Hi, I picked up my first bearded dragon 2 days ago.. He has now spent 1 full day here and slept here 2 nights. The problem i have with him is that at the breeders he was lively, interacted with the other beardies and he was realy easy to pick up.. He didnt run away.. Now that i have him at home all he did yesterday was stand at the window in the warm end of the viv looking out. He did that literally all the time i was here but when i went out he moved from the window and explored (i know this because he et some of his greens and did a poo!) Everytime I put my hand in the viv he runs to the opposite end. I havent chased him because i dont want to cause him any stress so i havent held him at home yet.. All i would like to know realy is whether this is normal behaviour or have i done something to stress him out? Maybe because his viv is so close to the sofa where i sit, he feels like he has to be at the window watching me as a form of defence? Also, is there anything i can do to get him to realise that i am not a preditor or to make him less stressed and more used to his new environment? And would you reccomend i leave him for a couple of days only going to his viv to feed/clean/water him? Four or five time yesterday i sat with my hand inside his viv for 2 or 3 mins at a time because i read that was the right thing to do.. I'm not sure tho because he didnt move and just stayed in the opposite end of the viv watching me. I would be realy greatful for some advice on this! My breader was licensed and they did say i can go back to them with any questions i have but i feel a bit daft going back to them with this because i'm hoping it is something that is nothing but i wanted to get a second opinion and some advice from someone who knows more than me!
I have a 4ft viv set up to 41-43C on his basking spot (a rock under the lamp), 34-36C in the warm end and 25-27C in the cool end (all measured digitaly). It is located in my living room about 50-60cm off the floor and parralell with the sofa (about 1.5mtrs away), although the way it is positioned the sofa is only infront of the cool half of the viv (is this why he stays in the warm end?).. The warm half has a window infront of it about 2.5mtrs away and the window has a sheet over it in order to keep the viv cool and allow me more control over the temperatures inside.. I also have a UV tube in the viv which i have lowered to 10inch on the reccomendation of the breeder i bought him off.
I was told that he has leafy greens in the morning and then crickets in the afternoon. As i picked him up at night he had already been fed for that day so yesterday was the first time i had to feed him. He didnt seem to want to eat any greens so i picked some up and kind of rolled it between my fingers infront of him at a distance of maybe 2 inches to see if i could temp him with it.. This worked and he ate a chopped up leaf from my hand.. The second time i went to try this he kind of lay flat on the floor of the viv so i put the leaf back in his dish and i went out. (although today i tried this and he just ran away). When i came back a couple of hours later he was actualy eating some of the leaves from him dish and it did look like he'd had quiet a feast on them as quiet a bit of them had gone.. I then fed him crickets which he was all over as soon as i put them in (i was putting 2 in at a time, he ate about 10 size 3 crickets). I gave him more crickets in the evening about 2 hours before i turned his lights off and he ate maybe 5 or 6 of them and just before i turned his lights off i checked his viv for more crickets just to be sure there was none left in with him over night.
Thanks
Wes
I have a 4ft viv set up to 41-43C on his basking spot (a rock under the lamp), 34-36C in the warm end and 25-27C in the cool end (all measured digitaly). It is located in my living room about 50-60cm off the floor and parralell with the sofa (about 1.5mtrs away), although the way it is positioned the sofa is only infront of the cool half of the viv (is this why he stays in the warm end?).. The warm half has a window infront of it about 2.5mtrs away and the window has a sheet over it in order to keep the viv cool and allow me more control over the temperatures inside.. I also have a UV tube in the viv which i have lowered to 10inch on the reccomendation of the breeder i bought him off.
I was told that he has leafy greens in the morning and then crickets in the afternoon. As i picked him up at night he had already been fed for that day so yesterday was the first time i had to feed him. He didnt seem to want to eat any greens so i picked some up and kind of rolled it between my fingers infront of him at a distance of maybe 2 inches to see if i could temp him with it.. This worked and he ate a chopped up leaf from my hand.. The second time i went to try this he kind of lay flat on the floor of the viv so i put the leaf back in his dish and i went out. (although today i tried this and he just ran away). When i came back a couple of hours later he was actualy eating some of the leaves from him dish and it did look like he'd had quiet a feast on them as quiet a bit of them had gone.. I then fed him crickets which he was all over as soon as i put them in (i was putting 2 in at a time, he ate about 10 size 3 crickets). I gave him more crickets in the evening about 2 hours before i turned his lights off and he ate maybe 5 or 6 of them and just before i turned his lights off i checked his viv for more crickets just to be sure there was none left in with him over night.
Thanks
Wes
