Handling. approach?

[ReptileRy]

so i have been reading on here that most people let their beardies out of their enclosure almost all day and let them go with them in the car and everything. i really want to get to hold her more.. shes about to hands long. but the problem is when i take her out she poops on something that she shouldnt.. and theres lots of hiding spots in my house.. so whats the best way to approach this?

 

[wmwelch]

Hmmm...I just realized that you said she, so substitute she for everywhere i said he.

A couple of things come to mind regarding the inappropriate pooping... Some bearded dragons seem to take to pottying in a bath, not mine but I have read about a lot that do. So you could try running a bit of water in the sink and taking your beardy directly to the bath right after you take him out. He might be scared, so you may want to let him sit on your hand and ease him partially into the water. The water should be warm not hot. The second thing that comes to mind is what I actually do. I spread towels out on a large area of my bed, and sit down with my beardie. I lower my hand down to the bed, and my beardie will usually go to the opposite side of the bed after 2 or 3 minutes and do his business on the towel then i can scoop it up with a tissue and dispose of it. If he ever starts doing the wiggle bottom before he gets to the towel, I will lightly touch either one of his back legs, and he will run forward a little more.

The benefit of using my bed is that I can see him at all times, and he has to climb down to get off the bed, so I have time to run around and catch him before he gets off the bed. Well most of the time, as they are pretty fast.

I started out handling my little guy for just a few minutes at a time to let him get used to me, and as he started getting used to me and started trusting me more, I have been able to extend the time, but it is a process. The first time he came over from his side and voluntarily jumped up on me, brought a smile to my face and let me know he was starting to trust me.

Wendy

 

[kcarello]

If you live where it doesn't get too cold where you live it would also be a good time to try to housebreak your dragon...My girl only goes outside..luckily we live in the very bottom east corner of Arkansas so it doesnt get real cold and she can do this year round.

 

[mudskipper]

My baby jumped off the computer desk and landed on the floor yesterday. I almost had a heart attack. She seems to be ok. She tried to do it again later. So no more free roaming for her till I can trust her not to do crazy moves.

 

[jducky18]

This may sound super dumb, but I just want to be 100% clear for myself, you can only take your beardie outside if it's hot out, right? I live in Massachusetts, so it's only warm for a couple of months of the year, so I can't take my beardie out once it starts getting cool? Again, this is probably super dumb, but I just wanted to be sure so that I don't do anything stupid.

 

[mudskipper]

Definitely not now. It's too cold. Wait till it gets to the 80's.