What do your beardies do outside the tank?

[Lycia]

Hi all!

When I take apollo out the tank he thankfully no longer scratches to be put back in. He wanders around a bit, tries to climb the walls then finds a corner or place he wants to settle down and goes to sleep. Some questions.
1. He doesn't seem to pick a warm place to stay like I expect. I took a wooden log out of his tank (because crickets and roaches found too many places to hide in there) but I have it on the floor in the living room in a spot where the sun often hits from the window. He's gotten on it a few times but tends to then go to a corner or someplace cool and sleep and I'm concerned. This isn't anywhere near his bedtime, I'm talking like 5-6 in the evening. Sometimes I'll pick him up and put him on my lap but he just stays asleep.
2. What do your beardies do when they're out? How long is it ok to leave them out of the tank away from their heat lamps? Are there any toys or anything I can get to make it more interesting for them outside the tank? It's not at all freezing in my place, average is probably around 65-70 degrees but since he's supposed to be in about 105 degree temps is it ok to let him stay on my lap a couple hours when I come home?

 

[Tonja]

Mine have a playpen for outside so they go in that. When out on the bed roaming around, they climb pillows, stuffed animals, climb on the dogs, watch the tv or computer screen and love to look at all the pretty beardie photos. When on the floor, most stuff is blocked off, but will just roam around licking everything.

 

[Baconninja]

Mine is quite the explorer, when I take him out, he goes all through the house. From the patio in the back, all the way to my room on the side. When he comes back he falls asleep on my bed. :roll:

 

[KarenInCA]

Rin loves to look out the window on the top of our couch. He will stay there forever watching anything shiny or moving. When it's within a few minutes of lights out in his viv, he usually either cuddles up to me, or gets a "LOOK" on his face and then jumps off the couch as fast as he can and races to his viv before lights out. His internal clock is amazing.

Other times, he just races to his viv which is across from the couch. When he gets crazy like that, my 9 year old daughter sets up detours from the couch to the viv with a hide or branches, etc. Then we clock the time from setting him on the carpet to the time it takes him to race to his viv. It can be quite entertaining...lol

 

[Lycia]

Great replies thanks. I also looked some stuff up online that said some cat toys like soft balls with bells and stuff are good for them so I'll try some. Question for those who say their beardies like to be on the couch or windowsill. I actually don't let him on those cause I don't know what a safe height for them to jump from is. He's 13 inches long last I measured him a little less than a month ago, I think he's about 6 no more than 7 months old. What height is safe for him? I don't have carpet, only hardwood floors throughout.

 

[Tonja]

I have a dog bed under the window where mine sit so if they jump its a soft landing also have carpeting. You can put a pillow down or a blanket in case he would hop down.

 

[KarenInCA]

Rin is around 9 months old now, and so he doesn't skitter around a lot. He will sit for hours at the top of the couch if I let him. I usually don't because he gets cool after a while, and he tries to scoot out of my hand when I try to take him down.
I don't let him get onto the window sill because I don't want him to fall. But on the couch, if he wants down, he slides down the back of the couch till he can jump to the cushion, then he does the same thing from the cushion to the floor.
I also don't let him up on the back of the couch unless I'm sitting in the same couch, watching a show. And often I will have my hand up on the back of the couch, touching his tail to make sure he doesn't go anywhere when I get distracted by the show Im watching. There have been a couple times lately that I've left him on the top of the couch to start making dinner, but I can see him from the kitchen as well. And that is only for a few minutes.
If you have a couch that sits against a window sill, you can try it while you're sitting there, it really IS his favorite thing to do. My daughter says we have a watch dragon instead of a watch dog. and OOOHHHH but he LOVES to watch the trees move in the wind, and the birds skitter around. I think he actually gets mad at me when I take him down. Funny.

 

[CooperDragon]

Cooper used to fall asleep in one of three places. Under the chair in the dining room, behind the atari (his favorite), or in the christmas tree. They do seem to like to find a cool dark place to fall asleep when outside the tank. Cooper was outside the tank pretty much all the time when I was home unless he felt too cold. He has a clamp basking light that either goes in the kitchen with him or stays in the living room. He knows where it is and returns to it when he wants to warm up. Other than that, he has free reign of the house. He knows how to go up and down stairs, skitters around the kitchen floor, and climbs up onto the back of the sofa to get a good view. He also loves to sit in the window as many of them seem to. We live in an area with a lot of foot traffic and he could be in the window for hours just watching people go by. His favorite time of year was Christmas though. He'd get excited when we put the tree up and when he got free from the tank he'd dart across the room and hop up into the tree, climb it, and poke his head out from somewhere high and watch the room. Other than that, he didn't need anything special outside the tank. He just enjoyed running around exploring things. Clamp on basking light was nice though because it provided portable heat both for travel and for moving around the house for him.

 

[thebenior]

My dragon generally skitters about like a maniac and climbs things while he explores my apartment. He'll walk under things like my couch and TV stand, where he generally comes back out from under, but sometimes he just lays down underneath and I have to retrieve him.

He also amuses me by looking out the window, and frequently pauses at doorways before he decides to either go in or walk past it.

We generally put him back when he starts feeling cool to the touch.

 

[SkyfangRauss]

right now Agni is restricted to my computer desk during outside time because my room is virtually impossible to make beardie-safe.

but he loves my keyboard and mouse, he spends almost all his outside time skittering across my keyboard or pancaking on my mouse