Trying to shed, wants to bite everything.

annieandziggy

Member
Beardie name(s)
Ziggy
Hi y'all, Ziggy is about 5 months old. I got him in February and right now it is July. He's still sometimes skiddish or hesitant but can be picked up without him biting. Until recently. This morning he (finally) starting shedding his head. Two-three weeks before, he shed his legs and tail. Recently I've noticed that I'm terrified to pick him up or even put my hand near him because he wants to bite EVERYTHING. I will reach to open his terrarium door, and he looks at my fingers with this hungry look like I have a bug. I'm scared just to get his salad bowl because one time, he literally lunged for my hand on higher ground and bit my finger with a surprisingly strong force. It scared me so much I dropped the bowl. If I just put my hand in the opposite side of the terrarium, he will stalk it. He attempted to bite my finger this morning but I quickly pulled away. I really want to know if this is just because he's shedding. He has an extreme eating aggression problem- like he's too excited to eat. I tong feed him his dubias, and he LUNGES at the tweezers. When I'm tryna tame him, I hand feed him (despite my fear of being bit, even on accident) and sometimes he lunge-jumps at my fingers. I don't want to be scared of holding my baby! I wanna bond with him and take him out on walks. I just ordered a leash on Etsy for him that will come in a few weeks that will help me not be scared of him running away. (last time, my friend spooked him with a sudden movement and ran into the bushes!! It scared me so much)
Anyway, I really want some reassurance that this is just because he's shedding? I love him so much but I'm also scared of him. At least right now I'm scared. I don't know if this is because of shedding or not, or if this is normal, because he takes sooooo long to shed.
Please help <3
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Hi y'all, Ziggy is about 5 months old. I got him in February and right now it is July. He's still sometimes skiddish or hesitant but can be picked up without him biting. Until recently. This morning he (finally) starting shedding his head. Two-three weeks before, he shed his legs and tail. Recently I've noticed that I'm terrified to pick him up or even put my hand near him because he wants to bite EVERYTHING. I will reach to open his terrarium door, and he looks at my fingers with this hungry look like I have a bug. I'm scared just to get his salad bowl because one time, he literally lunged for my hand on higher ground and bit my finger with a surprisingly strong force. It scared me so much I dropped the bowl. If I just put my hand in the opposite side of the terrarium, he will stalk it. He attempted to bite my finger this morning but I quickly pulled away. I really want to know if this is just because he's shedding. He has an extreme eating aggression problem- like he's too excited to eat. I tong feed him his dubias, and he LUNGES at the tweezers. When I'm tryna tame him, I hand feed him (despite my fear of being bit, even on accident) and sometimes he lunge-jumps at my fingers. I don't want to be scared of holding my baby! I wanna bond with him and take him out on walks. I just ordered a leash on Etsy for him that will come in a few weeks that will help me not be scared of him running away. (last time, my friend spooked him with a sudden movement and ran into the bushes!! It scared me so much)
Anyway, I really want some reassurance that this is just because he's shedding? I love him so much but I'm also scared of him. At least right now I'm scared. I don't know if this is because of shedding or not, or if this is normal, because he takes sooooo long to shed.
Please help <3
There could be several reasons for the aggressive behavior- one is the shedding- they get crabby and mine will go after my daughter sometimes when he doesnt want to be messed w/ and hes almost 3 - next lighting UVB and basking surface temps in the tank could be another reason and the other age - he is very young - how much are you feeding him? How many dubias is he eating ? And I would start making him chase the roaches - so lets go over the lighting in the tank and tell me what your using for UVB and a basking bulb and how your getting the surface basking temps- once we have ruled those out as a cause for the behavior we can move on to other causes
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Most All babies are food aggressive.
Are you feeding him enough?
Babies need ALOT of protein. It may be that he is always hungry.
He needs two to three feedings per day, as much as he can eat in 15 minutes or so. Dusted with calcium once per day and vitamins twice per week.
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Another thing you could try, is feeding him in a separate container.
It would serve two purposes.
1) he will learn that the other container means feeding time , so maybe less aggressive in his habitat.
2) no loose bugs in his habitat. You will be able to monitor what he is actually eating and be able to collect up the left overs.
 

annieandziggy

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Ziggy
Most All babies are food aggressive.
Are you feeding him enough?
Babies need ALOT of protein. It may be that he is always hungry.
He needs two to three feedings per day, as much as he can eat in 15 minutes or so. Dusted with calcium once per day and vitamins twice per week.
The vet told me to feed him once per day with about 10 dubias. His belly looks HUGE afterward and he poops every 3-4 days. When he does, it’s a truckload of poo. I don’t wanna feed him anymore than this, or else his belly will get even bigger than it is.
 

annieandziggy

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Ziggy
There could be several reasons for the aggressive behavior- one is the shedding- they get crabby and mine will go after my daughter sometimes when he doesnt want to be messed w/ and hes almost 3 - next lighting UVB and basking surface temps in the tank could be another reason and the other age - he is very young - how much are you feeding him? How many dubias is he eating ? And I would start making him chase the roaches - so lets go over the lighting in the tank and tell me what your using for UVB and a basking bulb and how your getting the surface basking temps- once we have ruled those out as a cause for the behavior we can move on to other causes
There could be several reasons for the aggressive behavior- one is the shedding- they get crabby and mine will go after my daughter sometimes when he doesnt want to be messed w/ and hes almost 3 - next lighting UVB and basking surface temps in the tank could be another reason and the other age - he is very young - how much are you feeding him? How many dubias is he eating ? And I would start making him chase the roaches - so lets go over the lighting in the tank and tell me what your using for UVB and a basking bulb and how your getting the surface basking temps- once we have ruled those out as a cause for the behavior we can move on to other causes
Uvb: Reptisun 10.0 17 W T8 mounted inside tank.
Heat lamp: ReptiBasking Bulb 100 W- basking spot stays around 105. Monitored with temp gun. He attacks this too but maybe only bc of red light.
Hot side is around 90 degrees cool side is around 85. Humidity around 40%. It’s really hard to lower.

I must note that my family is in a financial situation right now so i can not purchase anything expensive at this time.
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
40 percent humidity is ok.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Uvb: Reptisun 10.0 17 W T8 mounted inside tank.
Heat lamp: ReptiBasking Bulb 100 W- basking spot stays around 105. Monitored with temp gun. He attacks this too but maybe only bc of red light.
Hot side is around 90 degrees cool side is around 85. Humidity around 40%. It’s really hard to lower.

I must note that my family is in a financial situation right now so i can not purchase anything expensive at this time.
Ok so hes attacking the IR gun --- ? if your using a hammock for a basking decor your getting inaccurate readings w/ a IR gun -you want a digital probe thermometer -- those are the most accurate -- your humidity is good -- the only thing I can say is make sure you change out your UVB bulb at 5 months old -- T 8's have a life of 6 months I recommend 5-- when you can I would look at upgrading your T 8 to a T 5 but the T 8 is good for now - make sure your T 8 is directly over the basking decor piece 6-8 inches -- you dont want it any higher he wont get enough UVB -- can he see his reflection in the glass or anywhere in the tank ? Sometimes that will cause the behavior - I guess I would just keep working w/ him - if you need to wear a glove when in the tank - hand feed him his favorite worm - do it every day consistently - Blaze was very aggressive as well for months - he bit my husband so many times but I kept working w/ him and hand feeding BSFL and petting him in the tank on his head holding in the tank for like 5 min or so at a time - he didnt really settle down till he was around 5 months old or so -- I had gotten him at about 2 months old -- and he was pretty wild - he was picked on a lot from where I got him and I got him out of there before any damage was done to his feet - tail etc --- he wasnt getting enough food w/ all the siblings - I am wondering if that was the cause for the aggressive behavior I dont know
 

annieandziggy

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Ziggy
Ok so hes attacking the IR gun --- ? if your using a hammock for a basking decor your getting inaccurate readings w/ a IR gun -you want a digital probe thermometer -- those are the most accurate -- your humidity is good -- the only thing I can say is make sure you change out your UVB bulb at 5 months old -- T 8's have a life of 6 months I recommend 5-- when you can I would look at upgrading your T 8 to a T 5 but the T 8 is good for now - make sure your T 8 is directly over the basking decor piece 6-8 inches -- you dont want it any higher he wont get enough UVB -- can he see his reflection in the glass or anywhere in the tank ? Sometimes that will cause the behavior - I guess I would just keep working w/ him - if you need to wear a glove when in the tank - hand feed him his favorite worm - do it every day consistently - Blaze was very aggressive as well for months - he bit my husband so many times but I kept working w/ him and hand feeding BSFL and petting him in the tank on his head holding in the tank for like 5 min or so at a time - he didnt really settle down till he was around 5 months old or so -- I had gotten him at about 2 months old -- and he was pretty wild - he was picked on a lot from where I got him and I got him out of there before any damage was done to his feet - tail etc --- he wasnt getting enough food w/ all the siblings - I am wondering if that was the cause for the aggressive behavior I dont know
He does not have a hammock he has a tree branch thingie, and I have a digital thermometer as well that regulates the whole area temperature on his hot side. He has another on the cool side. I will replace my uvb soon. I bought replacement uv in february when i first got him and it hasn't been used.... can i still use it after 5 months? His reflection can only be seen from the front becuase I covered up the sides with paper when he was glass surfing. Today i put him in the bath and he didnt bite but he did leap on me lol. He pooped there, and since youre here, another concern is that when he pooped, there was no blood in his poo but when I looked up close at his open anus, there was blood inside. I'm really nervous that something happened internally. He hasn't been dropped, he hasn't fallen, and he was tested for parasites in march. I dont think its prolapse. I didn't have time to get a picture.... T_T He seemed fine and after he was done squeezing, (sorry lol) it just went back in and his anus looked fine again. He didn't seem bothered. Was this a result of impaction?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
He does not have a hammock he has a tree branch thingie, and I have a digital thermometer as well that regulates the whole area temperature on his hot side. He has another on the cool side. I will replace my uvb soon. I bought replacement uv in february when i first got him and it hasn't been used.... can i still use it after 5 months? His reflection can only be seen from the front becuase I covered up the sides with paper when he was glass surfing. Today i put him in the bath and he didnt bite but he did leap on me lol. He pooped there, and since youre here, another concern is that when he pooped, there was no blood in his poo but when I looked up close at his open anus, there was blood inside. I'm really nervous that something happened internally. He hasn't been dropped, he hasn't fallen, and he was tested for parasites in march. I dont think its prolapse. I didn't have time to get a picture.... T_T He seemed fine and after he was done squeezing, (sorry lol) it just went back in and his anus looked fine again. He didn't seem bothered. Was this a result of impaction?
Your UVB bulb should be good if it has not been used - I dont think so on the impaction question - just keep an eye on him when he poops -- if the vent is back to normal he should be fine
 

annieandziggy

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Ziggy
Your UVB bulb should be good if it has not been used - I dont think so on the impaction question - just keep an eye on him when he poops -- if the vent is back to normal he should be fine
Here is a picture of his poo. His diet is normal and his temps are normal. This is usually what his poo looks like but in a larger amount and i don’t know what to do 😭 Sorry for the grossness
 

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Lobretto

Hatchling Member
Beardie name(s)
Verstappen and Checo
The vet told me to feed him once per day with about 10 dubias. His belly looks HUGE afterward and he poops every 3-4 days. When he does, it’s a truckload of poo. I don’t wanna feed him anymore than this, or else his belly will get even bigger than it is.
Your vet is mistaken. A juvenile beardie should be eating 2 to 3 times a day as many bugs as it can eat in 10 to 15 minutes. Your vet says 10 dubias once a day. That's starving a beardie. Put it this way, I got a baby beardie, hes 2 months, he eats bugs 3 times a day and typically puts dow. 10 to 20 per sitting. Mine always has a big ol belly, but that's no reason not to feed him, he's a growing boy and needs that big ol belly to supply his growing needs.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
red light? Are you still using the red light? If so please get rid of it and get your surface basking temps up to 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer --- red lights or any colored bulb can cause aggressive behavior- they distort their vision
 

RangoRocky

Juvie Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Rango Rocky Balboa
Your vet is mistaken. A juvenile beardie should be eating 2 to 3 times a day as many bugs as it can eat in 10 to 15 minutes. Your vet says 10 dubias once a day. That's starving a beardie. Put it this way, I got a baby beardie, hes 2 months, he eats bugs 3 times a day and typically puts dow. 10 to 20 per sitting. Mine always has a big ol belly, but that's no reason not to feed him, he's a growing boy and needs that big ol belly to supply his growing needs.
I agree my baby is now 4mo and she eats 2-3 times a day but I just fill her bowl up and she eats when she gets ready.
 

annieandziggy

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Ziggy
red light? Are you still using the red light? If so please get rid of it and get your surface basking temps up to 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer --- red lights or any colored bulb can cause aggressive behavior- they distort their vision
I don’t know what you mean by “still using” because I have never used a red light bulb. I know they can hurt their eyes.
 

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