Hey Everybody.
A little introduction:
I am a first time Beardie owner. A friend of a friend wanted to get rid of his son's dragon because the son stopped taking care of it. The friend said that he got the dragon for his son 6 months ago and he loved it. BUT the son never handled the dragon and quit taking care of it 4 months ago. I took him off of their hands a few days ago. I have always wanted a beardie as a pet and have looked into how to take care and feed one for the past 6 months. The dad gave me everything, (tank, hammock, dish, cricket keeper and cricket food).
The first night he was here I fed him crickets with calcium and let him be. He eagerly ate the crickets and then basked. I gave him collards in the morning and he happily ate them happily. Now if I put crickets in the cage, he just looks at them. He is still eating the greens, but not a lot. He does poop at least twice a day.
As far as handling, I did pet him before we left his old owner's place. Now he puffs up at me or jumps and runs whenever I try to get close to him inside the cage. He sits on his hammock and gives me the stink eye or will sit on the base of his cage with his tail up staring at me. I know that the tail up stance is a sigh that he is on alert, and the puffing up is telling me to back off.
I know that he needs a little time to get used to the new place, but is the lack of eating a sign of stress or normal behavior for a relocated beardie? And how should I go about trying to work on a relationship with my new beardie?
Any help or info is greatly appreciated.
A little introduction:
I am a first time Beardie owner. A friend of a friend wanted to get rid of his son's dragon because the son stopped taking care of it. The friend said that he got the dragon for his son 6 months ago and he loved it. BUT the son never handled the dragon and quit taking care of it 4 months ago. I took him off of their hands a few days ago. I have always wanted a beardie as a pet and have looked into how to take care and feed one for the past 6 months. The dad gave me everything, (tank, hammock, dish, cricket keeper and cricket food).
The first night he was here I fed him crickets with calcium and let him be. He eagerly ate the crickets and then basked. I gave him collards in the morning and he happily ate them happily. Now if I put crickets in the cage, he just looks at them. He is still eating the greens, but not a lot. He does poop at least twice a day.
As far as handling, I did pet him before we left his old owner's place. Now he puffs up at me or jumps and runs whenever I try to get close to him inside the cage. He sits on his hammock and gives me the stink eye or will sit on the base of his cage with his tail up staring at me. I know that the tail up stance is a sigh that he is on alert, and the puffing up is telling me to back off.
I know that he needs a little time to get used to the new place, but is the lack of eating a sign of stress or normal behavior for a relocated beardie? And how should I go about trying to work on a relationship with my new beardie?
Any help or info is greatly appreciated.