New baby bearded dragon

Hey so I'm a new owner and I have a baby name Phoenix!! She is my fav and im so excited ti jave her but she doesnt like to be in her cage...she like to be held and will sleep in my hand..she is not showing any darkness under her bearded but she hasn't moved from the spot where I placed her..I just got her 24hrs ago am I over reacting or should I be worried. I just got done holding her and she ate a cricket yesterday. Please help I have been doing research but her personality is so different then the norm lol

Welcome to the forum! It's exciting to hear you have a new buddy. It can take them some time to settle in so be patient with her. It's common for them to be curious so they like to roam around and explore. That's OK as long as she is well supervised and away from any other animals.

If you provide details about your setup we'll be glad to go through and make sure everything is just right for her. You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them using the XIMG button when you reply.

Here are a few of the images of her! She hasnt really eaten much and I need to get a new light cause the humidity is right but the temp is only 85 my light should be here tomorrow!! I got a halagen bulb.. Is that OK? I really new and I want her to be OK.
Thanks so much for answering my post.you are now my second fav person ever !!

That looks really nice. A few adjustments to the lighting may be helpful though. I wouldn't trust that dial thermometer. A better bet would be to use a couple of probe thermometers - one for the basking surface and one for the cool side - like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/ or an IR temp gun like this https://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK

A halogen basking light is good. I use one and it works well. Just need to be sure to have appropriate wattage which takes some trial and error at first.

Which UVB light do you have? How many watts? You may need to upgrade that to provide adequate UVB exposure. For now, I suggest moving it right next to the basking light so there is the most heat and most UVB mixed together over the basking area. That better replicates natural sunlight which is what we're shooting for. It's OK to have cooler areas and areas with less UVB. That lets them move around and self regulate which is what they're good at. The more options the better =)

OK got it! Also she has a hard time catching crickets and so I'm picking up tongs today.. The light should be in soon. And if Im reading right. You said I need to have more items in her tank or just taller ones ?

The tongs may help. I've also found that offering them in small batches just a few at a time makes them easier to track and catch. Sometimes if you put them in the fridge for a few minutes the cooler temps will slow the crickets down too.

By options I meant heat and light options more than furniture. You don't need to add more to the tank if you don't want to except maybe some kind of hide/cave. A small habba hut may work well. I'd also be careful using that kind of hammock. The holes can catch their nails and cause twists and sprains. Might be better to use a fleece hammock in the long run.

Mzhoward936":12qoa90b said:

OK got it! Also she has a hard time catching crickets and so I'm picking up tongs today.. The light should be in soon. And if Im reading right. You said I need to have more items in her tank or just taller ones ?

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One thing I used to do was get a small plastic bowl and slightly tilt it so they get close to the edge and Scarlett would grab them..