Why does my bearded dragon hate baths

[xp29]

or is that false info

It is false, that's one of the worst pieces of misinformation spread around about beardies. They absolutely have to have water orally to get hydrated. If you beardie eats greens you can rinse them and leave them just a little wet to help get water into them.

 

[xp29]

thank you so much and my last thing regarding the bathing is I also heard that the little vents in between there legs and body absorb water so I can hydrate it in a bath like that

Your very welcome
Ask as many questions as you need, we all want every keeper and every beardie to have the best life together possible

 

[AHBD]

thank you so much and my last thing regarding the bathing is I also heard that the little vents in between there legs and body absorb water so I can hydrate it in a bath like that

Just an FYI, the " vent" [ singular ] is also called the cloaca. It's where they expel their waste from and also where their reproductive organs are.

 

[ChileanTaco]

@Bearded dragon lover
And another FYI:
There is another species where indeed the legs have something to do with drinking: The thorny devil. They have little crevices in their skin leading from their feet to their head and finally mouth. So when they stand in water, water is transported up. But still, the water has to enter through the moth; there is no other opening through which they can absorb it.
Bearded dragons, however, cannot do that.

 

[jwylie94]

Hi i have a bearded dragon named gizmo.He is about 6-7 months old and he hates baths.I even got him a foot bath that is used for humans but put him in instead and turned on the vibraters and bubbles in the tub but he still always jumps out of it, and I don't know what to do.He also hates the Beardie burrito and always wiggle out of it when i try to snuggle him up with a warm towel, and I just need some advice on what to do, or if maybe I am doing something wrong.

Is the bath water too hot or too cold for him? Are you making sure it is only up to his elbows at most. One thing our lizard prefers is a washcloth underneath when he gets a bath. Otherwise he feels like he is slipping and wants out immediately. When the washcloth is under him (I usually run warm water over it first too), he doesn't want out so soon.

 

[jwylie94]

bro my bearded dragon skin is really wrinkly and he does not drink from his water bowl I even try putting drops of water on his head,but when he like turn his body and his skin stretches it is really wrinkly

Is he eating enough protein and greens and veggies? He is most likely a little dehyrdated. Is he having any trouble with his legs and arms?

 

[Bearded dragon lover]

I find that interesting because I went to my local petco and asked one of the staff who has a bearded dragon and said they can absorb water through the vents in their legs

 

[jwylie94]

I find that interesting because I went to my local petco and asked one of the staff who has a bearded dragon and said they can absorb water through the vents in their legs

I have found that the local petcos, and especially petsmart give out mis-information regularly. One of their bearded dragon flyers still have the wrong amount of calcium to give babies--which not enough can cause the metabolic bone disease (MBD) as it did in our very first lizard.
They can absorb water through their body, but they need to be closely watched and the water has to be very shallow. That is why many here are telling you just to use a dropper to get him to drink water. As they can have trouble with drinking water.

 

[xp29]

I find that interesting because I went to my local petco and asked one of the staff who has a bearded dragon and said they can absorb water through the vents in their legs

Those are NOT vent they are femoral pores. They secrete a waxy substance that is used for marking territory.

 

[ChileanTaco]

They can absorb water through their body, but they need to be closely watched and the water has to be very shallow.

Correct regarding the wrong advice often given at Petsmart.

But they can really just absorb water in one way: Through their mouth.

 

[xp29]

Think about it like this. Bearded Dragons come from a desert environment. Most will live their entire lives without ever seeing a pool of standing water With that being the case WHY would they evolve to soak hydration into their boby by setting in it. They wouldn't and they don't. They get their hydration from the food they eat. Their bodies are VERY efficient at extracting water from food. Their system actually does so twice during food processing. They can get like 98 to 100 percent of water that their food contains. That's partially why it's so hard to get beardies to drink.

 

[ChileanTaco]

Think about it like this. Bearded Dragons come from a desert environment. Most will live their entire lives without ever seeing a pool of standing water With that being the case WHY would they evolve to soak hydration into their boby by setting in it. They wouldn't and they don't.

Indeed, habitat and evolution are often a good starting point to whether an animal has a certain feature or not.
However, in fact at least one desert reptile, the thorny devil, has evolved to do just so (they can stand in water and the water is sucked up to their mouth along the skin in little crevices). Likely as a by-process of being able to collect water that condenses as dew on his spine, where then also little crevices in his skin lead right to his mouth.

They get their hydration from the food they eat. Their bodies are VERY efficient at extracting water from food. Their system actually does so twice during food processing. They can get like 98 to 100 percent of water that their food contains. That's partially why it's so hard to get beardies to drink.

With that, I absolutely agree My dragon didn't drink for some months now (can't be sure if he didn't lick off water of plants, but I see him avoiding the plants after I have watered them). Poops look totally normal - just because the water in his food is enough. This also makes totally sense from an evolutionary point, and just by comparing to what our body does and what leads to water loss (mainly: sweating, urinating).

And indeed it's shocking for some people used to other pets seeing a bearded dragon normally isn't drinking. I remember my mother-in-law asking me, when I told her Taco will be alone for 3 days and no worry, has enough food, "but with the water, what if his bowl tips over?" She (used to cats and dogs, poultry and small mammals), and I don't wonder, assumed Taco of course has a water bowl (he has not) and he will die or get seriously ill if he has maybe no access to water for 3 days in case said bowl would tip over.

 

[AHBD]

It's true that they don't often see standing water but they CAN benefit from the dew in the morning that most areas of the world have when hot days go to cool nights and then morning dew forms.
My dragons drink water from a spray bottle from the time they hatch, within about 2-4 days and drink it all through their juvenile stage until they are in the 14-16 + size , then it becomes less + less. Adults usually once every 7-14 days. It's not true that they really don't need water offered , they 100 % benefit from it.

 

[xp29]

It's true that they don't often see standing water but they CAN benefit from the dew in the morning that most areas of the world have when hot days go to cool nights and then morning dew forms.
My dragons drink water from a spray bottle from the time they hatch, within about 2-4 days and drink it all through their juvenile stage until they are in the 14-16 + size , then it becomes less + less. Adults usually once every 7-14 days. It's not true that they really don't need water offered , they 100 % benefit from it.

Oh for sure I wasn't implying they don't need water, just that in the wild they may never see standing water. No matter how hard we try, we will never be able to duplicate actual real world living conditions to 100% so we have to improvise and try to give them as close to natural as possible. We can't feed them the same diet they would have in nature so giving them actual water is an absolute must.
I offer it to my guys 2 to 3 times per week. My boys will drink readily and as much as I'll give, my girls BAH good luck lol. I have to flavor theirs most of the time.
We are able to see life spans over a decade with good husbandry though. I doubt many live near that long in the wild.
The downside though is it's easy to make them obese and lazy so they develop all kinds of diseases that probably don't happen in wild beardies. (A lesson I still struggle with, because I hate the idea of them going hungry)

 

[ChileanTaco]

It's true that they don't often see standing water but they CAN benefit from the dew in the morning that most areas of the world have when hot days go to cool nights and then morning dew forms.
My dragons drink water from a spray bottle from the time they hatch, within about 2-4 days and drink it all through their juvenile stage until they are in the 14-16 + size , then it becomes less + less. Adults usually once every 7-14 days. It's not true that they really don't need water offered , they 100 % benefit from it.

That's how I did it when Taco was little. At that time, he licked the water off.
As I have live plants which I spray and water (daily in the morning), I still try spraying Taco from time to time. He's then closing his eyes - not to not get water in his eyes, but the kind of "eye closing" to signalize "don't want that". Also, he's then not licking the water off.
The plants are wet each day, just because I have to keep his plants alive, so he can get it there in case he wants. Never seen him doing so in many months, though.
(Opposite to spraying, I had never offered a bowl of water.)