Opening The Mouth

[TheOne1776]

Hello, first time reptile owner looking for answers.

So I’ve had my BD for a couple of months now. I’ve handled him many times before, but recently he’s been opening his mouth and seems scared whenever I try to reach for him. He’s never really done that before and I’m not sure if it means anything. I’ve been trying to spend time with him at least 1-2 times a day while he’s still young so that he grows used to it, but I don’t want him to be scared of me. Any advice?

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello, first time reptile owner looking for answers.

So I’ve had my BD for a couple of months now. I’ve handled him many times before, but recently he’s been opening his mouth and seems scared whenever I try to reach for him. He’s never really done that before and I’m not sure if it means anything. I’ve been trying to spend time with him at least 1-2 times a day while he’s still young so that he grows used to it, but I don’t want him to be scared of me. Any advice?

Does he still have stress marks? Is he eating and basking? He could be still going thru relocation stress and hes young so it may take some time to get him used to you- have you hand tamed him? Fed him some worms from your hand? Are you approaching from the side not from above? His surface basking temps should be 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- and his UVB should be a long tube fixture NO coils -- all these play a huge role in them acclimating to the tank --

 

[xp29]

Also have you made any changes to his habitat, it's location, or in the room around him? Some beardies don't do well with change and it can frighten and stress them.