Bearded Dragon My Pet and Me

Hello and welcome to My Pet And Me.

-I'm Rory.

-And I'm Ferne. We've been hoping you'd join us.

We've been getting the barn ready for the animals.

Lots of different animals make great pets.

-We love meeting yours.

-We do. What's your plans?

I'm off to meet some new friends and you can come with me. Let's go.

-Have fun.

-See ya!

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Down every street

# Are pets to meet

# Some big, some small, some scaly, some furry

# Some keep very still, some are always in a hurry

# Some have four paws

# Some have sharp claws

# Some quack, some bark, some purr,

# Some moo, some grunt, some squawk,

# Some cock-a-doodle-do!

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Have you met my pet and me? #

Hello. Today we are in Cheshire

to meet Esme and her very special pet, a bearded dragon.

Let's go and say hello, shall we? Come on.

-Hi, Mum.

-Hi, Rory.

-Hi, Esme.

-Hello, Rory.

Do you want to see my pet?

Yes, please. Let's go.

Hop up there.

Well, a bearded dragon.

-What is your bearded dragon called?

-Bingham.

-That's a lovely name.

-Is Bingham a boy or a girl?

-We don't know.

That's right. It's very hard to tell if bearded dragons are boys or girls

until they are older. You can take them to a vet to find out.

-Shall we do that later?

-Yes.

-Sounds fun. How old is Bingham?

-Eight months.

-So still quite young? Yeah.

And what do you love about Bingham?

I like it when she crawls on me.

When she crawls on you? All over you?

-Where does she crawl?

-My tummy.

On your tummy? Is it tickly? Do you laugh?

There's a very important question I haven't asked you.

Do you know why they are called bearded dragons?

-Cos it's got a beard!

-Yes.

Do you know anything else that's got a beard?

Yes.

What do you think of this beard? Who's got a nicer beard,

Bingham or me?

Oh, thank you.

Bearded dragons are called that

cos they've got a different beard from me.

If you look closely, under the mouth of a bearded dragon,

you'll see lots of spiky scales and that's where they get their name.

If they feel in danger, that puffs out big

and that's why they're called bearded dragons.

Ferne, can you give us some more fun facts about our new beardy friend?

Of course, Rory.

Bearded dragons are reptiles and they're cold-blooded.

This means that they need to lie in the sunshine or warm places

to heat up so they can move.

When a bearded dragon lies in the sunshine,

it is called basking.

This funny hole is actually an ear.

Bearded dragons have very good hearing to help keep them safe.

Bearded dragons are famous for their spikes

and if they feel in danger then they will display them

to frighten off any predators.

Bearded dragons are known as exotic pets

because they come from somewhere very different from here.

That means it takes a lot of time, care and commitment

to look after them properly.

We can see here we've got a lovely tank. Has this got a special name?

-Vivarium.

-Yes, of course, A vivarium.

This is where you should keep lizards,

bearded dragons and snakes.

And if you look inside,

you can see there's loads of space for Bingham to run around.

Lots of places to hide and nice places to relax.

What temperature is it in here? Is it warm or cold?

-That side is cold and this side is warm.

-Oh!

-What is making this side warm?

-It's got a big lamp.

That's right, a big hot lamp.

That is very important

because bearded dragons come from a very warm part of the world,

so we need to keep the tank nice and toasty.

It's good that you've got a cold part.

-If he gets too warm he has to go into the cold.

-Yeah.

A little chill-out zone. And if she gets too cold, where does she go?

-She goes to the lamp again.

-Yeah.

And what does she do under the lamp?

Sheds her skin.

Yes, of course, these guys shed their skin, don't they?

It's perfectly natural for bearded dragons to shed their skin.

When they are younger they shed it more often

cos they are growing so quickly.

I'm going to take some of this skin out

so we can look at it more closely. Wow.

Look at that. Isn't it cool?

-What does it feel like?

-It feels rough.

Yes, it feels rough, doesn't it? No wonder.

Bingham is very scaly, isn't she?

Mum is going to take Bingham and keep her nice and safe

while we clean the tank out.

Good girl.

What shall we do first, then?

-Clean out the bowls.

-Good thinking.

Right, let me just pick up some of these bits of spinach here.

Looking a bit crusty. I think we need to change those.

Put that over here.

This wee bowl here. I'll pass that over to you as well.

Right, and we've got a big heavy bowl over there.

Right, we've got the bowls out.

Time to clean them out then. Let's go.

Right, I will help you down first.

Right, we need to get these bowls emptied out and cleaned, don't we?

There we go.

And now this old spinach.

Right, that's that old stuff. I've emptied the water out.

Let's give it a clean.

This nice warm water.

OK. You dry that one off.

Nice and dry. Good work.

And I'll use one of these special wipes

afterwards to take any nasty bugs off.

There we go.

Give it a good scrub.

OK. Dry that one off now.

OK. And now for the last one.

That really needs a wash.

That needs a proper clean, doesn't it? Right. Good scrub.

That's looking good now.

Drying.

-And a little wipe...

-Yep.

-..just to make sure.

Right. What goes in the big bowl?

Fresh water.

Right, let's put that in now.

-Nice. Well done. OK.

-Now we need some spinach in that one.

-Some spinach.

You going to put that in?

I like spinach. Do you?

-No.

-I love spinach! That looks like plenty, doesn't it?

-Now we need some clean calcium in there.

-Of course.

This white powder here. And why is the calcium important?

Because her bones will go all soft.

Yes. If she doesn't have enough calcium,

her bones will not be strong enough.

Very important. Now, I heard Bingham has a very special diet.

What food do you feed Bingham?

-Worms for a special treat.

-Oh.

Only for a special treat, though?

-Crickets.

-Crickets?

-Grasshoppers.

How many crickets does she eat a day?

-12.

-Each day?

Sounds delicious.

-What do you think?

-No.

-Not for you.

And it's very important to get an adult to do that feeding as well.

-Right, shall we take all these things back...

-Yeah!

-..to the vivarium?

OK. There we go.

Now, what are we going to do next?

Let's get mealworms for Bingham for a treat.

Yes, that sounds good.

Looks like we've got some here.

Oh, wow. This is a very special treat, isn't it?

-Where are you going to put them?

-In there.

So you put them on top of the spinach.

Will that mean that she will eat it as well?

-Yep, she'll eat the spinach.

-OK.

Now, we've got everything in here.

-Someone is missing.

-Bingham!

-Yes.

Do you think Mum can bring Bingham through?

Hello, Bingham.

Oh, wow.

You've got some nice new calcium powder in there,

lots of food, plenty of fresh water and all her bowls are nice and clean.

-What do we have to do now?

-Wash our hands!

Yes, come on.

If Bingham could do anything, anything at all,

what do you think she would do?

If my pet could do anything,

she'll go to a wishing tree

and she'll make a wish.

She will wish to have wings

and she'll fly to my tall purple castle in the sky.

At the castle she will have tea and cakes with the king and queen.

We've come to meet Molly,

who's a vet with a special interest in exotic reptiles.

We're going to finally find out if Bingham is a boy or a girl. Come on.

-Hello, Rory. Hello, Esme.

-Hello, Molly.

-And who have we got here?

-Bingham.

-Bingham. Oh.

This is a beautiful bearded dragon.

-Do you know how old she is?

-Eight months.

-Eight months.

Right, I think we need to check

-whether Bingham's a boy or a girl, don't we?

-Yes.

OK, I'm just going to pick her up and we'll have a look

and see if we can tell.

Oh, right. Now, I'm looking at Bingham

and can you see those little dots?

They're called pores

and that means that Bingham is a boy.

THEY GASP

-Wow.

-Uh-oh.

We have been calling Bingham a girl all this time

-and actually it's a boy.

-It's a boy.

-Wow.

So, shall we listen to his heart?

A lizard heartbeat. This is exciting.

Now, can you hear in there?

I can hear the heartbeat.

Fantastic.

HEARTBEAT

-I think it sounds fine.

-Good. That's the main thing, Molly.

If you think it's fine, we are happy, aren't we?

-Now shall we clip his nails?

-Why are you clipping its nails?

So they're not too sharp when you hold him.

Bingham has ten claws on his front feet and ten on his back.

They are longer than our nails.

So, now we know Bingham is a boy and he is a very healthy bearded dragon.

-Well done, Bingham. Thank you, Molly.

-You're welcome.

-It was nice to meet him.

-Thank you. We better get him home now.

Let's go.

Esme, thank you very much for letting me meet

your wonderful bearded dragon, Bingham.

-Have you had a wonderful time?

-Yeah! Thank you, Rory.

You're very welcome.

I'm so glad we got to find out that Bingham is a boy.

He's amazing, isn't he?

My pet and me!

-Hi, Ferne.

-Hi, Rory. You've got a big smile.

-What've you been up to?

-Oh, I've had a great time with my new friends.

-It was so much fun.

-That's fantastic.

Rosie and Millie are just getting a bit of a brush.

-Do you want to help?

-Definitely. It looks like you need a hand.

-I do.

Lots of tangles in here. Here we go, Rosie.

Pets are brilliant, but remember you shouldn't touch an animal

unless the owner says it's OK.

Two pets you can definitely play with are ours.

Go to the CBeebies's website and play the My Pet And Me game.

Thanks for spending time with us. We hope you've had lots of fun too.

# Today we met

# A lovely pet

# We see how much you care for them

# Thank you so much for sharing them

# Time for us to

# Just remind you

# After you've played with your pet

# Wash your hands, don't forget

# It doesn't matter what pets you've got

# You might have one, you might not

# It's still fun finding out

# What having a pet is all about

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Come back and see my pet and me. #

Bye!