New owner

[wingedangel]

Hi guys,

Finally got myself a beardie on Saturday & having a few worries over the little one & I was hoping someone could help?

He opens his mouth when I try to pick him up then runs away. Is this normal?

He has quite prominent dark marks on his belly & neck all the time.

He's not really eating his veggies but is eating his meat which is a good sign. Still getting used to having him here & I just want to pick him up & cuddle him all the time but I'' worried about stressing him out!

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[CooperDragon]

Welcome to the forum! The mouth opening and running away is a defense mechanism. He is just afraid and stressed out from the move. Be gentile around him and give him some time to settle in and he will likely calm down after a bit. Try hand feeding him some black soldier fly larvae (phoenix worms) to try and get him to associate you with food rather than harm.
The dark marks are often called stress marks but they have more to do with a combination of mood and absorption of heat/light. They go darker when they're trying to absorb heat and lighter when they're content/reflecting heat. Either way it's quite common for the little ones to have those dark marks most of the time and shouldn't cause concern.
Please let us know if you have any further questions. If you'd like to provide photos and details about your setup I'll be glad to walk through it and make sure everything is just right for your new buddy. You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button.

 

[wingedangel]

Hey! Thanks for the reply!!

Little one seems to be a bit less stressed today & we had a really nice long cuddle this morning.

Had bath time this evening but he didn't seem too fussed by that.

Today's worry is that he's only eaten 1 cricket & 1 mealworm today :/ Tried to hand feed it & he didn't want anything to do with it. I'm worried that he over ate yesterday & that's why he hasn't eaten today. Had a feel of his belly to check for impaction & all seems good. Any advice would be great again

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad you enjoyed a good day with him. I wouldn't worry about the eating. Their appetites can fluctuate quite a bit. Just try offering him some more tomorrow. It can take several weeks for him to adjust and settle into a routine with you.

 

[JessPets]

Hello, welcome to the forum. You will defiantly want to cut out the mealworms, they can cause impaction.

 

[wingedangel]

I've given him 4 calcium coated crickets this morning & my partner will see if he'a eaten them when he gets home later today. We had a good cuddle again this morning & he's definitely getting used to me handling him.

We had bath time yesterday which was a bit uneventful on the pooping front but he did do a massive poo during the day so that's one thing at least.

Given him some fresh salad again but he hasn't been that interested in salad apart from day 1.

 

[CooperDragon]

Don't worry too much about the salad. Little guys tend to favor bugs over salad so they get the protein they need to support growth spurts. Keep making it available so it's a familiar food source but he won't migrate over to that as his primary food source until his growth slows and he approaches full size at about 12-18 months or so.

 

[wingedangel]

So. No bugs eaten today but my partner fed him some salad & he ate a fair bit of that today so at least he ate something!

How often would you recommend weighing him? We weighed him & measured him yesterday so we have an idea of what he's started at

 

[JessPets]

Maybe once a week or so.

 

[CooperDragon]

It depends on how many data points you want. You just want to watch general trends so every few days or weekly is fine. I weigh my guy daily but that provides a lot of quick fluctuation, which is OK just watch the general trend rather than the daily number.

 

[wingedangel]

Weighed him today & he's weighed the same as 2 days ago which is good. He's started eating & being more energetic again which is good!
We've added a new climbing stick in his viv which he's already enjoying. Think we're slowly getting there with him but it's still a slow process.

I have a question about the shedding. At what age do they start shedding roughly?

 

[CooperDragon]

They start shedding right away. It corresponds with growth so they shed quite frequently when young and less frequently as they get older and reach full size.

 

[wingedangel]

Vane is doing a lot better today! Ate all the salad I left out for him this morning & munched on 7 crickets this evening! Very lively running around & seems to be well on his way to settling in properly!

Thank you for all of your help so far! Happy holidays

 

[CooperDragon]

That's great news! I'm glad to hear he's settling in and doing well =)

 

[JessPets]

that's great news!