You bathe dogs, groom cats, and even give your tortoise the occasional scrub, but how do you bathe a bearded dragon? Even though they are reptiles and they soak in their water bowls occasionally, they still need an extra bit of love and care that takes the form of bath time!
Bathing your bearded dragon is an important part of their care. The process helps you bond with them while maintaining their health and wellbeing. Bath time is also a great opportunity to closely inspect your bearded dragon for any changes or injuries.
Bathing a bearded dragon should be fun for both of you. It can be stimulating and enriching for your beardie. However, some beardies do not like bathing and might put up a fuss. Not to worry–you will find a section in this article on what to do if your beardie hates bath time.
Read on to find out how often you should bathe your beardie, what you will need to do it, and answers to some important questions that many bearded dragon owners have about bath time.
How Often Should You Bathe Your Bearded Dragon?
Bearded dragons do not need daily baths as humans do. For them, bath time only needs to happen two to three times a week at most. Any more than that, and it can become too stressful for your beardie, as they do not have enough relaxing time to bask and metabolize. Excessive bathing can also be stressful on their skin.
You should come up with a schedule to help make bath time predictable and stress-free for your beardie. Pick specific days in a week or alternating days and stick to them.
However, if you are away on vacation or cannot get around to bath time every so often, it isn’t a big deal; your beardie will forgive you when bath time next rolls around!
Why Should You Bathe Your Bearded Dragon?
There are a handful of great reasons why you should bathe your beardie:
Maintaining the Skin
Although they are technically desert animals, your bearded dragon’s skin is still prone to drying out. This can cause them irritation as well as pain. Skin hydration is primarily taken care of in the enclosure by maintaining healthy humidity levels via misting. However, your beardie’s skin can still dry out even when humidity levels are correct.
Bathing your beardie will help maintain their skin’s moisture and hydration.
Hydrating Your Beardie
Bearded dragons love drinking during bath time. While they should already have a water dish as well as water-rich food in their enclosure, beardies take the opportunity of bath time to really get a good drink in.
This keeps their hydration levels up and at a healthy level. For a closer look at bearded dragon hydration, check out our article dedicated to spotting dehydration in bearded dragons.
Hygiene
Bearded dragons can get quite dirty! No matter if their enclosure is clean, they will still get a bit dirty and smelly occasionally. Any kind of build-up of dirt opens your bearded dragon up to bacterial infection and disease. It is essential to their overall health that they stay clean.
Bonding
Bonding with your bearded dragon is as important as bonding with any pet. Bearded dragons generally love bath time or at least grow to love it over time. This process can help you bond with and play games with them, enrich them, gain their trust, and help you get to know your beardie’s personality better.
Alleviating Constipation
Constipation is fairly common among bearded dragons. This is not only painful and stressful for them; it can also quickly lead to a life-threatening situation.
Something about being in a warm bath helps relieve constipation, even for reptiles. Your bearded dragon will most likely poop at least once while they are in the bath.
As soon as you see the poop, bath time should be over, or you should at least completely refresh the water before placing your beardie back in to splash around. As I have mentioned before, beardies love to drink in the bath, and their poop will contaminate the water and can make them sick.
For more poop-related clues, check out our article dedicated to bearded dragon poop!
Easing Shedding
Shedding is a natural process for bearded dragons, but sometimes, they benefit from some help to prevent issues like dysecdysis. Bath time is a perfect opportunity to assist with shedding. Their older skin will flake and shed, while their new, healthy skin will make an appearance. To better understand bearded dragon shedding, have a look at our article dedicated to how often bearded dragons shed.
Even though shedding is normal and not painful, it can still be quite uncomfortable for your beardie. Bath time helps soothe the itch and discomfort they may be feeling as well as speed up the entire process!
What Do You Need to Bathe Your Bearded Dragon?
You will need to following things to bathe your bearded dragon:
- A tub
- Clean, warm water
- A soft-bristled toothbrush or a small nail brush for babies
- A soft towel
- A rock or perch
- A small cup or mug
- A bath toy or two!
To clean up after you have bathed your bearded dragon, you will need:
- White vinegar
- A cleaning sponge
- Clean water
How to Bathe a Bearded Dragon: The Steps
Though it may seem pretty straightforward, there are actually a few important steps you should follow during bath time. This will ensure your scaly friend is as comfortable and safe as possible throughout the experience.
1. Prepare the Bath
To prepare your bearded dragon’s bath, you will need to heat the water to a suitable temperature. Your beardie’s bath should be at 90°F to 100°F at most. Keep a
Make sure the water is only at knee height for your beardie. If the bath is too full, your bearded dragon can get water into its lungs and drown.
Place the clean rock or perch on the water so your bearded dragon can climb onto it and relax.
Place any bath toys you want into the tub. These should be sturdy objects with no small or loose pieces like plastic balls or rubber ducks. Make sure they are small enough to not be intimidating but large enough that they cannot be swallowed.
Stick to just one or two toys, as you do not want to crowd your beardie. Bright colors are a bonus, as they are attractive and enriching to bearded dragons.
2. Place Your Bearded Dragon in the Bath
Once the bath is ready and you have everything you need at hand, get your beardie for bath time! If your dragon is a bit skittish, it might help to hold them for a few minutes to calm them. Offering them a treat they love before bath time can also help calm their nerves.
Once your bearded dragon is in the water, do not leave them unattended! Bearded dragons can drown, even if the water is shallow.
Keep them in your hand as you lower them into the water. While they are in your hand, gently swish the water around them so that they are aware of it. Once they are calm, place them in the water or on their perch.
3. Play Time!
Allow your bearded dragon to relax for a bit on its rock or perch and play around with the toys. Some beardies adore this part of bath time and will play with their toys. Let them explore and move around the tub.
However, some do not enjoy playing around and will not interact with the toys. This is normal and okay, too! Your bearded dragon will have its own personality, and it is up to you to figure it out and make them as happy as can be!
4. Wash Time!
Take the cup or mug that you have with you as well as the soft-bristled brush, and get to work! Slowly and gently use the cup to pour water over their backs and tails. No soap or other products are necessary; water is all your beardie needs to stay clean!
Then use the brush to gently (always gently) brush over their bodies. Avoid their mouths, noses, eyes, ears, and cloaca, as they are all very sensitive parts and prone to tearing. As you gently brush them, look for any signs of damage, tears, scrapes, burns, or parasites.
If your beardie is currently shedding, just pour water over them repeatedly and do not scrub. Scrubbing may lift up parts of the old shed that are not ready to come off, which can damage the new skin underneath.
This only needs to be a gentle and brief part of bath time. Bearded dragon skin is very sensitive, and you do not want to overdo the washing.
5. Soak Time!
While keeping an eye on the temperature of the water, allow your beardie time to soak and relax.
During this time, they will most likely drink a lot of water, soak in the water, and may poop. As soon as you see them poop, you must remove them. Be sure to clean the tub and completely refresh the water if you want to continue bathing your beardie after they poop.
6. Dry Your Bearded Dragon
As soon as you take your bearded dragon out of the water, you need to be quick. When the water starts evaporating from their bodies, they will start to cool down rapidly.
Quickly pat your beardie dry with the soft towel. Do not use any hair dryers or heaters to warm them, as this can stress them out and cause burns and irritation to their skin.
Do not rub your bearded dragon’s skin with the towel. This can also irritate their skin and remove shed that is not ready to be removed yet. Just pat them dry.
7. Return Your Bearded Dragon to the Enclosure
Return your beardie to their basking spot in their tank so they can regain any lost heat. It is essential that they are returned to their basking spot, as they will have cooled down from the time they left the water.
8. Clean Up!
Now, you just need to clean up all the things you used. Dispose of the old water, then fill the tub with clean water and white vinegar. Give the brush, the rock or perch, the cup or mug, and the toys a good scrub. Then give the tub a scrub as well.
The vinegar will disinfect the tub. After you have cleaned it out, dispose of this water, too. Then run the tub and all the bathing equipment under clean water and let it dry.
What to Do If Your Bearded Dragon Hates Bath Time
Some bearded dragons are wary of baths in the beginning and may try to escape, puff up their beard, wave their arms, and splash around frantically.
Do not worry! This is pretty normal for a lot of beardies, and there are a couple of things you can do to help them enjoy bath time.
- Stick to a schedule. This makes bath time predictable so they will know it is going to happen.
- Use a smaller tub and keep the water very shallow to avoid overwhelming them.
- Be as gentle as possible during handling.
- Avoid using the brush and just pour water over them.
Most beardies will warm up to bath time and eventually love it. Unfortunately, some will not. Some beardies have a true hatred for bath times even after you have consistently tried for a couple of weeks.
If your beardie will not stand for bath time, then place them in an empty tub and mist them with warm, clean water. Once they are nicely wet, you can pick them up in a towel and return them to their basking spot.
FAQs About Bathing Bearded Dragons
Do I have to bathe my bearded dragon? Can they survive without it?
It is not essential to bathe bearded dragons; many will live their lives without being bathed. However, bathing your bearded dragon improves their health, can help them live longer, healthier lives, and will allow you to bond with them!
Can I use the kitchen sink to bathe my bearded dragon?
You should not use the kitchen sink or a bathroom basin to bathe your bearded dragon. This is because bearded dragons often poop in their water, and this can lead to salmonella contamination of your sink or basin.
Your bathroom basin or kitchen sink has also had very harsh chemicals in it, which even in trace amounts can and will contaminate the water you bathe your bearded dragon in. This can cause serious sickness in your bearded dragon.
It is always better to have a dedicated tub for your bathing your bearded dragon for your own as well as its health. You don’t need a tub that is especially large, either — it just needs to be big enough for them to move and splash around in comfortably.
What items should I not use to bathe my bearded dragon?
Your bearded dragon’s skin is actually quite sensitive. This means that you should not use a harsh bristled brush to scrub them with. Hard, rough bristles can damage their skin and cause microtears, which will lead to infection.
You should not use a washcloth to wash them with, either. The washcloth will not get into all the tiny crevices that your soft-bristled brush will, which means that your bearded dragon will not be properly clean. The loose threads can also catch on and tear at your beardie’s spikes. What’s more, rubbing the skin can also aggravate it as well as disrupt any shedding that is happening.
Never use soap on your bearded dragon. Even animal-friendly soaps are not all that friendly for beardies. Beardies love to drink while they are in the bath, and the soap will cause upset tummies or even outright poison them. Beardies also absorb things through their skin. No matter how safe you think the soap is, it can and will cause them problems.
People put body lotion on after their baths because we use soaps that dry out our skin. You should never use any kind of cream or lotion on your bearded dragon after a bath unless it is an antiseptic cream on an injury.
At the Tail End of Things…
Learning how to bathe a bearded dragon is fairly simple, and the process is enjoyable for you and your beardie!
Bathtime is an enriching experience for your beardie that allows you an opportunity to bond with them and watch them play freely. Bathing bearded dragons is also beneficial to their health and wellbeing.
