Bearded dragon and vacation.

[BastianUSA]

Hi.

I still can't decide between a beardie and a crested cause i always have the issue with vacations(i go to Germnay once a year for maybe 2-3 weeks) and i have somebody to take care of the cats for me and LOOK for the snakes but they won't touch any reptiles or something like that so i don't know how you handle vacations with your animals.
So what do you do?

[Crazydude]

I dont know cresteds, but beardies are Alot of work, If you have a baby, they need to be fed 2-3x a day, plus salad, An adult can be fed every few days with live food, and daily salad.

Give him lots of baths before you go, and have the person mist his head, If you can teach him to drink from a water bowl, it would be great for hydration. And make sure temps are stable, Lights are good, and you wont have any problems.

For me, I usually bring my dragon anything i can drive to, pack up a small tank and go, but germany isnt that easy. I had my vet look after him one time, but expensive. Maybe a fellow beardie owner can take another in for a few weeks. adding another isnt a large addition to there schedual, just a extra bowl of worms and greens.

Anyway, A baby would be next to impossible to leave on vacation with someone to look after it unless the dragon lived with them, A adult would not be as big as a problem.

But if you can figure out a solution, and facilitate the care, Beardies are WONDERFUL, they really rival furry animals in affection. Kinda like a cat, they like occasional attention, but doesnt mind being alone for awhile.

[Oroborous]

Like Crazydude said, Beadies are a lot of work! When I'm gone a family member looks after my lizards. They poop a lot, eat a lot, and i like to take them out every day for interaction and excersize. They don't get as much attention when I'm gone unfortunantly, because it takes some time and no one cares for them like I do. I've wanted a crested gecko for awhile, but don't know much about them. Beardies are very rewarding pets I might add. They are very intellegent and animated. And my two beardies have completely different personalities.

[Schlyne]

I go on a camping vacation every year for about 9-10 days. Unforunately most of my friends also go on this vacation, so I usually hire someone (another friend in the city, so far) to come in and make sure everybody has clean water and the geckos have food.

It's such a horrendous pain to deal with If it was just the cat it would a billion times easier.

[Cam]

We had cresteds.
They need high humidity, eat and poo a LOT! And are agile/fast jumpers.

Our adult Rankin only eats a few times a week and has such small poos (he's a small guy) that you don;t even notice it.

Our 4 month old Inland eats a couple times a day...and you can certainly smell when he poos (twice a day).

We are lucky enough to have a neighbor and granparents who love critters. We actually bring the criiters over to the grandparents house...easier for them and the animals seem to do okay...although hauling the 40 gallon breeders is a bit tedious.

Best of luck...if you have a local herpetological society you might be able to connect with a fellow reptile enthusiast who would be able to come in and do what needs to be done.

Just remember...the initial few weeks of anything new is a bit of learning and tweeking etc. no matter how much you research in advance...something will come up.