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Okay, so how do you handle the Bearded Dragon?
Like most captured reptiles in Australia this one was born
in captivity and grown up as a little fella so he’s a lot tamer
if you like or a lot easier to handle than a wild one
you’d see like in the bush.
Basically, like any lizard you want to make it feel secure
like any animals you want to make it feel secure so you give
its front legs to sit on, back legs to sit on and it feels
really happy there.
If I was holding it by one leg or something it would
obviously struggle and feel very uncomfortable and
want to get away.
So, they’re really easy to handle.
You can actually put them in one hand and just gently lock
the thumb if you think it’s going to jump on the ground
because you don’t want them jumping on the ground,
it’s a long way for a small lizard it could potentially
damage itself, break a leg even.
So, you want to make sure that if it’s about to jump
you’re holding it quite gently but firmly so it can’t escape
but this guy’s not wanting to go anywhere,
he’s just very happy to sit in my hand all day probably.
And did I mention why it’s called a Bearded Dragon?
It’s probably very obvious but this species has a little beard
around the side of its head and if you see them in the wild
and they get annoyed they will put down the beard.
In captivity they won’t do this because it’s really
a threat display it’s trying to show them having a big head,
being fierce and scary.
And they’re often called Frill-Necked Lizards but of course
the frill-neck’s a different lizard it’s from the
northern tropical areas of Australia whereas the Bearded Dragon
is from the more central arid areas.
The Frill-Necks’ beard … the frill goes all the way around
but the Bearded Dragon has a small beard,
mostly under its throat and around the sides.
So, he looks like he wants to go back into his enclosure,
he’s had enough of me.
As far as handling, a little bit of handling is really good
for most of these reptiles.
I wouldn’t say every day but certainly you want to handle them
from time to time so they do get very comfortable
and they’re not at all worried about being taken out of
their enclosure like this guy, he’s very relaxed.
But, he’d probably want to go back.
Another problem is what would you do if one of
your lizard’s not feeding or looks sick or you know
started to blow bubbles from its nose because
respiratory infection like colds are occasionally found
in these species, in these lizards.
So, you’d have to bring it to the veterinarian.
So, the easy way to carry a reptile like a Blue Tongue
or any other, you can put it into a soft bag and then
tie it up gently, be very careful that it’s in the bottom
of the bag and then put that bag inside a hard case
or a container and take it to the vet inside a soft cloth bag.
And that would be the safe and easy way to bring it to the vet.
Of course making sure you don’t leave it in a parked car
or anything silly like that because they are very susceptible
to overheating like all animals.
.