# Bearded dragon in a school



## dead_passive (Jan 11, 2011)

Hi all, first post!

I am a physics technician in a school, and we are looking at getting a bearded dragon as a school pet. I would like some input from you lot (the people who know stuff) as to whether this would work.

The plan at the moment is that it would be looked after by myself, and during holidays housed in a local pet shop until I can get hold of a setup for home, where it would come home with me. It's a private girl's school, and I'd have to say that I wouldnt be worried about the kids getting hold of it without supervision, and all handling would be done by myself/other staff who know how to handle the beardie.

There are a few things I am worried about:
1. Weekends - Would it be ok to leave the beardie on its own without feeding on weekends
2. Age of dragon - This is related to the part about weekends. I have read on these forums somewhere that feeding is regular with babies and adults can be fed less frequently. Does this mean if we were to get a beardie we would have to have an adult to survive the weekends?
3. Evenings - I'm in work from 8am-4pm, would the beardie be ok in the evenings on its own?

We decided on a bearded dragon because they've got great personalities and are tame, but I'd be happy to accept any other suggestions if anyone has an idea of something more suitable for my situation. Or of course if you just want to give me reasons why we should not get a beardie.

Our science department is lacking life 

Thanks for your time!
Mike


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## abisheridee (Feb 27, 2010)

I wouldn't go with a beardie (although I am by no means a beardie expert) as they needs more regular care, and would be cross about being left at the weekend. What about some giant snails or even a corn snake or chilled out boa? These guys will all forgive you for not seeing them over the weekend.

Also- what setup would you have in place in case of a powercut or a heater shorting out? Reptiles are daft too- what would happen if (for instance) your school boa ripped her skin at the weekend and it needed immediate attention?

I like the idea of having a webcam in there- it's educational for the kids (they can log on and have a look at their school friend) AND you can check that it's not getting up to mischief.


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## dickvansheepcake (Jul 8, 2009)

Hi, A beardie should not be left for a weekend I'm afraid. They need to be checked daily as their basking bulb may blow, the UV may stop working, or of course they may become ill/have an accident and need immediate attention.
They also need fresh greens daily, whatever age they are. As babies they need live food 2-3 times a day and as they get older this reduces gradually. I feed my adults live food every other day, so again, they couldn't be left for a weekend.

Dragons are very interactive, and even when just sitting in their vivs or basking mine still keep an eye on what's going on outside. They seem to enjoy the activity. I wouldn't like mine to be alone every evening, but that may just be a personal thing for me.

It is a lovely idea, and it sounds as if the dragon would be in good hands and looked after well, but it couldn't be left for weekends at the school alone. Also even if you had a set up at home it wouldn't be fair to move it all the time. Bearded dragons are effected hugely by the stress of change. If you were moving it between your home and the school the dragon would be in a permanent state of relocation stress and would probably not eat and its health would go downhill. 

I'm not sure that it would be safe to leave any lizard for a weekend unattended, as they generally all need daily care.

Sorry I couldn't be more upbeat about your idea!

Jenny


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## dead_passive (Jan 11, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought about powercuts, but I'm sure people here would know what they'd do if they had one, so any advice there would be appreciated.

If I could get a viv set up at home at the same time as getting a setup in the school then it could come home with me every weekend and this is definitely something I have been thinking about. Although I'm not sure how much they like being moved around regularly.

The majority of girls (and female teachers) don't like the idea of a snake, but are all happy with a lizard (or turtle which was the original idea). But we definitely want something that could be brought out in front of a class to aid teaching, and the girls could take a close look at without freaking out, or anything that may bite.

I like the webcam idea, and the planned viv location is already next to a computer which is on 99% of the time.

EDIT - Thanks for the advice dickvansheepcake. I will have a think about this whole situation again to see if we can come up with a solution, or more suitable pet.


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## dickvansheepcake (Jul 8, 2009)

As I said in my reply, a dragon must not be moved that often. All the stress would have a terrible effect on its health and it really would not be fair on it.


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

Personally i'd say it'd be fine. 

for weekends you can put a large plate of greens in the cool end and also a bowl of meal worms. 
Set the lights to come on and off using a timer and that's all that sorted; if a bulb blows then it'll be fine till Monday.

As for a beardie being cross that it's being left alone... the only answer to that would be lol.
Seeing as beardies aren't 'domestic' animals, any handling and human intervention is for our benefit rather than theirs. People are more than happy to bang on that beardies don't need friends as they're solitary but want to play with them every night?

even though you won't be there i'm guessing there will be people; other teachers working late, head master, cleaners, caretaker etc that would be able to have the occasional check in the evenings and weekends.


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## Tombo46 (Aug 5, 2010)

dickvansheepcake said:


> As I said in my reply, a dragon must not be moved that often. All the stress would have a terrible effect on its health and it really would not be fair on it.


I agree with this. which is shame because you sound like you would be a very capable keeper.

if the school is close by, would it be possible for you to pop in at weekends? I know its a pain in the arse but if its done between a few of you it may be worth thinking about aslong as everyone is clued up on its care.

if everything is on timers and your school has a back-up for supplying electricity it could work. the only thing that could happen is the basking spot could blow but again. if you are popping in every day it may be fine.

if you can meet the beardies needs over the weekend then I say go for it. if not. then im afraid its a no go.

all the best

Tom


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

i'd also go for a bigger viv than the average 4x2x2 as well. as it'd be left primarily on its own for the evening and weekends a bigger viv with a fake rock wall etc will give a more natural environment and lots of places to explore.


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## abisheridee (Feb 27, 2010)

Meko said:


> As for a beardie being cross that it's being left alone... the only answer to that would be lol.
> Seeing as beardies aren't 'domestic' animals, any handling and human intervention is for our benefit rather than theirs. People are more than happy to bang on that beardies don't need friends as they're solitary but want to play with them every night?


oh ffs, twisting my words much? i didn't mean it would be upset, i meant it in a light-hearted way, that it would feel 'cross' that it wouldn't be getting decent attention, feeding and attention to lighting etc. nice to use words in a jokey way every now and again *sigh* ...


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

it usually helps if the context if also jokey but yours seemed serious


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## dead_passive (Jan 11, 2011)

Tombo46 said:


> I agree with this. which is shame because you sound like you would be a very capable keeper.
> 
> if the school is close by, would it be possible for you to pop in at weekends? I know its a pain in the arse but if its done between a few of you it may be worth thinking about aslong as everyone is clued up on its care.
> 
> ...


That definitely is a good idea. I know the caretaker who lives on the school site quite well, the only problem is whether he wants the responsibility of checking regularly but I will mention the problem to him.

If he's up for just checking on it, would feeding be ok if I do as another poster suggested and leave it some veg. Just thinking he's more likely to help out if all he's got to do is poke his nose in and see if everything's ok.


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## dickvansheepcake (Jul 8, 2009)

The veg will wilt though, thats why they need fresh daily. Doesn't matter how much you put in at once after being in a warm viv for a day it will be pretty manky! Let alone leaving it for the weekend!

If there is someone that could check in and chuck in fresh veg daily then it will be fine. If not then I can't see it working.


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## Antw23uk (Jan 12, 2009)

Meko said:


> Personally i'd say it'd be fine.
> 
> for weekends you can put a large plate of greens in the cool end and also a bowl of meal worms.
> Set the lights to come on and off using a timer and that's all that sorted; if a bulb blows then it'll be fine till Monday.
> ...


This : victory:


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## dead_passive (Jan 11, 2011)

Would it solve any problems if we changed our mind to a leopard gecko?


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## Darklas (Mar 25, 2009)

dead_passive said:


> Would it solve any problems if we changed our mind to a leopard gecko?


I think if a beardie would be better if you are going to be getting kids to handle it. Geckos are that bit smaller and more fragile. In my experience beardies tend to be lazier and very happy to be held. Geckos try to roam around more on you.

I don't see a big problem leaving it in the evenings, but at the weekend, if you could find someone to check on him/chuck food in it'd be much better.


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

a leopard gecko would be a good idea if you held night classes  as they're nocturnal.. or whatever the word is for things that run about in the evening and early morning.

Your best bet would be to try and involve the caretaker so he's more active in it rather than just having the occasional look.
I would say you could build the viv onto a trolley so he can take him home in the evenings but some people would take it seriously :whistling2:


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## dead_passive (Jan 11, 2011)

Meko said:


> a leopard gecko would be a good idea if you held night classes  as they're nocturnal.. or whatever the word is for things that run about in the evening and early morning.
> 
> Your best bet would be to try and involve the caretaker so he's more active in it rather than just having the occasional look.
> I would say you could build the viv onto a trolley so he can take him home in the evenings but some people would take it seriously :whistling2:


Looks as though this whole idea will be going out of the window unless I can think of anything else though. The caretaker can't check on weekends, he's got young kids and the weekend is their only chance to get out of the house.

Maybe need to look at more traditional classroom pets instead as it seems this just wont work. Shame really because I've got myself all excited about getting a pet beardie over the last month.

Will definitely be getting a beardie when I get my own house though!

Thanks everyone for all your help and advice, I will put this on the backburner for a while and see if other members of staff have a solution.


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## slugsiss32 (Nov 14, 2010)

Hey i don't have a Beardie but i know they are great to have..just not in a school i don't think as they are very sociable and i think more of a family pet? Other people who know more about them will tell you more. 

Just wanted to say in my school we had an Albino Axolotl for years in a big tank. It was cared for my one of the biology teachers, and even though it couldn't really handled because it was living in water all the time we all thought it was really cool and it was still a really nice animal to have in school, yet it didn't mind people not talking to it, or not being with it over weekends. 

We also have GALS but they breed like heck!  But if you just get one then obvio they wouldn't. In my opinion i don't really like snails, but they are pretty interesting to watch anyway!

Annnnd we have an adult Corn Snake, which is fine with school and is handled once a day, and only needs to be fed once a week. I have a Corn at home too and would only handle it as much as the one at school is handled. 

All three of those are fine with weekends! But Beardies might be ok too, i have no idea!


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## ex0tics (Jun 9, 2009)

Meko said:


> Personally i'd say it'd be fine.
> 
> for weekends you can put a large plate of greens in the cool end and also a bowl of meal worms.
> Set the lights to come on and off using a timer and that's all that sorted; if a bulb blows then it'll be fine till Monday.
> ...


I'm with Meko, even if you did want to take it home on weekends.
I think it'd appreciate some of the attention.


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

As you seem very keen on getting a beardie, why not get one for yourself and take it into the school for visits? That way there won't be any problems leaving it alone over the weekends and the kids can have the thrill of you bringing your pet in to visit every now and then. Plus you then get a beardie full time!

Unless you want the hassle of creating a area of the school where it is day during the night and night during the day so your students can watch noctural species, I think the only suitable reptile for a school would be a snake.


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## Anna_x (Jun 2, 2009)

Whats wrong with the original turtle idea?
You could send the naughty kids off to get bitten muhahahax


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## SteveL (Dec 31, 2010)

I think if you can do it with the beardie well looked after, it's a cracking idea. It can teach the kids a lot.


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## MrLizardBoi97 (Aug 29, 2010)

a chameleon might be an option as they are definetly more interesting I don't have one but might be worth checking out


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## Tombo46 (Aug 5, 2010)

MrLizardBoi97 said:


> a chameleon might be an option as they are definetly more interesting I don't have one but might be worth checking out


A lot more difficult to keep so if I were you I'd steer clear of them for this sort of thing.


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## kooki_kelli (Dec 14, 2010)

Considered same 'weekend away' issues with ourselves, have seen automatic ped feeding dishes that can be set to open up at various times over several days, that may be a solution for you and having an enclosure big enough to allow 2 basking lights minimizes any probs if one pops...webcam is fab idea esp if have thermostats that sound an alarm when temps out, and is a great interactive tool as said previously..

Luckily our neighbours son is like part of the furniture and more than willing to be 'lizard keeper' when required, the fact that we will pay him to do so will ensure a good job done : victory:


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## stevemusson (Oct 16, 2010)

dickvansheepcake said:


> As I said in my reply, a dragon must not be moved that often. All the stress would have a terrible effect on its health and it really would not be fair on it.


Is a very good point to consider during holidays also although they're very friendly and affectionate mine hated it when we had to live with my sister and all the kids as she's a childminder. I think it would find the general hussle and bussle of a school a bit much personally. They prefer somewhere quiet generally.


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