Australian Bearded Dragons (a/k/a beardies) are fascinating pets. They can live up to ten to twelve (10-12) years. They are very social creatures and love to be handled. They rarely nip at people but even if they did, they have very tiny, flexible, plastic-like teeth that don't hurt. Beardies eat lots of small crickets but later on will eat mostly fruits and vegetables and crickets are only an occasional treat.

Our Classroom Pet

Spike is a two year old australian bearded dragon. We have had him since he was six weeks old and fit in the palm of my hand. In spring of last year, Spike mated with a female "beardie" belonging to Ms. Renee Lackey, our Primary GT teacher. In June, Ms. Lackey's dragon, "Spot" laid nineteen eggs, fifteen of which survived. Look closely and see if you can see some of the eggs in Spot's stomach.

For the next few days, I will be adding pictures and video so you can see what's been going on at Ms. Lackey's house this summer. For now, here's a fascinating fact about "beardies." A clutch of twenty bearded dragon eggs, when hatched, can eat up to ONE THOUSAND (1,000) crickets in a week!