Help! New Beardie Won’t Let Me Touch Her

[heather_nichole18]

Hello Everyone! I recently acquired a bearded dragon who is approximately over a year old. I got her from someone who didn’t have the time needed to give her attention. I don’t think they held her very much. She will not let me hold or let alone barely touch her. I go into her enclosure and put my hand in beside her so she can see me. I move very slowly talking to her and doing everything slow now fast movement. And when I get close she hisses at me and won’t let me touch her. I feel bad and know she is scared but I don’t know what to do. Any help would be appreciated. I don’t want to give up on her but also don’t feel it’s fair to keep her in her tank all the time. I’m desperate.....

 

[Sadie]

Hello Everyone! I recently acquired a bearded dragon who is approximately over a year old. I got her from someone who didn’t have the time needed to give her attention. I don’t think they held her very much. She will not let me hold or let alone barely touch her. I go into her enclosure and put my hand in beside her so she can see me. I move very slowly talking to her and doing everything slow now fast movement. And when I get close she hisses at me and won’t let me touch her. I feel bad and know she is scared but I don’t know what to do. Any help would be appreciated. I don’t want to give up on her but also don’t feel it’s fair to keep her in her tank all the time. I’m desperate.....

She needs to acclimate to her surroundings and your going to haft to build trust w/ her -- how old is the dragon? Most of all you need to have the correct husbandry for her --- please NO coil UVB's you need a long tube UVB--- basking temps need to be certain temps for babies and all basking temps should be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- NO stickons they are inaccurate- these two things I just went over all the most important things for the over all health of the dragon-
She will go thru relocation stress so her eating will be off if she quits eating all together there is a issue and its usually what I just went over --- in the mean time you are off to a good start w/ the slowly approaching her -- get some worms like either BSFL if she is young and add to her salads - you can feed as many as you want and hand feed her - worms work good --- NO meal worms if shes a baby-- too harsh on the stomach -- super worms work good but I need to know how big she is -- take a piece of your clothing or a piece of fleece and put in her hide - something w/ your smell on it - you will haft to work w/ her do not approach from over head they have 3rd eye that is for predators and she will think you are a predator-- put your hands in her tank as much as you can - it may take a while depends on the dragon -- time and patience is key here - please go over your tank set up so we can help you w/ the lighting etc

 

[Emilia Thuet]

I had a beardie just like that, he hated to be held when I first rescued him and now loves cuddles. Now the situations could be a little different due to the fact that my guy was emaciated when I got him and I'm pretty sure he may have been abused. Don't know the situation with your guy but at the end of the day it is all about building trust with your beardie. So first let her get use to her surroundings give her a could of days to a week but during this time leave something in there that has your scent on it, barely used shirt, or rub you hands on a mitten and leave it in there so she can get used to your scent. Just put your hands in her tank to feed her and try to do this at a set time every day so she can get used to seeing you and connecting you to food. After she is used to her surroundings try hand feeding her some treat feeders, superworms, hornworms, butter worms and see if she'll take it from your hand, many times beardies will only eat from your hand if they trust you. This may take a few times but see what happens. Around this stage you should also now try to take her out, try not to grab her from above because it may scare her, she may still hiss at you but try to take her out of her tank and attempt to calm her down by lightly petting her on her back. Even if she gets angry try not to put her back into her tank because than she'll realize that all she has to do is get angry and she'll have her way. Beardies may not be the brightest but they aren't stupid. Once she has calmed down outside of her tank and this may take a bit, up to 15 minutes sometimes but at one point or another she'll realize you are not a threat. You can then take her with you and do some work with her near by, so if you have an office put her on the desk near you as you do some work for an hour or so, if she's feeling adventurous let her roam around your office, do this everyday and hopefully she won't be aggressive anymore. There are times where some beardies won't out grow their aggressive natures and she may always be a little upset at first when you take her out of her tank and need to give her a second to calm down. Hope I was able to help

 

[heather_nichole18]

Thank you so much for your responses! She is a little over a year old and I don’t think she was handled much. I have been feeding her roaches just because that was what they already had her on and I didn’t want to change it. She is also getting greens and veggies everyday but she isn’t touching those. She has a basking might and also a tube UVB light. I haven’t tried worms but I may see if that helps. I have tried to hand feed her but she won’t come near me. I have had her a week and a half so far but still no progress. I always go in beside her and not over top of her because I know that scares her and I want to make sure she can see me and knows im
Not there to harm her. I think I’m going to try the shirt thing and see if that helps.

 

[heather_nichole18]

This is Kirby! She is super pretty and seems healthy. Just wish I could hold her and show her that I’m not going to hurt her.

 

[Sadie]

Thank you so much for your responses! She is a little over a year old and I don’t think she was handled much. I have been feeding her roaches just because that was what they already had her on and I didn’t want to change it. She is also getting greens and veggies everyday but she isn’t touching those. She has a basking might and also a tube UVB light. I haven’t tried worms but I may see if that helps. I have tried to hand feed her but she won’t come near me. I have had her a week and a half so far but still no progress. I always go in beside her and not over top of her because I know that scares her and I want to make sure she can see me and knows im
Not there to harm her. I think I’m going to try the shirt thing and see if that helps.

Roaches are a good staple feeder--- where is the UVB? Top of screen or inside the tank? And is it a T 5 or a T 8? Look on the bulb it will tell you distance and placement is very important

 

[Emilia Thuet]

This is Kirby! She is super pretty and seems healthy. Just wish I could hold her and show her that I’m not going to hurt her.

Reply she is stunning, and do try the shirt to start with, first place it on the floor of the tank, than after a couple of days move it around. Maybe at one point or another put it near her basking spot, or under her food bowl. Also make sure your switching up shirts every 3 days or so, so it always has your scent. Try feeding her with tongs maybe if you don't already so she's associating you more with food. It is going to take patience on both your parts and I know you really want to hold her and pet her but it may be a while before you can. It took Anubis 3 weeks to stop hissing at me and another 2 before he stopped running away from me. Every beardie is different but sadly it will take some time. If you're ok with handling roaches maybe try hand feeding her that. I say in a weeks time after the shirt holding try and take her out even if she is hissing, if not you are just letting her get her way and sometimes you just gotta rip it off like a band aide. Beardies will stop hissing at you once they realize you are not a threat and I feel like once she gets some outing time and some room to roam around you she'll be a bit happier. If anything I try hand feeding her hornworms or butter worms, they love those as treats. If she's a big fan of butter worms I suggest giving her no more than 2 a day for about a week, it will definitely help build trust. They aren't a staple food at all so this may get a bad reaction but if it helps bring her closer to you, at the end of the day its not gonna be the end of her.