First photos of my first ever Beardie.

[Critter]

So I just got my first ever Beardie today who I have named Pringle. He has only been home a few hours and seems a bit unsure of both his new environment and of myself. I expected him to be like this at the start though, he needs to get used to things. He has eaten some crickets and I also cut up some apple and banana but he hasn't touched them, should I be worried? Also, at the moment when I reach in to pick him up he tends to panic and run around or puff up his body at me, but when I am actually holding him in my hand or against my chest he seems to calm down a lot. How long do you think it will be until he starts to trust me more and not stress out so much?
Anyway, back to the photos, sorry for the bad quality my camera is pretty crap.

Also, as you will notice I have a particle substrate. Not sand but a woodchip type thing. I have read on this site however the possible problems with particle substrates and want to change in the future to something like a non adhesive shelf liner. In the store though they only have sand and these woodchip things so I needed to choose something for the time being until I can find a proper suitable substrate.

 

[Livey]

Hes a cutie!
I would definitely change the wood chipping to something he cant eat.
Relocation stress usually last a week or so, just try putting you hand in and stroking his face for the first couple of days..
Holding him would also be a plus so he will get used to you faster.
Not eating veg is very common in young beardies, just give him time

Olivia x

 

[Critter]

Hes a cutie!
I would definitely change the wood chipping to something he cant eat.
Relocation stress usually last a week or so, just try putting you hand in and stroking his face for the first couple of days..
Holding him would also be a plus so he will get used to you faster.
Not eating veg is very common in young beardies, just give him time

Olivia x

Thanks for the advice. I am thinking of trying to get some pieces of slate and put them on the bottom. While he was eating his crickets I actually saw him eat some of the wood chip things, and he always has them hanging from his mouth after he eats and it makes me nervous. So I'm looking to replace it as soon as I can but with Christmas coming up now I'm very busy and don't know when I will get around to it.
I have been holding/stroking him and will continue to do so as much as I can. I heard that just handling them a lot is good.
Also, how many crickets should I give him per day?

 

[Livey]

When mine were babies,
i fed them twice a day in the AM and the PM and eating as much as they can eat in 10 mins x

 

[Critter]

Thanks, that sounds like a good routine that I can follow.

 

[catUK]

Congratulations, he is lovely! You can line the bottom of your tank with newspaper or paper towels for the time being until you get something else. I would suggest getting a few more things for your viv, such as fake plants, a bigger log or a background as it looks very open, which can be very stressful for them. Don't worry about him not eating salad- he is still very young and will eventually eat it as long as you have it available every day. You could try handfeeding him salad and make sure you feed salad to the live foods so he gets the nutrients that way at least. Apple and banana are not great to feed beardies regularly. look at this site for a list of good fruit and veg:

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

When you feed him live food, make sure its no sooner than 1 hour after lights on and about 2 hours before lights off so he can digest properly. Mine took a couple of months to get to the point where she was comfortable enough to sit and cuddle into me. She was happy to be handled sooner, quite quickly really. I was told to let her settle in for a couple of weeks before i handled her, but of course you can't resist doing it sooner. handle your beardie little and often and make sure you don't approach him from above as it can scare them. Are you dusting your livefood with calcium and vitamins? Calcium should be given for 1 feeding: 5 days a week and vitamins 2 times per week

 

[Gail]

He is a cutie, congrats on your first baby
If you wait until after christmas to replace the woodchips, it could be too late. If he swallows a couple pieces ever time he eats, he could get impacted in just a couple days. You can use newspaper or papertowels for now. I know its not pretty but it's so much safer.

 

[fez09]

I agree, dump the woodchips now and just put paper towels on the bottom.

 

[Critter]

Thanks guys, I have been putting his non-live food on paper towel already, although when he eats the crickets he sometimes gets some of the wood chips in his mouth. Although today I noticed while he ate the crickets that if he got the woodchip in his mouth he spat it out again, pretty clever little guy but still a worry.

Also, last night as he was going to sleep I noticed that he sort of dug into the woodchips and slept with his body half buried in them. He actually looked sort of comfortable, and he seemed to enjoy sleeping that way, it's like he made a bed of them. Do you think it is worth keeping some woodchips for sleeping purposes if he likes to sleep like that?

 

[catUK]

its not worth the risk. I used to have wood chips and changed to tiles- she soon got comfortable on the tiles and i wrap her in a blanket so she's extra comfortable and she loves it

 

[Critter]

its not worth the risk. I used to have wood chips and changed to tiles- she soon got comfortable on the tiles and i wrap her in a blanket so she's extra comfortable and she loves it

Blanket does sound like a good idea. How long did you have woodchips before you made the switch?

 

[catUK]

About a month or so, after i realised how bad they could be. I was lucky that she didn't get an impaction because she too spat them out but probably swallowed a few too. Its so much more peace of mind having tiles. Also they look nice and are easy to clean

 

[Critter]

I have paper towel lined in about half of the tank now, and today he ate some broccoli.

I have a couple more photos, again sorry for the bad quality of my camera.

Warming up on his log under the heat lamp.

Blurry photo of him on my hand, you can see his size properly in comparison.

Photo of him on my leg. I thought using flash might scare him so I didn't want to use it, but I tried once just to see his reaction and he didn't seem to mind. I probably won't use it much though.

I think he is starting to feel more comfortable around me. He seems calm when I am holding him or patting (petting) him and he closes his eyes and doesn't try to scamper away.

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

Oh he is adorable!! Congrats!! I just got my first beardie last Wednesday...

 

[Critter]

I thought this was an interesting way to relax on your log. I love how his arm is just hanging back like that. :laughing6: