Dragon/Reptile newbie

[ChasesBuddy16]

Good evening everyone! My name is Tony and I recently acquired my first reptile/bearded dragon. This was mainly for my 7 year old son who badgered me for months but as anyone with kids can attest the lions share of the care tends to fall on a parent...lol. That said I have been reading, learning etc. for quite some time now and things are going well! I got the little guy at the local pet shop and have had him since 12/15/16. He was/is a baby and from what I was told maybe 12 to 14 weeks at time of purchase?!?!? Anyway I have him in a 40 gallon breeder with all the proper lighting (36 inch repri-sun10.0 dome, 105 degree basking side; 80 degree cool side, climbing objects, reptile carpet etc.) about the only question I have now is stress/handling? We only handle him hear and there as he's a bit quick and squirmy. Plus he seems to constantly have stress marks and has been scratching on the glass almost daily since I got him (almost a month now). Now I did put in a background and covered the outer portion of one side of the glass with cardboard to try and cut down reflection. Is this suffice? Should I cardboard the other side and only allow vision out of the front glass?

 

[AHBD]

Hi Tony....some babies just take longer to settle in. Sometimes covering the glass helps, sometimes not. If the room is very busy and there are other animals that can be a factor. Your beardie may get used to you more quickly if you just leave your hand in the tank for 5-10 minutes a day so it looks like part of the cage decor and he may decide to climb on.

Do you have any pics of the little guy + his tank ?

 

[ChasesBuddy16]

Hopefully you can view the images above. Also thanks for the reply. At this point should I wait til he gets comfortable or just try to pick him up regardless and have him just get used to being handled?

 

[AHBD]

Yes, you can handle him a little bit, but you need to do it over his open tank because he may decide to jump. If he's very skittish then you can wait a week and be sure that he's eating pretty well.