Our Classroom Pet

Meet our classroom pet Apollo! 

Apollo is a bearded dragon! 

Bearded Dragons are a large, semi-arboreal native lizard of Australia, these guys spend their time dwelling partially in the trees and on the ground. Including their tail, they grow to about 15-20 inches long and have spines on either sides on their body that run to the base of their tail. The bearded dragon lives up to its name: Like a dragon, it’s equipped with armor of spiny reptilian scales, which include a “beard” of spikes under its chin that puffs up depending on its mood. 

In the wild, bearded dragons’ range extends across most of Australia. They typically prefer to stick to warm, arid areas: deserts, subtropical woodlands, savannas, and scrublands. In the 1960s, Australia banned the export of wild bearded dragons; however, they’ve been bred in the United States for decades for the pet trade, and they come in a variety of color “morphs” not commonly found in the wild.

A warm habitat is crucial for bearded dragons. They’re cold-blooded and rely on external heat sources to raise their body temperature, which varies according to the temperature of their environment. They bask in the sun to warm themselves and can burrow underground to avoid extreme heat and predators.

Name: Apollo

Age:  4 years old (He hatched early October, 2020)

Habitat: 40 Gallon terrarium with tile floor, 150 watt basking bulb, T-8 UVB light and a CHE light for night time heat. His habitat includes food dish, hammocks for lounging on, basking rocks, climbing limbs and fake bushes to hid under. 

Food: crickets, dubia roaches, horn worms, silk worms, lettuce, sweet peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, blueberries, grapes and carrots

Apollo was about 4 weeks old when I brought him home!

Apollo has two habitats. 1 is in the classroom and the other is at my house. He doesn't like to be left alone on the weekend, so I bring him home to hang out with my family. This is also where he stays during our long breaks or long weekends. 

Apollo loves to climb and hang out on his hammocks! His hammocks are his favorite!

Apollo loves to make faces! You never know what you might catch him doing!

He loves to pancake on his basking rock!

Apollo loves to be held! He joins our classroom on and off throughout the day! His favorite part of the day is when we do our domain read-aloud! He snuggles right in and often times will fall asleep while listening to the story!