Disclosure: This post is a sponsored post. I am being compensated to help spread the word about Reptile Ownership, but Budget Earth only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. petMD and PetSmart are not responsible for the content of this article.
Are you a reptile owner or someone who is considering welcoming a reptile in your home? While everyone mostly sees Reya and Ivi on the blog, we have actually been reptile owners far longer than dog owners. Our first reptile entered the house over a decade ago and we have over the years had something like 15 bearded dragons, and two red eared sliders (aquatic turtles). Even though we are down to only the two turtles and one bearded dragon, they are a major part of not just our lives, but the lives of our dogs as well. Reya especially looks out for them and is upset if they are not in the house.
Over the years, we have actually had quite a few people ask us about reptile care and how reptiles are as pets, too. While we were once very active in the reptile community, we learned quite a few lessons the hard way. Our first bearded dragon, Tiamat, died because we didn’t know about the need to give her calcium and vitamin dust on her food. After our first mess up, we read countless books about bearded dragons, research papers, and anything we could relating to reptiles, having devoted over a decade of our lives to our bearded dragons – welcoming them in our home like true family. We just wish we had great resources available to us when we first became reptile owners over a decade ago. Unlike in the past, however, we now have an amazing resource to give to new pet reptile owners when it comes to reptile care – the new Reptile Care Center on petMD®!
So, what exactly is the new Reptile Care Center on petMD? It is a fantastic new resource for new and old reptile owners alike, offering the information they need to make sure they succeed. You can find information pertaining to bearded dragons, snakes, tortoises, turtles, and even other types of lizards. Even though many people don’t realize it, reptiles are not always easy animals to care for, and sometimes even the simplest of mistakes can leave you with you a very sick pet or worse.
With this new reptile care resource written by veterinarians and approved for accuracy and factual information, you have all the resources you need to make sure you and your new reptile are starting life on the right path. For example, you learn what type of food and vegetables you need to keep your new lizard happy, as well as the right temperature, humidity level, and what type of UVB light. Honestly, I wish my husband and I had such an awesome reptile care guide available to us when we first brought home our first bearded dragon, and the turtles. Best of all, petMD is constantly adding new resources, educating both new and experienced reptile owners alike on the latest information pertaining to reptile care.
As well, you can learn some pretty interesting facts about the reptile you are considering adopting. For example, here are some interesting facts about bearded dragons:
- Some bearded dragons can recognize and respond to their owners voices
- The name “Bearded Dragon” comes from the pouch like skin folds (guttural pouch) under their necks, that are covered in spiny projections and look similar to a man’s beard.
- When they feel threatened, bearded dragons will flatten their bodies, puff out their beards, and open their mouths in a threatening manner to look bigger and try to scare off the perceived threat.
- Bearded dragons will wave their arms, one at a time, to show submission to a large creature or dominant dragon.
Honestly, I am so glad that the reptile community now has such a wonderful resources. With the Reptile Care Center and Petsmart® Reptile Purchase Center (for purchasing recommend reptile care items), experienced reptile owners like me can help those looking to introduce a scaly friend in their household and make sure these owners have everything they need to make sure their reptile friends have amazing lives. I personally couldn’t imagine life without my cuddly Hyperion, who is happy to show off to us daily. He and our other reptiles are ‘therapy dragons’ that have helped children with mental disorders learn and stay calmer when they go to visit a hospital environment.
I am happy that I can help others discover the joy of owning bearded dragons and show them proper reptile care in a way that isn’t intimating or confusing! To learn more, check out the Reptile Care Center for yourself!
Want to learn more? Check out the petMD Reptile Care Center on Social Media!
Disclosure: Budget Earth received monetary compensation for this post. All opinions on this product are my own and may differ from our readers’ opinions.
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About Susan Bewley
Susan Bewley is a professional writer who has been writing content online & in print format for over 10 years. As well, she is an alumni of the University of Louisville with a Masters Degree in Special Education. When not working as an online business consultant or ghost writing, she can be found writing on Budget Earth, on her own novel, or working with various entities in the pet industry.
I am not sure owning a reptile of any kind is my thing but I am glad there is a place like this so people can take care of them properly with the help of them.
We have a Sengal Parrot and a rescue cat. We are adding a pond on the property so thought it would be great timing to purchase a couple of red earred sliders. petMD does have great info on their site and I have learned a lot by visiting there.
I will be honest honest and say I am truly scared of reptiles. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been around one. They just look so scary.
I personally would not like to own any reptiles, but I think it’s pretty neat there are care centers just for them!
My grandson has a lizard, and I guess they are becoming more popular as pets. It’s true their care is a lot different from dogs or cats. Glad places are there to help and the site offers great information.
How beautiful is the bearded dragon, I remember when my boys were a lot younger they would catch tadpoles and watch them develop into frogs, I have never been a snake person, but lizards are amazing, my boys are all dads now, so I don’t have to worry about the repitles, but I think it is great that there is a resource for people who have repitiles to go to for help.
That is quite the beast of a pet. He is really big.
It’s kind of scary to think something so small can harm our pets and we could just not know about it 🙁
I’m not sure if I would ever get a reptile pet or not, since I don’t know how much work is involved in owning one. I’m really glad Pet MD offers a resource like this for reptile owners!
What a pretty guy! I kind of like the idea of having a reptile for a pet. The bearded dragon sounds very cool. I had no idea they can recognize voices!
I’ve always loved the way they look! Such neat animals!
This would be great! I did not have something like this and had questions, with no one to answer them, and you do NOT want to ask the pet stores, kids no nothing. I had 35 scorpions, 1 rosy haired tarantula, 2 3ft Savannah Monitors, and a bearded dragon. I miss them and took great care of them, even had a leash to walk the monitors outside.
all i can say is you all are brave to deal with all of that, this iformation was very useful and you pointed out alot of valuable info
Good post. There’s a little lizard who lives under my porch at home and work. I usually leave them lettuce for a snack.
Oh my goodness, what a beauty! Hyperion is like American’s Next Lizard Top Model, lol! My cousins have two Bearded Dragons, plus one that they fostered to rehabilitate after the previous owner didn’t care for him right. My other cousin has him now. I had an iguana when I was a teenager and still miss him.
Your bearded dragon is beautiful. I think we have had a little bit of every kind of pet you can think of here but not a bearded dragon. I know my husband would say absolutely not. I know my oldest grandchildren would love having one. They are neat.
I used to have an iguana and a gecko. They require a lot of care and aren’t really good pets.
My grandmother used to have little turtles when I was a young girl. I used to have so much fun feeding them. They were so cute.
we are caring for a bearded dragon right now, so this is GREAT!
Those are some interesting facts about bearded dragons!
i dont have a reptile, but i know people who do…sharing with them
I am not a reptile person. However, I am married to a reptile person and have 2 sons who are reptile people. While I would never choose to own one myself, I have managed to learn to co-exist with them – and I do appreciate that they need to be treated well and with the proper care – it sounds like this center will be a great resource.
Wow, Susan! I had no idea that you’d had so many Bearded Dragons. I only have the one — Shirley. She’s so fun. I was looking at the petMD site and they really do have a lot of very good information. They’re my go-to source now. Thanks for sharing! Your beardie looks a lot like Shirley. 🙂
Your Shirley is absolutely adorable! We are actually considering adding a snake but not sure!
I bred snakes and Tegu lizards years ago. The lizards were vicious. Very different from iguanas or bearded dragons.
This is such an excellent resource for all the reptile owners out there. Nothing but the best for your reptile friends. While I’ve never owned reptiles myself, and probably never will, I appreciate their value! The world is full of such fascinating creatures.
I kind of wanna have a reptile but i think i can’t really take care of them because it so hard and they also scare me a little bit lol. But yours look amazing! I just love these powerfull colors that they have on their skin.
great care info ty
I wish there were things like this back when I had my snake and my brother had his bearded dragon. We’ve also had geckos, frogs, turtles, etc.
Precious pet!! I used to have a snake!!
I love reptiles. This looks like a great source of information. Will be checking it out.
There are very few reptiles we can have here in Hawaii (chameleons and turtles), but my brother-in-law is a snake fanatic. He had over 100 at one point (he breeds and sells them). My daughter held her first baby hog-nose when she was a year and a half! My brother also has a snake, an iguana, and a bearded dragon.
Reptiles give me the creeps but my nephew loves them.
I love reptiles
Hyperion looks creepy but lovable! good thing there’s petMD Reptile Care Center to guide those reptile lovers ^_^
This is nice do not like theses kind of reptiles
This would scare the heck outta me
I didn’t realise just how much care goes into keeping reptiles! They look fab tho
the kid who helps me has 2 dragons a dn they are enat little guy and pretty but the snake no way
I love the “look” of them but I wouldn’t be interested in having one as a pet
I have a red eared slider named Sebastian. He is the greatest thing! You have some beautiful family members, by the way.
iguanas are very awesome creatures but I would not own one because I do not have time to give the needed attention to this type of pet…but when I was a teenager…I would have loved one.
It would be so cool having one of these. I have never even touched one and it would take some getting used to.
Realy interesting facts about the bearded dragon. I had no clue they could learn their name and respond.
Pretty sure my hunter kitty would try to eat the reptile 😛
Good to have resources like this when you need them. I’ll still take my cat over a reptile.
I don’t own any reptiles but have friends that do. They are cool to look.
Although I am not looking to buy one, the bearded dragons are pretty cool looking.
I wish something like this would have been around years ago! It would have saved us some money & some heartache!! We only had one pet dragon, but we had a lot of other “pets”.
I would love to have a turtle, but just don’t have the space for an aquarium in the house.
I washed dishes with my bearded dragon on my shoulder. One day my boyfriend yelled and scared my dragon, and she climbed a little forward and her mouth latched on to my chin. Mind you, they have razor sharp teeth. I couldn’t hear out of my ear she was crushing so hard. I did what I had learned, dip her whole body in water till she lets go. I was hovering over the toilet squeezing her, at that point if I killed her at least I had a chin. She let go and if I did not have the chin bone there when she bit, I would have lost my chin……she had a weird look in her eye after she tasted blood, so I HAD to give her to someone else. BE CAREFUL with reptiles, you never know!!
That sounds very weird for a bearded dragon. We have had beardies who bit us and drew blood, but never anything like that.
Never thought of having a reptile as a pet, kind of scary.
I don’t personally own any reptiles but it is nice to know that there is some place to that you can get the information you need to care for your pet.
This is a great resource for reptile lovers. I used to have a lot o different reptiles (when my children were younger) like iguanas, bearded dragons, geckos, snakes, frogs and turtles. I still have 3 turtles that I have had for over 24 years now.
We have a pet snake. He’s very cool and the kids love having him.
I am scared of reptiles.
good article. I like lizards and turtles. they are cute
Currently, I have one red ear slider – Jessie, he’s 18 years old! Two years ago, we lost the other one we had that was 15 years or so. They’re tough to take care of and I wish I knew that before I ended up getting them when I was really young. I can say that i’ll never get another reptile, ever again.
However, I am glad to hear that there is a reptile care center available so people can get the info that they need to take care of their pets.
I am sorry to hear about the death of your first bearded dragon, Tiamat. I don’t own any reptiles myself, but it’s nice to know there’s a resource out there that will help me care for my pet if I ever do decide to own a reptile. Thank you for sharing this review.
I don’t think I would ever keep a reptile, but friends of mine do..sharing this info with them
I have Cuban Knight Anoles that visit the carambola tree in my front yard and it’s bright lime green – very cool looking. I’d love to have a snake or lizard as a pet.
I personally am not into reptiles. However, I do believe that if you are going to own a reptile of any kind that you should know how to properly care for it. Great idea!
I would love to have a bearded dragon, but my husband hates reptiles.
Omg, I’m so so sorry but am not really a reptile person I guess 🙂
But am sure that every animal owner as much as you can actually own them 😀 loves her or his “little” ones 🙂
And these are certainly useful tips for anyone who has reptile or has it in their mind.
Seems like a great place for reptile owners. Not my cup of tea though!
This is a very good article and I wish I had back when my sons were going through lizards, turtles maybe they would have lived a little longer
Thanks for this feature, I love all reptile and used to have a couple snakes. I just love when they are featured, and thanks again.
Reptiles are okay if you want a pet that is a bit different. They really do have their own personalities.
How fabulous is this???!!! Love it! I do not iwn any pets like this but my mom used to have a lizard and an iguana years ago and they were such awesome pets! Thanks for sharing 🙂
That bearded dragon in the photo looks large, I think I would start off with something smaller like a gecko.
One of my friends from a few years ago had a big tank with turtles — I really enjoyed watching them swim around and go about their daily business. Fascinating creatures!
so cute! my cat’s would kill one so can’t have one he is a cute one.
They are kind of scary looking if you ask me.
Therapy dragons! That is amazing! My daughter is looking forward to the day when she can get a bearded dragon.
I love the photos a lot, I miss my snakes.
It’s good to know they have a care center.
wow thats so cool my kids have this thing about getting a bearded dragon, they haunt me when we go to the pet store. lol. great pictures and great looking pets. great post to thanks a bunch
I wish it look like it was pettable but ..well ..that is a strange pet..My son found a snake other night and i am not sleeping well knowing my grandbaby just learn to walk . Nervous but he says he knows what he is doing ..Ok ..thank you for sharing ..He sure looks healthy and happy 😀
Lots of pets respond to the owner quite well.My cat is a great example of being very smart!
It’s great that reptile owners now have a resource out there to help them care for their pets. Thank you for sharing this review.
I had reptiles long ago. They really don’t make good pets. I had an Iguana and a gecco. When I was a kids I used to catch snakes by the railroad tracks. I must have been a weird kid!
Your beardies are so beautiful! I hope to get one someday!
Thanks for the Fantastic Review on Making #ReptileCare Easy with the new petMD Reptile Care Center! I don’t think I’d ever own a reptile, however, I love to look at them and see them with other people. I think we’ll stick to the furry friends. I do, however, like the fact that there is a place for reptile owners to go to, to get information on their reptile and how best to take care of them! Thanks for sharing you fantastic review, all the wonderful pictures of your reptile friends, and your personal and professional opinions on Making #ReptileCare Easy with the new petMD Reptile Care Center with all of us! I truly do appreciate it! Thanks again! Michele 🙂
How awesome to have answers in one place! Over the past 15 years we have owned dozens of reptiles, and fostered more. Wish this had been around when we started; but, at least we had the benefit of belonging to the PHX Herp Society for great support.