I FEEL VERY GUILTY!!!!!!

[lazer]

This has always bothered me but I have never put this question out there.
Now I know in Australia, Beardies just sit and soak up the sun. But if they desire, they can move anywhere they want. The have no restrictions. But when they are in an enclosure, as they are in a terrarium, they just find a place under the heat lamp and sit there the whole day.
Whenever I walk in on my Beardie, she is just staring straight out. I always feel bad for her. Right now, I play a CD of various artist and genres for about two hours at a time throughout the day.
It sounds silly, but I feel like I should be somehow entertaining her, like with a flea circus or something.
Now you know I am just kidding when I say that, but I feel so bad for her because she has no interaction with anything throughout the entire day.
Does anyone have any ideas of how I can give her some stimulation during the day when I am not home (I'm working during the day)? I am so unbelievably tired when I get home, that most of the time, I won't take her out because it involves me following her around everywhere and making sure she doesn't hurt herself by eating something that could cause her problems, or going somewhere that may have sharp, metal edges.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks a bunch!

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

Take her out and lay her on your chest. Most of the time mine stay there.......daddy is very warm

 

[lazer]

I love that feeling too. The problem is, is that she stays there for about 40 seconds, then bolts. One time, oh about 8 months ago, I came home very late from work. So I held her on my chest while I was on the computer. She started burrowing into my armpit, then she fell asleep. It felt so good that she would trust me enough, and felt that comfortable with me, that she would let her guard down until she finally fell asleep.
My concern, though, is the rest of the day while I'm at work. I come home and she is just staring straight ahead.
I bought a leash for her, so if all is well, and the weather cooperates, we will go for walks in my big backyard, and walk the sidewalk as well. I can't wait!

 

[PatsyB]

I used to leave a radio on for Dexter on the sports channel. That's what my boyfriend would have on when he came home so I thought that would make think she wasn't alone. Maybe you can leave a tv on for her.

 

[Noella]

I leave the TV on 24/7. My animals listen to the TV when I'm not home. Sometimes, I'd leave music on upstairs for Allie. She'd listen to it all the time. Then the radio broke. So we resorted to the TV.

 

[lazer]

First, thank you all for your answers.
You ever notice when you see Bearded Dragon's in the wild, they are sitting on something in the middle of nowhere and there is no sound?
As I mentioned in my original question, I have a CD on a timer that plays music for about 3 hours because the truth is, I don't know if they like silence as opposed to noise. I think we as human's and pet owners, seem to look at our pets as we would look at a human and say to ourselves that they must feel lonely.
I haven't seen any research so that's what I am asking. Has anyone seen in the literature that Beardies' like to have some noise going all of the time.
For all I know, My B.D. "Lady" may be quite content just sitting there, enjoying her panoramic view of the outside world in our Sun parlor.

 

[lazer]

Noella. I am new here and wanted to see what happens when you click on someone's avatar.
I am so sorry for your loss of Allie. I thought people here currently own Bearded Dragons.
I know it sounds silly but my youngest son came home from New York for a short visit. He had a lot of reptiles with him and more back in his apartment in N.Y. He said to me "Dad, I can't take care of all of these. The B.D. at that point was a juvenile and was so cute. Even my wife fell in love with her as they can be quite enamoring.
I said I would take the Bearded Dragon (knowing nothing of their needs) as well as a Leopard Gecko. Well, two years later, I noticed the Gecko was acting strangely. Long story short, I happen to have a great exotic Veterinarian who missed the call, even after seeing the impaction on X-ray. I happen to be up at 1:15 in the morning on a Friday night when I saw Lucy, going into some type of convulsions and finally coming to rest at the opposite end of the tank. I ran over to the tank and saw her mouth was slightly open and there was crusted blood all around it.
I remembering calling her name out over and over because I realized that she must have died. It may sound childish, but at 54 years old, I was tearing up and apologizing to Lucy over and over for not taking care of her properly ( I was, it's the fact that the veterinarian was focusing on something else instead of the impaction and that she was also starting to Brumate but I still felt responsible). I remember crying and saying I'm sorry over and over. They depend on us for all of their needs and I will always feel that I let her down.
I first put a soft wash cloth over her, leaving just the breathing area open just in case. I finally buried her at my parents house and to this day, I can still see her face, feel the guilt, and tear up whenever I think about it.
So I can only imagine what you went through Noella, having a healthy Bearded Dragon Dying as your pet. I can't even conceive of it but I do hope she gave you many, many years of happiness.
Were you able to get another or was it too difficult trying to replace her?

 

[Josh]

Love the discussion in this thread <3! So much love

 

[PatsyB]

First, thank you all for your answers.
You ever notice when you see Bearded Dragon's in the wild, they are sitting on something in the middle of nowhere and there is no sound?
As I mentioned in my original question, I have a CD on a timer that plays music for about 3 hours because the truth is, I don't know if they like silence as opposed to noise. I think we as human's and pet owners, seem to look at our pets as we would look at a human and say to ourselves that they must feel lonely.
I haven't seen any research so that's what I am asking. Has anyone seen in the literature that Beardies' like to have some noise going all of the time.
For all I know, My B.D. "Lady" may be quite content just sitting there, enjoying her panoramic view of the outside world in our Sun parlor.

Sorry I somehow missed the part about the CD in your original post. You're right, I think that we as humans have this need to attach human emotions to everything. We feel if it's living and breathing it MUST have some emotion. The reality is we don't know. I mean Dexter SEEMS happy to see me, and that makes me happy, but if I wasn't here anymore and she saw someone else, she'd probably have the same reaction to them. There was this whole discussion a few years back on my frog forum about emotions in frogs. When my frogs see me they get excited and they will come to the front of the glass or they will sit and watch me while I'm on the computer. It makes me feel good to know that they do this but really they only do it because they associate me with food.

It's because we feel guilty that we put a human emotion to their stare and think they are mad at us or bored or whatever. We turn the tv and the radio on all day because we think it will make them feel better but they probably just don't care. It just makes us feel better to know that we possibly made their day a little better.

 

[Noella]

Noella. I am new here and wanted to see what happens when you click on someone's avatar.
I am so sorry for your loss of Allie. I thought people here currently own Bearded Dragons.
I know it sounds silly but my youngest son came home from New York for a short visit. He had a lot of reptiles with him and more back in his apartment in N.Y. He said to me "Dad, I can't take care of all of these. The B.D. at that point was a juvenile and was so cute. Even my wife fell in love with her as they can be quite enamoring.
I said I would take the Bearded Dragon (knowing nothing of their needs) as well as a Leopard Gecko. Well, two years later, I noticed the Gecko was acting strangely. Long story short, I happen to have a great exotic Veterinarian who missed the call, even after seeing the impaction on X-ray. I happen to be up at 1:15 in the morning on a Friday night when I saw Lucy, going into some type of convulsions and finally coming to rest at the opposite end of the tank. I ran over to the tank and saw her mouth was slightly open and there was crusted blood all around it.
I remembering calling her name out over and over because I realized that she must have died. It may sound childish, but at 54 years old, I was tearing up and apologizing to Lucy over and over for not taking care of her properly ( I was, it's the fact that the veterinarian was focusing on something else instead of the impaction and that she was also starting to Brumate but I still felt responsible). I remember crying and saying I'm sorry over and over. They depend on us for all of their needs and I will always feel that I let her down.
I first put a soft wash cloth over her, leaving just the breathing area open just in case. I finally buried her at my parents house and to this day, I can still see her face, feel the guilt, and tear up whenever I think about it.
So I can only imagine what you went through Noella, having a healthy Bearded Dragon Dying as your pet. I can't even conceive of it but I do hope she gave you many, many years of happiness.
Were you able to get another or was it too difficult trying to replace her?

Getting a baby beardie soon this month. I have to get some items first though. I have to replace everything in the tank from the wood to the decor. It's very hard throwing out all of her wood, caves, cage furniture because of the yellow fungus disease she had. I would've bleached all of her wood and set it out in the sun to air dry, and then baked it, but that would spread it to the baby beardie.

I did the same thing to Allie, but she does visit in spirit form.

 

[lazer]

Josh. Thanks so much for your comment. It means a great deal to me.

 

[suzy]

I was just telling my husband this same thing. When I have to work a long day I wonder if they think I am not coming back. Do you think they have a sense of time? I keep wanting to do something to make their life better cause they look so bored. My husband says they are do not have emotions like bored or sad or happy. I wonder though. They seem to like looking out the window so I sit by the window and hold them sometimes.

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

Different dragons require different things, just like kia some like to veg (Rad), some like to explore (Bright Eyes), and some just want to hunt all day (Razor).

 

[jarich]

Lazer, what you are talking about is referred to as 'enrichment', and its a hot topic right now in captive studies. There are a number of things you can do to help enrich your dragons environment. One of the easiest is by using the vertical space of your enclosure, if you have any. Multiple layers, branches, and other furniture create a more complex spatial environment that the animal must then navigate. Its a simple thing but one that has an effect. Also, feed at different times of the day, and without a set cycle each week. Throw in a variety of insects all together at the start of the day, on the opposite side of the enclosure, and make them hunt down their prey. If you want to get really into it, there are those of us who recommend a bioactive enclosure, which gives them the option of digging burrows and other natural behaviours.

 

[lazer]

First of all, thank you for your response.

Believe it or not, I have done many of the things you have suggested.

I am curious though about the Bioactive enclosure you mentioned. What exactly does that entail?

 

[Josh]

I love the idea of providing an enriching environment for our animals. The more closely we can safely mimic nature, the better, IMHO

 

[jarich]

A bioactive enclosure is basically trying to recreate a small version of their natural habitat within the enclosure. It usually requires a larger enclosure as it means a soil substrate, climbing areas, and more intense lighting to name a few. Its not cheap, but the more work you can do yourself (woodworking, wiring, etc), the cheaper it becomes.