New owner! baby 4 inch translucent tiger (picture heavy)

[Sovski]

Hey everyone!

I just got my bearded dragon today from Blood Bank Dragons. Just wanted to say hello and get some feedback about whether the set-up I have is proper. He's a four inch baby translucent tiger. I haven't decided on a name yet... maybe Nikolai? I'll include some pictures below. I have him in a 40 gallon terrarium and I've blocked off three of the sides with paper towels so he doesn't get overwhelmed. 75 watt exo-terra reptile bulb on his basking side and a 50 watt exo-terra reptile bulb on his cool side. I measure each side with a digital temperature probe -- hot side at his basking spot is between 100 and 106. His cool side ranges between 79 to 84. I also have a 36 inch reptisun 10.0 tube in a repti-sun terrarium hood (built in reflector). The reptisun tube has about 18 inches of distance between it and the floor of the terrarium.

He was really scared when I took him out and was running away from me. He also gets scared when I put my hand in the terrarium, he starts to run the opposite direction. I think the trip took a toll on him. I'm trying not to handle him too much so he can get used to his surroundings with the least amount of stress possible. I saw him glass surfing quite a bit earlier today, it seems like he just wanted to get out and run away. He has stopped glass surfing and has been hanging out at the top of his basking area for a while.

I fed him three baby crickets today but he didn't seem to want to eat any more. I haven't given him a bath yet in fear of stressing him out even more. Here are some pictures of the little guy:

Here are a couple pictures of his set-up:

 

[Brezzy99]

He is a cute little fella! I love the picture of him looking over the paper towel.

-Sabrina

 

[CooperDragon]

Super cute little guy! Save those pictures, he won't be that tiny for long =)

 

[Tonja]

He is adorable and like Sabrina I love the picture of him peeking over the paper towel.

 

[Sovski]

Thanks for the kind words! He's a cute little guy. Should I be handling him or mostly leaving him to himself for the next couple weeks? I don't know if handling him more often now will help him get used to me or stress him out.

This youtube video from a breeder says handling them a bit more often will help flighty dragons get used to you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2fMHKPme24

 

[CooperDragon]

Handling can cause stress, but it really depends on the dragon. It's a little different for everyone. Give it a try and if he's OK with it, it's fine. If he backs off or acts skittish, give him some space for a while.

 

[Sovski]

Earlier when I was handling him he was skittish on and off. He would stay in my hands with his side towards me. He would look up at me and close the eye that was facing me . I've read that baby dragons who close their eye closest to you are stressed and don't want to see you?

When I let him down off my hands onto the carpet he would stay still for a bit and then scamper off quickly away from me. I've left him alone in his terrarium since then.

 

[CooperDragon]

Sounds like you're not far off. Be gentile and keep trying. They close their eye to pretend you aren't there anymore. Shouldn't last more than a few seconds though, and don't take offense. Handling will come easier for both of you with time.

 

[Brezzy99]

Closing the one eye is normal. It's really funny though. My 2 month old baby (had her since she was 2 weeks old) always closes the eye closest to anyone else. She runs from everyone but me. If you don't want to bath him yet you can use an eye dropper or syringe with no needle to drip some water on his nose. Mine loves a bath but she likes the eye dropper as well. He will have you trained in no time!

-Sabrina

 

[Tonja]

Take a t-shirt you have worn and roll it up and put it in his tank so he can get used to your scent plus they love soft things to sleep on or crawl under to sleep.

 

[Sovski]

I took him out again for some handling time. The longer I spent with him the more comfortable he was. He eventually started crawling towards me and across my leg, as well as my hands/arms. He also started licking me! Not sure if he just smells something he likes or what? :lol:

Thanks for the idea about the shirt. I'll try it out! I fed him another two crickets but he didn't want anymore after that. Five total for the day. I'll let him bask for another hour to digest before lights out. :mrgreen:

 

[Brezzy99]

That's great! Sounds like he is settling in well.

-Sabrina

 

[SethATL]

Congratulations on the Blood Bank baby, they have some amazing beardies and youtube videos. Mine was a little skiddish at first, I gave her about 3 or 4 days to adjust and just misted lightly twice a day. Tried to only go into the cage to feed and clean poo. I started handling and bathing after that and now (3 weeks later) i am amazed at how tame she has become. But congrats on the beautiful tiger, sounds like your off to a great start and your new buddy has a caring owner

 

[Sawahchan]

Omg! He is such a little cutie Just a word of warning, I had that exact same basking rock thing and it breaks easily, so be careful! My mother went to pick it up and it hit the tank just so and a huge hole broke out of the side. We had to replace it because of the jaggedness of the hole. Luckily no one was harmed!

 

[Sovski]

Yeah Blood Bank Dragons have some really nice colors and patterns! I've decided to call him Rocko. Looks like he's still stressed out. He has some black circles on his belly and the majority of his belly is black. He's eating on average five or six repti-worms per day. I chopped up some collard greens with tiny pieces of grape for him today and dusted with a multi-vitamin and calcium but he didn't go for it. He is pooping/peeing once a day so no worries there!

I'm only handling him when I give him his morning bath to hydrate. Other than that, the only time I go into his cage are to clean poo and give him a bowl of repti-worms. I'm also hoping he's getting enough UVB. The terrarium hood isn't exactly right on top of the cage mesh. There's about two inches of distance between it and the mesh. He's alert though and scampers up and down his basking rock throughout the day.