Bearded Dragon Talk
Mandy
Decker (Siegburg), Karsten Grießhammer (Freiburg) and Dennis
Oonincx (Netherlands)
Bearded
Dragons are probably the lizards kept most frequently around
the world. However, they often get mistreated resulting in
health problems or death. The Herpetal Bearded
Dragon Award sets
the focus on the genus Pogona.
You can take part and vote for your favourite among the
displayed animals and win nice prizes. In addition we have
created a eight-page brochure on Bearded Dragons which is
available for the first time to everyone interested in the
entrance area providing valuable information about the
biology and husbandry of these animals.
Several
habitat photographs probably deliver new details for your
understanding of the species and their natural environment.
But the BEE team offers even more to the Bearded Dragon
enthusiast: Mandy Decker, Karsten Grießhammer and Dennis
Oonincx from the Netherlands will not only elect the most
beautiful animals for the awards, but also face the visitors
for a Bearded Dragon Talk that shall cover all your questions
on biology, husbandry and others.
Scientist
Dennis Oonincx has been researching on the nutrition demands
of Pogona
together
with the University of Wageningen, in particular about the
intake and utilization of vitamin D3 under UV-B lighting. His
plan is to elaborate the optimum conditions and nutrition for
maximum and healthy growth rates in young Bearded Dragons. He
is not only famous for his work but also as the president of
"Lacerta", the eldest Dutch society in herpetology. And of
course he keeps Bearded Dragons himself ...
Biologist Karsten Grießhammer from Freiburg im Breisgau is
the renown co-author of the German Bearded Dragon "bible"
published by Herpeton publishing house. Lots of field work
and experience from captive care and breeding have made their
way into this book about the genus which is the standard and
probably will be for many years to come.
Mandy Decker steps up for the welfare of animals in the most
relevant German Bearded Dragon forum. From time to time (as
she admits) she can get quite emphatic about this goal and
advocates her opinion on the right captive care and nutrition
with some energy. Her ideas on animal welfare were also taken
into account while organizing the Herpetal Bearded Dragon
Award. For example we will separate the visitors from the
display cages to keep people from knocking on the front
glass, and even the jury will not stress the animals in any
way.
More information:
www.forum-bartagamen.de
•
www.herpeton.de
