Paperwork for a boarding bearded dragon has one job: to let a specialist act quickly and correctly on a day when you might be on a plane. A dragon cannot tell the boarder that his appetite dipped last week or that his usual vet knows his history, so the packet that travels with him carries his health snapshot, his care essentials, and a chain of contacts that ends in someone empowered to say yes to treatment.
Start with people who can actually decide
Put your own mobile number first, with the times you expect to be unreachable, then a named backup — a partner, family member, or friend — who has agreed in advance to authorise care and, if needed, collect him early. A contact who is merely 'good with animals' but unwilling to make a vet decision is not an emergency contact, so have that conversation before you travel, not during a crisis. Add the boarder's copy note of who should be called first for a husbandry question, who for a health worry, and who if nobody can reach you within a sensible window. Clear order prevents three people each assuming another has acted.
Name a reptile vet and an emergency fallback
List your usual reptile vet with practice name, address, and phone number, and note whether your dragon is already registered there, because an unregistered animal can face delays out of hours. Add the nearest emergency or out-of-hours service the boarder could realistically drive to, recognising that your regular practice may not cover nights and weekends. Write your threshold instructions beside those numbers: breathing difficulty, collapse, a prolapse, or a suspected fall from a basking platform means go now and phone on the way, while a missed meal in an otherwise bright dragon means message you first. Boarders act fastest when the decision has effectively been made for them in advance.
Include a short, honest health snapshot
One page is enough: his age if known, how long you have had him, recent appetite and favourite foods, last shed, what his normal droppings look like, and any recent change such as softer droppings, reduced basking, or a course of care you have recently completed under vet direction. Mention quirks that could be misread as illness, like beard-darkening when cool or during a shed, and anything he is known to do before a bowel movement. Do not bury the boarder in years of history; the snapshot's purpose is comparison, giving them your dragon's normal so a genuine change stands out quickly during a short stay.
Add written treatment permission and payment clarity
Sign a short note authorising the boarder to seek emergency veterinary care for your dragon on your behalf and stating how costs will be settled, whether the practice holds your details, you pay by phone, or your backup contact is authorised to pay. Vets and boarders understandably hesitate when neither consent nor payment is clear, and a signed paragraph removes both obstacles at the worst moment. Attach a copy of any recent vet paperwork you have if it relates to an ongoing matter, and keep photographs of every page on your own phone so the information survives even if the paper packet is left in the wrong room.
Clip the care summary to the front
The first sheet the boarder actually handles daily should be the practical one: basking and cool-end temperatures, light timer times, feeding days and dusting routine, and water and bathing notes, with the emergency numbers repeated at the foot of that same page rather than only inside the packet. Check the packet against the carrier the night before, not in the driveway, and tell the boarder where it will live during the stay. KinsLe's Pet Passport holds his health snapshot, vet contacts, and care summary together as one portable packet that travels with him.