Meet Puff, the finicky dragon

As part of Youth Express’ fortnightly critter close-up, Brooke Rolfe catches up with senior wildlife park officer Amanda Engstrom at the Bunbury Wildlife Park and meets Puff, the western bearded dragon.

Not unlike the magical cartoon, Puff the western-bearded dragon is full of life and cheeky character.

The small reptile doesn’t lack attitude either which keeps park keepers busy as they tend to his temperamental desires.

Senior wildlife park officer Amanda Engstrom said because Puff didn’t drink often, it was important they kept an eye out for when he was thirsty.

Luckily enough Puff makes sure his requests for liquid don’t go unnoticed by staring into the eyes of anyone that approaches him and licking a log in his enclosure.

They only drink between two and three times a week, so watering time is quite important and often very time consuming.

Ms Engstrom has to hold a water bottle with a misting lid to Puff’s mouth with a perfect water speed before he considers drinking anything.

I watched as Puff turned his mouth away multiple times until the right stream speed was reached and he reluctantly slurped a few sips of water.

Due to drinking infrequently, they must intake big amounts of water at a time which can sometimes take more than than five minutes.

The western bearded dragon can grow to 41cm in length and can live for up to anywhere between five and 10 years.

In the wild, Puff would eat a range of food including insects, vegetation, foliage, blossom, berries, baby mice and frogs.

At the wildlife park he enjoys a spread of cockroaches, crickets, beetroot, carrot, sweet potato, hibiscus, spinach and sometimes some plum or grapes as well as his special supplements.

Like other ectothermic reptiles, it’s common for Puff to completely stop eating during the winter months due to a lack of sun.

All of their energy is retained from the sun and when there is less of it in the winter, their metabolism slows right down.

Amazingly, the western bearded dragon can go months without food and go into hibernation even in captivity because of their natural “internal clocks”.