Playing/Bonding with 2-3 month old Beardie

Hi there!

I have a 2.5 month old beardie (Clyde) that I've had for almost 3 weeks. After a day or two I read that I shouldn't handle him for the first week, then I gave him maybe 8 days to settle in before starting to pet his head, and a few days later starting to pick him up. I've taken him out of his cage a couple of times to bathe him (he was starting to shed and lost some appetite, so I thought a bath every-other day could help, and it did!). I read or watch a movie in front of his terrarium sometimes too. I get worried about stressing him out too much but I don't want to be so timid that he never gets used to people. So I went to get him for some bonding time this afternoon and I placed him on my bed. He was very chill and licked a couple of times at first but soon he started running around all over the place and almost fell off the bed! I had to catch him while being very delicate because he is so small. It really worried me because he could easily get lost if he found a way under my bed. I don't know how to have bonding time while keeping him safe from hiding in clutter (I can't clean it up, almost all may storage is under my bed) or jumping/falling too far.

Is he too little to have time out of his cage? I don't want him to be under-stimulated, but I am also worried about all the things that could go wrong if he runs away because he is so small still! I also have not been able to find any advice about this online.

It really varies between them based on their personality. It sounds like he is curious and is OK with handling which is good. You do have to be very careful when he is on the bed because the little guys tend to leap before they look and can hurt themselves. You'd want to block off the bed completely if you don't want him going under there. Also pick up any little bits on the floor that he could ingest. If you can create a safe area for him to explore, go for it. But if there are areas he could get stuck in or harmed then I'd wait until he's bigger and focus on interacting with him inside the enclosure and hand feeding him treats like black soldier fly larvae etc.

CooperDragon":3m7e3yzr said:

It really varies between them based on their personality. It sounds like he is curious and is OK with handling which is good. You do have to be very careful when he is on the bed because the little guys tend to leap before they look and can hurt themselves. You'd want to block off the bed completely if you don't want him going under there. Also pick up any little bits on the floor that he could ingest. If you can create a safe area for him to explore, go for it. But if there are areas he could get stuck in or harmed then I'd wait until he's bigger and focus on interacting with him inside the enclosure and hand feeding him treats like black soldier fly larvae etc.

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Thanks, I think I'll try to beardie-proof my bathroom for now for bonding/exploring time

My approach with hatchings that young when I bring them home is to establish a bonding / taming ritual that involves
giving the first 2 or 3 live bugs by hand at start of each feeding season
gently petting and quietly talking to the hatchling in the process '
…. this establishes me ( my hand and chest /tummy ) as a safe place and
…. establishes me as the food provider.

The hatchling then goes back into the rearing tub a get the rest of it's live insects ( a couple at time til the hatchling looses interest = is full ).

Each bonding sessions starts out maybe 5 min , 2x or 3x per day , and I slowling increase the contact time over a period of weeks.

Been my experience that baby /juvenile skinks are more into "play" and seem to really enjoy the interaction once they decide you are not a danger and start taming up,.