calling all beardie people…

[Starbuck]

I just joined a group on FB for sharing photos of reptiles because there were some cool species you don't see all that often, but most of the pictures are of dragon morphs. Some of the people occasionally ask for advice etc, which i never respond to because i don't keep bearded dragons….. BUT REALLY, is it just FB or are these people insane?? Some of their advice makes no sense, and i was hoping to get some clarification from some of you guys who keep bearded dragons.

They actively recommend repticarpet etc. Is ingestion/impaction really that big of an issue with dragons?? And why? We tell people all the time with snakes that if the snake is kept properly impaction is not really a concern, and is actua;;y a symptom of poor husbandry.

They also refuse to keep bearded dragons with any kind of standing water, and instead bath them once a week etc… Why not just a very small water dish? Is humidity actually that much of a concern? Many of them comment all the time that 'oh spike just loves to drink during his bathes!'… so wouldn't this indicate that their dragon is dehydrated? Maybe they get impactions because people don't offer water, so the animal is dehydrated and gut motility suffers?

Lastly, some of them are anal about their feeding schedules; twice a day, PRECISELY at XXoclock. EXACTLY 8 crickets, and ONE chopped lettuce leaf! Is this really that critical? not even the feeding schedule, but feeding every day?

I realize not all bearded dragon owners are like this, and maybe its just a misrepresentative sample on this FB group, but honestly i feed my leopard gecko a few crickets 2x a week. Im going to feed her up well, but I'm not going to worry about her when i go away for a week over christmas… Maybe some of ya'll can shed some light on how you keep your bearded dragons, or point me towards a modern resource for the non-insane? thanks. This has been driving me nuts lately, and I'm pretty close to leaving the FB page because of all the crazies.