Fear of space?

[Shrimpy12]

I got my little guy about a month and a half ago. He was 7 inches and now is up to 11 inches. He's in a 29 gallon tank at the moment. He was doing great in it. It was starting to look a tad small. We know when he's an adult he will need a bigger enclosure. We made a melamine enclosure that is 70 inches long by 20 inches tall and 16 inches wide. We had a basking bulb and a two reptisun 10.0 tube lights mounted inside running the length of the enclosure. He has two hides one on each end. He became crazy in that enclosure. Hardly ate and instead of running onto my hand to get to my shoulder he ran away from me. I always take him out of his enclosure to feed him. On the 3rd day in the new enclosure he started beating his nose against the feeding box and hissed at me. Completely freaked out! I put him back in his old enclosure 3 days ago. He is back to his usual self. Before the new enclosure he'd get time out to exercise. He'd jump of my leg (I sit on the floor) and run around. Some days he'd run straight to a wall and try to climb it or scratch at it until I picked him up. Other days he'd run around then back onto my lap. Today was a run to a wall and scratch day. I am beginning to wonder if it's possible he could be afraid of big spaces. Whatever the opposite of clostraphobia would be. Is it possible? I thought he was enjoying his exercise and now I'm wondering if it's stressing him out. I know the bigger enclosure stressed him bad!

 

[diamc]

Any change at all can upset them and it can take up to 2 wks for them to get used to things. His new tank now must be about twice the length of the one he was in previously? If so, you could put a removable petition down the middle and as he gets used to it, slowly slide the petition to the opposite side to help him get used to more room and then eventually, remove it completely. I would also recommend that you try to use the same items in pretty much the same spots as you had before to make the transition easier for him.

Good luck.

 

[Shrimpy12]

Yes it's about 3 times as big (29" to 70")! I plan on partitioning it off. I had the same stuff in the new enclosure but having the same lay out is a great idea thanks! I know it can take a week or two to adjust but I got really worried when he started beating his head against the wall and got aggressive towards me. He has always been super sweet so the aggression kind of worried me. I'll try those suggestions and hope it works. Any suggestions as to why some days he likes exercise time and some days it seems to really stress him?

 

[diamc]

Any change totally affects their behavior. He feels insecure because the area is SO big so he reacted toward you. That actually is typical behavior when they are scared and confused.

Did he used to get stressed out before changing to the new enclosure when you took him out of his tank?

 

[Shrimpy12]

During exercise time before the move he would sometimes run straight to a wall and try to climb up it or shove his nose in a corner and scratch at the wall. When I picked him up he'd run to my shoulder and lay down like normal. Other days he'd run laps around me then run jump in my lap and lay down. He never ever acted aggressive. I put my hand down to take him out and he runs onto my hand on to my shoulder. His favorite place to be is perched on my shoulder. Next favorite is the back of my neck. I don't know if his climbing the wall or scratching at it is stress. At the time I didn't think much of it just picked him up when he did it. But since the move I guess I'm paying more attention to his actions. Worrying more!

 

[diamc]

Babies are VERY active & have a high energy level. I think the scratching at the walls is telling you that he wants to come out.

 

[Shrimpy12]

He IS out. He's on the floor of my house. He runs to the wall and tries to climb up it. When that doesn't work he sticks his nose in a corner and scratches like mad.

 

[diamc]

Oh, ok. :lol: They do sometimes try to climb walls and scratch other places too. How is he doing in his tank now?

 

[Shrimpy12]

He's doing better. Eating still a tiny bit off. He didn't eat breakfast and ate 10 crickets at lunch. Dinner he ate 72 though. I'm wondering if he's just making the switch to twice a day meals. He did puff his beard at me this morning when I was putting his veggies in his dish. I just looked at him and said "oh boo! Really Giz?" And he deflated like a balloon. He kind of gave me a you're no fun look. Lol. I finally figured out he has been basking on his hide half log because the other log he used to use is too small now! If only they could talk to us! So I guess I should not worry about him trying to climb my walls. Sounds like he's being a normal beardie! Thanks for all your help

 

[diamc]

Wow, he's eating VERY well, especially dinner time. Perhaps he isn't interested in breakfast because he hasn't warmed up enough then. I would still continue to offer him 3 meals of feeders though if you can, since he is only 11 inches.

That's funny that he puffed his beard at you and then deflated when he didn't get a reaction from you. :lol: Sometimes they open their mouths and stretch out their beards in the morning, I have seen that a lot too.

Oh, that explains why he's using the other log. They do talk to us in their own way, him switching logs and looking at you was to let you know that he wasn't comfortable on the other one now. :wink:

Yes, sounds like a normal beardie to me. You're doing a great job with him.

 

[Shrimpy12]

I wait an hour after the light comes on to feed him but may try waiting 90 minutes. I know he needs his groceries to grow I'm thinking about making the switch to dubia roaches. I read they are higher protein and easier to breed.

I've had him almost 2 months so still learning. You've helped put a worried beardie Mommy's mind at easy.

 

[diamc]

I've had him almost 2 months so still learning. You've helped put a worried beardie Mommy's mind at easy.

I'm glad to hear that. I've had beardies for over 12 years and I'M still learning. :lol:

It takes quite a while for the tanks to totally warm up. Dubia roaches breed VERY quickly & easily. You could order some different sizes to help it along. There are some in the For Sale forum on the site.

 

[Sauzo]

I can vouch for dubia roaches breeding like crazy. Once your colony hits the "critical mass" point, you will have roaches coming out everywhere. As for him trying to climb the wall, they do that sometimes. Harley sometimes will stare at the top of her cage and stand up on a wall and try to climb. Then she gets bored and wanders off to become a rock somewhere in the cage. Enjoy the activity while they are babies cause soon enough you will have a pet rock that likes to show sexy legs a lot. :lol: As for the bearding, they sometimes do that too. Harley will yawn in the morning and flex her beard and sometimes during the day i'll catch her bearding and doing some head bobbing but the minute she sees that I notice, she will deflate and just look at me.

As for the cage, like Diamc said, partition off the cage. 70 inches is really long. I'd partition off half the cage and then open maybe 12 inches per week. When I got Harley at 6 weeks old, I put her in a 4 ft cage and partitioned it down to 3 ft for a few days or so mostly to make finding food easier but for that first week I fed her crickets. After that I switched to dubias and opened the cage up all the way and she loved the run. She would run from one side to the other, do the glass dancing and then back up to her stack of bricks to bask. Kind of weird that your baby would hiss and freak out but I would give him a few days to get used to it and maybe offer some hand feeding and put a shirt in the cage with your smell on it for him to sleep on to get used to you. And as I was told by the breeder, don't put hides in the cage when you get your dragon. You want them to become social and by putting hides in when you get them, you only encourage them to hide. Now after they grow up and are used to you and have developed into a social pet, then you can give him/her a hide for brumation but for Harley, her blankie and me are about the only things she really wants at bedtime. Anyways good luck and raising a beardie from a baby is a great reward when they are all grown up and you look back to when they were just a little tiny baby when you got them.

 

[Shrimpy12]

Thank you for the suggestions. The suggestion about the hides make sense. I was planning on taking them out anyway. He never uses them. Well to lay on but that's about it. Giving him a smaller space has really helped. He's just about back to himself. He's always been my little buddy so the total freak out he had really worried me.

I think I found a good place to order dubias. Now I just have to wait for the weather to warm up a little.

I do have a question about shedding. He does a body shed then a week later the tail then a week later the legs. Total of 3 weeks for total shed. I rescued him from Petsmart. I can't believe how little they feed these guys and how little they know. They act like experts but are clueless. So I was buying crickets yesterday and the guy at Petsmart told me he should do a full shed in 1 day. I bathe him once a week (he hates water). He's usually only in the water about 30-60 seconds. So the guy told me I'm drying him out with bathing him once a week so he's not shedding correctly. All the online research says 1 bath a week is normal. I found a place that says 2-3 weeks for a shed is normal. So which is it?

 

[Sauzo]

They shed in pieces like you said yours is doing. Usually its the body, then legs and maybe tail, then head. They do not shed all in 1 piece like a snake. And yes it's usually over the course of weeks, not in 1 day or even 1 week. As for baths, it really depends how much liquid from food he gets but the norm is 2-3 baths a week at about 15-20 mins each time. Harley absolutely hated water as a baby so I would use an eyedropper to give her the extra water she needed as a baby since babies are the most prone to dehydration since they need a higher basking temp and are much smaller so they don't retain as much water. Now that she is an adult/sub adult she loves baths and its more work getting her out than in. :lol: Just keep trying baths and maybe just little bits at a time to get him used to them.