of research I did into it.
And part of my problem is that I really don't know how reliable any information is at any place. I know that mostly everyone on here is reliable, but not everyone I talk to knows that, and there is so much conflicting information that it's hard to prove yourself right sometimes.
Basically what I kind of wanted to ask was two things:
-what are some scholarly backed up sources for bearded dragons in health, care, feeding, lighting, and anything else you can think of?
-can you provide me with common misconceptions and what it actually is?
I know this might be asking a bit much, but I truly do want to learn as much as I can, both to help other owners and to better care for and understand my beardies.

 

[ruben0311]

you just reminded me of something I read a while back, check this research out if you haven't already. Sex reversal triggers the rapid transition from genetic to temperature-dependent sex. Nature, 2015; 523 (7558): 79 DOI: 10.1038/nature14574

 

[CooperDragon]

Most of the lighting information I have comes from my own testing/measurements along with discussions and test results from UVB Meter Owners Group and UVGuide.co.uk (Frances Baines).

 

[ruben0311]

sweet I will definitely check out Baines. I love reading experimental ecology and biology journals, neat stuff.... yeah I said neat. :mrgreen:

 

[Taterbug]

Dragons have surprisingly little scholarly information considering how popular they are. Reading about other reptiles and similar species is usually necessary. Vetting sources may require some consideration such as what are their sources and what do the sources actually say, what does the source have to gain from the information (ie are they selling something?) is their documentation to back up claims or is it just "common knowledge". If you can't find information to back up claims or they are largely anecdotal that information may be inaccurate or even just made up.

Google scholar has been invaluable for me. Many papers are behind pay walls though. If you have a public or university library membership, are currently a student or alumni at some universities or know someone who is you may be able to get access to papers for free. I have a collection of dragon related papers as well - if you have a particular interest can forward some.

Textbooks and medical references are also helpful,though often less specified at dragons. google books has a good number of them available digitally.

Many times I have emailed the authors of papers or websites to get more information or clarification. Especially with diet/nutrition and lighting as Internet information for these are riddled with inaccuracies and outdated info.

For lighting I rely on the folks who wrote the uvguide.uk. There is a great resource in the Facebook groups: reptile lighting and advanced herp husbandry

Here and elsewhere there can be resistance to new or different information. Often times things are just really engrained in the collective consciousness. I find it's usually not worth the effort to convince individuals otherwise if they already have a elide they are attached to but sharing info can help others reading think a little more critically. A few things off the top of my head:

Basking lights emit plenty of UVA : while technically true the levels emitted are really low and reptile brands are no different than any other brand, the lights still probably look weird to lizards.

Baths - there is 0 documented evidence that dragons get hydration from soaking or that electrolyte baths are helpful.

Calcium content of food - both insects and commercial diets are often misrepresentative of their actual contents. (Butterworms, gutloading products, the gel cricket foods)

Dragons can't feel heat in the belly - dragons have a similar number of sensory organs in the scales of the belly (more around the vent actually) as most of the rest of the body.

Dragons suffocate when flipped on their backs - while reptiles typically lack a diagphragm this does not mean that automatically they can't breath in their back. (Stress alone is reason enough not to flip them over)

 

[Rampagingraptor]

Thanks for all the info! If you have any suggestions for books, Tater, I would love to hear it. I am an alumni, so I might be able to use that to my advantage. But if not, I can always try it anyways.
Yeah, I never got why so many people thought the bath thing was a thing. Why would an arid species absorb water through their cloaca when they exhibit drinking from their mouths?
That is my major frustration with dragons. I wish that we could have some studies done with beardies, especially because of their popularity. It just makes me sad because anyone will believe whatever they see and you can't always show that their wrong cause there is no "concrete proof".
I actually got into a slight argument with someone recently who not only said that 100's of crickets for younger beardies (including juvies) a week was completely excessive, that you should feed them only 5 crickets or so a day, and that most beardie owners have obese dragons. While I have seen some of us have slightly obese dragons, the majority is within the well fed dragons.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

One common misconception is that you can only get salmonella from your bearded dragon by directly touching his feces. People forget that they can never be certain their dragon has not cross contaminated itself. No visual signs of poo on your dragon is not a guarantee that salmonella is not present on the body of your dragon, in the enclosure, on the inside fixtures, etc.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

https://newcms.eventkaddy.net/event_data/60/session_files/AV017_Conference_Note_jjacobs_cvma.net_AV017BOYERDiseasesofBeardedDragons_20150512213937.PDF

You may have already seen this.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/10/30/4117309.htm

 

[DaisyDragon123]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3188478/


Covers viruses in reptiles, including agmaid lizards.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273994623_Virological_Screening_of_Bearded_Dragons_Pogona_vitticeps_and_the_First_Detection_of_Paramyxoviruses_in_This_Species

 

[Rampagingraptor]

Thanks Daisy! I'll have to check those out later.