Bearded dragons find a loving home in Emerado, North Dakota

EMERADO — Taking care of 120 small exotic animals might not be the average person’s ideal daily life. For Kendra Madsen, it is.

Madsen runs Home For Beardies, an unofficial bearded dragon sanctuary, from her house in Emerado. She began her work in California 15 years ago, and has continued it through her move to Texas and now North Dakota, where she’s lived for eight years. She runs the sanctuary with her fiance, Donovan Kennedy, who focuses on the financial side. To raise money for the sanctuary, Madsen and Kennedy have a donation box at Valley Petroleum Equipment in Grand Forks.

Along with bearded dragons — Madsen cares for 58 of them — Home For Beardies cares for 17 leopard geckos, nine frogs, nine tortoises, seven aquatic turtles, one tarantula, two scorpions and 17 parakeets, equaling 120 animals in total. Madsen says “everybody has their spot” in the house and the garage, with the special needs animals placed upstairs where they can be monitored. There’s even space outside for some of the animals while the weather is warm. Madsen also has a place in the garage where she breeds insects for the animals that require them in their diets.

Madsen says this position “fell into [her] lap” 15 years ago while working as a bartender in California. One of her regular customers came in with tanks full of animals and gave them to her after hearing her speak about the pets she kept. Madsen says she’s allergic to animals with fur, which led to her finding other kinds of animals to have as companions, such as lizards, frogs and snakes.

The process of surrendering a pet to Home For Beardies is more in-depth than that customer’s abrupt visit. It starts with connecting with Madsen through email, call or text, then answering questions about the reptile’s name, age and diet. Madsen also asks if the person surrendering would like for the pet to stay with Home For Beardies or be adopted by a new owner. Then the reptile is given to Home For Beardies, either through Madsen going to the owner or the owner going to her. The reptile is inspected for injuries or diseases, seen by a veterinarian and quarantined for 30 days. On the human side of things, Madsen tries to keep the process informal and easy.

“I want to make it as relaxing as possible and not stressful and no shaming, no anything, because nothing is worse than being shamed for surrendering your pet and feeling worse than you’re already feeling,” she said.

There are multiple reasons why someone might surrender a bearded dragon. The owner might not enjoy handling insects, a large part of a bearded dragon’s diet; the pet might have belonged to a child who is no longer interested in it and the parent doesn’t want to care for it; the pet requires more time and money than the owner can commit; the pet has special needs the owner can’t handle; the pet isn’t as affectionate as other animals and doesn’t bring the same “spark,” Madsen says, as cats or dogs.

There have even been a few instances of people surrendering their pet because they’re about to become homeless.

The process is often an emotional one.

“We have a lot of tears when people surrender because they’re sad because they don’t want to, but at the same time they know it’s for the better in a lot of cases,” Madsen said.

Along with taking in new bearded dragons, Home For Beardies offers several other services, such as boarding, hospice, nail trimming and teeth cleaning.

A struggle Madsen faces in North Dakota that she didn’t have in California and Texas is the lack of reptile care resources. When a veterinarian who specializes in reptiles isn’t available in Grand Forks, she has to drive to Fargo or look for other vets in the area.

“North Dakota has a long ways to go,” Madsen said.

Reptiles aren’t as popular in North Dakota as they are in other states, leading to less need for a veterinarian who specializes in reptile care. Madsen has noticed them becoming more popular, however, though it’s a recent development.

Madsen doesn’t have the words to describe how much she loves Home For Beardies, providing help for not only the animals, but for the humans who come to her for advice, services or to surrender their pets.

The animals she has also have their own individual personalities, and Madsen says the bearded dragons seem to enjoy listening to music and watching TV.

“I would not trade helping these animals out for the world because they bring a lot of joy at home,” she said.

Otto is a recent University of North Dakota graduate and reporter at the Herald.