Hey parents, trusty here. You know what I hear constantly from homeschool parents in the Who Smartered community? Thank you for introducing us to IXL. I get it. My cousin homeschools her kids and raves about how much IXL helps. We're heading into that stretch where families are finishing the year strong and then summer hits with travel, camps and shifting routines. And that's where IXL shines. IXL is an award-winning online learning platform that fits seamlessly into homeschooling with interactive practice across math, language arts, science and social studies from pre-K through 12th grade. Everything's organized by grade and subject so you quickly find what each kid needs. Kids get instant explanations and parents you get clear progress reports. Over 15 million students use IXL and it's proven to improve achievement in all 50 states. So make an impact on your child's learning. Who Smartered listeners get an exclusive 20% off when they sign up today at www.ixl.com slash smarted. That's IXL.com slash smarted. And now it's time for Who Smartered. Psst, hey smarty pants, you're never gonna guess who my special guest on this Who Smartered episode is. Here, I'll give you a hint. They have a beard. No, it is not Abraham Lincoln delivering the Smartiesburg address. And no, it's Natsus. Or Santa Claus. Ho ho ho. But those are great guesses. Nope, today's beardy guest is my friend Rascal. Huh? See, I told you, you'd never guess it. Anywho, my friend Rascal might not be one of our greatest presidents, a Greek god or the giver of presents. But he is bearded. And he is named after a cool mythical creature we did a recent episode on. Now can you guess? Hmm, what's with all the suspense? Just tell the mom of bearded dragon. That's right, Rascal is a bearded dragon. Now, I know what some of you might be wondering, can Rascal fly and breathe fire? No, he cannot. And does Rascal have a big, long, hairy beard? No, he does not. So what exactly is a bearded dragon? I'm an easy going reptile that makes a great pet. Oh, and I can do some awesome things. What do you think, you bearded dragon? You know we're in for a fun time. And if you've never heard of bearded dragons before, get ready to learn some pretty cool things about them like, where do bearded dragons live? How big do they grow? Why are they called bearded dragons? And what makes them such great pets? Do you want to tell them or me? Hang on, Rascal, I know you're excited, but first we gotta do the theme song. It's time for another whiff of science and history on Who's Smarted? Who's Smarted? Who's Smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up, everyone, we make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smarted. Hello, is this thing on? Yes, Rascal, it's on. We're recording. Sorry. It's okay. Hey, Smarty Pants, I'm here with my pal, Rascal, the bearded dragon. As you mentioned earlier, bearded dragons are reptiles. So, Smarty Pants, as a reptile, would that make Rascal warm-blooded or cold-blooded? Yep, most of you know your animal facts. Reptiles are cold-blooded. But I'm a really nice guy. Of course you are, Rascal. Now, Smarty Pants, as a cold-blooded animal, does that mean bearded dragons prefer to live in warm or cold places? The answer might surprise you. Despite our cold blood, bearded dragons like things warm. We make our home in habitats like deserts, woodlands, or flat grassy plains called savannas. We love resting on rocks and climbing through trees and bushes. Here's an even harder question that even the bearded dragon owners might not know. Smarty Pants, can you name the country bearded dragons are native to? Now, native to means the place where an animal originates from. Did you say Australia? Hey, that's where my lunch-stealing friend, Robert Maroon, lives. I would never steal your lunch unless you like eating mealworms, kingworms, and crickets. Nope, all yours. Of course bearded dragons are omnivores. Do you know what that means, Smarty Pants? That means they eat meat and plants. What veggies do you eat, Rascal? I like greens like parsley and kale and veggies like peppers and sweet potatoes and some fruits. Hmm, maybe I'd better hide my lunch from you on salad day. Not cool, dude. Speaking of cool, while bearded dragons do depend on arid conditions and heat to survive, sometimes the desert can get too hot even for them. How do bearded dragons stay cool on super hot days? Do they A. burrow underground, B. go swimming, or C. lick ice cream. When it gets too hot for us, we burrow underground to cool off. If you said A, great job. Okay, let's address your name. You're called a bearded dragon, but neither of those things are true. After all, you don't have any hair on your chin. Nope. Hair is more of a mammal thing. So is your name ironic? No, the bearded part of our name refers to our ability to puff our throats and make our necks darker to scare predators away. Humans thought this looked like a beard, so they called us bearded. Huh, makes sense. I also have neck spikes to protect me and help me look bigger. Oh yeah, he'd definitely look bigger, but still, way smaller than a dragon. Smartypants, how big are bearded dragons? Are they A. about one pound, B. about three pounds, or C. about five pounds? The answer is A. one pound. Even with my beard and spikes, I only weigh around 1.1 pounds. That's only a little more than a loaf of sandwich bread. Yep, we're pretty small, and there's lots of bigger animals that would love to snack on a bearded dragon sandwich. So now you know why our beards are so important. Gotcha. Okay, so that covers the bearded part. As for the dragon part, your face does kind of look dragon-like, but since this is a podcast, why don't you describe yourself so the smartypants can mentally picture what you look like? Sure, I love describing things. I, like most bearded dragons, am tan. With a little red and gold next in, we can also be gray or brown. My head is shaped like a triangle. Ooh, like a slice of pizza? Do I have to worry about you eating me? No, you're fine. As you can see, my tail is about half the length of my body. Unlike other lizards, bearded dragons' tails don't fall off and grow back. Also, you'll notice I don't have external ear structures. Just two holes on the side of my head. How's your hearing if you only have holes and not ears? Surprisingly good. I can press my ear holes against the ground and hear vibrations. You'll also notice my eyes are on the side of my head. This helps me see all around so I can quickly spot predators. You know the saying, eyes on the side, we hide. What animals do you need to worry about in the wild? Oh, we have quite a few predators. Birds, snakes, large lizards, wild dogs, and foxes. Huh, that is quite an enemy's list. I wouldn't call them enemies. Everyone's gotta eat trusty, including me. Luckily bearded dragons have something pretty cool that helps us catch prey. Smartie pants, what helps bearded dragons catch their prey? Is it A, their spikes, B, their claws, or C, their tongues? If you said C, tongues, good job. We don't have to chase our prey, which is good since we're not what you'd call fast. Instead, we use our sticky tongues to grab food. Oh yeah? How does that work? Believe it or not, we're good climbers. Our feet are shaped like human hands and each finger or toe has a strong claw on it. These help us easily climb trees and rocks. From up high we can look down at a bug or worm crawling around on a branch below us and dinner is served. And I'm sure your colors help you blend into your surroundings, what's known as camouflage. That's true. For a bigger meal we might wait for a mouse or a small lizard to go by and then we bite it. We let out some venom which kills it quickly so we can eat it without a fight. Okay, okay, things are getting a little gross here. I've seen the way you eat pizza, I wouldn't talk. Fair point. Do you have a hard time finding things to eat in the desert? Yeah, it isn't always easy. Luckily we can go a few days without food. Not me, I can barely go a few hours. I've noticed but that's also because you're always expending energy. Bearded dragons are very good at saving energy especially during a particular time of year. We'll learn what that is as well as some more fun bearded dragon facts right after this quick break and a word from our sponsors. Hey smarty families I've had the skylight calendar in our kitchen for about a week and I'll just tell you what changed. It became the one source of truth. Before this keeping track of who, what, when, and where with sticky notes, group texts, and hopefully me remembering to get the groceries, now everyone checks the same screen. The meal planning feature alone has saved us from the nightly what's for dinner spiral and I can pull recipes right into it. Skylight is the calendar I didn't know I needed. Skylight is designed to bring families together for more time. It syncs seamlessly with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Outlook with customizable daily, weekly, and monthly views. The tasks feature helps kids build healthy routines and independence, brushing teeth, homework, and chores become fun and rewarding. Assign each family member their own color and the excuses disappear. If you're not 100% thrilled in four months you can get a full refund. Now you know I love an adventure but Skylight has helped me make organizing the family less of a safari. Families are better when they're working together. Right now Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch calendars by going to myskylight.com slash smart it. Go to myskylight.com slash smart it for $30 off your 15 inch calendar. That is myskylight.com slash smart it. Hey smarty pants trusty narrator here. Spring is here and you know what that means on the farm. Baby chicks hatching inside their eggs. Caves moving into their tiny little houses. Flowers figuring out when it's time to wake up and yes that smell you know the one. If you've ever wondered why any of that happens I have got the show for you the Super Smart Farm Show podcast but don't take it from me. Take it from my friend Elmer who actually lives this stuff and hosts the show. This spring on the Super Smart Farm Show we're hatching chicks visiting baby calves and yes we are going to talk about why farms smell funny in the spring and trust me once you know the reason you'll never look at your garden the same way again. See what I mean? That's Super Smart Farm Show a family podcast that answers every question you never knew you had about farms animals and food. Playful curious and genuinely smart from the Lancaster Farming Team who've been covering agriculture since 1955. Find Super Smart Farm Show wherever you get your podcasts or at LancasterFarming.com Now back to who's smarted. Rascal wake up we're back. That wasn't me it's the sound effect guy. Huh what sorry. Ah I thought you were conserving energy. Speaking of smarty pants how do bearded dragons save energy? Do they A. sleep more in the winter B. eat more in the summer or C. not more in the spring? The answer is they A. sleep more in the winter. What sorry I'm jet lagged from the long flight to Australia. Anyway Rascal. Since the winter months are colder with less sunlight it's not really a favorite time for bearded dragons so we sleep a lot more and save a ton of energy. Ah you're like me I just love the spring and the summer. Oh yeah that's the best time to be a bearded dragon it's when our babies hatch. Smarty pants any idea what a group of bearded dragon eggs is called? Is it A. a carton B. a clutch or C. a basket? If you said clutch you're right. And while the eggs you get in the grocery store come in a dozen or twelve a female bearded dragon can lay over 20 eggs at a time. That is a lot of cute baby bearded dragons. Oh by the way what are baby bearded dragons called? Are they beardlets? Dragon puppies or hatchlings? Why hatchlings of course. Ha makes sense even if dragon puppy sounds pretty cool. How big is a hatchling? Hatchlings start out only two to four inches or five to ten centimeters long. When a bearded dragon is young it sheds its skin every few weeks as it grows bigger. When a bearded dragon is two years old it's fully grown. When a human is two years old it's still a toddler. Do adult bearded dragons shed their skin? Yep I shed my skin twice a year. That's better than every few weeks. Definitely we shed in patches and when we're shedding we eat less and are less active. I hope this isn't a sad question but uh how long do bearded dragons typically live? In the wild we can live up to 10 years but many people like to keep us as pets. You know something tells me a bunch of our smarty pens listening have bearded dragons as pets and one even has one named Rascal. What can I say it's a great name and also bearded dragons or beardies as some of our human friends like to call us are one of the most popular reptiles to keep us pets. So what makes a bearded dragon such a good pet? We're a good pet size we're also playful and get along well with humans. Smarty Pants when did bearded dragons first go from living only in the wild in Australia to being pets in the USA? Was it A. the 1970s? The 70s. B. the 1980s. I love the 18s. Or C. the 1990s. I love the 90s. Compared to other pets bearded dragons haven't been in the United States very long. If you said C. the 1990s you're right. I love the 90s. But beardies have become pretty popular in a short amount of time. We're not just popular with humans. We also like each other. Bearded dragons are pretty social and similarly sized lizards can live together. How do you communicate with other bearded dragons? We use our bodies to communicate with other bearded dragons and humans can learn what our movements mean too. If I bob my head at another bearded dragon I'm showing it that I'm the boss. Whoa. I thought you were just nodding your head. Yes. Waving my arms means I'm okay with the other bearded dragon being the leader. I thought you were just waving hello. And of course if my beard flares out and gets darker I'm feeling threatened and scared. I can even change color if I'm fighting with another bearded dragon. Oh and if my mouth is open that means I'm hungry. Me too. A big shout out across the pond to Finn and Jensen in England UK. Let's see. I hear Finn loves learning new things and says the spaceship episode made him laugh so much and Jensen loves how funny and interesting the show is especially the dragon and pokemon episodes. Aw thanks for smirking with us you two. This episode bearded dragons was written by Sarah Sweetek and voiced by Mateo Perotti and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn who smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Text Davis who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Text Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
