First time in a long while that I've posted here. I'm so nervous because this is my second bearded dragon and the first go-around didn't go too well and I don't want to hurt my new guy
I bought Oscar from a reptile shop and I think I've been given incorrect information on how to care for him. I'm posting this here because his problem is behavioral but it might be because of me. Simply: he will. not. calm. down.
First off, the specifications!! I *think* he's 4-5 months old. The shop owners only guessed. I have a 20 gallon terrarium that I'm fully planning on upgrading, with a mesh lid. The UV light I have is one of the long ones that stretches most of the length of the cage and is Zilla, 50 UVB. The heating lamp I have is ZooMed, 50w, and is about 6 inches from his basking hammock. The cage is 12 inches tall. I use pellet substrate. His basking spot is usually 108°F, and his cool side is usually 86°F. Humidity hovers between 28-32%.
I give him small gut-loaded (I think is the word?) crickets at night that I buy at pet smart. He eats collard greens and mustard greens in the morning when I get home from work.
Every single time it is a battle to even get him to stop running from me. It takes a good 10 minutes to catch him in this tiny cage, putting up with his lil beard poofing, his gaping (is that right?), and his hissing. I finally catch him and it's like he thinks I'm going to eat him because he just goes limp! I can't feed him from my hand because we'll both just be staring at each other for 30 minutes while my back almost breaks from being hunched over for too long. Or he runs. Or hisses.
Everyone I talk to just tells me to interact with him more, but the thing is: I do! I pet him. I talk to him. I feed him food from the tongs. I've picked him up (forcefully [but not like ROUGH!! I mean just harassing him, trying to pick him up], which breaks my heart every time) and held him, I've given him warm baths, etc.
I was told it would get better but it's going on a month and a half now. Lil Oscar needs to eat! our crickets are in the garage so I usually transport him there in a plastic tub (on a towel because he *does not* tolerate me holding him very long) and let him catch the crickets I let loose in the tub (like 3/4 at a time). Lately he's been biting me when I try to scoop him up so I can do nothing but give him greens. I do calcium supplements twice a week, and multivitamins once/twice a week. Never on the same day.
I'm at a loss. I was told all of this was okay — in fact I was advised to to do this. I don't know what I'm doing wrong and I'm nervous to call the reptile shop in fear they'll say there's nothing wrong. He poops once a day/every other day. He eats so much that *I* cut him off because I'm so scared of impaction. Like 20+ in one sitting. Is there *truly* nothing wrong here or am I somehow killing my lizard? He's such an inquisitive little guy, very watchful and cautious, but my god he is a grouch! Hence the name I tried picking him up to take him to my garage right now but he snapped at me. At this point I'm considering just tong-feeding him crickets but I really don't want to bring bugs in my house. I want a buddy, not a brat
If you read this then I'm sorry for the word-vomit. But any feedback would be HIGHLY appreciated!!! Thank you!!
I bought Oscar from a reptile shop and I think I've been given incorrect information on how to care for him. I'm posting this here because his problem is behavioral but it might be because of me. Simply: he will. not. calm. down.
First off, the specifications!! I *think* he's 4-5 months old. The shop owners only guessed. I have a 20 gallon terrarium that I'm fully planning on upgrading, with a mesh lid. The UV light I have is one of the long ones that stretches most of the length of the cage and is Zilla, 50 UVB. The heating lamp I have is ZooMed, 50w, and is about 6 inches from his basking hammock. The cage is 12 inches tall. I use pellet substrate. His basking spot is usually 108°F, and his cool side is usually 86°F. Humidity hovers between 28-32%.
I give him small gut-loaded (I think is the word?) crickets at night that I buy at pet smart. He eats collard greens and mustard greens in the morning when I get home from work.
Every single time it is a battle to even get him to stop running from me. It takes a good 10 minutes to catch him in this tiny cage, putting up with his lil beard poofing, his gaping (is that right?), and his hissing. I finally catch him and it's like he thinks I'm going to eat him because he just goes limp! I can't feed him from my hand because we'll both just be staring at each other for 30 minutes while my back almost breaks from being hunched over for too long. Or he runs. Or hisses.
Everyone I talk to just tells me to interact with him more, but the thing is: I do! I pet him. I talk to him. I feed him food from the tongs. I've picked him up (forcefully [but not like ROUGH!! I mean just harassing him, trying to pick him up], which breaks my heart every time) and held him, I've given him warm baths, etc.
I was told it would get better but it's going on a month and a half now. Lil Oscar needs to eat! our crickets are in the garage so I usually transport him there in a plastic tub (on a towel because he *does not* tolerate me holding him very long) and let him catch the crickets I let loose in the tub (like 3/4 at a time). Lately he's been biting me when I try to scoop him up so I can do nothing but give him greens. I do calcium supplements twice a week, and multivitamins once/twice a week. Never on the same day.
I'm at a loss. I was told all of this was okay — in fact I was advised to to do this. I don't know what I'm doing wrong and I'm nervous to call the reptile shop in fear they'll say there's nothing wrong. He poops once a day/every other day. He eats so much that *I* cut him off because I'm so scared of impaction. Like 20+ in one sitting. Is there *truly* nothing wrong here or am I somehow killing my lizard? He's such an inquisitive little guy, very watchful and cautious, but my god he is a grouch! Hence the name I tried picking him up to take him to my garage right now but he snapped at me. At this point I'm considering just tong-feeding him crickets but I really don't want to bring bugs in my house. I want a buddy, not a brat
If you read this then I'm sorry for the word-vomit. But any feedback would be HIGHLY appreciated!!! Thank you!!