New young dragon, will he calm down?

[Squish]

Hello everyone! I just got my first BD this weekend, and so far I love him. I want to make sure I do everything right! I got him from a breeder at a reptile expo, and he is about 2-3 months old I believe. Only about 3-4 inches long not including his tail. So far I only have him in a 20 gallon tank with a basking lamp on one side, but we are building him a big wooden enclosure in the next couple weeks so he won't be in there for long. I figured while he's still so little it would be okay for a short while. Please correct me if there's anything I can be doing better!

He was very calm the first day I got him and let me hold him for a while without squirming or anything, but since then he's eaten tons of crickets and seems very energetic. I've held him quite a few times, but once yesterday he ran off my hands onto the couch, and this morning when I held him he ran unexpectedly onto my bed and I had to catch him before he was out of sight! Could he be more energetic because he is still young? Is there anything I can do to train him to be relaxed when I hold him? He hasn't shown signs of anger or fear, just excitement and energy.

I'm so excited to watch him grow and get to know him. I've been daydreaming about having a beardie to sit on my shoulder and hangout with me for quite a while. Any suggestions would be very appreciated!

 

[Canicke]

babies are full of energy ! as you have found out. it will take him time to calm down. you might think about holding him closer to bedtime - when he's starting to fall asleep. you will get to the point where he will sit on your shoulder, but it will probably take a few months. yeah - sorry. he's got to get used to you, to his new environment, he's got to grow a bit ----. it will come. it will take time. enjoy the journey - not just the destination !

 

[Squish]

Thank you for your reply! I had a feeling it'd be a bit before he could ride my shoulder calmly, and I'm glad to hear his youthful energy is normal and expected.

Also, this may be a silly question, but at (around) 2 months old how much should I expect him to eat? He's eaten crickets morning and night at this point, and I worry I'm not even giving him enough!

 

[BrookeE]

They are full of energy and ready to explore when they're babies. Mine still has a ton of energy to go run around at age 6, but once i let her get it out of her system, she will sit on my shoulder no problem.

Definitely not a silly question, every beardie is different, but babies will always eat a ton. I believe common practice is to let him eat as many bugs as he wants in a 10 minute period, if he stops eating, or the 10 minutes is up, stop feeding him. That is usually done three times a day I believe.

When mine was a baby, i kept a log of how many she ate a day so i would know how much to buy at once. Helped a lot. Took away a lot of guess work.
Make sure to offer him salad daily, even if he doesn't eat it. He will eventually get the memo and start eating it at some point.

 

[Squish]

Thank you! I will keep all of this in mind! I held him again for a bit, and he was calmer. Still decided to randomly run with energy a few times, but definitely wasn't upset or angry and was licking my hands during his calm phases and his neck never turned black (though his underbelly does seem to have black speckles across it and coming up through his neck, I assume that's pattern and not anger?). So far I've been feeding him 2 times a day, but I can add a third time. I've been offering romaine lettuce every day as well. I've seen him eat a bit, but not much. I've had to pull most of it out there once the heat lamp dried it up. I may try your advise on the log, but I'm not too worried about running out of bugs. We have 2 frogs and 3 large cane toads as well, so we buy crickets in bulks of a thousand online every few weeks and have been attempting to breed supers.

Any input on feeding supers to beardies? I've read that meal worms are a big no as the chiton can impact the dragon, but are super worms okay to mix in once he gets bigger? They are meatier than mealworms, so I wasn't sure if the same rule applied. So far I've only done crickets.

 

[BrookeE]

You may want to do a little research on the romaine lettuce. I think thats on the do not feed list due to its very poor nutritional value. Most lettuce is a no go for beardies. Double check it, but I'm pretty sure on that one. Mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens are all much better options.

I feed supers to mine with no issues whatsoever. Loves them. Not sure about the safety when they're still juveniles. Someone else I'm sure would know the answer to that better than me.

 

[Canicke]

yes - while it is true that romaine is not preferred, at this stage - since he really isn't eating it - it may not be something to worry about. although - he may get used to it, and we don't want that. romaine isn't really BAD - its just not GOOD. no nutrients. water yes - nutrients - no. supers may be a bit big for your little guy - the general rule of thumb is to not feed anything bigger than the space between the eyes. small supers? yeah- maybe. meal worms ? I wouldnt

 

[Squish]

Awesome, thank you for the help you guys! I didn't know romaine was of low nutritional value. The breeder who sold him to me said just no ice berg lettuce. To be fair, it was very crowded with lots of people trying to get beardies, so she didn't have time to give me the full run down. I'll pick up some more nutrient rich greens tomorrow. Glad to hear supers are okay when he is bigger, but for now I will hold off. I did feed him a few wax worms tonight off my hand. Hopefully wax worms are okay. I know for my frogs/toads they are considered a special treat, so I assume the same is true for bearded dragons. All the critters I've had so far eat them like candy, so I thought they could help me motivate him to trust me. Sure did! He is a fun pet so far, I'm quite obsessed!

 

[Windmaster]

They are truly crazy if they are young! But, if you have any pets, such as a cat, please take my advice and cover it with something that can resist pounding or jumping! I learned that the hard way.

So, mine was one named Rascal, and he was all of what a beardy would be! Healthy and everything! Then, the cat got in while we where away! Never have I seen such a wreck! Everything was everywhere! Then I found a corpse in the backyard, and it was Rascal! The story was a little longer, but I shortened it by about 40%.
Make sure that it is cat proof! My new beardy, Jaws, has survived! I'm really lucky for him to still live!

 

[Squish]

Aw I'm sorry to hear about your Rascal. This is good advise. We do have 2 cats, but we have been locking them out of the room with the dragon while we're not home. I have plans for a large wooden enclosure we are going to build in a couple weeks, and trust me, the thing will be cat proof. We've already built a large wooden structure to keep the toads and frogs safe from the kitties, and so far it has worked flawlessly.

 

[PatsyB]

One thing I didn't see you mention was a UVB light. Even in a 20 gal tank you need a UVB. Tube style T5 or T8 bulbs are preferred but if it's a very temporary situation you can use a compact fluorescent. Just don't use a coil bulb, it will hurt his eyes.

Here is a link to good food items http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf

 

[Squish]

Oh snap! Okay, I was planning to install a tube light holder in his wooden enclosure (planning it now, will be building it in a week or two), but I didn't realize it was so urgent. Would a regular daylight fluorescent bulb from the hardware store be okay for just a couple weeks or do you advise a heavy duty one from the pet store? I would like to avoid buying an expensive bulb that I won't be using in a couple weeks once he's got his permanent home, but if it is needed right away of coarse I will get one.

 

[PatsyB]

A normal fluorescent bulb doesn't supply UVB, you need a reptile specific UVB bulb.

 

[Squish]

Oh darn, then I will pick one up tomorrow. Thank you for the information!