New juvenile acting slow?

So I recently adopted a new Juvenile Dragon (not sure the age) who is about 7-8 inches long. I understand that new beardies will go through a relocation stress phase where sometimes they will not eat, hide a lot, run away, etc. The first day I picked the little guy up, he ate like crazy. Maybe ate about 40 crickets? The next few days he was only eating a few crickets each feeding time, but would eat both times I fed him throughout the day.


I just fed him about 20 minutes ago and he originally sprinted towards his feeding tank and looked like he really wanted crickets. When I put him in the tank, he ran after maybe three of the crickets and would just sit there. He doesn't look seem lethargic, but his head movements and coordination isn't the greatest. Regardless, he ate about 30-35 crickets in that one sitting. Could his slowed movements be a symptom of relocation stress? He still eats and still ventures around his tank. But, he does seem really scared (which I expected) and kind of slow. Any ideas? I don't have any exotic vets that live in my area anymore. The last vet was fired for animal abuse or something crazy like that.

He sounds like he's doing OK. Are you offering the crickets all at once or just a few at a time? It may be easier for both of you to track them if you offer just a few at a time. If you are still concerned about his movement/speed can you please take a video? You can upload video to a host like vimeo or youtube and then post a link to the video here. I'll be glad to take a look and let you know what I think. It sounds like he's eating well though, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Reptilelady":3nygj2zx said:

He seems fine. My beardie was acting that way too when i first got him. In fact he wanted to eat a bunch of food since the petstore was underfeeding plus being in a cage with other beardies. Some will dominate the other beardies and so some will get left out for food. Its completely normal for them to do that since hes like wow all this food for me.. probably just had a huge buffet. Then the next day is more for digesting all of it. I was worried too but it was just a combination of relocation stress and then actually having food to himself. Pretty much got excited

Also, I offer my beardie several at a time, dump some in his bowl/terrarium and then if he wants more ill give him some more. So far no issues.

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First off, I wish I knew how to change the font of my words like you did lol. And yeah I'm sure he/she is still just trying to adjust. I'll give it another week and hopefully his speed starts coming back. Thanks for your input!

CooperDragon":2g4b5wld said:

He sounds like he's doing OK. Are you offering the crickets all at once or just a few at a time? It may be easier for both of you to track them if you offer just a few at a time. If you are still concerned about his movement/speed can you please take a video? You can upload video to a host like vimeo or youtube and then post a link to the video here. I'll be glad to take a look and let you know what I think. It sounds like he's eating well though, so I wouldn't worry too much.

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I feed him in a separate feeding tank (20 gallon) so the crickets don't try to hide in his basking log. I usually like to throw in about 10 at a time and will continue to do so until he starts leaving some behind. I'm sure he's still trying to get used to me as well as his new home. Just thought I'd ask to see what others have to say. He's very colorful and has a very unique pattern. So hopefully he starts to quicken up.