roaming around

[electracrapps]

My bearded is about 10 months old. When can I just let her out to roam? I do a little now, only when I can watch her, as she tends to crawl under things. I fugured I would let her out all the time when she is big enough where she cant crawl under things. Also how often should I let her out? All the time? Doesnt she need to be in her controlled temp home a good bit of the time?

 

[ShannyBeard]

We have a basking spot set up in our living room with a UVB light and a basking light for our big dragon, Chief. He can come and hang with us on the weekends and in the evenings as time permits. This way he still can get his UVB and proper temps.

None of our other dragons are allowed on his basking area, and when they are out and he is not, it is shut off. We only give this privilege to Chief because he is the only one out of SIX dragons who is trustworthy and responsible enough to not get into trouble and crawl away somewhere dark and hide.

The rest of our dragons are our children, too, but they aren't like Chief.

You will need to 'beardie proof' your home so you don't lose your beardie. There are people on this forum who looked away for a few minutes and their beardies crawled off somewhere and couldn't be found for hours and days at a time. Definitely figure out if your beardie is like Chief and can be trusted or if it is like the rest of ours, who cannot.

 

[bdalton]

I agree with Shanny.
My girl is like Cheif. She has a basking spot setup outside and she knows to go to it when she needs to, but she never wanders far. She likes to be out and has never ever hid, only cuddled up in clothes to sleep. She's 8 months old.
My boy on the other hand, he's still little but I know I will never be able to trust him like Lola. He'd be the one to find the smallest space to crawl into and I'd never find him.
If I wanted to, I could leave Lola out in the "beardie proof" room and walk away for an hour and she wouldn't go more than 5 ft, but I would never do that. I don't have to watch her every move, but I never leave her unattended.

 

[NeosMom]

Mine can't be trusted out without extra super watchful eyes on them. I hope one day to beardie proof a room for them, but even then I can't imagine they will be allowed to truly roam free.

 

[RandyMarsh]

I've come up with a good plan for letting Franklin roam around. He used to go off and lose himself but he hasn't done that for a while. Now when he's out I have a Iguana harness on him with a bell attached to it. It's bright purple and pretty long so wherever he goes he leaves a long purple trail hanging out.

 

[NeosMom]

Randy - do you have any furniture concerns? I like what you're doing, but do you have any extra troubling furniture? I have two sofas with two recliners each and they would be dragon doomsday. I have dropped things, know exactly where they went and still can't get them out. I'm afraid even with a long leash & bell it would still be dangerous. Any thoughts on that?

 

[RandyMarsh]

Randy - do you have any furniture concerns? I like what you're doing, but do you have any extra troubling furniture? I have two sofas with two recliners each and they would be dragon doomsday. I have dropped things, know exactly where they went and still can't get them out. I'm afraid even with a long leash & bell it would still be dangerous. Any thoughts on that?

The thing is after careful surveillance of his roaming he seems to stick to a pattern- If he wanders there's like three places he could go, and he returns to them in no particular order. As for furniture, all we have is a longish couch he likes to rarely crawl under. It's a little nerve racking when you have to look under it but after he started growing more he stopped wanting to go under it so much.

As for recliners the only thing I can think of that would be a cheap easy solution would be to just tape like an old rolled up shirt up there on the sides/front/back to cover the holes.
When you do let them out do they seem like they want to go under the recliners? You might not even have to really worry about it.

The main problem you'll run into with your line of thinking is once you start thinking of all the spots a dragon can possibly go, you can EASILY drive yourself crazy with worry. Best not to worry, and just let them roam around if you can handle it, then each new place is an adventure. The harness helps because it's like a crazy long tail and leads back to him.
Also dragons ARE pretty tough if they're well taken care of, so unless you have bad temps in the house they'll prolly find their way back out, and I know it's a pretty specific type of spot that a dragon can get stuck in. (mostly against smooth walls where they can't turn back around)

Really up to you, but just watching his roaming habits helps a ton. Just be tricky because you KNOW they know when you're watching them! Just like with food where they won't eat sometimes until you leave them alone. I used the webcam on my laptop to record him one day it was pretty cute.

 

[NeosMom]

Thanks a ton for the advice. You're right. I easily worry myself sick when I get started. Fluffy is pretty slow and lazy and she will soon be too big for her "naughty spot". Figment however is a speed demon. His feet hit the floor and he takes off. There isn't a single Nook, cranny or hole he hasn't tried for. Sigh. I'm tempted to use your leash trick even for supervised runs!

 

[RandyMarsh]

Thanks a ton for the advice. You're right. I easily worry myself sick when I get started. Fluffy is pretty slow and lazy and she will soon be too big for her "naughty spot". Figment however is a speed demon. His feet hit the floor and he takes off. There isn't a single Nook, cranny or hole he hasn't tried for. Sigh. I'm tempted to use your leash trick even for supervised runs!

Its a big help to go from every 2 seconds looking for them, to be able to check for a long purple cord on the floor every 3-5 minutes. Plus you get the bonus of once they DO get nice and comfortable in the house they generally stick to the same area, or find a favorite spot and "patrol" there.

I'm working on turning the back porch into dragon town for summer time, which is a whole new kettle of fish, but I'd like to let him roam around safe outside, that would be sweet.

 

[ShannyBeard]

My skink, as big as he is, can get away from me faster than a beardie because he kinda 'slinks' away very slowly....LOL

My beardies to seem to have a pattern, like Randy's Franklin, and if I have turned my back I can check a few spots and they are always in one of them. Then again, I have already beardie proofed so they can't really go anywhere dangerous.