TIME???

[Irwinshealth]

I need some help from the owners out there who have multiple bearded dragons? My little guy Palmer has been difficult for me since I got him. He had lots of attitude we have worked through this. Problem I have now is that my kids don't like him at all. This means Palmer barely gets time out of his viv. He is getting great care except time out. The kids get Cooper out every chance they get and leave Palmer behind. They could care less if Palmer sat in his viv forever like a fish. So my big question is how much time should each bearded dragon get to still feel I'm a good owner? Should I be rehoming him to someone who can let him out more? Will he be alright as long as he gets out and is talked and loved while in his home?

Please don't criticize me this has been hard enough on me!! I love Palmer but just need to know If I am being selfish by keeping him when he don't get out much or if I am over reacting. How much time a week does your beardie spend out???? How do your work this with multiple beardies?? Thanks in advance, I'm just crushed it has come down to this. I have been back to work for only two weeks. Poor Palmer has been out maybe two hours a week.

 

[Catalyst]

It really depends on what you want for your dragons. Some people never handle their dragons and keep them more as display pets. Others make sure that their dragons get time out of their tanks daily for socialization and stimulation. Some options for you may include things like making a rule that the dragons need to have turns being taken out - when Cooper has been out once, they can't take him out again until they spend time with Palmer (assuming Palmer is now easy for them to handle). Or, you could look into building/buying him an extra large enclosure and putting a variety of things in there to help make up for the extra time he will be spending in it. In my case, I found that my dragon was only getting minimal time out of her tank so I made the tough decision to rehome her with someone who was experienced and was more able to give her the attention that I knew she enjoyed. Its never an easy decision since we all love our animals - it comes down to you knowing your pets and what you believe is a good/acceptable quality of life for them. Hope this helps, and best of luck with whatever choice you make.

 

[Irwinshealth]

Thank you for your response! I really appreciate any advice at this point. I just don't think it would be fair to keep him as a display type animal because he seems like he would like more. He does however only allow me to handle him at this time. He is still very scared around the kids. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact he can see the fear in their eyes when he is out. I assure you he has come an extremely long way, but to be honest I don't think my kids will ever trust him. :?

 

[bunnyrut]

Does he WANT to come out?

Mr Dargon will go crazy trying to get out and i have to let him run around or take him outside in the sun.

but Tasty Treat is more content staying in her viv. she sometimes struggles to get back in when i take her out. She is fine with being pet, but she mostly wants to be fed and bask.

do you spend time with Palmer? Maybe if your kids see you handling him they will want to handle him too.

 

[jovamabob]

I have the same problem with my snake and my beardie. The beardie is more fun to handle and appreciates it where as for the snake it seems to be more for my benefit to keep him tame. Naturally i prefer to play with the beardie, so i bought a white-board/dry-wipe board and used electrical tape to make a chart and tick off what days i handle them, bathe them, weights, growth, feed them and any other notable things so that i can track when i need to do a little more with the other. When the board sections are full at the end of the week i transfer them to a notebook and start the board over. That way i have permanent records if they became sick and i make sure i do my best to split my time between the two as appropriate. I can also look back if something goes wrong to see if anything thats happened before triggered it.
You could try that for your kids - an easy to follow chart where they tick off when they handle cooper and then insist they handle palmer before cooper again, or just 'say hello' till hes a little more handleable.

This photo was taken a while ago - i've added more sections since

 

[Irwinshealth]

Thanks for all the advice, I will be taking some of the ideas and putting them together to see what we can do. I just can't see getting rid of him!!!