scared me to death in first bath!

[XCrunner]

so my little guy dino has been having some trouble eating lately so i decided to give him his first bath today. i put him in the water, not cold but not hot. about room temp a lil warmer.he just kinda sat in it for about a minute or two, drank a little bit to then he like stopped spazed out for a good 2 seconds, practically giving me a heart attack. then he stopped, and start to slowly lower more into the water and his eyes started to close. i swear i thought he was dead.i quickly pulled him out and put him on his basking spot. hes alert now. im wondering if it was a problem? or was he just discovering "oh this is cool, and feels nice" or is something wrong? advice? anyone?

 

[Ethelia]

Its not unusual for dragons to freak in water.
Some simply dont like it.
My sub-adult Ruben will thrash around in the water and whip his tail into the water to show me just how angry he is.
If you want to make things extra careful you can hold her on your palm and just lay that into the water.
If your dragon doesnt want to drink it only needs its vent (where the tail meets the body) to be submerged in water to absorb moisture.
Miso likes to hold onto the end of my finger when she is bathing.

Holly

 

[XCrunner]

hes was fine in it for about a minute, had water at vent, and licked some of the water from the bath but later it freaked. i was afraid but now hes up and around i think he was just kinda scared in his first bath. thanks!

 

[vickson420]

LOL..I warned you it would be an experience Actually I have to be honest it sounds like he was less scared and more like he was very dehydrated and/or in shed so he was happy to be in the water.Just so you know beardies can swim and they can and do go under water.All if mine soak head under water and my Phoenix actually swims head under water.You will be more relaxed next time and so will he :wink:

 

[diamc]

Hi, I'm sorry that the way he reacted in his 1st bath was frightening for you. He may very well have been a little scared too. Had you put a washcloth or something similar down in the bottom of the sink or container? If not, he may have felt insecure when he tried to move around a little and got scared. Using a cloth in the bottom keeps them from sliding around and gives them something to hang on to. So, if you didn't try that, the next time it may make a big difference. You could also use a big fluffy towel that is soaked with the water and just set him on it. Since he closed his eyes after a few minutes and sunk down lower in the water, it sounds like he may have actually been enjoying it.

Or, as Holly suggested, hold him in the palm of your hand the first few times and lower your hand in the water as that also makes them feel more secure. Some enjoy baths more than other and it is common for them to close their eyes and totally relax but you have to make sure that their heads don't go under the water because babies can drown very quickly. The more often you bathe him, the sooner he will get used to it. Test the water temp by the inside of your wrist.

Let us know how the next bath goes.

 

[XCrunner]

haha okay i suppose ill try this next time. thanks ya'll! :wink: i posted something else in behavior about his first full day of eating, if you want to you can shed some light upon some more questions if recently come up with

 

[diamc]

I just posted in your other thread.

 

[pscaulkins]

Jada did that when I brought her home. She went totally limp and when I took her out she was still limp and I seriously thought I drowned her. :shock: I never had a beardie do that before. She was severly dehydrated. After that first bath, she was fine in them.

 

[coachrachel]

I gave my Jarjar a bath for the first time last night and he just loved it!! He laid in my hand and closed his eyes and just relaxed. He finally let go of my hand and arched his head and tail and just stayed there for a while. When he was ready to get out he ran to the edge of the tub and tried to crawl out. He was so happy after that. Still trying to work all the kinks in the temps and stuff but think we are on the road to getting it right.

 

[XCrunner]

well then you got off lucky my friend, i give dino a bath daily, and he will stay in the for 3 minutes if im lucky, before running to the edge and trying to jump out

 

[Theresa20]

Wow! Glad I read this! I amo attempting my first beardie bath this afternoon... now I know that it may not go as smoothly as I expect...

 

[abicastellanos]

So, after reading this blog I found out that Spiky needed a bath. I filled my sin with warm water so it wouldn't be too deep or too little water. Spiky freaked out when I put him there, then he tried to get away and he kept slipping so he got really frustrated, I could see him breathing fast. I let him out and decided to try again. I put his tail in the water and slowly put him down. then he slowly started to release my finger and then he stayed there by himself for a while!!!!! I am so glad he seems to enjoy it a little bit more.
How often should I bath him??

 

[Theresa20]

From what I understand you can bathe him once a day if you want, or every two or three days, depending on how much time you have and the condition of your dragon.

 

[Seven65]

The same thing happens when I bathe Nef he freaks out and thrashes or "plays dead" I've found, as has been proviously stated, that he's fine if hes holding onto myh finger or on the palm of my hand but still patially submerged.

 

[coachrachel]

Jarjar did the same thing last night. He had had a bad day yesterday as we were redoing our kitchen so lots of movement and noise going on and he just kinda laid around on his limb all day. When it was bath time he was fine for a minute but after that he was a wild man. He found the folds in the shower curtain and tried to escape that way. That would have been very bad as one of the cats was right there eating next to the tub. I got him snatched up quickly and back to his viv where he was then happy.