She's still skittish and now she's shedding

[xmyselfxmex]

So leia is I am pretty sure a juvi now. She's getting used to me like working around her. I can pick her perch under the heat lamp up with her on it no problem. She's shedding (still. It's coming off in tiny bits.) But I wanna give her a bath cause I believe it will help her. How on earth can I bathe her if she won't even let me pet her. Like she jumps then runs to the corner and does the whole running along the wall thing. She let's me get close to get with my hand. Even with my face when I watch her watching me lol. But as SOON as I touch her tail she jumps and runs away. HELP!!

 

[xmyselfxmex]

Also I finally got her eating more greens THANK GOD! I put a damp paper towel in her food dish when I change her veggies out and she goes around it licking the paper towel then starts eating the greens.

 

[tengu1]

HI there

So after reading your other post and this one I thought I would step in. Firstly because I now have a baby beardie. She is my second and I have had amazing advice from people on here, so I hope I can pass some along.

The beardie is soooooo scared right now and has no idea whats going on. Sure you give it a nice home and attend to its every call (its your job in their mind) :lol: :lol: but you are still a predator as well! Beardies are super clever and they will associate something as an enemy very easily, right now your hand/finger is the enemy.

So don't be scared of it, don't be scared of annoying it because it will sense it and it is training you to back off. The running away and climbing the walls etc.... yep sounds very familiar. Mine was sooooooooooooooo fast it was crazy and eventually i grabbed it even when it was freaking out and very, very slowly i put my finger past its eye and usually they will close their eye and this gives you the chance to touch its head and if you do that and then let him go, it will start to trust your hand is not a threat. Yes it will freak the next time you do it and you will think wtf ??? but that's is just what they do. Also if it sits on a rock pick up the rock and when he is out of his territory he relies on you as safety! This helped me a lot actually. I came across it by accident.

So now my baby has full trust. I can just pick it up anytime and throw him on my arm and he licks and runs up and jumps all over me and it is lovely. YOU WILL get this but you have to teach it that your hand is his/her friend.

Put your hand in the tank and just leave it on the floor even if he runs off, He will be watching it :lol: :lol: leave it there for 20 seconds and then SLOWLY take it out, close the glass door and walk away. Do it again a few hours later and repeat this for a few days. Then put your hand in and SLOWLY move it closer, sure he may puff or run but that's fine because he will learn that after you take your hand away nothing happened. The more you do this the more relaxed it will become. Do not try and touch or get inpatient with him/her.

My other beardie died from kidney failure but she was amazing!!!! So for me having a baby beardie it was a different ball game so i have been where you are.

Oh and greens.... dont worry about it, at this age its 75% protein and if you gut load the bugs he/she will get the veg anyway.

Please keep me updated and believe me if you do what I said it will get better very quickly.

Here is a picture of my baby girl who is now 4 months old. She is a white Hypo

 

[tengu1]

Oh and bath time.........

yeh they hate it :lol: :lol:

Dont touch their tail by the way. Worst place you can touch for now.

When shes glass dancing grab her, if she bites so what? Mine bit me once and after that he realized nothing happened so that was that. Once you bath them she will FREAK OUT running like crazy to get out, don't worry it is normal! Actually it is a good thing because she will then associate your hand with safety. Put your hand in and I guarantee she will sit on it like a its a life saver :lol: :lol:

 

[xmyselfxmex]

Thank you for the advice but like I said I can get my hand basically till it's against her feet she doesn't do anything just looks at it and at me lol. 2 weeks now (going on 3) that I've had her. First day she bit me and now she's like she will stare at me then look away. It's not like before where she constantly would not stop staring. I go up and put my face in front of the glass and watch her and she will watch me. She even does this cute bit where she turns around and stares straight ahead then does the whole dramatic groundhog turn and stares at me and she will do that then walk away.

 

[tengu1]

Ah right so when your hand is touching her feet as you say, put your finger under her chest and slowly lift her up. She may back off but if you keep going and try and gently force her onto your hand she may sit there thinking hmmmmmm and jump off but that's fine. Keep doing that and eventually you can take her out and stroake her and trust will be built.

Baths like I said she will freak out but you need to bath them in case of dehydration. Very common in babies and juvies. 10 minute soak is good also she will poop

Temp should be 36-38 degrees. I use an old under the tounge digital thermometer

 

[BrightStar]

The best time to pick your baby up is at night, just before lights out, when they are very sleepy. Do this every night, take them out and wrap gently in a blanket, then stroke their head or wherever they seem to like to be pet. They should go to sleep on you (make sure the room is dark enough, or cover them with the blanket to block out light). I've been doing this with Rygel every day in the two weeks I've had him. He was unpredictable and ran up the walls at first when I tried to handle him, but now he's much, much better.

I was advised by someone here not to chase him if he tried to run. My hand looks like a scary monster to such a tiny baby, and could make things worse.

Rygel was in shed when I got him, so I was worried to death about his bath. I tried to force the first bath on him, but he kept trying to jump out the water, and he was really stressed. I was told it would be okay just to mist him until he was calmer.

My tips for bathing are to make the water a little hotter than recommended, (Rygel likes his water hotter than normal) and use a small container. I went from a dishpan, to a plastic shoebox. Also put something in the water for them to hold on to. I use a rock for Rygel. He actually prefers holding onto my hand now. I've also been building up the length of bath time slowly - started with three minutes. Now we're up to six. I'd don't think he actually likes bath time, but at least it's not an ordeal anymore(for either of us).

 

[tengu1]

All good tips there.

I think the night time thing depends on the beardie. Mine was on much higher alert at sleepy time because she knew she was sleepy. She always tried to bite and puff out etc.

The pick up at night time may be good for some beardies but be aware it may not be good for yours.

 

[Rankins]

As stated just take things slow and gentle until your dragon is accustom to you.
However, if you gotta handle the dragon and its freaking out, no big deal. Do what you gotta do and resume the slow and gentle approach afterwards. Bearded dragons are really adaptable and will get use to you. It might take time...but you have only had the dragon 3 weeks.