Sorry, meant to quote this the first time. New to this website lol. Right now i am sitting just outside his viv with him just inside the glass and basking. This seems like it builds trust to me at least! I have another comment below but i wasnt sure you would get a notification that i respondedonceblue":1plb4r79 said:If he came from Petsmart, he may not have been handled as often as a small-time breeder would handle babies, but that doesn't mean he won't warm up to you. My beardie originally came from a chain pet store and then he lived with a family member of mine for about a month and wasn't handled often or properly, but in the two months that I have owned him, he's warmed up to me a lot.
Some suggestions:
- Instead of reaching to grab him, start slow: Put you hand in the viv on the opposite side of your beardie, leave it there, then take it out and leave him alone for a while. Rinse and repeat. Over a series of days, you can shorten the distance between your hand and your beardie until your hand is right next to the beardie. Don't pick him up, but keep demonstrating that your hand isn't a threat and isn't just going to swoop in and take him out like a big bad predator. Then you can move up to petting him, touching him, etc, and then finally, picking him up.
- Continue to hand feed him. Eventually move up to putting a worm or other slow-moving yummy treat in the palm of your hand and opening it for your beardie to choose to step into your hand to take it. This may take time but be patient and even if he doesn't take it at first, keep trying. There's a lot of power in independent choice — rewarding your beardie for choosing to step into your hand will leave a much stronger impression on him than rewarding him after you grab him or make him get into your hand because YOU choose.
- Definitely continue to take him out around lights out. They're docile when they're sleepy so it's a lot easier to build positive associations with being held. By another forum member's advice, I wrapped my beardie in a hand towel or blanket while he was sleepy and then hold him on my chest. Now if I take him out after lights out and put him on my chest, he'll climb to my neck and snuggle in to sleep.
The key is short positive experiences!
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