constant stress marks / blackbearding

[sheri85]

so i'm fostering a female beardie for a couple of months (unless the original owner decides she's better off with me--who knows). i only got her yesterday but i've already noticed a huge difference between her and my happy healthy male.

first off, she's quite jumpy and twitchy. every time i initialize petting, she jumps. makes me wonder if her previous owner (not the guy i'm fostering for but the one he got her from) abused her. she seems anxious all the time. when she first arrived she was light, but that may have been from the cold. since her arrival she's been very dark. her belly is stress marked and she blackbeards almost constantly. even now as she's sleeping on me (i'm trying to get her used to being handled) she's very dark. as i was settling her in for cuddling, i pet her between her eyes which scared her and she bit my finger. her lighting is fine--i made sure of that when she was dropped off or else i would have gone right to the pet store, but she is on sand (i intend to replace that with a shelf liner as soon as i'm able).

i was just wondering if anyone else had any experience rehabilitating frightened and anxious beardies. i want her to be able to trust people again. her owner wants to handle her more, but he clearly doesn't know much about beardies, though he was very receptive to the information i was giving him. anyway, i'd appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. or if you have your own stories similar to this i'd love to read them.

 

[Beardednoob]

Try reading through this thread, a recent success story with behavior.
Other then that I might suggest it to relocation stress. Is she eating well?
Can you post a picture of the enclosure?
Good on changing the sand out btw. :wink:

 

[sheri85]

it probably is relocation stress. she was first moved to her owner's sister's for like a day, then she came to me. she's probably thinking she's going to move again soon.

and she's eating VERY well. she'd never had dubias before she came here, but she inhaled them. she's been eating her greens too. i'll try to get a picture of her tank later (planning on going to the store to get a shelf liner to replace the sand).

 

[Beardednoob]

I just realized I forgot the link to that thread.


viewtopic.php?f=5&t=155344

 

[sheri85]

I just realized I forgot the link to that thread.


viewtopic.php?f=5&t=155344

lol that's okay. i went to pick up a shelf liner anyway. thanks for posting that. i read through and found it helpful.

i did notice that she's okay with being bathed. she just floated in the water and closed her eyes, so that's good at least. she even let me cuddle her post bath as i wrapped her in a towel.

she's just so jumpy. every time i reach my hand in, she jumps or tries to hide. when i went to feed her today, she came running when she saw the dubia, but then seemed hesitant because i had to reach in to drop them into her bowl. she'll be with me for at least two months, so there's lots of time to win her over.