science fair project

[Bruiser]

I am a science teacher at an elementary school and I have several students who have Beardies as pets and they would like to do some kind of experiment with them for their yearly science project. We are an A++ school in Arizona and the recent winner of the Intel Award for science in the nation. The age of the dragons range from infant, adolescent and adult. I myself have 2 adult dragons to use as a control. I need help in trying to plan some experiments. For example: do dragons see color, can they be trained in a certain way, do dragons have a certain food they all like or are they individual, etc. Any help would be appreciated and any suggestions would help as long as no harm comes to any dragon. Anyone have suggestions?
My email at school is [email protected]. or my personal email at home is [email protected]. Hope someone can help.

 

[Rukii]

The one to see if they favor a certain kind of food would be nice. Maybe to see if they respond to certain colors better? (Which could also double to see if they can see color to begin with) I would just make sure to let everyone know a hundred times not to do an experiment that could cause stress or harm to the dragons, like feeding them food they aren't supposed to have, keeping them in places without proper heat/lighting, handling them roughly/making them do things they wouldn't want to do, etc. Though I'm sure you knew to do that in the first place
Maybe some other experiments could be really simple observations, like if they prefer natural-looking tank decor, vs. man-made looking, such as boxes and flowerpots, or if it doesn't make a difference. Hope you can use some of those ideas

 

[Bruiser]

I really liked the suggestion of the tank decor. Has anyone any info about real or fake decor for dragons?

 

[AHBD]

Never use fake plants....although some people do, my dragons love their greens so much that they at times would even try to eat the green print on the newspaper in the cage [ I can only use the plain print] and will go after a fake leaf in a minute. People will be intrigued by them merely by some facts about what nice pets they make, how many eggs they lay [ easily over 150 in a season] How they have a parietal " 3rd eye" on top of their head, and what it's for.[ If you don't know, Google it ] How the male's beard darkens and gets puffed out in mating, dominance displays. How females+submissive dragons do" arm-waving". How they brumate in the winter for months at a time, even in captivity....etc,etc. They've even been featured in several movies, none of which I've seen, but some in the crowd no doubt will have seen.

 

[Bruiser]

Very interesting! Which kind of natural plants are used?
And as a substrate? Any info is helpful!

 

[AHBD]

Most people don't use real plants, either. You have to know for sure they aren't poisonous. Not only that, but anything you buy from a greenhouse or plant nursery may have been sprayed with chemicals, and last but not least, the dragons LOVE to dig and they will make short work of your beautiful landscaping and will decorate the cage by bulldozing, excavating and devastating any kind of plant.

 

[Bruiser]

okay. So what plants are okay to use? What have you found good?

 

[AHBD]

I don't use any ! None are good for the reasons that I listed in the last post. You can use a nice piece of driftwood for cage furniture...nicely colored large rocks as well, but these MUST be secure so they don't topple and hurt the dragon. Most dragons try to dig under everything.

 

[Bruiser]

my dragons only are interested in climbing. Bruiser even has her "baby" tree still in her cage that attaches to her climb tree. She rest on it sometimes. But mostly she climbs up to her perch and the lights. Lenny also climbs (my rescue dragon). I've never seen them hide. Even in the fake leaves and undergrowth on the bottom. They do not have a hidie? Even when i bath them and put them on the bottom they climb up. At night they love to get their kisses and blanket cover. So what am i doing wrong? The fake greens are on the way up to help them climb. They pay them no mind except for climbing. Is this wrong?

 

[AHBD]

I'ts just to be on the safe side....because if they mistook the fake plants for real, they could easily eat a piece and get impacted. I don't like to take the chance.