My new baby beardy won’t come out

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kayroy824

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So I recently just purchased a baby male bearded dragon 3 days ago , and received him ( had him in his new home ) for 2 full days now. The first day he was very skeptical of everything and just sort of adventured around his new tank cautiously and just watched everything that happened around our home. At night I shut his lights off and said goodnight and he went in his hide box right in his little bed. Fast forward to this morning, I turned on his lights and seen he was still hiding in his hide box. I figured he’s just jittery with the new place, the shipping etc. Well he’s been in the hide box for about 98% of the day. Besides coming out once for 2 mins to poop (normal looking poop btw) and to drink some water and as soon as he spotted a human he ran right back in his hide. But I also took that opportunity to get some food in him and he ate 2 calcium worms. Idk what to do because he obviously needs to come out to catch some UVB rays but I also don’t want to force him and have him hate me. I want to coax him out and not be so scared. I am nervous that maybe my tank is too big for him and maybe he feels more safe in something smaller since he is so small. I am unsure what to do, but I know if he doesn’t come out for some UVB he will get sick. Do I just take the hide box out ? But I don’t want to over stress him and have him feel unsafe doing that. Please help. My temps are right, 105-108 in basking, then a gradient to the cool side which is 81. I have him alone with no other dragons in a 40 gallon breeder tank, on Astro turf substrate. Also he did eat more, I dropped about 6 small crickets in and as they slowly went in the hide box I could hear him gobble them up. I don’t want to keep doing that since I want him to come out of there and don’t want to think it’s okay to stay in there.. but he obv needs to eat. Please help mehhh!
 

CooperDragon

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It sounds like you have his temps set up properly. It's a good sign that he is eating a bit. I would still give him more time to settle in (this could take weeks). Since he is eating and pooping he is probably OK and just feels secure in the hide. He will come out and bask if he needs to (they don't constantly need high temps and UVB exposure). I would leave his hide and let him be. You could stay by his enclosure and speak to him a bit. That may help him get used to a gentile presence and if you keep offering him treats like the worms it may help to build a bond over time. It sounds like he's OK so be patient =)
 

kayroy824

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":1ivmuyj1 said:
It sounds like you have his temps set up properly. It's a good sign that he is eating a bit. I would still give him more time to settle in (this could take weeks). Since he is eating and pooping he is probably OK and just feels secure in the hide. He will come out and bask if he needs to (they don't constantly need high temps and UVB exposure). I would leave his hide and let him be. You could stay by his enclosure and speak to him a bit. That may help him get used to a gentile presence and if you keep offering him treats like the worms it may help to build a bond over time. It sounds like he's OK so be patient =)


Thank you for taking time to respond, unfortunately I acted before I could read your posting. So I made a mistake and this morning. So I put his lights on at 7:30 am checked in him and let him be . At about 1030 am I went to check on him to make sure he was okay , see if he pooped and to drop in some breakfast bugs . So I dropped 1 Dubia and 1 cricket... no eating noise... I thought maybe he didn’t see it and I dropped another (I do it one by one to ensure he’s eating and it isn’t a bug take over in his tank since they could hurt him if he doesn’t eat them) and still no eating or movement of any kind. So I peeked in the hide and he was laying in the same exact spot that he was in since last night when I turned his lights out . So that would almost 11 hours in the same exact spot and position. I got really scared and watched a little cricket legit smell him and climb on his head and sit there a minute and my beardy still didn’t flinch or move at all. I stared at his chest/belly for 13 mins since I heard they can play dead and hold their breath for 10 mins. The way he was laying he looked lifeless and he had zero movement, no breathing , no eye movement nothing. it scared the living crap out of me, I gently picked up the hide box and removed it from the tank to better see him & to make sure he was okay and he didn’t move at all. I started talking to him and inched the UVB strip light so it was more directly over him and he perked right up almost instantly and started eating his crickets. I have another hide which is a large half log so he isn’t hideless, the one he was in was like a little wooden enclosed house with just an opening for the door and I put his bed in there and a ramp so he could climb the top and stuff but it took up A lot of room. Should I put it back in or just let everything be? I know I shouldn’t have removed it but I can’t even describe the feeling of thinking he was gone, and I just immediately reacted. He still has his XL size half log to hide in if he wants, but since I removed the big wooden house hide, he’s actually been more alert. His Tail is up, on all 4 legs alert & exploring his new home and not even showing any stress marks. Maybe he was just exhausted from the trip from Florida to Cali in one night. I am aware I shouldn’t have done that but there’s no going back now and I admit my faults. I am fairly new to beardys, I have always wanted one for years but wanted to ensure I did all my research on them first, and made sure to get one from a reputable breeder not certain pet shops. I have other repti babies ( Russian tortoise, veiled chameleon) none have given me a scare like that though. Any advice is welcome!
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
It's a relief to hear that he woke up and started eating! He is probably just still tired from the trip and was sleeping as you said. When they sleep, they don't breathe very much or very heavily - that is normal. It's OK that you took the hide out to check on him. Probably a good thing in the end. He will be fine and won't hold a grudge. Since he has a half log, leave it like that for now and see how it goes. He can hide under that if he wants to. You can play around with different arrangements over time and see what he likes best.
 

fcooper

Hatchling Member
It will take him time to get adjusted to his new home. Keep his lighting schedule consistent by using a timer with lights on for 12-14 hours per day. No need to turn them off at other times even if he looks tired.
 

loljelloclowdz

Juvie Member
It’s actually not good at all to have a hide for a brand new bearded dragon because of this. They will actually starve themselves to death by hiding all the time. I “threw Mari into the fire” when I first got her by handling her a lot and not having anywhere for her to hide. I added hides as she got older but she’s very social with people and she is very fearless and active. She tried to wriggle out of my hands at first, but I held her firmly so she knew she wasn’t in any danger and she very quickly learned I’m not scary. She chilled on my head (I would lie down on the floor so she couldn’t jump too far) and now she’s almost a year old and she feels confident in my entire bedroom.
 
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