Rescue Beardie- a few questions at end

[Kmarks]

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.

 

[Kiara1125]

I would sit by the cage at a far enough distance to where he feels comfortable. Completely ignore him and just read a book, browse the web, play on your phone, etc. for about 15 minutes to an hour a day. After doing that for a week or until he's comfortable (ignores you for the most part), start opening up the lid and placing your hand on the top of the tank on the opposite side of where he is. Make sure he can see your hand, but he can't reach it or lunge at it. After he is comfortable with that, place your hand inside the tank, but be careful and make sure you can pull your hand out quickly if he lunges. Just take it in weekly intervals. Here's my list.

- Sit by cage
- Place hand on top of cage
- Place hand in cage
- Place hand by beardie
- Give slight pets to beardie (Use major caution with this! Start with his back and his tail first)
- Give head pets to beardie
- Hand feed beardie
- Try to pick up beardie
- Hold beardie in tank
- Hold beardie outside tank and let him run around

Hopefully you'll be able to tame him within a month or two, but it all depends on the beardie.

As for eating, how old is he? He might be at the point where he eats more greens than insects. If so, try a variety of things. My beardie loves blueberries, raspberries, grapes, broccoli, carrots, mulberry leaves, hibiscus flowers and leaves, spinch, kale, and pear cacti. I'm still finding things that she'll like. After I brought her home (got her off of Craigslist and she is 3 years old), she ate 5 baby carrots, 3 pieces of tiny broccoli, 3 hibiscus leaves, 2 mulberry leaves, and 2 hibiscus flowers (one single and one triple!) all within the first night. She's very skittish, but I hand fed her the hibiscus flowers petal by petal. She loved it.

Basically, just find out what he likes and try to see how old he is. This website helped me a LOT.

What do Bearded Dragons eat?

Their chart is at the bottom for ages and how often they should eat insects and vegetation.

As for stress and such, he probably is. I wouldn't stick my hand in the tank at all unless you're taking out uneaten food or cleaning up poop. When you feed him the vegetables, drop them into the dish from the top of the tank. The movement will entice him to eat.

Best of luck with everything! Please keep us updating on your progress!

 

[Kmarks]

Thanks for the info. His food dish is in the back of his setup. I will move it toward the front so i an less intrusive in his space. And i will also cut back on the crickets for the time being.

 

[Kmarks]

Hey Everyone,
Here is a follow up:
My beardie is getting used to me great. He stays relaxed when I stick my hands in his cage. He lets me pet him with little to know side puffing. He has also starting taking treats out of my hand.

He is still skiddish when I try to slid my hand under him to lift him up, which makes giving him a bath a real challenge. He will put a claw or two on my hand when i have treats in my palm, but will back off if i move it.

Any tips to help this along?

 

[Kiara1125]

Congratulations! I would further move it along by feeding all plant matter by hand and giving extending petting periods as long as he doesn't react badly. Saphira still puffs up with me sometimes, but she calms down quickly. I only stop petting her whenever she turns her side to me.

Try petting him on the back of his neck and head. After hes comfortable, you can try to pet him in between the eyes. Saphira loves to be rubbed on her nose and she loves to lick me, but I wouldn't suggest this until you know that he's used to you and wont bite you. If you don't want to get bit then don't try to attempt it. lol

You're making GREAT progress for such a short amount of time. I'm proud of you guys! :mrgreen: Keep up the good work and keep us updated!

 

[Clancy49]

Hello Kmarks!
I read where you rescued your friends sons beardie. Kudos to you! I love reading things like that. I don't know if this will help you but I allow my beardies to lick my hand before picking them up. So, they know what's going to happen and let it be kinda their idea that they are going to be picked up. Now if they don't give me a kiss (lick) then I will come back a lil later and try it again. Of course, with this being a new beardie to you, that does increase your chances of being bit. Only you know how your lil guy will react but I thought it was worth mentioning. In my case I allow my beardies to make their choices. I wish you the best of luck! BTW, what's your beardies name?

 

[Kmarks]

Hey Clancy,
My beardie's name is Zilla. I was able to hold him in my hand for a few minutes last weekend and today. He puffs out his sides but no beard. So I guess he is warming up to me. He does lick my hand, and them nibbles it. The reason is is I usually hand feed him superworms or freeze dried crickets as treats as a peace offering as i pet him.

Is it normal for a beardie to puff their sides while being petted? Mine does that and watches me while I am doing it.