Tonja
BD.org Addict
I am going to put this here in hopes it may help some new owners understanding why their babies, juvies or new adults don't eat or poop when they bring them home. I hope this is ok?
So you are ready for a new dragon to be brought into your home. There may be a few things new owners need to know about thier dragons being brought into a new enviornment. Once you have your habitat set up correctly, meaning proper lighting, proper temperature gradient and taken properly, proper substrate and furniture in place for basking and for the cool side of the tank. Everything is perfect or as close to it as possible and you now have your new dragon but, something is amiss. Your baby is dark with a dark belly, he/she wont eat, won't go potty when you think they should. You check and double check everything and its all good but still your baby wont eat or poop.
A lot of the time babies, juveniles and adults will go through a period of relocation stress. This is brought on by a change in enviornment, new sights, new sounds, heavy traffic in front the tank that houses your dragon, new smells. This can be very stressful for a small baby or even an adult that is older and used to things being a certain way.
Dragons under relocation stress may want to hide, keep darker colors especially on the tummy and beard, may not want to eat or even poop. This is normal behavior and should only last a week to 4 weeks as the dragon acclimates to his new surroundings. To help your dragon through this rough period in its life, you can offer greens/salad daily, give a 20 minute warm bath for hydration, and offer live prey making sure if you put live prey in the tank with the dragon its removed so that crickets cannot nibble on your dragon. You can also roll up a t-shirt that has your scent on it and place it in the tank with your dragon so he gets used to your scent. Don't handle your dragon for the first week or so to help reduce additional stress on the animal. You can lay your hand in the tank palm up for 4-5 minutes to show your dragon you are not going to harm him. In picking him up for a bath/soak, do not reach from above his head as this can startle your dragon as the parital eye <third eye> detects light and shadow and he may see this as a threat. Instead pick him up from the side or front while supporting his body, legs and tail, preferably facing away from your body. Given time and patience your dragon will come out of relocation stress and be a loving part of your family. Remember baby dragons are small and you are huge in comparison so go slowly and have patience with him, same with juveniles and adults that have been taken from an enviornment they are used to and thrust into a completely new enviornment. Talk softly to them, especially as you are approaching thier tank so they know you are there before they see you, this can help. Talk to them as you turn on lights and turn them off at night so they arent startled as they get used to your routine with them. Keep dragons in separate tanks, as one may dominate or even bully the other, what we may see as cute can actually be dominate behavior and stressful to the dragon being dominated or bullied such as stacking to get the best uvb and light, the most live prey, the best of everything leaving the other to suffer the consequences of being dominated <tail and toe nips, not gaining weight or eating enough, any number of things>. This can also stress your dragon and lead to illness so keep them separate.
After a few weeks and your dragon still displays signs of stress something else may be going on so a well check with a reputable vet may be in order to rule out parasites or ill health. Make sure if you opt for a well check it is through a reputable reptile vet that can tell you what is going on, how to remedy it and any meds they may need. Its a good idea to keep a log of behavior and what you notice what your dragon is doing or not doing behavior wise, armed with this and a list of questions for your vet can make a vet trip with a stressed dragon go much smoother and you will come home armed with answers to your questions. Signs of something wrong would be darkened appearance, dark beard, hard urates, runny smelly poop, visual contact with parasites that look like grains of rice, lethargy, not eating or not pooping over long periods of time. All of these symptoms can be relocation stress or a sign something else may be going on with your dragon.
By all means enjoy your dragon but remember they are in a completely new enviornment and this can stress them. Allow them time to acclimate and have patience. I hope this helps some of you new owners to understand a bit about why your baby is fine the first day or two eating and basking showing his happy colors, to not eating at all or going to the bathroom <nothing into the system nothing will come out of it> to being dark and hiding. I know I have not touched on all of what can stress a dragon, but mainly wanted to touch on relocation stress since there seems to be a lot of questions about babies coming home and not eating, pooping or hiding and having dark colors. I do hope this helps some.
So you are ready for a new dragon to be brought into your home. There may be a few things new owners need to know about thier dragons being brought into a new enviornment. Once you have your habitat set up correctly, meaning proper lighting, proper temperature gradient and taken properly, proper substrate and furniture in place for basking and for the cool side of the tank. Everything is perfect or as close to it as possible and you now have your new dragon but, something is amiss. Your baby is dark with a dark belly, he/she wont eat, won't go potty when you think they should. You check and double check everything and its all good but still your baby wont eat or poop.
A lot of the time babies, juveniles and adults will go through a period of relocation stress. This is brought on by a change in enviornment, new sights, new sounds, heavy traffic in front the tank that houses your dragon, new smells. This can be very stressful for a small baby or even an adult that is older and used to things being a certain way.
Dragons under relocation stress may want to hide, keep darker colors especially on the tummy and beard, may not want to eat or even poop. This is normal behavior and should only last a week to 4 weeks as the dragon acclimates to his new surroundings. To help your dragon through this rough period in its life, you can offer greens/salad daily, give a 20 minute warm bath for hydration, and offer live prey making sure if you put live prey in the tank with the dragon its removed so that crickets cannot nibble on your dragon. You can also roll up a t-shirt that has your scent on it and place it in the tank with your dragon so he gets used to your scent. Don't handle your dragon for the first week or so to help reduce additional stress on the animal. You can lay your hand in the tank palm up for 4-5 minutes to show your dragon you are not going to harm him. In picking him up for a bath/soak, do not reach from above his head as this can startle your dragon as the parital eye <third eye> detects light and shadow and he may see this as a threat. Instead pick him up from the side or front while supporting his body, legs and tail, preferably facing away from your body. Given time and patience your dragon will come out of relocation stress and be a loving part of your family. Remember baby dragons are small and you are huge in comparison so go slowly and have patience with him, same with juveniles and adults that have been taken from an enviornment they are used to and thrust into a completely new enviornment. Talk softly to them, especially as you are approaching thier tank so they know you are there before they see you, this can help. Talk to them as you turn on lights and turn them off at night so they arent startled as they get used to your routine with them. Keep dragons in separate tanks, as one may dominate or even bully the other, what we may see as cute can actually be dominate behavior and stressful to the dragon being dominated or bullied such as stacking to get the best uvb and light, the most live prey, the best of everything leaving the other to suffer the consequences of being dominated <tail and toe nips, not gaining weight or eating enough, any number of things>. This can also stress your dragon and lead to illness so keep them separate.
After a few weeks and your dragon still displays signs of stress something else may be going on so a well check with a reputable vet may be in order to rule out parasites or ill health. Make sure if you opt for a well check it is through a reputable reptile vet that can tell you what is going on, how to remedy it and any meds they may need. Its a good idea to keep a log of behavior and what you notice what your dragon is doing or not doing behavior wise, armed with this and a list of questions for your vet can make a vet trip with a stressed dragon go much smoother and you will come home armed with answers to your questions. Signs of something wrong would be darkened appearance, dark beard, hard urates, runny smelly poop, visual contact with parasites that look like grains of rice, lethargy, not eating or not pooping over long periods of time. All of these symptoms can be relocation stress or a sign something else may be going on with your dragon.
By all means enjoy your dragon but remember they are in a completely new enviornment and this can stress them. Allow them time to acclimate and have patience. I hope this helps some of you new owners to understand a bit about why your baby is fine the first day or two eating and basking showing his happy colors, to not eating at all or going to the bathroom <nothing into the system nothing will come out of it> to being dark and hiding. I know I have not touched on all of what can stress a dragon, but mainly wanted to touch on relocation stress since there seems to be a lot of questions about babies coming home and not eating, pooping or hiding and having dark colors. I do hope this helps some.
