Bathing a BABY Bearded Dragon?

[PumpkinJelly]

Hi. I bought a Bearded Dragon last weekend, and he's been everything I wanted in a pet so far! He's friendly, loves being held, and his favorite foods are crickets, collard greens, mustard greens, and prickly pear! (cactus fruit). Anyway, unfortunately he is not one of the 5 out of every 100 Bearded dragons that know how how to drink water from a still bowl, so I was told to bathe him weekly to keep him hydrated and clean! Could someone tell me how to bathe a BABY? I don't know if there's specific needs for a baby that there isn't for adults when bathing, so any info will be nice!
**Don't give info on bathing in a bathtub, because I want to bathe my baby beardie in a bowl!** THANKS GUYS! <3

 

[Cammy]

Nope, nothing different about bathing a baby except you can obviously do it on a much smaller scale. Simply fill a bowl or container with mildly warm water. The water line should go up to about their "shoulders." You can use a baby soft toothbrush to gently brush off any poo or dirt stains. Move the brush in one motion with the direction of scales, not against them.

Just some tips: There are other ways to make sure your beardie stays hydrated as well. Mist greens before offering. Gently spray the beardie's head with warm water 1-2 times a day.

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Nope, nothing different about bathing a baby except you can obviously do it on a much smaller scale. Simply fill a bowl or container with mildly warm water. The water line should go up to about their "shoulders." You can use a baby soft toothbrush to gently brush off any poo or dirt stains. Move the brush in one motion with the direction of scales, not against them.

Just some tips: There are other ways to make sure your beardie stays hydrated as well. Mist greens before offering. Gently spray the beardie's head with warm water 1-2 times a day.

Thanks! Until he gets used to being bathed I won't come at him with any toothbrushes (he's afraid of a lot of things) :lol: But he doesn't like the spraying of the water on his head. I tried it once and it got in his eyes and it took him a minute to blink it all out. I felt terrible because I know it hurts to have water in your eyes! So I stopped the use of the spray. When I wash his veggies before putting them in the tank they're usually wet, so I figured he's getting water that way too. I usually take a small water dropper and drip one drop on his nose and he licks it right off!

 

[Cammy]

Understand about her being afraid of a lot of things--my boy is a very submissive beardie and is a little wary of new things...mostly strangers. And the dropper thing is great, and serves the same exact purpose as misting. I have yet to meet a beardie who didn't like to be misted, so that's kind of funny that yours doesn't. She could be a primadonna in the making.

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Understand about her being afraid of a lot of things--my boy is a very submissive beardie and is a little wary of new things...mostly strangers. And the dropper thing is great, and serves the same exact purpose as misting. I have yet to meet a beardie who didn't like to be misted, so that's kind of funny that yours doesn't. She could be a primadonna in the making.

I don't think that it's that he doesn't like it, I just don't think that he enjoys it getting in his eyes. How far (in inches) do you hold the bottle away when misting? Maybe I'm holding it too close?

 

[randommonks]

Be sure that if you mist to do it outside his tank. It'll raise the humidity. I personally stopped misting, since I noticed that 10 minutes in the bath every other day was enough for my beardie. He never drank from the bath, but every one of his poops had excess liquid in them, even on days he didn't touch greens. I started bathing Darwin 3 times a week, or when I noticed he started looking dehydrated, now that he's older, but as a baby I sometimes even bathed every day.

If he gets nervous in the water, try putting ur hand in there for him to cling to or putting a washcloth on the bottom so he has more traction. I have been using a spinach tub that came from Sam's club since Darwin was 6" and now he's starting to grow out of it. Keep an eye on them, since babies are spazzes and could trip and drown itself. If your beardie is taking water from a dropper, it might be enough to keep it hydrated. Keep an eye on the urates (the white part of the poop) and make sure it's soft. If it's hard, it might be that your beardie is dehydrated.