Wade the burrower

Hi there! I'm a first time beardie owner and the proud new mama of Wadewin (Wade), the five month old son of a citrus tiger and an Italian leatherback.



His favourite food is dubia roaches, his favourite resting place is the back of my neck with his face stuck in my hair, and he loves being out of his tank and carried around. He had a rough childhood: his tail got bitten off by one of his siblings as a baby, so the poor thing just as a little stump. He also fell ill with his first new family when he was very little and came close to dying, but the breeder took him back and painstakingly nursed him back to health, and now he's big, fat and happy.



Nice to make y'all's acquaintances! I look forward to gleaning lots of wise insight from the minds of my predecessors in beardie-raising!

He looks quite healthy and VERY happy in his new home (in your hair, apparently) =).

Thank you! The burrowing took me by surprise, haha - I'm not sure if he just hates the light in my room or if he's stressed and hiding (although he stays calm and yellow and resists being pulled off) or if he's just cuddly like that. With the breeder, his favourite was lying on her chest, but he only sits on mine for a few minutes before clambering up to my shoulder and into my hair. :shock:

Is it pretty normal for a beardie to dislike mornings? I turn his lights on about 7am, which is just before I leave for work, and he always comes out and turns his beard a little puffy and grey around the edges. It's not full on black or spiky, but I'm not sure if some breeds go black and some stay grey, so it's not clear if he's just being grumpy or if he's mad. Maybe he just hates early mornings as much as I do? :lol: He also won't eat more than a couple of bites of salad at night, but if I give him some in the morning, it's completely gone by the time I get home. I know younger beardies require more proteins than greens, so maybe I shouldn't worry about the aversion too much...?

Both behaviors are pretty normal. They like to climb and be high up so it's common for them to want to be on a shoulder or top of a head or in hair. The morning thing is more up to personality but a lot of them don't like mornings much and take a while to stop being grumpy and wake up/warm up. Nothing to worry about.

Oh, whew! That's reassuring to know - thank you!