free range time with lizard

[moonstream]

I have been feeling bad that my bearded dragon, SID, has been getting pushed aside so that my rats have more 'out time'.  I have been really wanting to give them all more time, and I was thinking that a joint playtime would be easiest.  my lizard is docile when he is full, so once he gets back on a better set feeding routine I am hoping to introduce them.  I want to make sure that this wont be bad for them.  obviously I will watch everyone and make sure that no one is hurt, but I dont think that Sid will think he can eat the rats, they are much heavier then him, as well as about the same size, body wise 9not including tails).  I am just making sure that this will not be dangerous.  I am more concerned with the rats then the lizard.

[Lise]

Personally I wouldn't even consider it.  A reptile and a rat are just not meant to get along.  And way too much could go wrong.

I would be very worried that your rats would seriously injure, or kill your beardie..... or get hurt themselves.  It is just a bad combination.

[moonstream]

their wont be enough time for anyone to get hurt.  the way that I am planning to intro them is the way one would intro ratties together.  those on the lizard forum agreed with me, that as log as I didnt take my eyes off of them it would be fine.  beardies are not the type of lizard that would attack something their size, they are more flighty, and as they age they start to become very docile and eat almost exclusivly veggies, with a bit of live prey thrown in for protein.

[Marybelle]

I'd be more worried about the rats going after the beardie, myself.  Rats can be very territorial when it comes to something being in "their" territory that they don't like.  And reptiles don't exactly create warm fuzzies in most of the rodent population...  Even with slow intros, there is a HUGE chance of things going wrong.  In my experience, rats that are riled up can move WAY faster than you can even imagine, let alone try to stop. 

[windfire]

also i dont know if rats can get samonella but most reptiles carry it on their skin and would be worried what each could get from each other.

i have had lizards and been told always to wash hands after them for the cause of samonella on their skin.

so take precautions just in case

[zoocrew26]

Eeek! Wow, i wouldn't do that. 
I can ALMOST see where you are coming from, being that i own a beardie as well as rats, but i would never have them together. The risk is just too great. My beardie is also extremely docile, but still, things happen, and i wouldn't want either my beardie or my rats accidentaly getting hurt.

[Kacee9]

I would not do this!!  There are just too many things that could go wrong and there is a possibility one of your animals could get killed before you could even react. 

Rats can move very quickly when motivated and they can do a lot of damage in a very short time.  If one of your rats were to bite your lizard in just the right spot, he could be seriously injured.  And you may think that your lizard is calm and mellow but you have no idea how he may react if he feels threatened and he thinks he must defend himself from these strange animals who he may see as predators.

Please reconsider and take into account the safety of ALL your animals!!

Kendra

[moonstream]

I didnt really think much about the rats, they hae never shown much aggression to anything, nit everyone raises good pnits.  I guess that Ill just have to stick with keeping the rats and lizard seperate.  thanks for the help!

[RatDude55]

my guys are either affraid of orange things on my bed, since my cat sleeps with me and my rats used to wake me up by running around my head...

or they play hide and go seek with my dog and my brothers dog. altough, i am very involved with the dogs knowing that the rats arent food, dont play rough, and give the rat some space


they love it
more curious than anything

[Dearpie]

I didnt really think much about the rats, they hae never shown much aggression to anything, nit everyone raises good pnits.  I guess that Ill just have to stick with keeping the rats and lizard seperate.  thanks for the help!

Good call.   It takes a split second for a rat to inflict a very lifethreatening bite.  You most likely wouldn't have time to react.  It sounds like an accident waiting to happen if you were to let them meet.   Some things just aren't meant to be, under any circumstances.  It's not worth the risk.

[chaa]

yes!! another BD/rat dual owner!! 

i have a 6 month old beautiful BD boy as well as my three girls.  i had similar thoughts.  I do have everyone out at the same time, but generally my BD (eddie, for reference) stays on my shoulder for the most part.  when he's down on the floor he and the girls get along perfectly fine, but that took a lot of time and a lot of repetition.  only one of my girls makes any attempt to go near him any more, and eddie loves it when she does.  he loves 'stalking' them.  he's never bitten or lunged or open-mouthed or even blackbearded at any of them, he's just incredibly intent on watching them.  we only had two issues; the first time they were together i wasn't paying close enough attention and one of my girls got close enough to eddie to 'taste' him.  she didn't nibble or cause any damage.  the other time was when i was feeding eddie and one of my girls walked right into his viv- she got a good hiss and hasn't gone back in since.

but honestly i wouldn't recommend it.  i just got very lucky with my girls that they're super easy to train (except when it comes to leaving my leather anklet alone... i swear, that's basically rat crack!) and my BD is not threatened by them at all.  if they're out running around and he hasn't been let out he'll glass dance and try to open the sliding door to get out until i open it for him. 
just this past weekend we had a great bonding experience.  i lost track of the three girls until eddie went running over to a spot near my dorm door.  when i followed i found all THREE girls each eating a stray cricket they'd caught while eddie went after another one!! it was one of those unbelievable kodak moments that i would've given anything to catch on film.
its fun to have them all out together, just keep your BD up and away from them unless you're super confident.  and NEVER, EVER leave them unattended.  even though my girls have shown their best behavior since that first incident i would never trust them alone with eddie.  when it comes down to it socializing them together is far more of a hassle than just making time for them in other ways.  For example eddie is my daytime playmate, since his light cycle starts at 9 am and goes until 10:15 pm.  after that it's all ratty time, and since i stay up till 2 at the earliest they get just as much of me as eddie does.

so i know you've gotten a lot of "dont do it!! absolutely not!! not worth the risk!" replies, which are completely valid and you really should probably go that route.  but for the sake of playing devils advocate and to let you know that it can technically be done I offer my experiences.  really... i wouldn't encourage you to do so.  i still dont often let them all out on the floor at the same time.  when i do it's all eyes and hands and a 'ring of safety' that i keep around eddie so the girls dont get close enough to have the opportunity to take an exploratory nibble.  in the end playtimes like this probably benefit us as owners more than them as pets.  besides; eddie has just as much fun watching my aquarium.  heck, he's even tried to 'catch' my catfish through the glass!

[lilspaz68]

My rats as a kid decided anoles were tasty.  Rats are true predators sometimes and they can attack super fast.  I wouldn't chance it at all.