She hates me. Actually, she hates everything.

[causeascene203]

My dragon hates me. She hates her tank. She hates her basking rock. She hates the room she's in. She hates being alone, she hates being bothered. She hates live food, she hates packaged food. I'm at a loss. I got her at a month old from a friend who didn't want her. I was told she bit his daughter, and that's why they gave her away.

I started her off on a combination of silk worms, phoenix worms, and the occasional wax worm in a salad (it would look something like a salad of greens with worms mixed in). She never did eat much. I brought her to a vet, suspecting parasites. The vet told me he found something (i don't remember what), but not in an amount where it would be appropriate to medicate. She began to eat less and less, so I started adding those Nature Zone Beardie Bites on her salad, thinking the sweet smell would entice her. She loved them...Maybe too much. She started picking those out of the salad, and leaving everything else...even the waxworms, which I've been told are like dragon candy and very addicting. I've since stopped spending $25 a week on silkworms, because she just won't eat them. I can afford to feed her and take care of her correctly, but I can't afford to waste money.

This was months ago. Now she's about 12 inches long nose to tail tip, and a total brat. She still refuses anything but about a tablespoon of those stupid Beardie Bites, no salad, no worms, no nothing, and I know they're not meant to be used as a staple. I'm worried about her health.

She won't let me touch her without attacking me. I go near the tank, her mouth opens up and she crouches down, ready to fight. She has constant dark black lines under her chin and on her belly. Really really REALLY dark lines. I just don't know what to do for her anymore. If I touch her, I get bitten. If I wake her up, I get bitten. If I make her cold and go near her, she uses all the energy she has left to make sure I get bitten. I'm starting to hate her.

I filled this out in case you see something that might cause her to be such a brat.

How old is your dragon? About 6 months.
How long have you had your dragon? Around 5 months now.
How long is your dragon? 12 inches nose to tail tip.
What is the sex of your dragon? When she was little, I was thought she was female, but now I can't pick her up to check.
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40gal breeder.
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Tile
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Fluorescent tubing.
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? It's a Repti-Sun 10 and goes across the whole tank.
How old is your UVB bulb? 3 months.
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 6 inches from the top of her basking rock, but she rarely sits there.
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Yes, it's a regular 75W house bulb.
What are the basking temps? 97
What is the cool side temp? 75
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Digi with probe.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No.
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Those dumb Nature Zone Dragon Bites on top of salad. She picks out the bites and leaves the salad.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I put food in the tank every morning and make sure she has some all day.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? She refuses to eat them now. I keep trying, but she leaves them.
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Yes, Rep Cal calcium with no D3 4 times a week and the Rep Cal vitamins once a weeks.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? I can't pick her up.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? She hates being misted, but I have a dish of water in the tank big enough for her to sit in.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Not for awhile.

If you guys see anything at all that can help me, let me know. I want to be able to love her.

 

[causeascene203]

There's a typo in there. She can get 8 inches from the UV light, not 6.

 

[peera]

Ok, I'm not sure I can be tons of help, but I'll try.
For the food, at her age, she's starving pretty much constantly, so if you stop feeding her the dragon bites, she's not going to starve herself if you continously offer proper food. They're like little kids... You've been catering to what she wants instead of what she needs, so she'll pout and throw a hissy fit and after a while she'll realize you're serious and give in. It could take a while, but since they're cold blooded they can go quite a while safely without food. Just get crickets since they're the cheapest, in small amounts until you convince her to eat, and always have her salad available.

Your temps are a bit low and she may be having trouble digesting. Try getting her basking spot closer to 110*, babies need more heat.

For getting her to like you, about an hour after her lights have gone out at night and she's fallen asleep (If you're allowing her tank to completely cool at night, she'll be comatose at that point), pick her up and wrap her in something that smells like you and cuddle with her for a while (mine stay asleep as long as the blankie stays over the "third eye" on top of their head that senses heat and light), and then put her back still wrapped in it. After waking up for a few days smelling like you, she'll get the picture you don't want to hurt her, because you're not while she's sleeping and vunerable. How are you reaching into the tank to get her? Coming from above is the act of a predator and will scare her to death. Try bringing your hand in from the side and just leaving it in the tank for a little while, not trying to touch her. If she moves to bite you, have a piece of food ready and shove it in her mouth (I like using collard greens for this). Don't jerk your hand away, just calmly remove it or she'll know she's frightened you and feel dominant. She's a foot long including tail, even if she does bite you it won't hurt terribly! Believe me, I know it can be frustrating, but a bit of patience goes a very long way and is incrediably rewarding.

 

[sunkist]

I think she gave great advice. I know for me I make sure my dragons know who is in charge and it's not them. I would use worms instead of crickets and put them in a bowl they can't get out of. With Fargo he wasn't "getting it" so I kept putting him on top of the bowl over and over and he finally realized where his food was and that was the only location for his food.

 

[causeascene203]

Thanks for the advice. It DOES hurt when she bites....it draws blood every time. I'm not talking about those little nips. I mean a full force, jaw-locking bite!

Even though she's 5 months old, she's still considered a baby? I thought I did right by lowering her temps down from the 108 I had it at before. I'll change it back and pick up some worms today. Thanks!

 

[akingsley9000]

I agree with Peera. In addition - you need to be using calcium with D3 not without. The d3 helps them absorb calcium which maybe one of the reasons she is being a grump.

 

[peera]

She's still considered a baby/juvie till 18 months when she stops growing. There's no clear cut line for transition from baby to juvie as far as I can tell, but I'd say she definitly doesn't qualify until at least 8-9 months and 15 inches.

Yikes, that is a little scary, none of mine have ever been THAT determined to hurt me. The advise about the food should still work though, just be brave and try your best to stay calm.

 

[causeascene203]

Thanks for all the help. I picked up some crickets and waxworms from the store the other day.

She completely refused all the live food at dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I tried hand feeding her. She was uninterested in the food AND angry with me for getting too close! I felt so badly for not putting the Beardie Bites in her dish. She was looking for them all day.

 

[akingsley9000]

How she doing today?

 

[causeascene203]

Sorry for getting back so late. Holidays are such busy times.


I've been trying to handle her multiple times a day. Since I switched her back to worms, I think I may have noticed a bit of an improvement. She still runs from my hands and hisses and bites, but it definitely takes less time to catch her. Hopefully its because shes calming down and not because I'm getting better at grabbing her!

I have to wrap her up in a face cloth to hold her, and she will usually sit for about 5 or 10 minutes before struggling violently to get away. She always has her little beard puffed up a bit, and she's always giving me that "Put me BACK!!!" beardie-glare. It's sort of funny.

Is there anything else I can do? I want her to sit with me, I want to be able to hold her and spend time with her without having to hold onto her for dear life with both hands.

How did you guys get yours to sit still with you?

 

[peera]

It can take a while. The only one I have that's content to sit with me for long periods is Gibby, and I chalk that up to his age. Dora will cuddle for a few minutes, but if she's not asleep she's back up and running around once she's had her fill- which comes sooner than I'd like most of the time. And Ms Priss doesn't chill with me at all unless she's asleep. So it could take a while before you have a dragon that's content to sit back and chill. However, I've found that if you let them take their own time about it, sometimes after they're finished running amuck they'll crawl back on for some cuddles. So, patience and preserverence!

 

[diamc]

It sounds like she's being a real stinker. Has she ever been more agreeable to you holding her, etc? If this aggressive behavior has just started a month or so ago, I would say that it is beardie puberty and you have to try real hard to not show that you are afraid of her or she will know that she is winning. The idea of having greens in your hand when you attempt to open her tank is a good idea and you have to be ready to pop them in her mouth to confuse her & give her something else to think about.

Out of our 4 beardies, I only had 1 show any aggressive behavior at that age and he only did it once. I went to set his dish of greens in his tank in the morning like I always did and he puffed up, black bearded and charged at my hand. I was very shocked but tried not to act scared. I immediately put some greens in his mouth, changed my tone of voice and said "THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT." I then slid his tank closed firmly and stomped out of his room. He knew I was upset with him. About an hr later, I walked back into the room and he was just standing there looking at me like a whipped puppy. I opened the tank and talked to him quietly while stroking his head and it never happened again.

Your beardie is quite small for 5 mo old at only 12". Does she shed very often? Since you haven't been bathing her, she could be dehydrated which can make them very irritable. Would it be possible to post a picture of her? Do you ever see her drinking from the water dish? I suggest you take her out and put her in a transparent container or the kitchen sink with a cloth on the bottom to keep her from sliding around which will help her feel more secure. Test the water temp by the inside of your wrist, should feel warm but not hot. Add enough water to cover her front legs and don't be surprised if she puts her head down to get a big drink. Add more warm water as it starts to cool off. Since baths really relax them, after she is done, blot her dry and wrap her up in a fuzzy blanket or big fluffy towel and lay her on your chest.

Another thing to help the bonding process is to use a plastic medicine dropper and offer drops on her nose for her to lick off. Besides water, you could also offer diluted 100% juice (no sugar addd) by diluting with 4 parts water to 1 part juice. You could heat in the microwave to take the chill off. You could also pick up some chicken babyfood and some babyfood squash, garden vegetables or green beans. Stir in a smaller amt of chicken to a larger amt of the vegetable adding a little liquid to thin it a little. Put in microwave to warm just a little and put drops on her nose to lick off. Once she gets a taste she should really like it. These 2 things should help her be more comfortable with you and you with her.

I suggest you do raise the temps up a little more than what they are now and basking can go up as high as 110 with a cool side temp of 80 being ideal. I would try a 100 watt and see what both temps are then after waiting about 45 min for the temps to stop rising.

Good luck with her and let us know what does/doesn't work.

 

[causeascene203]

All of that is good advice. Thanks. I'll try everything and give it a try.

I've never seen her drink from the dish. In fact, I've never seen her near it. I tried giving her a warm bath the other day after I caught her. I put her in the sink with a little bit of warm water and a washcloth to hold onto and she freaked out for a bit, then went super still and her beard AND body went black as soot! She was so unhappy...

She has always been a little bit irritable, always showing those lines on her face and belly. Here are a few really recent pictures of her. I put that cotton glove in there, and she lay on it for awhile, haha. She's so cute, and it kills me that she's so nasty.

When I had her in the sink, I measured her carefully and she's about 11 and a quarter inches from nose to tail. I got her in the middle of August and she was a really tiny thing. What could have stunted her growth so badly? And how big should she be at this age?

 

[diamc]

I sure hope at least one of the suggestions work as she is such a cutie and they can be SO loving. Sure has a cute face but she looks uneasy. Is she in a room by herself or is she in a family room that has a lot of traffic? Don't want either one of you to miss out on having a great relationship, it is so worth it. All 4 of ours are very different, each very loving though, it's really something how their personalities are so unique.

Since you've never really seen her near the water dish, that is all the more reason to get her used to baths. She has beautiful coloring. I did notice that the fat pads on top of her head do go down a little that means she is dehydrated. If you look at the last picture, the area right behind her eyes would be visible and stick up a little and you will notice that once she is well hydrated. I'm sure she was stressed from her very first bath. Make sure you have enough water in to cover her front legs, she probably was confused about the small amt the first time. If she was trying to get warmth from the water, her color would turn darker. If you put your hand in the water with her, she may just reach out and hang onto your fingers or hand. Her body may puff up when she is in the water and she may even float, which is normal.

Has she always had a Repti-Sun 10.0 bulb? How often does she shed? Do you have any other reptiles or animals in the household? Also, would probably be a good idea to have another fecal check done.

 

[causeascene203]

She has been under the Repti Sun 10 for her entire time with me. It's almost time for a new one. She is my first and only reptile. My Toy Poodle is 16 years old and can't make it up the stairs anymore, and the ducks live outside. She can see my fish tank from across the room, but that was there before she was.

She is in my bedroom. I am in the room about 75% of the day, and I am usually up and about and theres quite a bit of commotion going on. She actually seems happiest when I leave her alone! A lot of times I'll come back and she'll be more white underneath than usual, but all those lines under her are ALWAYS there. I've never seen her without them.

She doesn't shed that often. She only does partial sheds, usually her tail. I've seen her back shed three or four times total. She doesn't look like she has a retained shed anywhere, and always sheds nice and clean when it happens.

I gave her another bath today, and let her run around the bathroom floor for the very first time. Was she mad! At least I'm able to pick her up!