new member from indianapolis indiana

[sabrina brock]

Hey guys I just recently found this site because I was looking for some help on some concerns I have for my little beardy. Well he's not so little anymore, we got him in may when he was still a baby and now he is this big fat happy dragon. Well he seems healthy anyway. I'm not sure about happy. He seems to be a little stressed and I have been trying my best to fix those problems but for some reason nothing I am doing is helping. One of his main problems we are working on right now is feeding. He just seems like he cannot get enough to eat no matter how much or how many times a day we feed him. We try to equally distribute his veggies and meats. He has gotten to the point if you walk up to the cage he is instantly trying to eat you through the glass. Hitting his little nose and everything. I just really don't want my little guy to hurt himself. His temperament is another thing we are working on because he is very aggressive at this moment. We have been working on that for a few weeks now, he has gotten better at it that's for sure we can actually handle him pretty well now. Right now the only thing I think could be bothering him is his tank size. Which we are in the process of getting him his 55 gallon tank so I know that will make him happy. But i'm not sure if that's even going to work. I got him for my birthday and he's very special to me and I don't want to lose my little guy, he has become part of our little family.

 

[Mom2Dovakiin]

can you list your set up info?
Lights, temp, size, substrate, etc?

 

[Dale McMinnis]

Hey guys I just recently found this site because I was looking for some help on some concerns I have for my little beardy. Well he's not so little anymore, we got him in may when he was still a baby and now he is this big fat happy dragon. Well he seems healthy anyway. I'm not sure about happy. He seems to be a little stressed and I have been trying my best to fix those problems but for some reason nothing I am doing is helping. One of his main problems we are working on right now is feeding. He just seems like he cannot get enough to eat no matter how much or how many times a day we feed him. We try to equally distribute his veggies and meats. He has gotten to the point if you walk up to the cage he is instantly trying to eat you through the glass. Hitting his little nose and everything. I just really don't want my little guy to hurt himself. His temperament is another thing we are working on because he is very aggressive at this moment. We have been working on that for a few weeks now, he has gotten better at it that's for sure we can actually handle him pretty well now. Right now the only thing I think could be bothering him is his tank size. Which we are in the process of getting him his 55 gallon tank so I know that will make him happy. But i'm not sure if that's even going to work. I got him for my birthday and he's very special to me and I don't want to lose my little guy, he has become part of our little family.

Welcome he is a fine looking young man. I'd just keep on handling his as much as posiable I don't think you could handle him to much unless it causes him stress. I'm sure other might have different opinions but at his age I'd feed him as much as he wants. Bearded dragons are such a joy good luck with him.

 

[PatsyB]

When you handle him make sure you don't grab him from over his head, scoop your hand under his chest from the front and support his back legs with your other hand. It is possible that he just wants to get out of his tank and have some time to run around. If you can, make him a safe room so he can explore and burn off some of that energy. Don't give him food when he seems like he wants food. Make a feeding schedule feed him at the same time every day (give a salad for the whole day). If he's truly hungry he will eat his salad. By him lunging at the glass when he sees you and you feeding him, he is teaching you how he wants things done and it needs to be the other way around. If you give in and feed him when he does this, you risk having an overweight beardie.

About the tank size. A 40 gallon breeder is the minimum size for an adult dragon because it has good floor measurements. A 55 gallon tank is not deep enough for an adult dragon. It's only 13" and you want a tank that is at least 18" deep so that they have room to turn around comfortably. Dragons need more horizontal space than vertical space. They have poor depth perception so when they get older an bigger in size, they become more clumsy and can really hurt themselves falling from a height.