Angry bath time?

My dragon seems to hate baths. He's fine to handle, but once I near the tub he wants to run up my arm and onto my head. I don't have the water to deep. I have tried getting it deep enough for him to swim, and I have tried shallow enough to just splash around. He will run around madly trying to get out, eventually settling down in one spot and sort of puffing his neck out like a toad, not really bearding. Last time he slightly opened his mouth and hissed as I went for him. He seems to get worse each bath, and I don't want to make him untouchable.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? The water is only about 90 degrees. Or is this just random dragon behavior?

are you putting him straight in the tub? I think the lack of purchase for their claws makes it tougher for them to relax sometimes? I like to put a big rock in the middle of the tub as i fill it, that way he has something to swim to he can grab onto without getting all the way out of the tub.
Also as you insert dragon into tub you should slowly lower them into the water so they can feel it without just getting thrown IN it. That seems to help.

Hope you get it sorted

Try lowering the temp to 80-85, it might be too hot for him. keep it shallow for now and like randy said, make sure he has something to hold onto.

Yea I lower him in and slowly ease my hand out after a minute or two. It's after my hand is gone that he gets nervous/angry. I'll find something to stick in there and try that.

Before I started baths about a month after I got him, I used a syringe to give him water. He'd always drink from that very well. He seemed excited when he'd see it, run over, and start licking it. I'd give him water until he quit licking and turned away.

Hard to believe how much he's grown. I need to sit him on top of the old aquarium fallen tree thing he slept on when he was little for a comparison.

I also have an angry, anxious bathing beardie. It's Ginger. She panics, climbs my arm, puffs, hyperventilates and occasionally hisses. I don't bathe her in the tub or sink because it seems worse there. I have a rubbermaid tub that is a few inches longer than and wider than her with sides that she can't climb but they are not so tall so she feels like she is in the bottom of a big tub. It is clear so she can kind of see out. I fill it and sit in the living room next to it and put her in there. That way she is not in some big white thing in the bathroom. She chills in the living room with us every day, so she knows where she is, she is just in water.

Also I have a regular washcloth that I have wet and folded into a 'bundle' and secured with a large rubberband. I leave that washcloth in her tub and when I put her in there I put her on the washcloth so she feels like she has an island to support her. Sometimes she will try to get on it and get out of the water but I just patiently reposition her and she will calm down.

ALSO I bath her last. I bathe her as late as I can so she is getting tired, but not too late because she will try to sleep in the water and drown. :roll: I make sure after her bath she either has time in her tank to get under the lights to make sure she is DRY or I spend the extra time to really dry her off if she is going straight to sleep after her bath. This is so she doesn't stay damp and get fungus.

That has helped. She still puffs but she doesn't PANIC.

I would try the suggestion of lowering the water temp, too. I've tried all kinds of temps with Ginger and she does get upset if it borders hot.

Thanks, glad to hear mine isn't the only one that gets grumpy. I'll try getting one of those smaller tubs and using a wash cloth too.

trickyspark":tm1z58ry said:

Thanks, glad to hear mine isn't the only one that gets grumpy. I'll try getting one of those smaller tubs and using a wash cloth too.

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It's been about 3 weeks of bathing her in her own tub, in the living room, with the washcloth and when I bathed her last night she actually stopped puffing and acted pretty darned decent. Lizards take a while to adjust to things so you will have to do the same thing every time you bathe for a few times until you can really judge if she is settling in and if it is working for her.

And yes, it really IS nice to hear when someone else has the same problem as you. :mrgreen:

At first mine gets squirmy, but calms down in a minute. But I don't think she'll ever get over the initial "putting her in water" phase. I guess it's just up to the beardie's character (assuming all your conditions are right).

Mine loves bath its a bit cold but hes cool with it. he holds onto my hand while taking a bath. but anyways usually they will get used to it.

Mine was like that at first but as he got older he got used to it and now he loves the bath. How old is year beardie?

Not sure honestly. I bought him at PetSmart, and actually got pretty good advice (most of it matches what I read here to do and not to do) from the girl. She said this dragon was the most well behaved (he was also the largest). I asked how old and she said about 6 months, that'd make him about 9 months now if she was right.

Figment has always loved baths, so he's easy. Fluffy used to HATE taking baths. She did everything you described your little one doing. Puffed up, splashing, trying to crawl up my arm, nearly hyperventilating. As she has gotten older, she has mellowed out. But I, like someone above, now bathe her in a rubbermaid tub in the living room. I use one that is like a double deep shoe box. I test the water on my wrist like a baby and I put enough in so if she stands up her head is easily above the water. She does really great now and doesn't mind bathtime at all. Doesn't exactly run for the tub like Figgy does, but she's pretty darn good.

The other day she was cruising around on my shoulder and I went into the kitchen where I started to fill the sink. She was fussing around a bit, so I took her off my shoulder to set her on the counter for just a minute. I guess she thought I was going to put her into the sink because she totally freaked out. Up my arm and around my neck in the blink of an eye. I have scratch marks to show for it.

So, I would say that where you bathe them makes a huge difference because she obviously remembered the sink.

Mine abhors bath time, he thrashed and wriggled and clawed up my arms etc. He wasn't a happy chappy.

I found that what seemed to work for him was to keep my hand under him, supporting (which doubled as grip and him not actually having to have his feet on the slippery ceramic/plastic) and with the other hand, gently fleck water drops as though he were being misted/having rain and every so often cup some water and pour over him.

By this point I can lower my hand a little bit more, slowly, so he more covered and continue the gentle-rain process.

At least I found that worked for my weirdie beardie

I have 4 male beardies & they all have different reactions. They all get bathes in the kitchen sink, which is made out of steel. Didi likes the tub because he practices jumping out. He'll then settle down to drink some water & if I'm lucky, he'll take a walk around the sink a few times & poop.

Leo likes the kitchen sink (it's a double) so he can poop, then he wants to be in the big tub so he can swim.

Rubio hates the tub, so I only put him in for a bit to give him water. Then he's out of there! He'll never poop in the bath, he waits until he's in his tank, which is covered in newspaper & poops in the same spot each time.

Lonzo is ok, he just stands there & drinks water, from a syringe or from the bath water. I sanitize the sink after each beardie's been in it.

Only Leo likes the big tub, the rest freak in the big tub. They're all adults, Rubio is 3 yrs, Lonzo is 8 1/2 yrs, Didi is 5 yrs & Leo is 4 yrs. And they each react differently in the bath. I give them daily baths so they're well hydrated.

Kera is about 5 months and all she ever does is jump out of her little sterilite tub I put in the sink for her. I am lucky if she will get in for 3 or 4 minutes most days. I was doing baths daily, but she got so stressed out, and her urates were pretty runny, so I started making it every other day. Last week, she only got 2 baths. I was so excited yesterday because she just sat in her water for quite a while. Then she dunked her head under the water and started swimming. She actually did not want out of her water. I was in a hurry since we were leaving for church and had to make her get out. I am hoping we have a repeat today =)