My wife already has 3 dogs, 4 cats, 2 birds, a guinea pig, and is fostering a mommy cat with a litter of 4 kittens and I have a dog. She had no concept of what was required to care for the birds and eventually I started taking care of them all by myself.
Now she bought a bearded dragon and she doesn't really know how to care for it either. As much as I hate to enable her critter addiction, I need to know what is the minimum care for a beardie? She'll give it lots of attention until about the second time she has to clean the aquarium....
When treated properly, they do require interaction/attention. They are smart and curious and being around activity (enclosure in the living room vs a quieter room for example) helps. They also like spending time looking out the window but require a fair bit of supervision while out of their enclosure when other animals are around. For the enclosure itself, it is important to invest in high quality UVB lighting (usually an Arcadia or ReptiSun T5 is recommended) and close attention should be paid to the surface temps in the enclosure. Poop needs to be cleaned up and surfaces sanitized as quickly as reasonable, but adult dragons tend to go only once every day or two (young ones more frequently). They don't require the level of attention that a dog would, but they are not a hands off type of pet to care for.