My first dragon! (picture) + I need tips PLEASE! ASAP./edit

[moongypsy]

Hi Everyone! I adopted my first dragon (from my boyfriend's mom because she doesn't have time to take care of her) so I finally took her in. I dont know her exact age but she's had her "for about 6 months or so"

She's shedding

I'm setting up her tank right now, cleaned out her rug, etc.

I am a little bit scared to grab her but I know she won't do any harm. I plan on handling her a lot, I just dont want to scare her and force my touch on her since she doesnt know me. She seems fairly nice though because my boyfriend touched her and she stood still. (his mom said she needs to be tamed a lot though..)

If she puffs, do I leave her alone or just continue to grab her?

Any tips of handling a brand new dragon is much appreciated. I will post another picture once I have everything set up for her.

PS - As for the crickets - I know it has to be the size of the space between her eyes - so I went to petco and they only had LARGE and SMALL. Is there Medium or should I just get small (although they seemed really tiny) (and there were a few crickets in the tank as I cleaned and she ate one - it didnt seem too big but it def looked smaller than what I saw at Petco)

THANKS!


- I will also be renaming her. Her name she originally had was Sara, but I plan on changing it. :wave:


- edit: Also, I just saw she has one eye open and one eye closed and she has her head to the ground as if she's sleeping and I think it's black. (from what I saw from the side) so I just leave her alone until she moves on her own? Can I put on gloves just this one time to move her to the heat? (as i said, I'm setting up her tank)

edit: I think she's turning a bit gray/black. she still has one eye open and the other closed.

 

[jaymerz]

She is a cutie to the fullest extent of the word. As for handling her, I usually try to pick them up from the front so they can see my hand comming, and slide my my index and middle fingers between their front legs until I have enough to support them. I am by no means an expert on bearded dragon care, but will help you to the best of my ability. I usually keep going when they puff, I don't want them to think I am scared of them, but I also move slowly so they don't see my as an aggressive threat. I would move her to the heat, usually they turn darker when they are stressed or cold and trying to absorb more heat. What time is it where you are? She might just be ready to go to bed, moving is an eventful and stressful day in a beardies life. As for the black I'm not sure what you are talking about, but I would recommend taking a picture and posting it so when someone else who is more knowledgeable see this they have something to look at.

Good luck with your baby and keep us updated!!!

 

[moongypsy]

She is a cutie to the fullest extent of the word. As for handling her, I usually try to pick them up from the front so they can see my hand comming, and slide my my index and middle fingers between their front legs until I have enough to support them. I am by no means an expert on bearded dragon care, but will help you to the best of my ability. I usually keep going when they puff, I don't want them to think I am scared of them, but I also move slowly so they don't see my as an aggressive threat. I would move her to the heat, usually they turn darker when they are stressed or cold and trying to absorb more heat. What time is it where you are? She might just be ready to go to bed, moving is an eventful and stressful day in a beardies life. As for the black I'm not sure what you are talking about, but I would recommend taking a picture and posting it so when someone else who is more knowledgeable see this they have something to look at.

Good luck with your baby and keep us updated!!!

Thank you so much for writing back! We are in So Cal, it's 7pm right now. I'm trying to feed her shredded carrots but she's not budging.

Does it mean anything if she has one eye open (watching my moves) and the other closed?

 

[jaymerz]

Ok, so it isn't late out there. . Mine seem to do that a lot too, watching me with one eye closed. I just got these guys today, so I don't know their usual behavior yet, but the ones I had before use to do it as well.

 

[moongypsy]

Ok, so it isn't late out there. . Mine seem to do that a lot too, watching me with one eye closed. I just got these guys today, so I don't know their usual behavior yet, but the ones I had before use to do it as well.

how cool, we got some the same day

another question, would it be okay to pick up my dragon while shes asleep? (with both eyes closed lol) or would that scare her, so instead pick her up while she sees my hand approaching..?

 

[jaymerz]

I pick mine up, I actually pulled Zeddicus out of his tank and he is currently under my shirt to block out the light and is sleeping like a baby.

 

[noonthirtyfive]

I've had mine for only a few weeks, and he isn't used to being handled, so someone on here suggested waiting until just after his lights go out, picking him up in a towel, and keeping him with me while I watch tv/mess around on the computer, because he'll be too sleepy to freak out, the towel will make him feel safe, and he'll get used to my presence.

I tried it last night and it worked great--I wrapped him in a washcloth, lifted him out of the tank, and kept him on my lap while I did stuff on the computer. He stayed asleep most of the time, although every now and then the noise from my computer seemed to irritate him and he opened an eye to look. After a while I put him back in the tank, let him stay asleep on the unfolded wash cloth, and he's just now waking up. I haven't tried handling him again today but hopefully repeated beardie-burrito sessions will help him get used to me. I recommend trying it! If nothing else it's super adorable.

 

[jaymerz]

AWWWWW!!! So cute! I'm glad you found a way you could hold him(?) without him spazzing. I totally forgot about the beardie burrito until I saw your pictures of it.

 

[moongypsy]

I've had mine for only a few weeks, and he isn't used to being handled, so someone on here suggested waiting until just after his lights go out, picking him up in a towel, and keeping him with me while I watch tv/mess around on the computer, because he'll be too sleepy to freak out, the towel will make him feel safe, and he'll get used to my presence.

I tried it last night and it worked great--I wrapped him in a washcloth, lifted him out of the tank, and kept him on my lap while I did stuff on the computer. He stayed asleep most of the time, although every now and then the noise from my computer seemed to irritate him and he opened an eye to look. After a while I put him back in the tank, let him stay asleep on the unfolded wash cloth, and he's just now waking up. I haven't tried handling him again today but hopefully repeated beardie-burrito sessions will help him get used to me. I recommend trying it! If nothing else it's super adorable.

This is a very good idea! thank you, I will try that. I also put one of my worn t shirts in there so she gets used to my scent.

you said you pick yours up while he's sleepy, does that also apply when they're asleep completely? Mine is still asleep and was wondering if its ok to pick her up while shes literally asleep or will that make her upset? I dont want to scare her with waking her up and thinking she's in danger since I'd be picking her up and she'd wake up perhaps during the process.

I will try the beardie burrito though for sure! thank you so much :mrgreen:

 

[noonthirtyfive]

This is a very good idea! thank you, I will try that. I also put one of my worn t shirts in there so she gets used to my scent.

you said you pick yours up while he's sleepy, does that also apply when they're asleep completely? Mine is still asleep and was wondering if its ok to pick her up while shes literally asleep or will that make her upset? I dont want to scare her with waking her up and thinking she's in danger since I'd be picking her up and she'd wake up perhaps during the process.

I will try the beardie burrito though for sure! thank you so much :mrgreen:

Mine seemed pretty asleep when I picked him up, but he didn't flip out. I would just go slowly either way. I started out by petting him on his back first so he knew I was there. He barely even moved the whole time, which I guess is the advantage of doing it while they're sleepy.

 

[moongypsy]

This is a very good idea! thank you, I will try that. I also put one of my worn t shirts in there so she gets used to my scent.

you said you pick yours up while he's sleepy, does that also apply when they're asleep completely? Mine is still asleep and was wondering if its ok to pick her up while shes literally asleep or will that make her upset? I dont want to scare her with waking her up and thinking she's in danger since I'd be picking her up and she'd wake up perhaps during the process.

I will try the beardie burrito though for sure! thank you so much :mrgreen:

Mine seemed pretty asleep when I picked him up, but he didn't flip out. I would just go slowly either way. I started out by petting him on his back first so he knew I was there. He barely even moved the whole time, which I guess is the advantage of doing it while they're sleepy.

I tried the burrito method and it worked. I also took her picture but I don't know if I can post from my phone so I'll do it when I get back.

 

[moongypsy]

Here she is again when I tried the burrito method :wink:

:love5: