Trying to bond with my baby beardie, NEED SOME HELP

[oliviatulip7801]

Ok, so I'm new to owning a beardie, I did all my research and three days ago I brought home a six month old beardie. I named my beardie Nugget!! However, I'm not trying to say I'm unhappy with my beardie but I wish my beardie would be a bit more social ya know? Nugget always wants to stay in the terrarium, I can only hold him for three seconds before he starts squirming to get back in his tank. And I really don't know what to do. I want to bond with my beardie and I want Nugget to like me. So what should I do?? Does maybe giving it a bath help? Should I keep trying to hold Nugget? Maybe hand feed some wax worms or freeze dried crickets or freeze dried mealworms? Someone please help me! I've wanted a beardie for three years and I finally got one and I'm happy I got Nugget I just wish my little Nugget was more social with me!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, that is a cute little dude. Where did you get Nugget ? I ask because he's more the size of a 2 month old....so he was either very stunted or the people either didn't know or weren't honest with you. At any rate, he can still become happy + relatively healthy.

Most babies take a while to settle in, just give it time and let him get used to seeing your hand in the tank, move slow enough so as not to frighten him at first. Then let your hand set near him to let him crawl on it....they often will. Sometimes holding an insect out for them to eat, but then some dragons learn to nip your fingers so having it in your open palm is better. Don't use any of the insects you mentioned [ nothing freeze dried, hard to digest + lacking in nutrition ] and no waxworms, very fatty. Try Phonix or calciworms or 1/4" crickets. Be VERY careful not to give him anything that is larger than the distance between his eyes....that can cause impaction.
Can you post a pic of his entire set up, including what type/watt lights you have ? And as for bathing, that mostly stresses a baby. Drip water on his snout for hydration unless he actually likes being soaked.

 

[EllenD]

Took the words right out of my mouth, he looks like he is no older than maybe 2 months or so, so either the person or shop you bought him from didn't really know how old he was, or they lied to you about his age, or he's very stunted. Either way beardies do often suffer from relocation stress when they go to a new home, and this in general lasts for at least a week, sometimes up to 2 weeks or more. They often don't want to be touched, don't eat much, and hide a lot of the time during this period, but he'll come around. Just keep offering live insects and fresh greens.

Never, ever, ever feed your beardie ANYTHING THAT IS FREEZE-DRIED!!! No freeze-dried insects at all, and no freeze-dried, pre-packaged greens or veggies! Freeze-dried insects are just about the worse thing you can feed them, they contain absolutely no nutrition at all and at his size and she he needs 3 LIVE INSECT FEEDINGS EVERY DAY, where he is allowed to eat as many live insects as he wants to eat in a 10-15 minute period. Also, FREEZE-DRIED INSECTS CONTAIN NO MOISTURE AT ALL, AND BEARDIES GET THEIR DAILY HYDRATION FROM THEIR LIVE INSECTS AND FRESH GREENS! So freeze-dried insects will not only dehydrate him, but they are also A HUGE IMPACTION RISK!!! THERE IS A POST ON HERE RIGHT NOW WHERE A BEARDIE WAS FED FREEZE-DRIED MEALWORMS AND CRICKETS AND BECAME IMMEDIATELY IMPACTED AND STARTED VOMITING!

So one live insect feeding session in the morning (after his UVB tube and his basking light have been turned on for at least an hour before feeding him, IMPORTANT!!!), the second feeding session around noon or in the early afternoon, and the third feeding session in the early evening, at a time where his UVB tube and his basking light will be left on for at least 1-2 hours before bed so he can digest his food.

Proper live, staple, feeder insects that are appropriate for a baby or juvenile beardie that is growing furiously are live crickets, live dubia roaches, live Phoenix Worms/Calciworms/Reptiworms/BSFL (all the same thing, just different brand names), live silkworms, and other species of roaches. Make sure that any insect he eats, especially crickets and roaches that have hard exoskeletons are no larger than the space between his eyes. Mealworms should not be fed to beardies, especially babies or juveniles, because they have very hard outer shells that they cannot digest and they often cause impactions, and they are very low in protein and high in fat. Wax worms are only treats, as again they have little to no nutritional value and are loaded with fat. Maybe give him a few wax worms a week as treats, which you can hand feed him to help bonding.

Your best bet is to order whatever insect you choose as a staple feeder online, in bulk. You'll save a fortune and you don't have to run to a pet shop once or twice a week. Lots of people start their own dubia roach colonies. He'll be eating a ton of live bugs each day, on average a growing baby or juvenile beardie will eat between 40-60 live crickets per day.

 

[oliviatulip7801]

Hi there, that is a cute little dude. Where did you get Nugget ? I ask because he's more the size of a 2 month old....so he was either very stunted or the people either didn't know or weren't honest with you. At any rate, he can still become happy + relatively healthy.

Most babies take a while to settle in, just give it time and let him get used to seeing your hand in the tank, move slow enough so as not to frighten him at first. Then let your hand set near him to let him crawl on it....they often will. Sometimes holding an insect out for them to eat, but then some dragons learn to nip your fingers so having it in your open palm is better. Don't use any of the insects you mentioned [ nothing freeze dried, hard to digest + lacking in nutrition ] and no waxworms, very fatty. Try Phonix or calciworms or 1/4" crickets. Be VERY careful not to give him anything that is larger than the distance between his eyes....that can cause impaction.
Can you post a pic of his entire set up, including what type/watt lights you have ? And as for bathing, that mostly stresses a baby. Drip water on his snout for hydration unless he actually likes being soaked.

The angle from where I took the picture made him look a lot smaller than he is, but Nugget is a juvenile beardie. I got him from petsmart. I've got a nice set up and Nugget absolutely loves being in his tree! For lighting I'm using a 100 watt basking bulb in a dome lamp and a 26 watt uvb bulb also in a dome lamp. I offer fresh greens like kale and then tiny bits of celery, carrot, apple, or mango. Nugget never touches it, occasionally Ill catch him eating a couple pieces of apple. And thanks for the heads up on no freeze dried stuff!!

 

[MrsWolvie]

When I got my beardie it took her about 2 weeks until she was comfortable with me. I would hand feed her small dubia roaches and black soldier fly larvae so she would trust me and now she is a loving member of the family! She begs to come out of her viv now just to be out and about with the family. I do agree with the above post about her age, she is probably around 2 months. I got Rey from pet smart as well and the employees know next to nothing about the animals they sell, except for a select few. Your set up looks good, if I were you I would get away from the coil uvb ASAP. In my viv I have a 24" t8 uvb, I got the fixture from Lowe's and wired it to a plug and use heavy duty Velcro on the inside of the tank. You are doing great so far!! The attached image is of my girl Rey. It was taken 2 days ago and she is about 5-6 months old.