Strange little dragon...

[PlantWac]

I've had my beardie for a couple of weeks now, temps are all good in the tank and its eating well.

I'm concerned a bit because it acts a little oddly when i put my hand into the tank. Either it thinks i'm trying to pick it up and runs a mile (its always a challenge picking it up on its own terms and takes a good 5 mins of stroking before it will consent to be picked up,) or it thinks my fingers are worms and tries to eat them.

It is only a baby dragon so it isn't getting painful yet and I can't help thinking that its my fault for offering it worms out of my hand (in a hopes to get it used to me so that it will let me pick it up.)

I've read in other threads that people regularly take out their babies but I am afraid to do so due to its unwillingness to be caught, if it gets away then it would be a nightmare to catch...

Does anybody know of any ways to minimise finger eating or get it to not run away from me?

Also... I just looked over and it has turned black... all over pretty much, whats with that?

 

[beardieaddict]

babies can be a little wierd sometimes i mean look at ur hand compared to him ur huge but something dosent seem exactlly right

how much are u feeding him/her?
does she/he eat good if so how much?
what are your temps?
what are the lights you are using?

it could also be u just need to handle him/her they just need to know that u mean them no harm so i would take her on ur bed or something and just let her hang around on u but keep a close eye as they are pretty fast u could catch her/him though if they got away.. o and about the hand feeding i feed my babies by hand every morning and they have never done that babies and adults love to be feed by hand so i dont think thats it answer those questions up there and maybe that will have something to do with it ok

 

[snowdrop]

I think he or she (not it) just need sto get used to you. And handling your babie every day is the way to do that. My two get out every day. I recently adopted an adult male who some days wont let me near him and sometimes act like im gona hurt him, but he just needs to get used to me, and he slowly improving! I just keeping petting him and snugling with him. It does take time but they are so great once you bond!

 

[PlantWac]

Thanks for the replies, first of all I would like to apologise for my choice of terminology with regard to my dragon, I realise that calling him/her an 'it' is rather impersonal.

temps are around 100 in basking area, around 86-88 in the middle of the tank and probably around low 80s in the cold area.

Rek is eating fine, (rek is its name now,) and will devour as many crickets as i can throw at him/her. The greens are also being munched regularly and without incident. I also give him/her a pinch or two of mealworms per day by hand as a means of bribery so that he/she will consent to be picked up.

 

[beardieaddict]

everything seems to be ok i would raise the temps a little bit for the babies like 105 to 110 is what i have my babies but other than that seems to be ok i think rek just needs to get use to you i would handle rek everyday and try taking rek on ur bed and let him lay on u and get use to ur scent i dont think this porblem will last long and i really doubt that he/she will grow up doing this i hope everything gets better o yea and rember when going in there cage try to move a little slower than normal because the do get frightened if u move fast in there cage he or she will come around to you good luck!!

 

[PlantWac]

Thanks for the tip, I had Rek out on my bed today. He/She looked pretty confused to begin with and ended up running off and looking back at me as if to say 'i'm running off, is it going to get scary now?' at which point I brought out the worms and ended up with a dragon munching on my fingers again ^-^

Thanks for all the support everyone.