Bearded Dragons aren't Beginner Lizards
It is WILD to me that people claim Bearded Dragons make great first reptiles and/or are super easy. While they are hardy they're definitely a more intermediate species imo. First they get BIG which means they need a big enclosure. 4x2x2' is regarded as the bare minimum for bearded dragons with 5x3x3' enclosures being pushed as the new recommended minimum. In addition to being large they're also active! They get 18"+ as adults which is big. With a 4x2x2' and even 5x3x3' enclosure they need regular outside enclosure time as even a 5x3x3 is fairly small and doesn't really allow for zoomies. Their big size also means their bites can do some serious damage. And we're recommending them as pets to young children?? Who don't have proper animal ettiquette? And beginner reptile keepers who are bound to mess up when handling them and stress them potentially to the point of biting? As adults they need to be fed daily which is rare in reptiles. And a decent chunk of work if you're making all their salads fresh. They also need extremely high basking temps of 105F+ which can be difficult to achieve depending on the bulb. They also require a high % UVB. They're a good chunk more work than most other lizards being recommended for newer keepers, able to cause significantly more harm and need a very large enclosure compared to other recommended lizards for beginners. To be clear I'm not saying NO ONE should keep bearded dragons or that they're an advanced species. I'm not even saying no one should get a bearded dragon as their first lizard. All I'm saying is people need to stop pushing them as excellent lizards for beginners because they're really not.
