Almost 6 weeks and Still no progress, seriously need help.

[JLollino]

So it's been awhile since I've posted but I'm desperate to figure out what to do with my new bearded dragon I got 6 weeks ago. Basic run down is I got my second bearded dragon from a broader in California and I am in Chicago. Ever since I got him he has been timid and hides all the time. His setup is perfect and I even removed most of his furniture in his tank so he can not hide as much so he has a piece of drift wood and a hammock. Right uvb bulb, right temps. When I come near his tank he freezes and if he's not hiding behind his log or on the back wall he lowers himself like he is cowering in fear. I have tried to hold him and handle him as much as I can but he just hangs out and looks at me like he is petrified of me and it seems to make everything worse. When I try to feed him he won't even touch the food when I am near the tank and I have to either leave the room or hide until he eats. If I peak over the couch roughly 15 feet away he'll just freeze up and stop eating. I got to the point where I couldn't wait and try for 15-30 minutes to get him to eat so I leave a dish of Dubai in his tank and not until I leave and get back from work are the Dubai gone. He spends the majority of the day I see him hiding and if I'm watching tv and he can't see me he becomes active. I mean if he sees my head from across the room over the couch he just freezes and stares at me. It has gotten to the point that he barely eats because he's always scared or hiding and I can't just stay out of my front room all day so he can eat. I offer as much food as hell eat but I'm starting to get really worried and honestly losing ideas. He's 16 weeks old and he's only around 35 grams and 10 inches. My other beardie the same age is almost 100 grams and I got her at pets mart. I don't know what to do and I can't have her continue bein so scared of me, I've tried the handling and he just cowers and stares at me and barely moves. I talk to him I slowly put my hand in his tank, I tried feeding him bee pollen from a dropper nothing has worked. Is it possible it's the breed? Is he ever going to grow out of this? His size is not right and it's because he won't eat when I'm around. Help I don't know what to do.

 

[SukiLove]

Is he in a glass tank? Sometimes some of them do better with 3 sides covered. Can he see your other beardie from his tank? It's going to sound odd, but you could also try covering the front of his tank, completely blocking his view, then over a period of time lower it about an inch at a time so he gets to see a little of the room at a time. Have you spoken to the breeder to see if he was handled at all before? It's not healthy for him to be constantly on edge, as seen by his lack of appetite. I would also leave something in there with your scent on it and give him a chance to settle down for a few days.

 

[JLollino]

Is he in a glass tank? Sometimes some of them do better with 3 sides covered. Can he see your other beardie from his tank? It's going to sound odd, but you could also try covering the front of his tank, completely blocking his view, then over a period of time lower it about an inch at a time so he gets to see a little of the room at a time. Have you spoken to the breeder to see if he was handled at all before? It's not healthy for him to be constantly on edge, as seen by his lack of appetite. I would also leave something in there with your scent on it and give him a chance to settle down for a few days.

Thanks for the reply suki, yes he is Ina glass tank and yes I do have his 3 sides covered. His front also has a front cover I set up some basic blinds because they're lights go or at 9:30 and mine don't so he gets no light and no view from when his lights go out and up until around 8 am when I try to feed him before work. I've tried leaving the blinds down longer but still every time I pull them up he's like a deer in head lights. The other beardienis above him so no luckily he can't see him. And yea I talked to the breaded about 2 weeks in when he wasn't getting better and she said ya he was handled for pictures and handled daily. Haha and last but not least I did the same thing with my other Beardie I have a worn tee shirt I cut up and placed in both their tanks and when I put it into his tank after the 2nd week he literally wouldn't leave the side of the tank that didn't ha e the tee shirt. I left it in there for almost 3 weeks and just gave up. Haha I wasn't kidding when I said I tried it all, it's like I don't know what is causing him to be so scared of me. I'm ok with dealing with it because he's my guy but it's affecting his health and diet.

 

[SukiLove]

When you pick him up does he attempt to run from you? It is possible that he is more timid in nature than your other beardie. My boy prefers to roam around and will only hang out when I hold him for a little bit before the adventure bug bites him. My girl is more timid, she's not quite as sure when I hold her. She grasps onto me like she's afraid I'm going to drop her but she will eventually settle down and relax after a while. It's worse for her when I'm moving, she doesn't like that as much. So it's something that I'm working on, I hold her until she's relaxed and then I move a bit, stop and wait for her to relax again. It's like I'm training her to trust that I'm not going to drop her and she doesn't have to be afraid. I would definitely never put him down while he is in the 'petrified' mood, wait until he relaxes before putting him down so he doesn't associate that feeling with getting what he wants - which seems to be being left alone. Can you get someone to take a picture of him when you are holding him so we can see what he looks like?

 

[JLollino]

When you pick him up does he attempt to run from you? It is possible that he is more timid in nature than your other beardie. My boy prefers to roam around and will only hang out when I hold him for a little bit before the adventure bug bites him. My girl is more timid, she's not quite as sure when I hold her. She grasps onto me like she's afraid I'm going to drop her but she will eventually settle down and relax after a while. It's worse for her when I'm moving, she doesn't like that as much. So it's something that I'm working on, I hold her until she's relaxed and then I move a bit, stop and wait for her to relax again. It's like I'm training her to trust that I'm not going to drop her and she doesn't have to be afraid. I would definitely never put him down while he is in the 'petrified' mood, wait until he relaxes before putting him down so he doesn't associate that feeling with getting what he wants - which seems to be being left alone. Can you get someone to take a picture of him when you are holding him so we can see what he looks like?

The initial moment when I get her she'll turn but never runs and when she is with me she hardly runs. She looks around and looks at me and Soemtimes hell get that roaming bug and run around, but it's always like he'll go 3 feet stop and look at me and than go another 3 feet like she's mal my sure I'm not chasing after him.

 

[SukiLove]

He doesn't look stressed in the pictures, and he looks pretty healthy. I just went back and looked at all your other posts to see what his tank looked like. He's is the lower one right? If that's the case he could be actually terrified of you when you approach because you are coming in over head, and probably significantly taller, and that's more of a predator move. I don't know if you would be able to move his tank or find a way to approach him differently - not necessarily crawling, but maybe from the side and crouch down before getting close to him. You could also try putting a hide back in his tank to give him someplace to go that feels safer for him.

 

[JLollino]

He doesn't look stressed in the pictures, and he looks pretty healthy. I just went back and looked at all your other posts to see what his tank looked like. He's is the lower one right? If that's the case he could be actually terrified of you when you approach because you are coming in over head, and probably significantly taller, and that's more of a predator move. I don't know if you would be able to move his tank or find a way to approach him differently - not necessarily crawling, but maybe from the side and crouch down before getting close to him. You could also try putting a hide back in his tank to give him someplace to go that feels safer for him.

First off thank you for putting in the time to read my previous posts thank you so much! And I swear I've been thinking that now for about a week now and thought that might be an issue especially when in with my other Beardie I'm just some towering monster standing in front of him. Ya I'm going to switch their tanks up. They literally have identical setups just different furniture I'll just take them out clean them good and switch the furniture. Thanks so much I'll definitely let you know how this goes when I set it up.

 

[SukiLove]

Hopefully that will work for you. I think eventually you could go back to that kind of setup, but I feel like you may have to make him comfortable first so that he learns you're not too scary after all. I have a similar setup as yours, however I have Soleil on top and my Leo's are on the bottom. Of course they've been around me the longest and they are nocturnal so I don't come in at them like godzilla. :lol:

 

[JLollino]

Hopefully that will work for you. I think eventually you could go back to that kind of setup, but I feel like you may have to make him comfortable first so that he learns you're not too scary after all. I have a similar setup as yours, however I have Soleil on top and my Leo's are on the bottom. Of course they've been around me the longest and they are nocturnal so I don't come in at them like godzilla. :lol:

I mean if all else fails I could just do an army crawl up to his tank maybe throw in a couple summersaults. Haha I think he would lose his mind if he had to deal with that hahahaha

 

[JLollino]

So today I switched them up in their tanks and put him on top and her on the bottom and these are the reactions that I received lol
What am I doing down here?!?! Grumpy Stare down for you

And hm I'm not sure if this is like his victory face or he is just loving the new heat and feels like godzilla on top of the world

So we'll see if this make it better, I also realize I am probably going to have to work with him like I just got him and start slowly and work my way up because of his new view.

 

[SukiLove]

Hopefully that will help him. He's such a cutie!