Bearded dragon hurricane prep: Power outage lights and heat?

You can put a warmwater bottle inside the terrarium or one or two coke bottles filled with hot water. Make sure you put a towel around the hot water bottles, so your beardy does not come into direct contact with the bottles and gets burned. This should tide her over until you have power again.

Here are some tips on how to care for pets who require continuous heat, such as reptiles and snakes: - Before a power outage, if possible, buy a generator. This will allow you to keep your reptiles warm during the outage. - Amphibians will do okay without heat for a period of time. Try to limit the number of times you open the habitat. - For a heat source, you can go to your local sporting goods store and purchase the heat packs used to warm feet and hands. These can be placed underneath the habitat (just like you would place an electric heating pad). This will allow your reptile to get heat. Do not put the pack into habitat with the reptile. - Another way to warm cold reptiles is to use a pillowcase. Place the reptile gently in the case and place the pillowcase next to your body under your shirt for warmth. - Pillow cases can also be used to transport reptiles if needed. - Do not feed your reptile as they need heat to digest their food. - You can save plastic milk containers and put warm water in them and place in the habitat for warmth. You can heat water on a BBQ grill or your hot water heater. Be careful not to use hot water, as it could burn your reptile. - Be advised that most reptiles will do fine with cooler temperatures; they go into a body slow down, so the temperature change won't hurt them for a short period of time: 24 - 48 hours. - Contact friends that have power and see if you can move your animals to their homes. - It is important to plan ahead of a power outage and have these items on hand to care for your reptiles. Additionally: Usually, IF a reptile needs to be kept warm during a short outage (few days or less), it is recommended that you place them into a small cooler (those little $5 styro ones can work) in a small container. A plastic shoebox or sandwich container can work, with some air holes. Hand warmers, hot water bottles, etc. can be placed into the cooler as well. This will form a very insulated area with a small amount of volume to heat. Be sure there is ventilation provided, though, as the hand warmers can suck oxygen from the air for the chemical reaction. This is a method that can be carried out for a relatively long period of time if necessary, and a digital thermometer with a probe can be placed in with the reptile and monitored from the outside, so you don't have to open the cooler and let out the warmth to check that the heat packs are still working. In all honesty, though, all but the most tropical reptiles can go a few days with temperatures into the 50's or 60's.

Hi, For heat you could do a number of things e.g. place any incandenscent bulb above him, place other types of heaters near the tank etc. Please make sure that the temperature is not too high. As for food, this is more of a problem. If he's used to eating crickets it would be difficult to switch him at once to something else. I assume meal worms or otjer insects are also unavailable? You could very temporarily try some soft cat food but it may not work.

The lights should go off at night. A photo period of 12-14 hours depending on the season is recommended. The heat lamp can be turned off as long as nighttime temps in the enclosure do not fall below 70 F. If they do, you can use a ceramic heat emitter, or CHE. This will provide heat without visible light and will not disturb your dragon while sleeping.

As long as the room temp doesn't drop below 70 F overnight, Lincoln should be fine. A nighttime drop in temps is normal in a beardie's natural environment anyway. Be sure to pick up a spare along with the replacement tomorrow. In a pinch, a hot water bottle wrapped in a hand towel can be used as a heat source.

Yes, a 10-12 hour photoperiod would be recommended. Keeping lights on in the enclosure 24/7 will result in a stressed beardie. You can use a light timer to set an on/off cycle easily. You can review dragon care at the link below. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html

Good questions. Since Bearded Dragons are omnivores, you want limit the amount of crickets (and other insects) you feed them, so they are motivated to eat the veggies. You can do this by having a daily feed time. It's not easy to know exactly how many to feed at a certain time, because it depends on their size. I would start with 12. If this seems like too much (he doesn't eat them within a day), then cut back till it seems adequate. Remember, you want a few hours where he only has vegetables to eat. If he/she eats them all right away, then you can add some more. You want the UV lamp to mimic daylight, so it should not be on longer than 12 hours. I always used a timer with my lamps, or I'd invariably leave them on or off for too long. I've included a link to a very helpful website that has great information on how to care for Bearded Dragons. It's highly recommended you read this for the best care of your Beardy. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html Good luck and enjoy - they make great pets!