Tealebeardie
Member
Hello
I have a 3 month old bearded dragon (Kiwi) that me and my girlfriend bought from petsmart in February.
For the first month having her, kiwi was always very skittish but never turned black or any defensive signs. She had an entire diet of crickets and mealworms because she never ate fruits or vegetables. She only started eating vegetables and fruits in the past week. She poops usually once or twice a day and eats well but not as much as I’d expect. 1 month into having her, (past 2 weeks) we started trying to handle her by scooping her up and holding her and petting her until she was calm then putting her back in her tank after feeding her some food.
For the first week, whenever we tried to scoop her she would run away or lunge at a finger and bite it. She wouldn’t turn black but just puffs her beard and opens her mouth wide.
Recently due to the coronavirus lockdown in Maryland, we had to relocate Kiwi.
Kiwi has been at her new location for 7 days now.
I feed her as many medium mealworms, sprinkled with calcium powder, as she can eat (less than 10) 2 times a day 5 days a week, and a mixture of veggies 2 days a week.
When I feed her, I scoop her out of her tank (20 gal.) using my pointer finger to get under her chin, and I feed her out of my hand and let her run around on my desk for anywhere from 15min-1hour depending on how energetic she seems.
When I first slowly reach into her tank to scoop her up, she usually backs away and sometimes opens her mouth and hisses. She still likes to bite my finger sometimes, but I don’t flinch so she usually relaxes after.
I feed her out of my hand usually and pet her with my thumb. Sometimes she will just lie in my hand until I slowly slide her off so that she can run around. Other times she gets very squirmy and she jumps out of my hand but lands safely on my desk.
Recently for the past 3 days she has looked very dark (with stress marks?? ) almost all day. Also the end of her tail turns black. Sometimes the stress marks go away when I hold her and feed her, but usually they stay the same.
This is unusual to me because last week she would bite without even turning black. Now she seems more calm but looks very dark. When she puffs out her beard, it’s like a patchy black beard. She also hisses louder now.
She doesn’t seem to bask much on the hammock I got her which gives her a perfect spot under the heat lamp. She usually just lays on the floor or on her rock or hiding below inside the rock. She doesn’t seem cold but she also doesn’t take advantage of the best basking spot.
I’m not sure what to think of it because she doesn’t look stressed out. She is calm in her tank but sometimes glass surfs. Her temperature is around 105-115 on the hot side and 85-95 on the cold side. I turn the lights off (50w heat lamp and UVB light) at night but it stays around 75 all night (10pm-9am).
Any advice would be great. I will add pictures and respond to any more questions.
I have a 3 month old bearded dragon (Kiwi) that me and my girlfriend bought from petsmart in February.
For the first month having her, kiwi was always very skittish but never turned black or any defensive signs. She had an entire diet of crickets and mealworms because she never ate fruits or vegetables. She only started eating vegetables and fruits in the past week. She poops usually once or twice a day and eats well but not as much as I’d expect. 1 month into having her, (past 2 weeks) we started trying to handle her by scooping her up and holding her and petting her until she was calm then putting her back in her tank after feeding her some food.
For the first week, whenever we tried to scoop her she would run away or lunge at a finger and bite it. She wouldn’t turn black but just puffs her beard and opens her mouth wide.
Recently due to the coronavirus lockdown in Maryland, we had to relocate Kiwi.
Kiwi has been at her new location for 7 days now.
I feed her as many medium mealworms, sprinkled with calcium powder, as she can eat (less than 10) 2 times a day 5 days a week, and a mixture of veggies 2 days a week.
When I feed her, I scoop her out of her tank (20 gal.) using my pointer finger to get under her chin, and I feed her out of my hand and let her run around on my desk for anywhere from 15min-1hour depending on how energetic she seems.
When I first slowly reach into her tank to scoop her up, she usually backs away and sometimes opens her mouth and hisses. She still likes to bite my finger sometimes, but I don’t flinch so she usually relaxes after.
I feed her out of my hand usually and pet her with my thumb. Sometimes she will just lie in my hand until I slowly slide her off so that she can run around. Other times she gets very squirmy and she jumps out of my hand but lands safely on my desk.
Recently for the past 3 days she has looked very dark (with stress marks?? ) almost all day. Also the end of her tail turns black. Sometimes the stress marks go away when I hold her and feed her, but usually they stay the same.
This is unusual to me because last week she would bite without even turning black. Now she seems more calm but looks very dark. When she puffs out her beard, it’s like a patchy black beard. She also hisses louder now.
She doesn’t seem to bask much on the hammock I got her which gives her a perfect spot under the heat lamp. She usually just lays on the floor or on her rock or hiding below inside the rock. She doesn’t seem cold but she also doesn’t take advantage of the best basking spot.
I’m not sure what to think of it because she doesn’t look stressed out. She is calm in her tank but sometimes glass surfs. Her temperature is around 105-115 on the hot side and 85-95 on the cold side. I turn the lights off (50w heat lamp and UVB light) at night but it stays around 75 all night (10pm-9am).
Any advice would be great. I will add pictures and respond to any more questions.