Reptiles are popular companion animals. In 2024, there were an estimated 1.3 million kept in U.K. households alone. Despite their popularity, their guardians often struggle to provide them with optimal housing — not because of a lack of emotional connection, but rather due to a lack of access to evidence-based care information or a misunderstanding of their welfare needs.

Environmental enrichment can improve conditions for captive animals by increasing the complexity of their environment, allowing them to express more species-specific behaviors and reduce stress. Reptiles are no exception. However, to date, no research has looked at the effects of environmental enrichment on bearded dragons, one of the most commonly kept reptiles in the United Kingdom. Therefore, this study aimed to determine how environmental enrichment affects the welfare and behavior of these popular lizards.

The study involved 12 juvenile captive-bred bearded dragons. There were six pairs of siblings, with each pair from a separate clutch. The animals were individually housed and rotated between three different housing conditions over 30-day periods.

• Standard enclosure: contained newspaper substrate, a single rock hide, a food bowl, and a small water bowl, reflecting minimalistic housing conditions typical of the pet industry
• Non-naturalistic enriched enclosure: contained elevated platforms, two rock hides, a humid hide filled with damp moss, a hammock, a food bowl, a large water bowl, artificial plants, and textured substrate made from a mix of sand and topsoil
• Naturalistic enriched enclosure: contained the same features as the non-naturalistic enriched enclosure, but had live succulents instead of artificial plants and a bioactive soil substrate with invertebrates (mealworms, springtails, and woodlice)

There were three phases to the study. The first involved behavioral observations of the bearded dragons in their enclosures using video recordings. Each animal was filmed for a total of eight hours per housing condition, and the researchers noted behaviors like eating and drinking, interactions with the glass wall of the enclosure, hiding, bathing, and tongue movements.

The second phase involved two anxiety tests administered after each 30-day period in one of the housing conditions.

• Novel environment test: The bearded dragons were brought to an unfamiliar area. These “test arenas” had distinct visual patterns and different textures and colors. Each animal was placed in a corner of the arena and filmed for 10 minutes. The researchers measured how long it took them to move, how much they moved, and where they spent their time in the arena.
• Novel object test: The day after the novel environment test, the bearded dragons were brought to a test arena and presented with an unfamiliar object such as a ball or toy car. Each animal was filmed for 10 minutes, and the researchers recorded how long it took them to approach and touch the object.

For the third phase, the researchers conducted preference tests with the three housing conditions once the bearded dragons had experienced them all. The animals were allowed to roam freely and choose between two housing conditions at a time. The researchers used scan sampling, recording their position every minute over a two-hour period and then calculating the amount of time spent in each enclosure.

Key Findings

In enriched housing, the bearded dragons were more active and rested significantly less than when they were in non-enriched housing. Similarly, they moved more and rested less with naturalistic enrichment compared to non-naturalistic enrichment. Although there was no significant difference in time spent feeding, those in naturalistic housing were observed eating the live plants and invertebrates found in the substrate.

The bearded dragons in standard housing conditions scratched on the glass of the enclosure significantly more than in the enriched enclosures, potentially indicating stress, frustration, or a desire to escape. There was no difference in this kind of barrier interaction between the two types of enriched housing.

The results of the novel environment test revealed no observed differences between housing conditions in how long it took the bearded dragons to move or how much time they spent resting or moving. However, animals from the standard enclosures performed significantly more tongue touches compared to those from enriched housing — an indication of anxiety.

Likewise, for the novel object test, there were no observed differences between housing conditions in how long it took the bearded dragons to approach or touch the object. However, those from enriched housing approached the object more than those from standard housing, while those from standard housing performed more tongue touches than those from enriched housing.

The preference tests showed that the bearded dragons spent more time in the enriched enclosures than the standard one and more time in the naturalistic conditions than the non-naturalistic ones.

Implications For Bearded Dragon Welfare

Similar to a previous study with leopard geckos, the research highlights the importance of enrichment for bearded dragons. The animals actively engaged with all the items provided in the enriched environments, demonstrating a larger repertoire of behaviors than those in standard housing. They also showed higher levels of exploration and fewer barrier interactions in enriched housing. They especially preferred naturalistic conditions, likely because it provided additional foraging opportunities and sensory stimulation.

Both the novel environment and novel object tests showed that bearded dragons from enriched housing appeared less prone to anxiety as measured by tongue touches. For the novel object test, they also showed a greater willingness to approach the objects. Taken together, this suggests that enrichment may actually improve their confidence when encountering new experiences.

While interpreting species-specific behaviors in relation to welfare is complex, the researchers’ robust methodology provides evidence that bearded dragons benefit from enrichment in a variety of ways. Therefore, it’s recommended that guardians provide naturalistic conditions for their animals or, at the very least, use non-naturalistic enrichment to improve on the barren housing common in the pet industry.