Moving beardies outside

[putchi]

At the moment I keep my bearded dragons and eastern water dragons in enclosures inside. I would like to move them to outdoor enclosures. I live in western Victoria so I believe this is possible. (I know people in Melbourne and Geelong keep these species outside).
What precautions should I take to acclimatise the animals? I was wondering if I should have moved them earlier so that they could gradually get used to the cooler conditions. Any advice will be gratefully received.

 

[Andrais]

i am doing the same thing with my blue tongues atm
im keeping my outdoors currently in a pond (no water, has a escape proof lid, raised out of the ground). I am providing extra heat from them in the mornings and nights. every 3 days im cutting back there number of hours of heat. Gradually they will climatize to it. Dont rush them straight out there into the cold cause that could lead to them getting very sick. Im sure this method would work for beardies too.

 

[bfg23]

I have had my beardy outside for the past few months and only now have I brang her inside as its getting colder and colder.
A funny thing I will mention is how much my beardy loves the rain. She will hide in her log for days and I wont see her, but if its raining I can guarantee she will be on top of her log getting soaked.
Once the cold weather is over and we start to get some warmer sunshine, she will be moved back outside into an even bigger and better enclosure, and I might leave her out there for winter.
Only reason I brang her inside this season is because she is not quite 2 years old yet, so she is still a bit young.
Water dragons are next I think as I can keep them outside year round too (as plenty of people do) which saves on heating costs big time.

 

[geckos_are_great]

im up in the yarra valley and i keep my beardies outside but bringing them inside in winter is a must down here.

 

[beeman]

We keep dragons, bluies and shinglebacks in outdoor pits 24/7, It takes a while to
get them into cycle to live outdoors and its some thing that should be done from mid spring onwards, when the dangers of severe frosts are gone as they will perish if hit by an extreem weather event.
The best thing for your animals would be to maintain them indoors untill next spring and then introduce them outdoors.

 

[dano85]

are we talking central or eastern?

 

[beeman]

are we talking central or eastern?

It doesnt matter which, the animals will adapt to the environment if introduced correctly.

 

[putchi]

Thank you for replies. I will keep the dragons inside until next spring and then work on getting them to live outside. As was mentioned that will save on heating bills. As well it will free up space inside for other animals. I know there is one well known reptile keeper in Geelong, (I don't want to give his name without permission), who keeps these species outside all year.