Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello! I've been wanting a BD for about 10 years now and I finally got one about 3 weeks ago. My husband and I traded some of our baby leapard gekos for him and a boa. Anyways, my husband surprised me with Irwin and he was everything I had hoped for. I was able to hold him that night and he just laid on my thumb and was happy as can be. I was even able to hand feed him. I held him every day and hand fed him and had no problems. I didn't even have to restrain him when I was holding him, he would just lay there. Now I have a problem. Before, he was kept in one of those plastic shoe boxes and we had him on top of our turtle tank next to the light until his new home was ready. Now he's in a 10 gallon with branches to climb and his basking light. Since he's been in the aquarium he hates to be picked up. He runs away from me, and when I do get him he squirms and tries to get away (which he has successfully done twice). He bit me once and tonight he puffed his beard at me!Also, he won't hand feed anymore (except tonight I tried to give him a pellet and he took it but it was too big and he dropped it and he wouldn't try again). Since we got him from the pet store we're not sure exactly how old he (she?) is but we're guessing about 3 months and he's about 6 inches long (including the tail). He has his UVB tube and the temp is 100 degrees. He eats like a champ, even his mustard greens. Tonight is the first time I've tried to give him pellets but he hasn't taken one yet. Anyways, is this common for them to be tame and turn crazy??? Why is he doing this, I want my cuddler back!

Sounds like your beardie might be tired of being cooked in a tank that's too small.

Other than that, and without more info, I'm not willing to guess any further.

6 inches seems awfully small for a 3 month-old BD to me though... but others will have to comment on that.

D.A.

Several things can be affecting his behaviour. One, he is in a new tank, and that typically puts them under stress till they get used to it (1-2 weeks usualy) Glass tanks typically require you to reach in from above to pick him up. Anything reaching in from above typically means, to a dragon, a predator is trying ot eat him. Thirdly, 10 gal tanks are rather small for a bearded dragon, even a 6" one (which is probably closer to 6 weeks old than three months. Or a poorly taken cared of dragon, by a petstore most likely, so it isn't growing very fast).

I suggest getting him into a 20 - 35 gal Long tank, which will give him more space to move around and grow. IN a 10 gal tank, it is already nearly too small and they are much harder to regulate temperature in.

Another reason your dragon may be acting up is he is ia baby still. IN the past he may have been just too nervious to run, using the usual defensive method of freezing, instead of fleeing, as other lizards may do when nervious or frightened. It takes time to tame dragons down, usually a year or so, before they are fully grown and more laid back and comfortable being picked up and held by their masters. Some never completely calm down and are always flighty. SO expect times when he won't like to be held and all that. Just be patient and know eventually he will calm down to some point again.

It could also simply be when you first had him, he was not very healthy, didn't have the energy to run etc. But now that you have fed him well, gave him good lighting and heat, he is more healthy and active.

I deffinitely suggeste getting him back into a bigger cage, as mentioned above (not sure how big the rubbermade thing was he was in originally after you bought him, but if that is bigger than the 10 gal, might be best to just keep him in there till you either get a bigger tank or gets big enough for his adult tank of 4'x2'x2' or larger)
-----
PHLdyPayne

Let me give you a little bit of a visual on why a 10 to 20 gallon tank isn't gonna work for very long:
Here's a couple of pics of one of our dragons. They were taken 2 and a half months apart. ( Yes, it really is the same dragon in both pics )

See a bit of difference? And remember, this is only a couple of months difference. The dragon in the pic is now over 3 years old, is 18 inches long and weighs more than 500 grams.

Also, if you don't get your temps down from that 100 degrees throughout the tank, your dragon probably won't last long enough to outgrow it.

The moral of the story here is that you need to get a 45 to 50 gallon tank, get the temps down to the low/mid 80's on the cool end, somewhere in the 90's on the warm end, with a basking spot that's about 100 to 105 degrees.

After that, and with a couple of months time and proper care and feeding, you'll probably have your "lap dragon" back.

D.A.

Grumpy was between 8 and 8 1/2 inches long in the first pic.

D.A.