New/first beardie Ender

[noonthirtyfive]

Recently moved into my own apartment and realized I was no longer bound to the two-critter limit imposed on me by my mom, I decided to get a bearded dragon. I figured I'd have to wait until summer to find a baby beardie, but I found someone giving away a six-month-old on Craigslist due to lack of time to care for it, and couldn't resist.

His name is Ender, and although he's still mostly blue from the blue sand his previous owner was keeping him in, his head is a nice wheat color. I've been feeding him baby crickets, mealworms, collards, grated carrots, and strawberries. He seems interested in everything but the carrots, eats well, and seems to enjoy being hand-fed. I'm keeping him in a 20-gallon tank with a fancy mercury vapor sun bulb his previous owner gave me.

So far he does NOT like being handled at all, which I suppose is due to the fact that his previous owner never did so. I've been trying to gently pick him up once a day or so, but he makes it abundantly clear that he does not appreciate my efforts. Earlier today he actually nipped my finger when I tried I really hope he calms down a bit with time, because it's very difficult to move him or interact with him without completely freaking him out.

So hello to the beardie community from me and Ender!

 

[lauraj1055]

:wave: Welcome!! When he is calmed down at night after lights go out (maybe 10 mins after) pick him up, and put him in a towel and wrap it around him (beardie burrito) this gives them a sense of security, and let him lay on your as your watching tv, or on the computer, whatever you do at night.. this way he will get used to you, but too tired to fight you

 

[noonthirtyfive]

Beardie burrito! Thanks, I'll give that a try!

 

[Bwalter]

it just takes time. I got my baby in Jan, but he was very small, about 6 weeks old and about 3-4" long. I didn't do much with him because I thought I would hurt him, Now he is about 8" long and for about 3 weeks now I take him out before bedtime and let him run on my couch and me, He has tamed down so much, he loves it now. No stress marks. Mine did bite me about 2 weeks ago and it does hurt a little. If he is grumpy he will hiss at me, then lick but no bite any more. Have fun with your little berdie.

 

[noonthirtyfive]

I think I'll try doing that nightly before bed. The towel idea will probably help, because his least favorite part seems to be being grabbed and moved out of the tank--too much fast movement, maybe, and he's too big for my hand to support all of his legs. When you let your run around, do they try and get away? Ender's such a fast little critter, I'd be sort of afraid to lose him.

 

[lauraj1055]

My older beardie Ollie, knows his way around the whole house.. He has his favorite spots. I never worry about him, I just let him go, and he hardly ever tries to hide anywhere unless it's later in the evening and he's ready for sleep. His favorite spot is my dogs crate, or in front of my other beardies cage. Phred, my lil guy, I have to watch him more closely. He's a bit more jumpy, and fast.. he's not as tame as Ollie. Sometimes I will just put PHred in the bathroom so it's a smaller confined place that he can't easily get lost..

 

[moongypsy]

Recently moved into my own apartment and realized I was no longer bound to the two-critter limit imposed on me by my mom, I decided to get a bearded dragon. I figured I'd have to wait until summer to find a baby beardie, but I found someone giving away a six-month-old on Craigslist due to lack of time to care for it, and couldn't resist.

His name is Ender, and although he's still mostly blue from the blue sand his previous owner was keeping him in, his head is a nice wheat color. I've been feeding him baby crickets, mealworms, collards, grated carrots, and strawberries. He seems interested in everything but the carrots, eats well, and seems to enjoy being hand-fed. I'm keeping him in a 20-gallon tank with a fancy mercury vapor sun bulb his previous owner gave me.

So far he does NOT like being handled at all, which I suppose is due to the fact that his previous owner never did so. I've been trying to gently pick him up once a day or so, but he makes it abundantly clear that he does not appreciate my efforts. Earlier today he actually nipped my finger when I tried I really hope he calms down a bit with time, because it's very difficult to move him or interact with him without completely freaking him out.

So hello to the beardie community from me and Ender!

I'm going to be getting a beardie from my bf's mom. she has had her for about 6 months or so and my bf said she looks like shes about 6 inches. THAT'S SMALL compared to yours.

 

[noonthirtyfive]

Maybe she's not including the tail? Mine is about six inches without the tail. Mine might be a little older, too--I just have the previous owner's word to go on, and she didn't seem entirely sure.

 

[noonthirtyfive]

My older beardie Ollie, knows his way around the whole house.. He has his favorite spots. I never worry about him, I just let him go, and he hardly ever tries to hide anywhere unless it's later in the evening and he's ready for sleep. His favorite spot is my dogs crate, or in front of my other beardies cage. Phred, my lil guy, I have to watch him more closely. He's a bit more jumpy, and fast.. he's not as tame as Ollie. Sometimes I will just put PHred in the bathroom so it's a smaller confined place that he can't easily get lost..

Aww I would love to have mine tame enough to sit around with me. I have a garter snake who's very tame and very predictable out of his cage, but he's so small he could easily get lost. It would be really cool to have a beardie big enough to keep track of, and tame enough to safely chillax with me out of the cage.

 

[lauraj1055]

Yeah, I have to say Ollie is the best, I think it has a lot to do with his breeder.. he was tame from the day I received him. He went for a car ride with me yesterday and just sat on the passenger side looking out the window. He's the bomb!

Hanging in the dog crate:

 

[noonthirtyfive]

So I tried the beardie-burrito last night! It was a great idea, so thank you! He stayed asleep mostly the whole time, only opening an eye very slowly at occasional noises. And it was super cute!

 

[lauraj1055]

He makes a super cute beardie burrito!!! I love wrapping mine up like this and snuggling with them!

 

[noonthirtyfive]

Hmm... tried the beardie burrito again tonight, but I guess he was a little more awake, because after a while of sitting burrito-style on the table next to my arm, he decided it was time to get up, and then ran off the kitchen table onto the carpet (he seemed fine and just sorta bounced when he landed), and I had to chase him around on the floor into a little cricket container to get him back in his tank. :| In the future I'll keep him off the table. But he does seem less skittish when I reach for him, and he let me pick him up today without the washcloth without flipping out, so I guess a little progress has been made. Oh beardies.

 

[NCSUCarrie]

What a cutey! I can definitely see the blue coloration on him... poor little dude. :roll: It's hard to tell from the pics if the lighter color on his body and tail is just from the blue sand or if he is getting ready to shed that part of him. Until he sheds he'll probably stay blue
The beardie burrito tends to work pretty well , esp when they are sleepy !! So I'm glad you tried that and it was a success. Most bearded dragons will get used to being handled pretty quick and it sounds like you've already had some progress. Keep up the work and you might have a snuggley dragon on your hands
I would recommend not feeding the mealworms... They aren't very nutritious and are higher in fat. They have a lot more indigestible chitin to nutrients.
If you haven't seen the nutritional chart on beautiful dragons site it's worth checking out - it has nutritional info on greens, veggies, fruits, and insects ! GREAT site
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
Good luck with your new dragon Sounds like he's a lucky boy to have found your house !

 

[noonthirtyfive]

What a cutey! I can definitely see the blue coloration on him... poor little dude. :roll: It's hard to tell from the pics if the lighter color on his body and tail is just from the blue sand or if he is getting ready to shed that part of him. Until he sheds he'll probably stay blue
The beardie burrito tends to work pretty well , esp when they are sleepy !! So I'm glad you tried that and it was a success. Most bearded dragons will get used to being handled pretty quick and it sounds like you've already had some progress. Keep up the work and you might have a snuggley dragon on your hands
I would recommend not feeding the mealworms... They aren't very nutritious and are higher in fat. They have a lot more indigestible chitin to nutrients.
If you haven't seen the nutritional chart on beautiful dragons site it's worth checking out - it has nutritional info on greens, veggies, fruits, and insects ! GREAT site
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
Good luck with your new dragon Sounds like he's a lucky boy to have found your house !

Thanks! That's a very handy chart. Currently feeding him collards, blueberries, and strawberries, and plan to pick up some squash soon. He does seem to enjoy the fruits, and has strawberry stains all over his face The mealworms came from his previous owner and I'm just trying to use them up, and was placing them on the vegetable food for some movement to attract him to that area when he was first introduced to his tank. I'll probably try some superworms next. I'll have to continue the burrito sessions because they seem to be workin. What a good beardie