Im Kris and my Dragon is Dunnie

[Ker6176]

Hey everyone.

My name is kris and i am the proud caregiver of Dunndee or Dunnie. she is a baby dragon only about a few weeks old. I bought her before some ******* teens could. They were buying goldfish and talking about firecrackers. The pet store girl was happy i said i wanted her. She is tiny and very affectionate. She enjoys sitting on the window screen and eatting her crickets. She has 3 tanks. One to play, one to travel and a huge one to live in when she is older.

She has wierd habits i was wondering if anyone else has seen!

• 
  she runs and crashes into the side of her tank and then claws constantly until she is held.
  
  She wont go to sleep for the night without being held. She then climbs on my shoulder and passes out.
  
  She will only drink water dripping down the glass
  
  she likes to sit on my head (she hasnt pooped yet on me thank fully!)
  
  and she likes to hang upside down inside her log.

she is fun to have though and if anyone has any tips on how to keep her healthy im open to anything. She is my first bearded dragon and so far she is healthy. She gets calcium and vitamin covered crickets. i try to get her to eat mealworms but the shell she doesnt like. she is played with over 3 hours a day and he tank is always warm. so is the room when she is roaming around.

 

[krystalsboy]

Welcome Kris. I'm new here too. I have my first baby. He's been a blast. DOn't know about your other questions, but Frank sleeps in the oddest positions! Case and point....right now he is sleeping with the base of his tail on top of his fake cactis and his front feet hanging on the temp gauge on the side of the tank...literally suspended!!! Haha, he has very odd sleeping habbits. I've heard this is a common dragon trait. Hope you can post some pics for us to see!

 

[Ker6176]

do u have problems putting urs to sleep? mine wont go to bed. she tries to escape her tank and scratches until picked up. then she passes out on my hands arm or shoulder. i put her down and she is gripping on my hands again. then she makes it impossible for me to put her down! She is super funny and sweet though.

 

[annieoakley123]

Im also new to bearded dragons but I have learned so much with this website.....Welcome!!! We love to see pics!!! You can use photobucket.com and upload and paste them.
As for your babies behavior all of that is normal. They cannot see the glass and sometimes run into the other side. I would suggest putting up a background for the back and sides....This should prevent her from running into it. Also the clawing is something mine does a lot before bed time. Kinda like tiring themselves out before bed. Also another sign that they want OUT and to play. As for going on your head they want to be in the highest place possible because it is safe up higher and they can see everything. Bearded dragons are not known to drink from still water but from moving water like dew on a plant, or in the rain where they collect water on their back and hunch over so it runs down their head to their mouth. The best way to teach your baby to drink is put water on her nose with a water dropper or your finger. I just add water to my babies greens and make sure her feeders are gut loaded with flukers orange for crickets(apples and potatoes work as well....But they spoil and out off a nasty smell real quick).
Hope this helps!!!! Sounds like a great personable beardie!!

 

[Ker6176]

thank for all the info. U are alot of help. she is super sweet and i dont know where the common misconception of them being hard to take care of. they are alot of work but totally worth it. How do you get yours to eat greens. mine only likes what moves. i had to tie a piece of mealworm to some thin wire and move it till she was interested and then pull the wire out quick when she was about to move. she is a fast lil thing.

she likes to be out alot too so im building her a path to get back in her tank from the bed herself.

what would u reccommend for a back ground? someone told me pictures of me and her are good to have. But when i did that she would claw even more at thart part of the tank. i dont know if i should do nature instead.

 

[annieoakley123]

lucky for me my baby actually likes to eat some of her greens. I bought her bearded dragon bites....they love those. Once i put a few in her salad she went right in. She also tried a strawberry and shredded carrots....but those are only used as an occasional treat. I can tell she has been in her salad cause she takes them out of her dish white chewing. It took a few days for her to get into the hang of things, and a week and a half to really start eating heavy. Just make sure the temps are high enough in her basking spot (105-110) and 80-85 on the cool side and a proper, safe uvb source. I have a megaray from reptileuv.com i highly reccomend it....check it out! its a basking light and uv in one and last twice as long as a regular uvb.
For the background issue, they may climb but they wont be bashing their heads. Nature/desert ones look really nice. I dont have an issue with my baby yet in that department. I have heard that males do that behavior more often cause either they see their reflection and are territorial.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Welcome Kris and Dunnie,

It sounds like your little guy is adapting well to you. I'd like to make a few suggestions.

First of all...have you tried giving Dunnie a bath yet? That is the best way to keep a beardie hydrated. Try putting him in the sink or rubbermaid type container filled with warm water, no deeper than your bd's armpits. Let him soak in the water for 15-20 minutes. If he does not drink from the water that is okay, they also take in water through there vent( slit at base of tail). Most beardies do enjoy bathes and will swim also. Don't be surprised if he poops in the water, it stimulates them to go. Just dump and refill. Give him bathes daily or every few days.

The mealworms are not reccomended for babies due to risk of impaction. Babies have a kink in their intestinal tract, so the hard chitin(shell) from the mealworms can get stuck and build up causing the impaction. The crickets will be just fine for him.

As for the salads, they do not always take to them right away. Do still offer them daily. In case you have not found this wonderful list of foods to feed your beardie, here it is http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Just a quick question about him not wanting to go to sleep at night. Do you use any light sources at night, ex: colored light bulb? Those could cause him to not sleep, due to them liking complete darkness for night time sleep. If that's not an issue...then you probably just have a little snuggler...wouldn't complain there!

If you have any questions...feel free to ask...there alot of experienced beardie owners here to help out.

Dawn

 

[Ker6176]

i never tried to give her a bath. i most likely will today after she is done soaking in the light. She usually likes to be left alone under the light after she eats. Ill take pictures and figure out how to upload them when she swims!

I actually rigged a drinking system for her since someone here told me they like to drink off plants. a small hole in a water bottle drips onto a leave and down the side of the glass. She has responded well to this.

Good to know about the meal worms. i was wondering why she spat out the shells.

She has no light at night, thats mainly my selfishness. I cant sleep at night with lights and i hold her so i can "bake" the tank.
I read about this when i got her and the pet store girl also reccommended it. U heat up their tank to about 100 with the glass and light on and then turn the light off. this way she is warm at night without the light.

She is such a cuddler and i absolutely adore it. Im hoping with all the attention and affection i give her she wont turn out nasty like my boyfriends sister. That poor beardie gets no attention and barely is given treats and affection.


Does anyone know how i can upload pictures? I have a camera that takes HD photos so her pictures turned out great!

 

[fresnowitte]

First....
Hello Kris & Welcome to BD.org!
And.....
Congratulations on the New Baby!

She has no light at night, thats mainly my selfishness. I cant sleep at night with lights and i hold her so i can "bake" the tank.
I read about this when i got her and the pet store girl also reccommended it. U heat up their tank to about 100 with the glass and light on and then turn the light off. this way she is warm at night without the light.

Your beardie requires complete darkness inorder to get proper rest so his/her immune system can function properly. You only need additional heat at night if your house drops below 65*. Then I recommend you use a CHE(Ceramic Heat Emitter) it puts out only heat no light.
Your beardies basking temp which should be taken with a digital probe thermometer or an infrared temp gun (not a stick on tape or dial they are off in there reading by up to 20*)directly on the spot your beardie is basking...the highest point closets to the UVB light that your beardie can get. The temps should be for a baby 105* to 110* on the basking spot an at the cool end of the enclosure between 65* and 80* cool end will vary as our weather and houses ambient temps change.

Here's a really good nutritional chart to some beardie foods;
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Does anyone know how i can upload pictures? I have a camera that takes HD photos so her pictures turned out great![/color]

First you must upload your pic's to one of the image hosting sites such as http://photobucket.com/
Once your pic's are uploaded there you just copy and paste the IMG code into your post a reply page to make sure that it worked you can check by clicking on the preview button if it did then click submit.
If you need a more detail set of instructions check out the 7th post written by jscott in this thread as he give a great set of directions with visuals.
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Again Welcome Aboard!

 

[annieoakley123]

when giving a bath just make sure the water is warm by testing it on your wrist. To be safe just fill up the water up to her chest and splash the water on her back and head (they can have accidents when left so keep an eye on her).
As for the water system you made thats really cool. just make sure that the humidity doesnt go up in the tank. They are used to a 20-30ish% humidity. The tank at night shouldnt fall below 65. you can always get a ceramic heat emitter which is a lightless heat source you can put in a regular reptile light fixture. I also forgot to tell you about the meal worms! Its a good thing someone else caught that. They have hard shells and can be hard for a baby to digest, causing blockage. Crickets are the best for them. gives them some hunting practice and excercise.
I share my beardie with my boyfriend, hes the one who got me into the idea of having one. He named her snuggles hehehe. I keep her in the most high traffic area so he can be social and ill be able to take her out on a leash when she is bigger. We also have concerts here so many people stare at her and she just eats and looks back at them. Being near and handled by many people is so great!

Oh and for the pics....upload them from your computer to photobucket.com and get the IMG code and paste it in the message

 

[annieoakley123]

hahaha look at all the help your getting....hehehe

 

[Ker6176]

i absolutly love all the help everyone has given dunnie and me. She loves the bath and just enjoys everything. We took her for a drive the other day and she loved it. She sat on my arm against the window and just soaked up the heat. I have a mini heater for a desk so she has been using it. She likes to lay on it while it is cooling.

For a while she was sitting on the bed with me and would run and try to jump off the bed. I would catch her and i had no clue why. then on thursday she was sitting on the bed as usual and my binders were on the bed for school work. Suddenly she runs like she is about to jump off the bed again and she bolts across the binder to her tank. She clawed on the tank and was trying to get in so i put her in. She was just cold. Once she was warm she was ready to play.

I told my boyfriend this and he started thinking. Why not build a ramp so she can come in and out as she pleases instead of me having to stop and lifting her in and out. She tested it out today and LOVES it. She goes up and down constantly.


I made a photobucket account today so she will have pictures up soon and once again THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ker6176]

I have some new pictures to upload of dunnie later. SHe is getting bigger and is even more affectionate. She prefers to sleep while being held until she is fully asleep now in days and she is trying to burrow.
This became apparent when i wa laying at the computer uploading some of her pictures and she crawled under a small space i ad under my chest. nuzzled in and passed out for the night. It was so much easier but she had a long day. Someone who lives upstairs made a loud sound around 3 am and she woke up beard puffed and scared. I held her for about 2 hours before she was back asleep. THen she had to wake up early fr her light ( i try to average 10 hours a day and i have classes so her light is on by 8). i went out and got asleep timer so the ligt wont turn on till 10. Baby needs her beauty sleep. Then her and i spent the day fixing her ramp and teaching her how to use it. then she played all day on it. By 9:30 she was basking and almost passed out. She started to open her mouth and looked like she was in pain so i picked her up and she was burning up. She took a bath and looked alot better. Her temperatures were only 80 and 95 under the light. She played on the computer with me and attacked the screen at every pop up. She started to nuzzle and burrow in my covers until she was comfy. Passed out and i almost thought she was ded she was so non-responsive. Shewoke up after i put he in her tank but didnt struggle Iput her log over her and she has been asleep ever since. If only ever night was that easy!

Just thought i would share her new behaviors and attitude. Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and all your support. It was been amazing with having her. She is by far the best pet and addition to my family (non-human wise) yet!

 

[melonysbaby]

welcome...... :mrgreen:

 

[Freeie]

Welcome to bd.org!