how to tame new baby BD

[lkw321]

Hi! I've had my baby BD for a few weeks now (He is probably 2 months old) and he still seems to be afraid of me :/ When he's catching crickets, he will stop and hide if I'm watching. Also, his stress marks never go away. I don't take him out of his cage too much because he has jumped out of my hands to runaway before or crawls up my arms to escape. I just want him to be comfortable here and with me.

Any suggestions?

 

[DeweysMom]

Sounds like he's still in the adjustment phase. They go through relocation stress when they go to a new home. Usually they snap out of it by a couple of weeks, but they're all different so maybe he's just taking longer. He'll get there.

The best way to get a beardie to like being handled is to keep handling them, but start out slowly. Hold him for a few minutes each day and gradually increase the time. Eventually he'll see that he can trust you and that you mean him no harm. Babies can be very jumpy as you've learned so just be cautious when holding him. As they get older they get a little less jumpy and more willing to just chill while you're holding them.

As for the stress marks, it's probably tied into the relocation stress, but can you give us a detailed description of his enclosure? What are his basking temps? What's the temp on the cool side? What kind of thermometer are you using to check temps? What kind of UVB bulb are you using? How far away from the bulb is his basking spot? Are you dusting his feeders with calcium and multi vitamins? The answers to these questions will tell us if something needs to be adjusted.

 

[lkw321]

I'm probably just worrying too much...

He is in a 20 gal tank (with 3 sides covered). I use reptisun 10.0 tubes as my UVB and a 100w basking bulb. His basking temp is around 100-110 and the cool side 80-85. HIs UVB is covered by the screen that sits on top of his tank but, he gets full exposure when he eats and when I give him baths/clean his tank everyday because I take the screen off during those times. So I'm sure that he gets enough UVB. I leave a water bowl in there and some greens (no lettuce) laying in a pile for him. His basking spot is probably 6-8 inches from the light. I feed his crickets veggies and orange cubes. I have a calcium spray, but i haven't used it on the crickets, yet.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. How are you taking temps? 100watt seems like alot for a 20gallon. The uvb needs to be mounted in the tank. The screen blocks 30% or more of the rays. Just taking the screen of for a few mins a day is not enough uvb exposure for your beardie. Also he needs calcium 5x a week one feeding a day and 2x a week for vitamins.

 

[Tonja]

You can try taking an old t shirt and wear it..then when you take it off don't wash it but fold it up and place it in the tank so the beardie can get used to your scent. Also when they are sleepy about time for lights out, take your beardie out of the tank and wrap him in a soft cloth or blankie if you will, place him on your chest and let him go to sleep. He may even do a butt wiggle as he settles in on your chest. This will aid also in bonding with your dragon. When he is asleep you can place him back in his tank but don't unwrap him.

 

[lkw321]

Thanks for the feed back, guys.

I take temps with a temp gun that I got from petsmart. I've tried a 50w and 75w (also from petsmart) and both temps did not reach up to 100 degrees, so I got a 100w and its reaches 100-105. He gets more than minutes of UVB, . And he just got settled in enough to where he will eat, thats why I havent done the calcium. I am now, though because he eats so much now lol.

I will try the shirt thing. I'm scared to let him rest on my chest though, because last time he made a run for it! But...we'll see.