Uromastyx and bearded dragon both are from the family of reptiles and also make amazing pet lizards. But both have differences that one needs to know while buying the pet for themselves. There are many pro and cons while owning them and we will compare the two depending on various factors and then one can know what exactly is the difference between the two and how life and their whole existence is different from each other.
We will compare the Uromastyx and bearded dragon on the basis of life span, diet, size and growth, tank requirements, costs, looks, cleanliness and smell, etc.
Contents
Life span
Bearded dragon: they usually have an average lifespan and if good care is taken of them, then they can live up to 15 years and on average they live for 7 to 12 years.
Uromastyx: As compared to bearded dragon uromastyx lives longer, if good care is taken then they live up to 15 to 20 years and on an average they live up to 10 to 15 years. In some cases uromastyx have lived up to 25 years also.
Size and Growth
Bearded Dragon: These are generally medium sized lizards. The adults reaches the size 17 to 24 inches while the younger ones are 10 to 14 inches long. There are large bearded dragons also that are 22 to 24 inches long. The bearded dragons reach the adult size in 16 to 24 months and that is also the time when they reach the sexual maturity and adulthood.
Uromastyx: these are also medium sized lizards like the bearded dragons. But they have various species that differ in sizes.
Larger species namely Moroccans and Disparflavifasciata reaches around 15 to 17 inches and can go up to 19.6 inches in some cases. The uromastyx takes longer time to become an adult and reach maturity as compared to the bearded dragon.
Diet
Bearded Dragon: They are generally omnivorous, so they usually fed with live feeder bugs and also the vegetables or greens.
But as they grow older they eat bugs in less amount and eat more greens. The baby bearded dragons eat insects more as compared to the greens.
Uromastyx: These are vegetarian lizards so they are not fed with insects or bugs. They generally survive on vegetables, greens, legumes and seeds. So feeding uromastyx is much easier than the bearded dragon.
Tank requirements
Bearded Dragon: The tanks needed by the bearded dragon is of moderate size. A smaller tank is not recommended because it can stress out the bearded dragon and due this stress they will not be able to thermoregulate.
Uromastyx: They also need a moderately sized tank but larger than the bearded dragon. This is because they are quite active and they need higher temperature as small spaces do not allow them to create the temperature gradient.
Costs
Bearded Dragon: These are not too expensive to buy but their cost of living is higher than buying them. The initial set up can cost more than $200 and also the cost of live bugs and all are also there that makes their living cost quite high.
Uromastyx: they are also not too expensive to buy neither their cost of living is too high as compared to the bearded dragon. They are cheaper than the bearded dragons.
Tail dropping
Bearded Dragon: Bearded dragons do not drop their tails, which means it is easy to handle the bearded dragon in this case.
Uromastyx: Uromastyx also do not drop their tails and their tail is a primary defence mechanism in the wild to protect themselves from their enemies.
Brumation
Bearded Dragon: the bearded dragons bromate from the age of 18 to 24 months and during brumation the bearded dragon do not eat but they can come out from time to time and be mildly active. There are also chances that not all bearded dragons bromate in captivity.
Uromastyx: They also tends to slow down during the winter period, but not all uromastyx does that, it varies from species to species.
Cleanliness and smell
Bearded Dragon: The bearded dragons poops every 1 to 3 days on an average and they can do that in different spots of the tank every time. You can make your bearded dragon poop in the bath tub if you have time as the poop of the bearded dragon smells a lot if not cleaned regularly.
Uromastyx: The Uromastyx also poops every 1 to 3 days on an average, but their poop does not smell because they do not eat live bugs and the spot cleaning is easy in their case.
Activity Time
Bearded Dragon: The bearded dragons are diurnal that means they are active during the day time and they sleep at night.
Uromastyx: The Uromastyx are also diurnal which simply means they also are active during the day time and they sleep at night.
Looks
Bearded Dragon: The bearded dragons are smart looking lizards and they look like small dragons and have a beard that is why they are named as the bearded dragons.
They have lots of spikes but those spikes are not sharp. There are also lots of different varieties of bearded dragons that also have different colours.
Uromastyx: The uromastyx are also gorgeous looking lizards that have curious eyes, available in various colours, speckles and have a stunning spiky tail. The head of an uromastyx resembles to that of a tortoises or a dinosaur. They also have a large variety in their species with stunning colours.
Final Words
The bearded dragon and the uromastyx both are amazing lizards and are different from each other. Bothe are beautiful in their own way and are amazing reptiles. Depending upon the factors they differ from each other and from that one can make out which one they can pet.
Both the animals are interesting in their own way they are stunning in looks and have various beautiful colours on their body which makes them even more gorgeous to look at and both of them makes an amazing pet for their owners and they also are happy creatures if they are well looked after.
