Meet Perseus

[NikOverton]

Meet Perseus he is my first bearded dragon. I bought him from a breeder last Saturday. He was born on
1/1/13. He's currently in a large low exo terra terrarium. My only concerns so far is that he's a nice yellow when he first wakes up and in the breeder pictures but he turns really dark all day with what looks like stress marks. No signs or symptoms of illness following the guidelines on this website. Should I have any concerns? Also how can I tame him and get him used to me? He's hissed at me once, and he let me pet him today but he would open his mouth after I pet him a couple of times. Also I noticed today he's hiding a lot. He finished shedding yesterday ate a couple crickets and meal worms but he ate 30 crickets the day prior.

 

[daner923]

Hi there! The stress marks are from settling in. They can take a week or two to get over relocation stress. He may also have a bit of a reduced appetite because of that. Put a shirt that you have worn in with him - it will get him used to your smell so he will be less likely to hiss or be scared by you. Do you have any interest in reviewing your set up with us?

 

[XiDiS]

Great looking beardie Careful with the mealworms... lots of people have had problems with them causing impaction. Cant wait to see some more pics of this lil guy

 

[daner923]

I missed that about mealworms - don't feed them at all. They are not very nutritious and can cause serious impactions, especially in younger dragons.

 

[NikOverton]

I have him in a Exo terra 36” x 18” x 12”. With a Exo terra hood and a reptisun 10.0 coil bulb. I read here coil bulbs do not put out enough UVB? He has a zoomed 100 watt basking bulb. He also has a night heat lamp which I don't use because the night temperature stays high enough. Also he has a exoterra medium water fall in his tank (which he absolutely LOVES) and the humidity is staying between 15-25. What should it be?

 

[NikOverton]

Also I won't feed him meal worms any more, is there anything besides crickets that he could get protein from? He didn't eat any crickets today and it looks like he played some in his collard greens but he's been hiding behind his hideout all day and night scrunched up in a tight space, also his legs and arms are shedding a lot. Is he hiding because he's stressed or because he's shedding?

Also here are some pictures of him before i got him with his breeder

 

[DTRM30]

You can try Phoenix worms (aka reptiworms or calciworms) - you don't even need to dust them because they are naturally high in calcium. There are many other worms, but those may still be a bit big for him. Don't feed superworms until he is at least 16". Tiny dubia roaches, and I think silkworms are small as well - are another option. He's in an unfamiliar environment so will be experiencing some relocation stress. He may not eat much for a few days to about a week. He could be hiding from that, or he could be hiding from the UVB if it's bothering his eyes. Try not to let him hide too much - he needs to bask and get used to his surroundings. If he's hiding, he wont reach proper temps to digest properly and won't be getting his much needed UVB. Yes, the coil bulbs have been known to cause eye problems as well as not emitting strong enough or proper wave lengths of UVB. The bulbs recommended on here are the ReptiSun 10 or the Arcadia 12, mounted inside the tank by the basking spot 6-8" away from the basking area. You can get a fixture at Walmart pretty cheap. I got one there for $8 . You should get a better bulb as soon as you can.

Check out www.beautifuldragons.com - there is an excellent list of foods.

Don't worry about him not eating much for greens, they eat mostly bugs when little. You can try putting chopped up greens in for about 30-45 minutes prior to feeding bugs to entice him to try them. Just be sure everything is no larger than the space between his eyes

I don't have a lot of experience with beardies, this is based on my limited knowledge learned from this site, my vet and many hours of reading - so I'm sure someone else will have more suggestions for you.

 

[daner923]

DTRM gave you lots of great info. To prevent hiding, I would take out his hiding spots - simple tank furnishings is better for a dragon adjusting to a new home. I would really just have a basking spot and maybe one other item to climb on for the time being. Once he adjusts, you can add back more stuff.

 

[NikOverton]

Thank you to both of you for the great information. I will try to find him something to go along with the crickets based on the website you gave me. Im just concerned about the crickets biting him because yestersay there was a ceicket on him and he did not flinch. I had to get the crickers out of his cage. Also I will be getting him a new reptisun 10.0 UVB thats not a coil ASAP. Btw he's basking as we speak! It's nice to see him out of his corner!

 

[NikOverton]

One more question... Are Phoenix worms the most nutritional for him? If so can anyone point me to a reputable site I can order some from? Thanks

 

[daner923]

I would order them directly from the phoenix worm store. I think it's just phoenixworm.com. They are highly nutritious, as are dubia roaches and silkworms. Silkworms are probably the "most" nutritious, but they are also expensive. Dubia roaches could be viewed as "gross," but you can breed them yourself and they are an excellent feeder.

 

[DTRM30]

You can get some from Phoenix worms - just google it. They have a trial pack of 100 for I think aroung $5-6 (plus $5.99 shipping). Otherwise, I know Lindasgonebuggie has some great packs, but most have worms that would be too big still. I think Petco sells Calciworms (same as phoenix worms) in small packs as well if you want to try them to see if he likes them - then just order larger quantities. It's generally much cheaper to order them as opposed to buying at the pet stores. Crickets, for example, cost about half of what pet stores charge including the extra cost of shipping.

For dubias, many raise their own. It's supposed to be easy, and once they are established, no need to buy insects. I'm planning on trying it over the summer. Just too much right now to get on another project LOL. They don't bite and are another good choice. I know in the for sale section on here you can find people selling them. You'd need the really small ones though. The problem I found with them is most roaches and worms come in packs that have variable sizes - which would be too big for my litle guy still. Once he's bigger it won't be an issue.

Not sure if they are the most nutritional - but phoenix worms do have natural calcium and low phosporous. The best thing is to keep their diet varied. different bugs and different greens. Some people use the repcal dragon bites. There are mixed feelings on this prepared food. But again, adding to a varied diet should be fine.

Try a search on this site, I'm sure there are many other places to order from.

For feeding crickets, some people put their dragon in a separate tank/tupperwear to feed so the crickets aren't in the main enclosure. Some dragons won't eat though - they don't like the change. Some also try this method - just drop one cricket at a time in. When he stops eating, you know you only have one to find, and it's normally not too bad if you're watching where it goes. That's what we do. Another method some use is to remove the tank decorations/furniture when feeding. It's all a matter of what works best for you and your dragon. But yes, you should not leave them in there for extended periods as they can and do bite the dragons, which can give them in the least just a sore, but in some it can easily become infected.

Glad to hear he came out of hiding ! That's great !

 

[OneBigDude]

I switched from crickets to reptiworms. Way cheaper and more convenient for me, I get 700 at a time from reptiworms.com and they usually last me about 2 weeks.

 

[NikOverton]

Thank you all for your input, I will be ordering him some Phoenix and silk worms! Today we had fun together, I took out the decor in his terrarium and fed him crickets that way. He also ate greens from my fingers. He turned really bright and his stress marks diminished (this is the first time thats happened other than sleeping) but he turned dark again within 30 min and he has stress marks again. But after I put the decor back in and he let me pet him a couple of times on his back but whenever I try to pick him up he runs. Is there anyway to get him more used to me? I also put one of my shirts in him terrarium last night for him.

 

[DTRM30]

Just go slow with him. It takes time - you're a lot bigger than he is and it's partly instinct to run incase you are going to try to eat him 8)
I've seen the suggestion to put a shirt in so he gets used to your smell. I've never done it, but I've heard/read it works.

Short sessions of handling increased slowly over time. Similar to hand training a bird or any other small animal.

If he's really afraid, you can try just placing your hand in the enclosure and not moving toward him or trying to touch him. Just leave it there for a few minutes several times a day for a few days. This will get him used to your hand while letting him know that you are not going to hurt or eat him. Then you can move closer to him- and pet him (as you've been doing) without picking him up - for several short sessions per day for a few days. Then you could move to picking him up, but not far off the ground and within his enclosure. and just keep gradually increasing the time and etc.

Just remember to move at him from the side, and try not to grab from above. They have a photosensitive cell on the top of their head that detects a change in light (signaling the shadow of a bird or other predatory animal) and it can scare him and make him want to run away.