The REAL Slim Shady! (Anniversry Edition!!)

Hey all! I just got my beardie, Slim, a few days ago. My dad called him Slim Shady as a joke and it stuck!

I thought I'd keep a diary-type thing here like many of you seem to do. Every day I get so excited about him, I want to keep some kind of log of his growth. I also want to eventually post a picture of the underside of his tail to get some help sexing him.

Day 1, 11/24/12: Taking him home in a Kritter Keeper. I wanted him to come around on his own, so I put the box he came in in the Keeper and let him come out gradually during the car ride.

He's so adorable, and a little rascal, too! Here are some other pics of him during our first week together:

Cuddling with mommy!

Like the poster child for cuteness.

Sleepy time!

"Check out my sexy curves!"

Loving his new hammock.

The first day he didn't eat much, being new to his environment and all. It took a few days, but by day two or three he was wolfing down crickets like it was his day job. He's still warming up to me, very very slowly, but today I saw lots of progress! I dipped a few mealworms in some baby food (I know mealworms aren't ideal, but the store is out of crickets and I'm waiting on a shipment still) and fed them to him, then actually got him to lick some off my finger! He loves Gerber's organic squash baby food... it's just organic squash and water.

He's still not entirely trusting of me... unless I have food in my hands, of course. But hopefully this thread evolves to include more good news about him coming around. :love5:

 

[Dreamwritten]

He's mad at me.

So I just came back from my dad's for the weekend and Slim seems to HATE me! I've only been away from him for 36 hours, and I had my grandma feeding him / refreshing his tank while I was gone, but the little guy is absolutely furious with me.

While I was gone, a fuse blew, and we were without power for about 4 hours. That left him without heat and UVB for that time, which probably confused/stressed him a bit as it was in the middle of the day. Add that to not getting enough crickets (my grandma was a bit nervous feeding them to him) and being without me for a while (he was just getting used to me), and he seems to want nothing to do with me now.

I tried taking him out when I got home and he ran away instantly, squeezing into a small space between my bed and my wall so I had to pull him out by his tail. I know you shouldn't do that, and that they can come off easily, but I did it as gently as possible. I was shaking at that point and got him into the tank as quickly as I could.

I fed him, pet him, etc, but when I tried finger-feeding him his baby food he was either so angry or so hungry (or both) that he nearly bit me. I switched to using a spoon and he tried to tear the spoon apart.. bit it really hard!

I'm so upset right now. He was JUST getting used to me and now we're back to square one. I hope he re-acclimates soon :'(

 

[BlueDragon09]

Oh he will, I'm sure of it, Vash was the same way when I went to Cali for 3 days. He was so pissed that I left him with the family, they fed him and held
him but he didn't want "momma" at that point when I came back. He stayed under his hide for a few days...I let him get over it first, cool down then
tried again to get him to come eat for me and what not.

 

[Dreamwritten]

Oh I'm glad, I hope that's the case, he's breaking my heart all over again

And his tank is messy, I wanted to clean it tonight but if I can't trust him to come to me, I can't get him out safely and keep him in his little carrying case to do so.

He's eating from my hands, at least, but it seems he's starting to think that my hands ARE food!

 

[BlueDragon09]

I would let him cool off and if he's not angry you can start handling him again.

 

[Dreamwritten]

I would let him cool off and if he's not angry you can start handling him again.

Yeah, he lets me pet him although he's skittish, so I'm going to leave him alone for the night and just pet him once in the tank before I go to bed. That was how I got him to come around to me the first time.

 

[BlueDragon09]

All dragons are different but I hope he's not going to stay mad.

 

[Dreamwritten]

He's throwing such a little hissy fit. It's actually kind of cute. :lol:

 

[BlueDragon09]

Haha, yeah looks just like what Vash was doing just imagine a 5 year old dragon doing that.

 

[Dreamwritten]

Haha, yeah looks just like what Vash was doing just imagine a 5 year old dragon doing that.

Such temperamental little creatures! And I was told they're so loving...

 

[BlueDragon09]

They are! Once they get to know who the boss is and parent is the boss..they also become great listeners, maybe...I talk to mine and he has the
habit of looking up at me. Once they know the human is the best part in their life they get so attached. Mine is in that old age but still so
attached to me as he always will be. This will be stupid but I used to watch Digimon as a kid in high school and it would say "once your friend
always your friend" and I believe that's what dragons are your best friend forever.

 

[Dreamwritten]

They are! Once they get to know who the boss is and parent is the boss..they also become great listeners, maybe...I talk to mine and he has the
habit of looking up at me. Once they know the human is the best part in their life they get so attached. Mine is in that old age but still so
attached to me as he always will be. This will be stupid but I used to watch Digimon as a kid in high school and it would say "once your friend
always your friend" and I believe that's what dragons are your best friend forever.

That's good to know. Did it take a while for Vash to warm up to you when he was little? Did he take a lot of time to tame?

 

[BlueDragon09]

Took about a month, I was in school at the time got him for my 17th b-day present so school slowed down a lot of the taming.
So Friday night and weekends were free and I had about 48 hours each week to tame him. I had a lot of homework during the week
and I only had 30 mins til bedtime, I had special morning classes at the time so I was up from 6:30am - 2:30pm. Not much time during the
week. But he was fed, bathed still and changed lights when needed. I held him before I did homework but after it I was so tired I just went
to bed.

 

[Dreamwritten]

Took about a month, I was in school at the time got him for my 17th b-day present so school slowed down a lot of the taming.
So Friday night and weekends were free and I had about 48 hours each week to tame him. I had a lot of homework during the week
and I only had 30 mins til bedtime, I had special morning classes at the time so I was up from 6:30am - 2:30pm. Not much time during the
week. But he was fed, bathed still and changed lights when needed. I held him before I did homework but after it I was so tired I just went
to bed.

Yeah, all dragons are different but I seem to be getting the same response from most people: about a month to two for them to get used to you.

He seemed to be making great progress just within the week I had him before I went away, so hopefully that means he'll get quickly acclimated again and keep growing closer to me.

Thanks so much, you always make me feel better I'm going to stop obsessing now and go do something else so he has time to cool off.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Well you're lucky, sometimes he was more into me in a week, sometimes he just stopped and started acted he didn't like
me right now. My dragon is just...bi polar xD likes you one minute, hates you the next. Your dragon is sooo cute and lucky to
have him to get used to you in a week. You're welcome by the way, I try to make others feel better.

 

[Dreamwritten]

Well you're lucky, sometimes he was more into me in a week, sometimes he just stopped and started acted he didn't like
me right now. My dragon is just...bi polar xD likes you one minute, hates you the next. Your dragon is sooo cute and lucky to
have him to get used to you in a week. You're welcome by the way, I try to make others feel better.

Well, it isn't perfect. He didn't exactly cuddle up to me within a week--he still squirmed away when I tried to take him out--but once I HAD him out, I had him to the point where he would just chill and let me pet him and maybe even cuddle a tiny bit. Now it's back to square one: I can barely hold onto him without risking ripping his tail right off. He darts away from me.