Meet Max!
We adopted Max in 2018. He was living at the pet store Tabitha used to manage. Everyone at the store was afraid of Max, saying he was aggressive. All of his bearded dragon siblings were adopted, but nobody wanted him. When the pet store closed, Tabitha brought him home. She never had any of the problems other people had with him and once she brought him home, she discovered how sweet he is. He’s nothing like the monster he was made out to be; even though I’m pretty sure he can sense my fear of him and he chases me just because it’s fun.
housing
Max lives in a forty-gallon breeder tank that Tabitha made into a terrarium. He has driftwood to climb on and a bed that he loves. When it gets late in the day, he climbs onto his bed, lays his head down, and goes to sleep. If his heat lamp or UVB light is still on when he gets tired and ready for bed, he’ll cover his eyes to shield them from the light.
We use paper towels for the substrate for Max’s enclosure because they’re easy to replace whenever Max goes to the bathroom or spills water on them.
food
Tabitha feeds Max gut loaded dubia roaches (roaches with stomachs full of food), hornworms, calciworms, superworms, waxworms, and leafy green vegetables. The greens are dusted with a reptile vitamin and a reptile calcium with vitamin D3 supplement. For a treat, he loves blueberries! Tabitha rolls them across the floor and he chases after them. Since bearded dragons can’t see standing water in their water dish, Tabitha uses a water bottle to mist Max’s greens to make sure he gets water during the day.
escape artist
Max can be mischievous. When Tabitha takes him out of his enclosure to feed him or to clean, he runs across the basement as fast as his little legs will allow him to, slides across the vinyl floor in the kitchen, and waits for Tabitha to bring him back into the reptile room. Then, when she isn’t looking, he’ll do it again. She has safety gates to keep him in the room with her, but he learned how to climb over them. There’s just no containing a dragon who wants to be free!
environment
The reptile room is in the basement so it stays at a constant seventy degrees throughout the year. It’s a comfortable nighttime temperature for the reptiles when we turn the heat lamps and UVB lamps off for the night.
0utside time
Tabitha takes Max outside on warm sunny days. Our veterinarian recommended bearded dragons get outside time at least once a month to help keep them healthy. Max has a harness and loves basking in the sun and walking around in the grass.
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