Akuma
Bearded Dragon Egg
- Messages
- 2
Before I start, say hello to Toothless!
I'm a new member to the forum and a first time beardie owner and it's going great! The only trouble is, my beardie won't let me pick him up (he doesn't puff or open his mouth when he sees my hand in the enclosure). I'll start from the beginning. When we first got him (we don't know his gender as of yet) he was very calm and would fall asleep in your hand after a few strokes between his eyes. A week passed before we noticed him getting skittish. He would try to run away from you (he managed to escape from us twice, but we immediately got him back) and he would run away if your hand got too close to him in the enclosure (no matter how slowly I put my hand in). But more often than not, he'd let us pick him up. So, I took him with me to college as my ESA (emotional support animal) and he continued being skittish to the point where it took a whole lot of luck to let me pick him up. Seeing as he was this skittish, my parents and I decided that it would be best for him to stay at home until further notice. Almost four months after we have gotten him, he doesn't want to be stroked in his cage or picked up at all. If we try to touch him (not on the top, in case he feels threatened) he darts away and if we attempt to pick him up, he'll immediately jump out of your hand. We've also tried petting him while hand feeding him treats and this doesn't seem to work either. His temp and humidity are both at the correct levels, he gets fed live crickets and mealworms, and has a varied diet of collard greens, dandelion greens, sweet potato, cotton candy grapes (he'll only eat these types. Such a spoiled little man), banana, strawberry, and kale. We feed him the fruits only occasionally and rotate different foods daily. We also try to let our hand stay in the cage with him for 10 minutes every day and occasionally try to pet him if he doesn't dart off and place himself in a corner. I've heard that this behavior is normal in hatchlings/juveniles (he's around 6 months now). I was just wondering if there was anything else we could do so he's not as afraid of us. It's heart breaking to see him this fearful and we just want him to feel safe. Any advice is appreciated, thank you for reading!
I'm a new member to the forum and a first time beardie owner and it's going great! The only trouble is, my beardie won't let me pick him up (he doesn't puff or open his mouth when he sees my hand in the enclosure). I'll start from the beginning. When we first got him (we don't know his gender as of yet) he was very calm and would fall asleep in your hand after a few strokes between his eyes. A week passed before we noticed him getting skittish. He would try to run away from you (he managed to escape from us twice, but we immediately got him back) and he would run away if your hand got too close to him in the enclosure (no matter how slowly I put my hand in). But more often than not, he'd let us pick him up. So, I took him with me to college as my ESA (emotional support animal) and he continued being skittish to the point where it took a whole lot of luck to let me pick him up. Seeing as he was this skittish, my parents and I decided that it would be best for him to stay at home until further notice. Almost four months after we have gotten him, he doesn't want to be stroked in his cage or picked up at all. If we try to touch him (not on the top, in case he feels threatened) he darts away and if we attempt to pick him up, he'll immediately jump out of your hand. We've also tried petting him while hand feeding him treats and this doesn't seem to work either. His temp and humidity are both at the correct levels, he gets fed live crickets and mealworms, and has a varied diet of collard greens, dandelion greens, sweet potato, cotton candy grapes (he'll only eat these types. Such a spoiled little man), banana, strawberry, and kale. We feed him the fruits only occasionally and rotate different foods daily. We also try to let our hand stay in the cage with him for 10 minutes every day and occasionally try to pet him if he doesn't dart off and place himself in a corner. I've heard that this behavior is normal in hatchlings/juveniles (he's around 6 months now). I was just wondering if there was anything else we could do so he's not as afraid of us. It's heart breaking to see him this fearful and we just want him to feel safe. Any advice is appreciated, thank you for reading!
