I've warned her before about her habit of tossing animal but she doesn't listen. The best I can do is come to the rescue of the beardie when she gets tired of it. And I would rather her get a dragon from a show since it will be healthier to start out with than a petstore dragon.

I am fully aware that sand is a no-no for young dragons and thankyou for the info about the natural habitat of bearded dragons. I wasn't aware they lived on anything other than sand. Question..Without damaging the enclosure, is there anyway to duplicate that hard clay and dusty surface? If not, then I am fine with tile, reptile carpet, or whatever else is suggested. I would like a naturalistic enclosure for the dragon, but if "naturalistic" is going to be any sort of harmful I will not do it and go for something more practical.

Thank you for the information on the lights. I will definatly be getting good lighting as we had issues with a previous dragon and we didn't set the light up correctly and he wasn't getting the right amount of UV light. I won't make that mistake again!

Also, please lets not go knocking other keeper's husbandry ok. To each his own and as long as there is no harm to the dragon and it is happy and healthy, I see no problem with someone doing things their way. The UTH may not be the best choice in a heating element and may pose burning risk, but she explained how it was set up and she was prepared to act in case there was any evidence of it becoming a problem. The way I see it, that is responsible and we don't need to go knocking heads over it. Personally I will not be using a UTH and will stick with lighting to be my main source of heat.

I thank all of you for your information and I will definatly be doing further research on the bearded dragon. If my mother does not get one or does not get tired of hers, I may opt to get one for myself this summer if I feel I am ready to have one....or two..hehe.