Even though bearded dragons have been on of the three most commonly kept pet reptile species for over a decade, they have seen a decent surge in their popularity over the last couple of years with more and more families starting to keep a bearded dragon.
Due to there being such a large number of people new to keeping bearded dragons out there right now, we have noticed a large number of questions from the community with a number of people asking about their pet bearded dragon sleeping on them.
Depending on your local temperature it can be fine to let your bearded dragon sleep on you for short periods of time when out of its vivarium.
Bearded dragons can form a strong bond with their keepers and in some situations, they will like to snuggle with you and eventually sleep on your lap or shoulder but not all bearded dragons will start to do this behavior.
If your local temperature is too cold to leave a bearded dragon out of its vivarium for an extended period of time or there are other potential problems in your home that may present a risk to your bearded dragon then it may not be a good idea to let your pet sleep on you.
It is not recommended that you fall asleep while you have your bearded dragon sleeping on you either as you may roll onto the bearded dragon and harm it or it may wake up while you are sleeping and wander off and get up to something it shouldn’t be doing or eat something it shouldn’t.
Is It Normal For A Bearded Dragon To Sleep On Their Owner?
A small number of bearded dragons will form a very strong bond with their keeper and this can cause them to fall asleep on their owners lap on a regular basis.
Not all bearded dragons tend to do this but it is still often considered a normal behavior for pet bearded dragons due to so many of them sleeping on their owner’s laps if they get the chance.
Due to so many people thinking that this behavior is cute, we have seen a large number of people on social media asking how they are able to get their bearded dragon to sleep on their lap or their shoulder.
The personality of your pet bearded dragon will play heavily into this and some bearded dragons just are not the cuddly type making it very difficult to get most bearded dragons to sleep on their owners.
This is why we would never recommend that you try to force your bearded dragon to spend time with you in the hope of it forming a strong bond with you.
Not only is it unlikely to work if the bearded dragon is forced to spend time with you but you may accidentally stress your bearded dragon out and cause other problems in the animal too.
If you don’t have a bearded dragon that seems to want to spend much time with you then you just have to accept it and realize that the majority of bearded dragons are like this and it is just part of their nature.
Why Does My Bearded Dragon Like Sleeping On Me?
Some bearded dragons like sleeping on their owners with the two main reasons being that they like spending time with you and that you are often warm and comfortable for the bearded dragon.
If you do have a bearded dragon that likes to snuggle then they will often get comfortable on your lap and start sleeping within a couple of minutes.
This can be a sign that your bearded dragon trusts you enough to let its guard down around you while out of its vivarium where it is familiar with its surroundings.
Most bearded dragons will only sleep on their owners for a short period of time due to the natural movements that humans make waking them up but some bearded dragons can sleep for hours while laying on their owner’s lap.
We have even seen some people get cushions that are just for their bearded dragon to lay on while out of their vivarium so it is easier for you to move the bearded dragon if you have to go do something without waking your bearded dragon.
A very small number of bearded dragons will form a strong bond with the full family and sleep on different members of the family depending who is available but most bearded dragons will have their favorite who they interact with the most.
Should I Let My Bearded Dragon Sleep On Me?
Just because your bearded dragon will sleep on you doesn’t mean that you should let it as most people should get their bearded dragon back into their vivarium after a short period due to potential temperature problems.
The small number of people who do live in areas that are warm enough for a bearded dragon to be out of its vivarium for extended periods of time can often let their bearded dragon sleep on their lap if their pet chooses to.
As we mentioned earlier in the article, you should be sure not to start sleeping if your bearded dragon is sleeping on your lap as it is common for humans to roll in their sleep.
This may result in an injury to a sleeping bearded dragon near you that could have otherwise easily been avoided if you had put your bearded dragon back into its vivarium for its nap.
Another potential problem is that other pets in your home may end up becoming jealous of your bearded dragon if you let it sleep on your lap on a regular basis.
This does tend to be rare but we have seen people report that their pet dog ended up getting jealous of their bearded dragon and then started to bark at the vivarium in their home and this may end up stressing your pet bearded dragon out.
Can Bearded Dragons Sleep Outside Of Their Cage?
Many bearded dragons will fall asleep outside of their cage and this is often not an issue and is considered a natural behavior with bearded dragons.
The potential problem is that your bearded dragon may fall asleep in an area of your home that makes it difficult to get access to your pet to put it back into its vivarium easily with this being a problem if you have to put your bearded dragon back due to potential problems with heat.
For some reason, some bearded dragons seem to really like sleeping on the door mat that many homes keep near their door for people to wipe their feet on too.
We would guess it is something to do with the unique texture of the mat but this is, unfortunately, a high trafficked area of your home and not all members of your home may know that the your bearded dragon is out of its vivarium and sleeping their while its color can help it blend in with the mat presenting a potential trample hazard.
Although very rare, we have seen some photographs on social media of a bearded dragon sleeping on other pets in the home such as the family cat or dog.
We know that this may look really cute but this can be a bad idea as your cat or dog may not understand what’s happening and may bite the bearded dragon so keep that in mind.
Still, we have seen videos of bearded dragons and dogs on social media where they have grown up together and are now essentially best friends and love playing with each other too.
What Do Bearded Dragons Like To Sleep On?
Bearded dragons can sleep on a wide range of different surfaces ranging from rough surfaces (often when they are shedding) to smooth comfortable surfaces and pretty much everything in between.
Most bearded dragons will sleep wherever it takes their fancy though and there is often no real need to offer them something special to sleep on as you will often find them sleeping somewhere else anyway.
One thing that we would like to mention is that bearded dragons are cold blooded animals but we often see people wrapping them in blankets when their bearded dragon sleeps on them. In some situations, this can actually be bad for the bearded dragon as it traps cold are against the bearded dragon and prevents warm air from getting to them.
Wrapping a human in a blanket works as we generate our own heat then the blanket traps it for us but the opposite is true for a bearded dragon, it is usually cold air that gets trapped.
Bearded dragons in the wild will often either try to sleep high up away from potential predators or in a burrow that they have dug.
Some pet bearded dragons still have this instinct but it does seem to fade rapidly, especially if the bearded dragon feels safe in its home as they can take to sleeping pretty much anywhere in a suitable home with minimal issues and this is why they can take to sleeping on their keepers.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over why your pet bearded dragon is sleeping on me to an end. We hope that we have been able to help as many of our readers as possible better understand why their pet bearded dragon may sleep on them as well as help some of our other readers understand why, no matter what they try, their bearded dragon will not sleep on them. Unfortunately, it is just one of those things and even though a massive number of people who keep bearded dragons as pets do tend to want their pets to sleep on them, their bearded dragons personalities may make this difficult.
