# Beardie hates baths



## Anna_x (Jun 2, 2009)

But he never drinks from his water bowl... how can I make him not hate it as much? He seems really distressed even if I put him in shallow lukewarm water. Any advice is appreciated - I am asking a lot of questions lately sorry.


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## Anna_x (Jun 2, 2009)

Lol ANYONE? 
Also what does it mean if he has his mouth slightly open?


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## MattThing (Dec 27, 2009)

My girls hates it too! Chuck loves it though. I've removed her water bowl as she never drank from it as with most Beardies so instead, what I tend to do is when prepping the veg, put a little water over the top so it pools a bit in the bottom. This gives them extra water when eating veg and stops the veg from going crispy in the viv!


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## MattThing (Dec 27, 2009)

Anna_x said:


> Lol ANYONE?
> Also what does it mean if he has his mouth slightly open?


He's cooling off. Think of it like a dog panting. 

Edit, that's assuming of course he's not doing it all the time, if he is, there's a problem! You'll mainly see it when they bask.


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## imginy (Jun 14, 2009)

He probably doesn't like baths because they come from the desert.

Beardies get all the water they need from fresh greens as long as they are eating greens every day don't worry about water.

None of my beardies have water bowls I just give mine a little drink from the tap around once a week. They will find drinking from running water a lot easier but you may need to pull back there lip slightly to get them to start drinking then they will lift there head up when they are done.

Beardies normally have there mouth open a little when they are hot.

Guinea : victory:


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## Anna_x (Jun 2, 2009)

Ok thanks a lot  Yeah he's only done it a little while basking and I was curious 
He has greens every day and eats lots of lettuce, cucumber, apple etc so there's a lot of moisture in there 
Can I spray the veg even if it has calcium on it?


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

Read this 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/lizards/177301-your-bearded-dragon-its-habitat.html


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## MattThing (Dec 27, 2009)

Anna_x said:


> Ok thanks a lot  Yeah he's only done it a little while basking and I was curious
> He has greens every day and eats lots of lettuce, cucumber, apple etc so there's a lot of moisture in there
> Can I spray the veg even if it has calcium on it?


I'd stay away, at least as a staple, from the 3 foods you have mentioned as they hold little nutrional value for Beardies. What else do you give him?


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## TheDoctor (Dec 16, 2009)

It seems to be some fashion that people MUST bathe their bearded dragons - the problem is that this can be counter productive, and can mean that the dragon will only 'go' when in a bath.

We are mammals, we spend most of our time on land away from water - imagine someone sticking you in an ocean once a weeks for half an hour, then imagine how you would feel.

As a desert species, they are perfectly adapted to go weeks or even months without direct access to water, and as the posters above have said, they get most of their water from the food they eat, particularly leafy greens.

Lee


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## Anna_x (Jun 2, 2009)

MattThing said:


> I'd stay away, at least as a staple, from the 3 foods you have mentioned as they hold little nutrional value for Beardies. What else do you give him?


He also like dandelion leaves, broccoli, squash, cabbage etc. Was really just mentioning the ones that are full of water.


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## Anna_x (Jun 2, 2009)

TheDoctor said:


> It seems to be some fashion that people MUST bathe their bearded dragons - the problem is that this can be counter productive, and can mean that the dragon will only 'go' when in a bath.
> 
> We are mammals, we spend most of our time on land away from water - imagine someone sticking you in an ocean once a weeks for half an hour, then imagine how you would feel.
> 
> ...


That makes a lot of sense actually :blush: thanks x


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## GodLikeDemon (Dec 4, 2006)

I tend to bath my beardie mainly when he's shedding to help seperate the loose scales. He seems happy enough with it as I started doing it when he was young from when I got him. He has on occasion drunk from that water but rarely and he's never done his toilet duties in the water....ALLWAYS on his basking rock, lol. I think he likes baking it!


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## lee young (Oct 14, 2009)

As above really, you gont need to bath them unless they are really dehydrated (ie from laying loads of eggs) or are having a bad shed, or are constipated. Mines been in the bath about 4 or 5 times in a year, and half of those was because she ran through her poo. 

There seems to be a weird culture of people bathing their beardies every week at the moment, someone the other day even said they were doing it daily! Not too sure how it started, but it can't be good for them.


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## TheDoctor (Dec 16, 2009)

lee young said:


> As above really, you gont need to bath them unless they are really dehydrated (ie from laying loads of eggs) or are having a bad shed, or are constipated. Mines been in the bath about 4 or 5 times in a year, and half of those was because she ran through her poo.
> 
> There seems to be a weird culture of people bathing their beardies every week at the moment, someone the other day even said they were doing it daily! Not too sure how it started, but it can't be good for them.


I agree with the running through poo bit, a little bit of a rinse is good hygiene and stops bacterial growths as long as the bd is dry afterwards, but yeah, it is a little strange how some people seem to be obsessed with dunking their bds in radox + rubber ducky 

Lee


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## Anna_x (Jun 2, 2009)

TheDoctor said:


> I agree with the running through poo bit, a little bit of a rinse is good hygiene and stops bacterial growths as long as the bd is dry afterwards, but yeah, it is a little strange how some people seem to be obsessed with dunking their bds in radox + rubber ducky
> 
> Lee


Haha, I suppose that's why I was worried because it seems that EVERYONE does it!


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