To Beard or not to Beard, that is the question!

[Microwaved]

I am a proud snake lover. A small collection of 9 snakes as of now (+ 1 Veiled Cham). My wife tolerates them, but wants a more interactive pet. Our place is too small for a dog, so I was thinking of getting her a beardie for her birthday. She has been a dedicated herper as far as helping with the snakes go. I was just wondering if anyone had thoughts on wether a beardie will satisfy her desire for somthing fun, and my desire for something cold blooded. Thanks all.
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[SteveP]

That's exactly what I did for my wife. She likes the snakes well enough, holds them and whatnot, but admits that they are really more "my" animals. Last year we went back east and visited relatives of hers. A cousin in northern Wisconsin had a beardy that was going on 10 years old and my wife just thought that was the coolest thing. So at last years Sacramento reptile show I picked up a baby Goldburst beardy for her (cost me a whole $30.00!). His name is Leo and has been a great interactive reptile for her. In the mornings she'll hold him (they'll both "sun" themselves in the living room while she has her coffee), she prepares his greens, runs to the pet shop to get his bugs, etc. So it has turned out to be a great experience for "her" first reptile. Aside from that Leo has grown like gangbusters. When I got him last June he wasn't much bigger than a peanut...now he's 18 inches long.
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[Stormyva]

My experience with a wife and beardies is not as good as Steve's.
When I got into snakes/reptiles my wife became interested in beardie's thinking that they were more "cuddly" than the snakes. Now several months later she is finding out that they are more than she originally bargained for.. Between the greens, insects, cleaning the cage, supplements, lighting, and heating requirements beardies are a LOT of work for an animal that is really not all that "cuddly" [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Our Horned Mntn Dragon on the other hand is a little more in line for what she would have liked. Had I done a little more research before agreeing to the beardies we probably would have just gone with the HMD. Instead I have two beardies and a HMD now [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
The HMD is great.... it will sit on your shoulder or head all day long. Is kinda cute in a lizard sort of way and has relatively easy demands as for feeding and husbandry. A 29 High is what she is currently housed in. We have a lot of greenery and branches for her to climb on. Temps are easy to maintain in the upper 70's to lower 80's and humidty needs to be kept in the 60-70% range. For feeding she eats 2-3 red wiggler worms every other day.
Here's a pic of her with my son Devon....

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[Microwaved]

Hmmm Horned Mountain Dragon? Where can I learn more about these guys?
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