My new baby beardie gets startled when I mist her

[Kitsune]

Pooka is a 3-month year old probable female beardie. I got her from a breeder (Augie and Amy's Dragon and Chameleon Room) about a week ago. The poor thing (understandably) has been stressed out ever since I brought her home - lots of frantic behavior and stress marks on her belly.

Thankfully she's settled into eating the dubias I offer her twice a day. She's only pooped once, which I am monitoring. I even got her to take a dubia out of my palm this morning. Little luck on the salad (collard greens) so far, but I bought a bunch of new greens at the grocery store and am hopeful they will catch her interest.

My question is about keeping her hydrated. I've been spraying her about once every two days. I've been trying to spray *over* her rather than spray at her directly, but she still doesn't like it - she'll quickly bolt to the other end of the tank, hide behind her basking log, do the arm wave at me, etc. She is currently on her log with her mouth open. She could just be regulating her temperature, but I think she's still annoyed at me :roll:

Some of this is just general skittishness, but I worry that misting her set back any trust I've built with her.

I don't want to just leave a water dish, but I also want to make sure she stays hydrated. Any suggestions?

 

[Terry15]

You can use an eye dropper. That's the only way mine and will drink.

 

[Kitsune]

You can use an eye dropper. That's the only way mine and will drink.

Thank you, I'll give that a try!

As they become adults, is getting misted something they should get used to? (I just worry about hot days)

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

Hi there!

Yes, definitely try the eye dropper, or even a plastic baby medicine syringe would work as well (that's what I use). Misting doesn't actually do anything for hydration in itself. Yeah, if they are too hot it can help cool them down, but they're not absorbing water through their skin or their vent, so if they're not actually drinking the water, it's not even necessary. So if she hates it, she's definitely not missing out on anything!!

They don't generally drink from standing water, so avoiding the water dish is still a good idea. Plus sometimes they will sit in it or even fall asleep in it and could make themselves sick by not drying off properly and/or getting too cold.

 

[Alexlcrea]

I've thought about misting, but dragon's tank doesn't get to high. It's stays ations 80-85 during the day, and then 71 at night.. Burr he does drink from the dish in his tank..

 

[kingofnobbys]

No one mentioned the most obvious reason - the mist is COLD and your hatchling is naked .... how'd you like being misted by icey cold water all of a sudden with no warning on your bare back and butt ??

The very fine droplets also evaporate faster and cool as well so they can become very chilly by the time they land on the hatching's skin.

Try misting with luke warm water .

The eye dropper routine works well too.