5 weeks today. When can he come out?

[KristineM]

Our baby beardie is 5 weeks today. He only comes out for his bath and is handled usually inside of his enclosure and only by my husband. At what age would it be appropriate to start handling him more and/or allowing him to come out of his home?

I promise I searched first but info on beardies this young isn't easy to find so far.

Advice and suggestions are always appreciated!!

 

[jloucks]

Hmm,, not sure if this is the 'community accepted answer' but I handle them almost immediately and have never had any issues. In fact, it seems like it makes for some really well adjusted lizards. (eat out of hands anywhere, likes everybody, not timid, etc.)

Wash your hands first of course and be conscious of other hazards.

Baby dragons are also said to be 'extra fragile' until they are six weeks old, so be mindful of that. So, adults might could handle, but little kids I would say no.

That is one reason folks wait until they are 6-8 weeks old to sell.

Sidenote: I would not let my kids handle Oreo (our kingsnake) until he was 3 years old, lol. Yea, kids make me nervous.

 

[randommonks]

If you feel comfortable handling him right away, go for it. I would allow, though, at least a couple of days of just leaving him alone in his new tank if you just got him. If he's already settled in, then he should be fine.

I wouldn't take him out for very long, maybe 5-10 minutes at a time because young beardies are incredibly flighty. I can't tell you the number of time Darwin jumped out of my hands and flew across the room. The first time he did it, I was standing and he fell about 3 feet off the ground onto carpet. He was fine and you'll find that young beardies are incredibly resilient but I made sure to be sitting down whenever I handled him in the future.

The best time I found to take him out was about 20 minutes after I turned his lights out. He was just sleepy enough that he wouldn't fight me when I took him out and would then fall asleep in my palm. As he grew, he moved to my shoulder and eventually my lap.

 

[Heather85]

my babies are about 2 1/2 months and I have had them for a lil over a month and handled them 2 days after I got them and have everyday since

 

[KristineM]

We've had him since he was 2 weeks old. The "breeder" wasn't exactly experienced when it came to breeding or even owning such a baby. He certainly knows us and recognizes us enough to come to our hands when we're switching food and such. He's just SO fast! My husband is far more confident than I am so he will hold him in his hands. My kids are 9 and 4. They never handle him. They have stroked his head and chin but that's it.

Thank you for the advice!!!

 

[jacody]

I agree w/ starting out in small increments and when you're comfortable having your kids sit on the floor and placing the baby on their laps.. they'll be so excited to "hold him" (I know because I have 2 little boys that love their dragon) .. even keeping your hands nearby so you all feel at ease.. I always started in a small space and after knowing their "track patterns" and how they act out and about increasing the space and freedom of your pet..

 

[KristineM]

8 weeks now and we started with my 9 year old Hailey!

Daddy was close "just in case" haha!

Batman took to Hailey right away

Hailey's patience certainly helped.

I'm so proud of both of them!! Thanks for the encouragement!!

 

[jacody]

Glad your kids are getting comfortable with your beardie.. you should make it into a routine, mine likes to sit in " his" Spongebob chair in the sunny spot in the kids room while they play.. have fun with your baby.. BTW he looks big for 8 weeks, how long is he?

 

[jacody]

P.S. they are more "sturdier" than they look.. keep low to the ground until you're completely comfortable

 

[KristineM]

He's a monster. He's already hit 9 inches and that was last week! We are positive of his hatch date and everything We were sure to be close to the ground and had cushions everywhere! Haha! I'm more nervous of him getting hurt...he has started to jump from his log and his tree in his viv, so it worries me I was really proud of my daughter. I was sort of thinking she might flinch a little but she was so gentle and patient with him. Oh...and he was SO curious. He wanted to roam free so badly.

Just not ready for that yet! I expect him to be huge. He has had 4 full sheds in 6 weeks and as you can see from those pics his tail finished and now the rest of his body is grey again! We can't keep up!!

 

[Bailey91990]

Your def able to handle it now. Pretty much only time I ever heard you shouldnt handle a beardy that much is when you first buy one & put them in a new enclosure. Then you want to wait about 3days for they get settled it. Im sorry I quickly skimmed through the post but Im not sure if you bought it or you hatched it, but if you bought it, you can still hold it because the breeder most likely had to hold it at some points, but it might be stressed, so if thats case just keep it in its tank for 2 3days, you can take it out for like 5minutes a few times a day but no longer then that, after the 3days then your fine do as you please

 

[Bailey91990]

SOrry just read that you owned it for 2weeks. Then your fine, you can handle it quite often, just as everyone said be careful cuz when there young they think there dragons with wings ahaha. What I do with my 7week old is hold him near our couch or bed for if he takes a leap he will land on something soft, but mine doesnt jump much. If you do take him out you can take him out for like 20minutes at a time or till it seems cold they put it back in for it can warm up. Your get a hang to it at first I was nervous I even wore a glove incase it bit me ahaha. Your be okay just watch your kids till they understand what to do.

 

[jacody]

My 10-year-old son handles Crixus on his own.. we've had beardies for a couple of years and the one thing I always stress and they do understand and abide by is that they're always fully supporting all 4 of his limbs and body weight with their hands so he feels anchored.. i just plop Crixus onto their shirts and he's pretty content to just "stick" there for awhile..

 

[KristineM]

I should have been more clear, haha! We have OWNED him for 6 weeks and he is 8 weeks now I am mostly nervous about my kids handling him. Like you said...he totally thinks he can fly!! He loves coming out, though!

 

[NikOverton]

I know what you mean,i'm slowly letting Perseus out to explore his surrounding but hes scaring me to death because he jumps everywhere and runs so fast, he was running on the bed today and nearly gave me a heart attack because i didnt want him to fall off