15 bizarre facts on bearded dragons

Bearded dragons are lizards who live in deserts, savannas, scruptions and subtropical forests of Australia. Due to their friendly behavior, their permanent smiles and their inactive nature, they are also generally preserved as pets in the world. And, while many people know the bearded dragon, certain original facts on these lizards can be surprising.

You may know that the bearded dragons take their name from projections to the epikelines on their neck; As such, reptile enthusiasts affectionately call them “hums”. However, certain facts on these fascinating lizards are not of public notoriety. For example, there are eight species of bearded dragon, as well as a range of colors and “morphe” developed by a captive reproduction. The six species of bearded dragon evaluated by IUCN, so far, all have stable populations in their Australia on the native continent and are classified as less worrying.

Discover more on the sweet bearded dragon, including the incredible capacity of the lizard to move between the sexes and his absolutely bizarre powder urine.

1. Bearded dragons can climb trees

Although wild bearded dragons are mainly terrestrial, they are technically semi -arbral and can become expert climbers if necessary – say, when food is not available on the ground level or when a predator pursues them. As eager baskers, they will also evolve the trees for a good plot of sun or to show domination by rushing to a higher level than another bearded dragon.

2. They carry their emotions on their chin

The beard of the signing of these dragons behaves almost like a mood ring, becoming black when the animal feels threatened, stressed or excited. During these different emotional states, his beard can also develop and the dragon can swell his whole body to appear large. In a calm and happy state, the pocket under the chin of a Beardie will also be colored to the rest of her body with thorns that rest flat against her skin.

3. They are legally linked to their homeland

Australia has prohibited the export of its fauna, including bearded dragons, since the 1960s. However, even after that date – between 1974 and 1990, some estimated – a stock of bearded dragons was introduced as a smuggling of the country for captive reproduction.

Now, domestic versions of the Australian lizard can be found all over the world (except Hawaii, where they are illegal due to the threat they represent against the native ecosystem). Although it is not confirmed, there would be around 900 bearded dragons living in zoos around the world.

4. Bearded dragons can push their teeth

The ability to regenerate teeth is a quality shared by many reptiles. The bearded dragons are unique, however, in that they have both Polyphyodont and Monophyodont teeth, even on the same jaw. Dragons use a biological process similar to what sharks and geckos use to repel their polyphyodont front teeth over time; If the Monophyodont Chompres fall, they left for good.

5. They collect water on their heads

The desert where the bearded dragons come from is a dry place, and animals adapt to the arid environment with original means of capturing and storing water. For Walks Like, from which the bearded dragon belongs, one of these ways is to capture water on its own body when rare rain access. These lizards were observed standing on their hind legs, the head tilted downwards, launching the water as it flows on their faces for 20 to 30 minutes at a time.

6. Women can store sperm for later

Bearded dragons can lay two pockets from 11 to 30 eggs per season after mating only once. Women have an unusual ability to store sperm in their breeding lanes, then fertilize the eggs themselves as long as this sperm is used in the same breeding period. This allows the woman to maximize offspring while minimizing coupling, which the male often makes violent by biting the neck of her companion. Barbus dragons reach sexual maturity at one to two years.

7. The bearded dragons communicate with head sees and waves

The bearded dragons are loved for their anthropomorphic body language – namely the head sweep and the arm. The reason for these motions is not fully understood, but the experts believe that the wave as a symbol of submission to a dominant individual. The head that swings, conversely, is probably a sign of domination; It is also exposed by both sexes to launch mating.

The examples of bearded dragon guards particularly give man for them. It is a delicate subject, however, because some maintain that the wave is an indicator of stress.

8. They can change color like chameleons

The ignition habits of the bearded dragons are somewhat different from those of the chameleon. To start, the evolutionary colors of the chameleon are more important than those of the bearded dragon, but also the bearded dragon can isolate parts of the body that it wants to change color. Research has linked color changes in the neck region to social interactions and color changes in the rear area for temperature regulation.

In sunny conditions, the bearded dragon will become lighter to reflect the shelves. In cooler weather, it will become darker to help it absorb heat and maintain its ideal internal body temperature of 95 degrees.

9. They can sleep standing

The forums of the Beardie owner community are flooded with anecdotes about sleeping dragons in very clumsy positions, as supported against glass walls and ornaments inside their tanks. It is said that they sleep vertically in nature, often against trees.

Although it is not clear why they would depart from their typical and probably more comfortable stomach sleep position, the right snoozing does not seem to be a concern.

10. They can run at human speed

The top speed of the bearded Dragon, which would be 9 MPH, compares to human racing speeds. The lizard rarely directs this fast, rather leading a mainly sedentary lifestyle as a whole. However, when time calls for speed, the bearded dragon could raise on its rear legs and run like a human. Because it carries more weight at the back of the body, being straight helps the dragon to optimize its speed.

11. Male hums become women at hot temperatures

Studies have shown that male bearded dragons subject to temperatures of 96.8 degrees and above during the embryonic development of the transition to women 100% of the time. Not only are they capable of sexual inversion, but the female barrays which were at the origin of men (trans bards, they could be determined) can also produce twice as many eggs as non -trans women.

Even if the bearded dragon populations are currently stable, this phenomenon leads to heat raises concerns about the ability of the reptile to adapt to climate change, a study said.

12. They like their time alone

The bearded dragon guards do not need to wonder if their scaly friends are alone in their tanks alone. Rest assured that they are not; Reptiles are solitary creatures that can live in colonies made up of a woman and several women in nature but should not be placed in a captive setting with another.

13. They pee powder

One of the strangest characteristics of the bearded dragon is the way it urinates. Instead of peeing liquid, it releases uric acid in the form of a white powder or a chalky paste – called “urate” – which it has evolved to do to hold water in the hot and dry Australian wild. He excreates the uras through a cloaca, the same cavity from which the excrement comes out.

14. BRUMATE BADE DRAGONS IN WINTER

Brumation is a dormant period similar to hibernation. The bearded dragons burly for a few weeks to a few months – in the northern hemisphere, the signs begin around November, but in the wild, the beards begin to misthell in June, when winter arrives in Australia.

Brief begins with slowness and loss of appetite and leads to a long sleep where heart rate, body temperature and dragon metabolism will all decrease to keep the energy.

15. They can transport salmonella (and transmit it to people)

Reptiles, in general, are known to transport germs of salmonella in their digestive paths. Of course, when they define, bacteria can transfer to their skin, then to humans where reptiles are regularly handled. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control keep an eye on Salmonella epidemics in all pets of pets, and bearded dragons are a recurring source. In June 2022, for example, an epidemic dropped 56 people and 19 hospitalized in 26 states.

The Peta animal protection group highlights it – and their lonely nature, and the “crawling abuses and negligence” in the Beardie trade – as important reasons for which animals should not be kept as pets.