Hello :)

[MomOf2Kiddos]

Hi,

I stumbled upon this forum when I was doing a little research on bearded dragons. We have an opportunity to adopt a 5 year old BD from a lady that my husband works with. It is her son's, but apparently he had decided not to care for it anymore, so the lady has been trying to take care of it but she's not a "lizard person". From what I understand they don't handle it, and I guess never really have. She's been feeding it with chopsticks because she doesn't like mealworms (which from reading isn't the best thing for it anyhow). I don't really know anything about it's disposition, but I'm hoping that with time and love that it would let me hold and pet it. But I have never owned a reptile and I don't know...do you think a BD could overcome 5 years of not being handled? I suppose the worst that would happen is that it won't want to be touched and I'll have to settle for sweet-talking instead.

I don't know much about it's set-up, but I can see from a picture that I got that it has sand, and so I think we will replace that with tile. I've been reading the care sheets here (which are fabulous) and getting all kinds of ideas on how to fix up it's cage too. So thanks for that, I'm learning a lot :mrgreen:

edit: here's a pic of it http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j338/Breeley/Lizard.jpg

 

[catUK]

Hello

aw it would be lovely if you adopted him. Beardies are docile and seem to enjoy human interaction and i'm sure with patience and persistance he will eventually warm to you and enjoy being handled- he may be nervous and fiesty at first but should eventually gain trust. You can help them get used to you by leaving your hand near beardie without moving it so it gets used to your hand, hand feeding treats, putting a worn item of clothing in their viv so they get used to your scent etc. Good luck with everything

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

Thanks! He is coming to our home in an hour, I'm really excited I went out yesterday and bought some stuff for him and then once he gets here and we see what his set up is we can make other necessary adjustments. I really hope I'll be able to gain his trust and maybe eventually his love :mrgreen:

 

[catUK]

ah excellent! i hope it all works out for you, i'm sure it will, think you'll be a great beardie parent and he'll thank you for it

p.s. would love to know how he gets on

 

[jon9912p]

wow he looks awesome good luck with him. it sucks that they never really interacted with him, but since you're going to interact with him he's gonna be great. i can't wait until my beardie gets as big as he is

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

p.s. would love to know how he gets on

No worries there, I'm one of those people who has to photograph everything lol. I'm sure I'll be posting regular updates and asking alot of questions that will inevitably come up.

it sucks that they never really interacted with him, but since you're going to interact with him he's gonna be great

That is a real concern to me. I asked "How do they clean his cage?" and I was told that she picks him up wearing an oven mitt when they clean the cage. Lol. But at least that means he's been picked up before, even with the oven mitt armor.

 

[Denduran87]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on the beardie i'm sure he can be broken of aquired bad habits and be a intricate part of the family.

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

Thanks! I couldn't help but notice your Beaverton location. I'm in Cornelius

 

[Denduran87]

Thanks! I couldn't help but notice your Beaverton location. I'm in Cornelius

Nice i grew up actually in cornelius/forestgrove on mountain view ln.

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

Small world :mrgreen:

 

[Denduran87]

Small world :mrgreen:

yea no kidding.

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

Today Zil came to live with us! The first thing I noticed was how dirty his cage was We got it cleaned out, got rid of the sand and put down shelf liner. We are going to have to do something about his lighting, as it's not warm enough in there at all. Tomorrow we will fix that. The good news is, he likes crickets and seemed to also enjoy the mustard greens and cantaloupe I put in there too! No more iceberg lettuce for you, baby I was worried about his temperament, but so far he's seemed really calm. I took some more pics of him, thought I'd share.

 

[catUK]

awwwwww he's lovely, i'm so glad he's got a lovely home now!! Can't believe he was picked up with an oven mit- makes me wonder why they got him in the first place but at least they knew it was best to give him away. Good that he's eating.

 

[jon9912p]

Those eyes really getcha lol. but if he's not biting or turning black bearded he should be fine in a few weeks

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

Zil is doing great! I picked him up this morning with no problems, he seemed a little nervous but after a few minutes he was trying to crawl all over me. I held him and petted him and talked to him for about 20 minutes. When I put him back in the cage he tried to climb up the sides. I hope that means he enjoyed his time being held.