Handling a baby beardie

[OperationReggie]

Im just wondering when the best time to try and hold my baby beardie is, i got him on friday and he doesnt seem skitish at all if anything its me being nervous to hold him, this being my first beardie. In the shop the women just picked him up and put him in a container without a fuss so he must be ok with being handled, my only question is when should i because around the time when he is due a feed he is really fast and knows its feeding time, is it ok to handle after feeding time or is it best to do it before? Any help is appreciated

 

[ofcourseilikepasta]

I personally find the best time to handle my beardie is near nighttime when he might be getting sleepy. He very easily will fall asleep on me and he is generally much calmer and less likely run off. Don't take your beardie out right after feeding because they need the heat to digest their food properly.

Also, if you just barely got him, I would recommend not handling them too much at this point, for maybe about a week. He needs to get used to his new home.

 

[OperationReggie]

So glad i joined this forums lots of people have helped me including you, thanks !. Ok thanks i will leave him a week and then try.

 

[jeremy283]

I just got my baby beardie on Sunday and I've been handling him already (for very short amounts of time). He started to sleep on me at one point. I cannot really offer much as far as experience or recommendations go. He's already ate and pooped in his cage though :lol:

 

[OperationReggie]

Awhh nice man how big is it? when i got mine it was around 6 inches and he really hasn't grown much since then, i haven't tried to handle mine yet due to my own confidence and nerves but when i put my hand in the cage to replace salad and to just check stuff out he doesn't seem to run away so i think he will be ok. I just need to get my own confidence up im sure he wants to be handled but his silly human wont hold him :lol: :lol:

 

[jeremy283]

Awhh nice man how big is it? when i got mine it was around 6 inches and he really hasn't grown much since then, i haven't tried to handle mine yet due to my own confidence and nerves but when i put my hand in the cage to replace salad and to just check stuff out he doesn't seem to run away so i think he will be ok. I just need to get my own confidence up im sure he wants to be handled but his silly human wont hold him :lol: :lol:

He is pretty small.

I just support him by is underside when picking him up and he seems to be pretty comfortable yet alert. I'm also careful when picking him up as he likes to cling onto surfaces and I don't want to hurt him.

I mostly ensure I try to handle him a little bit regularly to get him comfortable with humans.

He crawled from me to the couch yesterday, fell on the floor from the couch due to slick (fake) leather I assume (soft carpet but I don't like that he fell), and he ran across the floor where I picked him up.

 

[OperationReggie]

Awh man sweet colours in that guy, when did you first start handling him was it before or after feeding time?

 

[jeremy283]

I just kind of handle him whenever. He doesn't seem to like to eat when I am around so I tend to leave him with his food for a little while. He does seem to "take off" at times so I have to remain alert.

He doesn't seem to care when I reach into his terrarium to pick him up so I don't think he's afraid or anything like that.

I'm new to this too, lol

 

[AndyHarp94]

I've had my Spyro (who is my first and only beardie) for a little over a year now. Since day 1 I've been doing a combination of hand feeding a letting him hunt so he's used to both. Obviously you should let them soak the heat/uvb up in order to digest but handle your little one as much as possible without stressing him out. Because he's been interacting with people since he was less than 6" long, he can be handled by anyone no problem.

 

[OperationReggie]

Thanks for the help everyone, i have been putting my hand in the cage starting today and i got about an inch away from his face and he was not bothered at all, i will keep this up for another week at most then try to pick the little guy up