My New Dragon Isn't Very Fond of Me! :(

[Glyko]

Hello everyone! Reptar, my first bearded dragon, arrived on Thursday, and I'm starting to worry that he isn't really my biggest fan.

He was ordered from a breeder all the way across the country, so some relocation stress was certainly to be expected. He's about 8 weeks old, born April 2. To introduce him to his new home, I placed the bag that he came in inside the tank and let him come out when he was ready...took him about 3 hours, but he came out eventually.

The breeder told me not to handle him for the first week and a half or so other than to show him where his water was. I've had to some minimal handling, maybe 15 minutes total since I've gotten him...just moving him around the tank mostly, as he was finding himself into some pretty daring and dangerous positions high up along the tank. I haven't even been able to really show him the water, but I know he knows about it since he pooped in it this morning. What a great relief, now I at least know he's not dehydrated.

The weird thing is that he's not active AT ALL if there's someone in the room. I mean, he'll let crickets climb over his back and head, and not eat them. I leave the room, come back, crickets are gone. I'd say they're just hiding somewhere, but he does the same thing with superworms - he'll let them crawl right under his chin, and not even pay them any mind. I leave the room, come back 15 minutes later to a half a superworm since he obviously chomped the other half. I actually saw him eat one by peeking around the corner so he couldn't see me watching him, and was SO RELIEVED! It's good to know that there isn't anything wrong with him physically since he's running around the tank and eating and stuff when he doesn't realize I'm around, but it's Day 3...when will he start to warm up to me at least a little bit?

One problem I seem to be having is that the superworms find their way underneath the tile...any way to prevent this? I can't hover over the cage and push them back to the center because, as I said, Reptar doesn't eat when I'm watching him. I know there's at least 4 or 5 superworms hiding under the tile, and I"m going to try to clean it up today.

Anyway, I know the post is a bit jumbled but any help you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[CamoDog]

My dragon was the same when we first got him. For some reason he just would not eat in front of people. Slowly he started eating insects in front of us and then eventually vegetables. It took maybe a couple of months for him to be 'normal' with us but I suspect other dragons may differ.

 

[Glyko]

Thanks Camo

Any other ideas? Or maybe how I could decrease the time for this adjustment period? Should I handle him more or leave him be? It will be pretty disappointing if it takes him several months for him to warm up to us to the point that he can eat in front of us. I don't want to put more than one or two crickets at a time into the tank, but I'm starting to get concerned that he's not eating enough. He's had 4 superworms for sure since Thursday, maybe more during the day that came up from underneath the tile, but I can't be sure. Can't confirm that he's eaten any crickets but I haven't seen any in a while, so maybe he did. Poop this morning was pretty big for his size, so that's encouraging, but I'd still like to see him eat and be able to interact with him pretty soon.

 

[Glyko]

Bump?

 

[Esther19]

Congrats on your new dragon! I have had my 2 boys for almost 2 years, and they still would rather eat in private. How does he react when you pick him up to move him? If he doesn't appear really scared, I'd start handling him more. Make sure he can see your hand coming towards him. I like to hold mine up and talk to them face-to-face. I have 2 that like to snuggle and one who would rather explore. I'm sure your dragon will be very fond of you.

 

[Glyko]

Thanks! he still seems pretty scared by my hand...he's sleeping now, we'll try again tomorrow.

Any ideas on the problem I'm having with the superworms getting under the tile? Should I get one of those worm dishes?

 

[Glyko]

Handled Reptar a little today...he didn't fight too hard, but you could tell he wasn't really feeling it. Just had him in my hand inside his tank for maybe two or three minutes, and then placed him back on the branch. When I placed him down, he scurried away pretty quick..

He's not interested in eating today at all. Didn't eat in the morning, isn't eating now...I threw two crickets in there, frozen so that they would wake up after a few minutes. I figured he didn't go after them because they weren't moving so I threw one in there that was warm and alert, and he still didn't go after it...I don't think he ate it but I walked away for a few minutes and I cnan't find it...I guess it might just be hiding somewhere. The two that are frozen still aren't moving, so I must've frozen them for too long.

Just a little weird cause he did eat about 4-5 crickets yesterday, including one out of my hand. He seems to have lost his interest in superworms, or at least he's not eating them quick enough...they keep getting under the tile at the bottom of the tank and I'm sure they're still under there...gonna have to do an excavation, but I'm afraid that the more moving around in there, the more stressed Reptar will become.

I'm trying to remain patient, but we're on day 4 so I'm starting to get a little nervous...I really hope he shakes this skittishness.

 

[Esther19]

That's great that he let you hold him. Try a few times each day. Before his bedtime is a great time, when he is sleepy.

If your little guy is only 8 weeks old, he shouldn't be eating superworms. They are much too big for him. Dragons have kinks in their stomachs that do not straighten out until they are 16" long. Some on here advocate feeding small superworms to dragons shorter than 16", but I think 8 weeks is too young in any regard.

All food should be smaller than the space between their eyes.

Two major reasons for not eating are dehydration and inaccurate temps. You say he is hydrated, so let's look at your temps. The absolute minimum for digestion is 95. Babies prefer 100-110, but not above 110. This should be measured directly at the basking spot. Round and strip stick-on thermometers are notoriously inaccurate. A digital thermometer with a probe on a wire or a temp gun are the most reliable.

So, what are your basking temps, and how are you measuring them?
We'll get this figured out. :wink:

 

[Glyko]

Temps are just right...between 105 and 115 in the basking spot, we've had a heat wave these past few days though. Before the heat wave the highest temperature I was reading was 108, and that's at the very very top of the tank, right underneath the basking light. Reading with PE2 infrared temp gun.

I don't think there's anything wrong with his setup, because he IS eating...just not in front of me. He's pooping pretty regularly too, so I don't think there's anything wrong with his health/environment. He just doesn't like to eat when anyone is in the room, ha. I put fresh dandelion/collard greens in his bowl each day with a bit of parsnip, and he does seem to be munching on that too.

Breeder had suggested superworms, but I suppose I'll hold off till he's a bit bigger and stick with the crickets for now. They're well sized for him.

 

[jacody]

What I did w/ my 2 (1 male, 1 female) when I 1st brought them home when they were babies was I went into and around the cage frequently.. just talking to them and putting my hands around the viv.. basically "pretending" to tidy up.. maybe just p/u a piece of salad and then leave and just try even touching his back and shoulders w/o picking him up completely.. then just holding him in his viv until he's fine w/ coming out and being handled.. it prob. sounds silly, but going slower at first is in my eyes better so you don't have to start all over w/ him/her trusting and getting to know you.. hard not to be discouraged/worried when you're waiting for a new pet 's adjustment time to end, but it'll be worth it once he/she starts to trust you

 

[Glyko]

No handling today...he's totally not feeling it.

I put two crickets in there when I got home from work, and he's completely uninterested. I managed to get one of the crickets out of there, but the second one got to a crevice in the branch, and he's wedged in there pretty good. I need to get that cricket out before nightfall because I don't want him biting Reptar while he's sleeping. So I was prying around and trying to get in that crevice, and the knife I was using tapped the glass of Reptar's viv a few times..must've spooked him pretty good because now he won't let me get my hand anywhere near him. I tried a couple of times, but I don't want to push it and make him even more stressed out. Still, we're on Day 5 now...is this still normal behavior? Part of the appeal of a bearded dragon for me was how easy they are to tame and how well they respond to human interaction. I know there's relocation stress, but I just want to make sure he's all right. And I still have to get that damn cricket out.

I got him some smaller crickets today in the hopes that maybe he'll do better with these - I suddenly have the feeling that the crickets I've been giving him have been too big. They don't look any bigger than the space between his eyes, but they're 'medium' from Petco. I was in a tossup between those and the smalls and unfortunately, there were only 2 boxes of smalls and they were about 50% dead. Anyway, the breeder had told me to get 3/8" crickets, and that's what I estimated the mediums to be. Guess not, because I got 100 3/8 inch crickets in the mail today, and they're WAY smaller than the ones I've been giving Reptar.

Good thing though is that the problem is fixed now, and I know he's not impacted or anything because he's still pooping okay and seems to be eating his greens. Just wish he would understand that I love him and don't plan on eating him!

 

[jacody]

Don't worry.. coming from one place to another is hard on any animal and 5 days really isn't very long in dragon land. he'll come along and bless you with his dragon presence when he's ready.. they may be lizards , but have strong personalities.. are stubborn and headstrong...you just need to wait him out..

 

[Glyko]

So there's been a little improvement, and Reptar's letting me handle him a bit more, but the not eating right away thing is going to start to be a problem.

I dropped three crickets in this morning...we think he ate them, but we can't really be sure. Another two went in in the afternoon, and they went and hid right away. I haven't been watching him extremely closely, but I highly doubt that he ate them both.

I really don't want to leave crickets in the tank over night, because I've heard it's not good for the dragon, but I don't know what to do. I can't imagine a dish (or a way to build one) that would contain the crickets, and I'm not really sure of my options here. I could start offering only dead crickets (frozen for 5-10 minutes), but he'll probably turn his nose up at those, won't he?

I'm starting to get worried about his eating habits, and how he doesn't ever eat right away when I put his live food in the cage. I want him to improve so that we can start to take him out of the tank and really interact with him, but it's very obvious that he's not ready for that yet.

What do you guys think?

 

[fancybearded]

My beardie really likes phonex worms. Very easy to handle. Can digest easier and less expensive than buying crickets regularly. He isn't a fan of being handled so we haven't really to much. Every other day or so until recently when we made him a leash. Not so thrilled but now that he is seven month old we feel more comfortable holding onto him when he squirms and runs. Keep trying little at a time.

 

[fancybearded]

A month later and Yoda is very different. He lets us handle him more. Most of the time even enjoys the harness time. Stay with it we have had him eight months and are now getting hom to come around.