Bearded Dragon lost outside!

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lillydragon

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This afternoon my 8/9 month old bearded dragon slipped out of his harness after he was scared by a bird and ran off into the bushes and greenery around my house. It is a large area of bushes, trees, grass, and other greenery. It is in my front lawn too, so he can easily escape all throughout the neighborhood. I've crawled around back there for about 2 and a half hours with no luck, but I put some supers for him in a dish to eat, but there's also loads of leaves and things for him to eat back there (worried he's going to eat something that is bad for him because he'll eat anything), and some sunny spots too so I m worries he may never come out. It's like a little mini forest. It's supposed to be in the upper 80s as a high for the next couple days, and lows in the upper 60s with chance of thunderstorms. Will he be okay? Will he come back? What should I do?
 
Bird food now

As dragonlover said throw away the leash! Why were u even walking it outside :confused: I can understand letting it have free roam of the house

Beardies can climb trees surprisingly well.

A bit confused on what bearded dragon will eat leaves :O

If there is a chance of getting him back, it’ll be a container of mealworms on back porch or something - hope the birds don’t get them etc
 
He loves being walked outside and looking around. He gets stressed when he hasn’t been outside. If he stays in the plants, birds won’t be able to get to him because it’s so enclosed, but I don’t know if he will come out.
Fortunately there aren’t many birds besides cardinals, robins, or finches but once a week or so I do see a hawk :///
He loves eating veggies, he will try and eat any leaf or any plant he can see which is why I’m worried that he’s going to eat something bad for him.
There are 2/3 trees he could climb but I don’t think he’d figure out how since he ran away into the underbrush, but you never know :(
I put a box with a heating pad and his worms out where there was a small clearing, as well as his ‘special’ tree fixture.
I really hope he turns up, he’s always come back to me after running around in my car while driving or if he ran away inside ...
 
If you are in Victoria, Lilly it is actually illegal to put a harness on a reptile,and it is also illegal in most states to take your reptile away from your registered address except for vet visits so no driving around,it is not a dog.
And I don't think he will eat any "bad" leaves, he is a native creature with natural instincts.The only problem is he might eat something with poison on it like weed spray.
As for trees; dragons don't need training or whatever, tree climbing comes natural to them as trees are a natural part of their environment.
 
If it's cold (not icey) he'll be hunkering down somewhere nearby I'd expect.

First warm spell he'll show up and you'll likely see him basking on a nice warm bit concrete (your driveway if it gets the sun).

Don't give up , I've often heard of bearded dragon's getting outside who show up a few days later or even a few weeks later.

Have you checked the car's engine bay (if he is looking for a warm spot and can access the car after it's been used) it's a spot often missed by searchers.
[doublepost=1559730494,1559725671][/doublepost]
This afternoon my 8/9 month old bearded dragon slipped out of his harness after he was scared by a bird and ran off into the bushes and greenery around my house. It is a large area of bushes, trees, grass, and other greenery. It is in my front lawn too, so he can easily escape all throughout the neighborhood. I've crawled around back there for about 2 and a half hours with no luck, but I put some supers for him in a dish to eat, but there's also loads of leaves and things for him to eat back there (worried he's going to eat something that is bad for him because he'll eat anything), and some sunny spots too so I m worries he may never come out. It's like a little mini forest. It's supposed to be in the upper 80s as a high for the next couple days, and lows in the upper 60s with chance of thunderstorms. Will he be okay? Will he come back? What should I do?

Mid 80s (F) ==> you are not in any of the southern states of Australia , maybe somewhere in QLD, northern NT, or northern WA. , or somewhere in a warmer area of the USA ?

So I'd be leaving his food dish out for him and maybe setting up webcam to monitor who visits it. If he shows up for a snack / feed you might get clues about where he has set up his camp.
 
I’m actually in the states, in northern Arkansas. Luckily I think it’s good weather for him now, high today is 85°F, and a low of 65°F. It also warms up very fast in the mornings here. I just went out to put up some basking spots with some spinach (I know they aren’t supposed to have it, but it’s his favorite treat) and I could have sworn I heard some dragon feet running around on the dead leaves. I checked my car before I left the house today, but he wasn’t there. I doubt he’d leave the cover of the garden. There’s huge bushes, trees, and grasses for about 500 feet. I’m sure he’s having a grand old time in his newfound playground. Setting up a camera is a good idea, I made a little hotbox for him near where he ran into the area by the porch, with his worms, favorite basking tree, and a heating pad, plus some more veg, so maybe I’ll put it there. He’s never been a scared dragon, ever since I got him he’d just jump straight into my hands. I hope he comes back :( thank you all for the help, and I’ll keep y’all updated!
 
If he's anything like all my adult pet dragons have been like, they all knew their tank and when they wanted to get toasty or go to bed they'd be either climbing back in or hanging out near their tank asking to be put back in.
You could put his tank outside , if he's near by he might just return to it or near it (being his SAFE PLACE).

I hope you find him before the cold / snowy weather returns as he wont survive an Arkansas winter if you get snow and blizzards there.
 
His tank is unfortunately built into a dresser so I can’t bring it out there, so that’s why I just put some of his favorite things from his cage out. We have about 3 more months until the first frost should happen but he definitely wouldn’t survive a winter here with temps 0°F to 45°F on a good day
[doublepost=1560030954,1559761263][/doublepost]Hello everyone! Good news! My beardie was out sunning himself on a bush in the garden and he just climbed back onto my hand like he owned the place :) nothing was wrong with him, he wasn’t even hungry when I brought him back! Now he just wants to go back out there though, he’s been staring out the window all day. I’ll have to get him a bigger cage and maybe an outside enclosure. Thanks for all your help! :)
 
:)

Sounds like he was glad to see you and get back his life of comfort and never ending food.

A big on the grass (wire bottomed) guinea pig or rabbit hutch would be the go I think , or a better harness and cord.
Something like :
outdoor-bearded-dragon-house.png

150 x 100 x 50 cm (L x W x H) would be good I think if it's got wire mesh on the roof, walls and floor to keep beardie in and nasty predators out.
 
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:)

Sounds like he was glad to see you and get back his life of comfort and never ending food.

A big on the grass (wire bottomed) guinea pig or rabbit hutch would be the go I think , or a better harness and cord.
Something like :
outdoor-bearded-dragon-house.png

150 x 100 x 50 cm (L x W x H) would be good I think if it's got wire mesh on the roof, walls and floor to keep beardie in and nasty predators out.

I have seen these for lizards like blue tongues :)

however you may need a way to prevent them from being able to sneak under - Laying bricks under the surface around the edges will prevent this

if you position it in the right spot, you can easily use a large basking rock and the natural sun light to reach proper temps for basking (if not, it wouldn't be hard to attach a fitting + heat source :) )+ the natural UV will do wonders :)
 
Check around at night with a torch, they stand out while sleeping and look heaps lighter coloured/brighter in torch light.
Check the very tops of low bushes, branches etc or have a think about how he slept in the enclosure

Edit: Good to see you got him back
 
His tank is unfortunately built into a dresser so I can’t bring it out there, so that’s why I just put some of his favorite things from his cage out. We have about 3 more months until the first frost should happen but he definitely wouldn’t survive a winter here with temps 0°F to 45°F on a good day
[doublepost=1560030954,1559761263][/doublepost]Hello everyone! Good news! My beardie was out sunning himself on a bush in the garden and he just climbed back onto my hand like he owned the place :) nothing was wrong with him, he wasn’t even hungry when I brought him back! Now he just wants to go back out there though, he’s been staring out the window all day. I’ll have to get him a bigger cage and maybe an outside enclosure. Thanks for all your help! :)
That's great news that you found your scaley friend.
 
Just a heads up. Outdoor wire sided enclosures like guinea pig or rabbit hutches as suggested above are not recommended for large lizards such as Bearded Dragons, Water Dragons, Blue Tongues etc as they have a bad habit of rubbing and badly damaging their noses on the wire. Something like this a over a concrete or brick footing set about 30 - 45cm below ground with a hinged or removable wire top is far more suitable

GB12030-2PK-CR_02.jpg
 
Just a heads up. Outdoor wire sided enclosures like guinea pig or rabbit hutches as suggested above are not recommended for large lizards such as Bearded Dragons, Water Dragons, Blue Tongues etc as they have a bad habit of rubbing and badly damaging their noses on the wire. Something like this a over a concrete or brick footing set about 30 - 45cm below ground with a hinged or removable wire top is far more suitable

View attachment 327273

A much better option , but it needs to be on slab to stop lizard from digging it's way out.
I'd actually prefer one of those colorbond ones with no sharp edges.

ie
clorbond-garden-beds-all-sizes.png

with either wire bases and tops , or on a slab with a wire top .
 
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