My 5mo female beardie hates me...

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otternarcher

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Long time reader first time poster here...
Archer is my 5 month old Rankins. I got her when she was about 2 months old, I did tons of reading and research before I got her (she is my first reptile) and I made sure everything about her setup was perfect. I had worked at a pet shop for a few months prior, so I had so more offhand knowledge about reptiles.

The first month or so I got her, she was super happy and curious. I couldn't get her to stop chasing her reflection, she figured out she loves wax worms and crickets, and she really liked hanging out on my shoulder and climbing on my arms. She even had a checkup back in May because she ate too many worms and threw them up (I was just an overly worrisome beardie mom.) She turned out to be perfectly healthy, just ate too much. Everyone there couldn't get over how tiny and adorable she was. She weighed exactly 1oz.

Archer is bigger now, and has a bigger attitude too. I'll admit, I've been working full time and I'm the only one that takes care of her, so she hasn't been getting as much attention as when I got her. But she gets fed and handled every day and vitamins and baths and proper lighting and whatnot. Lately, she'll only tolerate me if I'm feeding her. I made the mistake of only feeding her her worms with red tongs, so she goes nuts when she sees the tongs (not even the worms, she tries to chew the tongs.) If I take the top of her terrarium off to give her her salad, she'll pretty much leap from wherever she is to the salad and eat most of it in one sitting, but not when I'm around. She'll watch me until I leave the room, then eat (unless she's hungry enough that she doesn't care.) Then if I'm in the room with her (like right now) she'll just get into a position where she can watch me and puff her beard out.

So, not gonna lie, it just makes me really sad that I can't really handle her like I used to. It seems like she doesn't trust me, or she's unhappy. Could somebody give me a little guidance on a beardie with an attitude? Am I not spending enough time with her or could it be her age? :( :?
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
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I don't know for sure what's up, but my guess is that it's her age and she's just going through a phase. They tend to go through really active/aggressive phases at some point (it varies between dragons when and for how long). In most cases I advise giving them room to run around and explore if they are restless. That helps burn off some steam. Otherwise there isn't much to do except try to wait her out. It sounds like you take good care of her and she should return to her calm usual self after a while.
 
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Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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