Yikes.

[psychgrl]

First of all, I wasn't sure exactly where to put this post...when I first agreed to take in a 2.5 year bearded dragon I wasn't sure if it would be simply an adoption from a family who didn't have time for him anymore or an actual rescue. I'm thinking this more along the lines of a rescue case but, if not, I apologize for putting this in the wrong area.

So, long story short, my husband was contacted by the mother of a student of his about rehoming their dragon. There was a separation, move, and he was living with the kid's grandmother who is terrified of him. I love reptiles and have heard nothing but great things about bearded dragons so I jumped at the chance-he was being offered with an aquarium, lights, etc. Great deal, right?

Hubby met the mom to pick him up yesterday and I got an e-mail at work about how feisty he is. Uh oh. I got home later and immediately checked out the situation. They claimed they were keeping him in a 40 gallon...no way, I didn't measure but the dimensions look to be about those of a 29 gallon. He has no UVB light and only a small basking light and an infrared night basking light. Nothing to hide in or climb on-only a smallish tree decoration that isn't good for much. They said they normally feed him greens but he came with lima beans and carrots in his bowl and some mealworms. He is small for an adult male (taking their word for it on that one, I'll check when he settles in) and seems very dehydrated but his weight actually doesn't seem bad.

So...despite the first real snow of the year, hubby and I trekked out to Petco and Wal-Mart to improve his living situation. We got the last 40 gallon breeder at Petco ($1 per gallon sale!), a Reptisun 10.0, CHE for nighttime, vitamins, calcium, collards and butternut squash to at least get him through last night and today, and some fleece to snuggle/hide in until we get much more adequate decor. I know he's stressed but I might try a bath tonight just to help hydrate him and get some old pieces of shed off him too.

I'm most worried about his behavior. The poor guy probably hasn't been handled since he was a baby. I know he's been living with the grandmother for at least a year and she definitely won't handle him. It kind of sounds like he tried to bite the kid during his cranky, adolescent stage and never really got handled beyond that. There was much puffing and hissing even when I just tried to pet him, though he eventually calmed down and accepted that. However, when I picked him up to transfer him to his new enclosure he flailed around a lot and bit me even though I tried my best to pick him up from the side and keep my hands under him for support. Fortunately, I had on some knit gloves and didn't feel a thing! I feel like there are multiple factors here...there's definitely the lack of socialization but I also think that he hasn't been kept in ideal conditions and is probably not feeling well. I'm hoping that working with him every day will help him calm down and learn to trust people. I've done a ton of reading already but I'd certainly welcome any advice on working with unsocialized dragons.

Thanks in advance and I'll try to get some pictures this weekend!

 

[AllanonsWrath]

Sounds like you guys are comitted to taking care of the little guy. I would give him a little time to feel comfortable in his new enclosure once you get everything set up. Maybe a day or two where all you do is feed him. Then, you can start building up trust from there. Start hand feeding him in his enclosure and getting him used to you = positive. When you feel comfortable there, you can move to holding him. Increasing the time you hold him as you go. You can also try holding him inside the enclosure, so if he does flail around or try to bite, you can just set him back down and try again later.

 

[psychgrl]

Thanks for the quick reply! Despite his crankiness we're enjoying him already so we're definitely committed to working with him. I know it will be slow going for a while but I think we'll be able to work him through this. Thanks for the advice, I know I'll have the urge to probably push him further than he's ready so it helps me to remember to keep things slow and move at his pace.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Sounds exactly like our Mocha - almost identical circumstances in fact - and the same bad attitude as a result.

This is the little lady when she arrived - black as soot, instabeard, swearing, husking, snapping...

And this is her, just six months on:

She's turned into an amazing little dragon - it took patience, persistence and kindness, but we got there.

Put a worn TShirt in there with him, one that smells like you. It'll be comfy and he'll get the idea that it's a safe smell. If he's a real biter, use gardening gloves. Try hand feeding a few choice tasty treats (waxworms are like sweeties!) and keep at it. It was my partner that eventually cracked Mocha - she went to bite him, but he'd already scooped her up and hugged her. It left her baffled and disarmed.

 

[psychgrl]

Thanks so much for sharing your story! It looks like Mocha has made amazing progress-you've done a wonderful job! This also gives me hope that my guy will soon calm down and at least tolerate us, or maybe even enjoy time with us. We've had him about three weeks now and I'm noticing a very small change. He's still super cranky (it's become kind of a joke between us about what an angry boy he is) but he isn't biting anymore. Still lots of puffing, bearding, and a bit of hissing but I'm actually able to pick him up without gloves. Thank goodness-the last bite actually drew blood through the gloves! He will take food from my hands at times but still prefers eating worms from his bowl-however, he doesn't get quite so defensive when I'm reaching in to take the bowl for refills as he used to.

You know, I still haven't tried putting a t-shirt in his enclosure yet but with your suggestion and having read the strategy multiple times I might do that and see what happens. Our biggest challenge right now is getting his weight up. He likes live prey (reptiworms, wax worms, crickets) but it's been impossible getting him to eat greens. Hopefully he'll be more receptive to the salad when he isn't feeling so deprived.

Thanks for the pictures of your girl as well! I love seeing the transformation! I've got to get some pics of my guy up but I just haven't thought about pulling out the camera when we've been working with him. Soon, though!

Rebecca

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

It's great that you're keeping at it - you'll find it very rewarding before long.
Mocha still has her funny moments - she's still very funny about the sides of her face, but again, persisting until she quits flinching and then tasty treats reinforce the "It's ok, we're not eating you!"
She doesn't grumble about her hands and feet any more though - that was the previous batch of immersion training, and only took a week

It's nice to see someone so dedicated with such a badass lizard - my friend Ive had the same problem with his new dragon Stuart. The store even gave him a 30 day return guarantee because he was so vicious - but to his credit, Ive persisted, worked him through it and now he has a world-class cuddler! Stuart Stickers (because he's stickin' around for good!) loves to sit with his nose in Ive's ear.

There's no such thing as over-handling with bearded dragons, so long as obviously you're letting him get plenty of basking and sleeping time. You'll have a spoilt young chap in no time

 

[psychgrl]

Thanks for the encouragement! I've only gotten really discouraged one time after I thought we were making progress and then he had a particularly cranky day. As my husband reminded me, we took him in to give him a better quality of life even if he never becomes a super cuddly dragon. But hearing stories like yours helps a lot! As for handling, we've had to go through some immersion training just to get him in a bath pretty early on! He wanted no part of it but I knew he needed cleaning as well as some fluids-not a happy boy (those are the times I've been bitten the most!). I think he's learning that 1) he's not going to be left alone no matter how vicious he gets and 2) we aren't going to eat him and, in fact, bath time equals tasty treats when he's finished! He still gets nervous when we reach over top of him but he's started to enjoy having his beard rubbed.

He's nowhere near loving the attention yet but is willing to relent much quicker! One thing he does that kind of cracks us up is-whenever we're trying to pet him or are holding him-he closes his eyes. It's funny because we know he isn't relaxing or sleeping yet, it's more like a "if I close my eyes then you aren't here and will go away" kind of thing. :roll:

So how old is your friend's dragon? Glad to see that his hard work paid off in the end! I'm so hoping we have the same result!

I wanted to give him a bit of time to settle in before really bothering him but now I think it will be good to up the interaction-even if it is just petting him in the enclosure or just putting my hand in. He gets plenty of sleep time since he's in our finished basement/television room (which means nobody disturbs him until we get home from work) and he can bask all day and after we feed him in the evenings.

And leave it to dragons to prove us wrong! Right after submitting my last post I decided to go make him some fresh salad-like I do every day. Assuming he won't touch it-like he does every day. I hear this really loud crunching sound, which I first thought it was the dogs out in the snow, but then I look over and he's seriously chowing down on his salad! Apparently it clicked that collards and butternut squash are tasty! Sheesh.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Stuart's probably about two years old - no-one is really sure. He's a big boy, and probably chased people off when he hit the rebellion phase, giving him his "nasty" reputation.

*laughing* Dragons surprise us every day. Good that he's eating them though - my most recent rescue, they told me she HATES veggies - but she won't stop pigging down now