Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone!

I have some questions below about skittish-ness and how to "grow" a dragon. Below is the relevant data and then questions i have on my dragons.

I have two bearded dragons that are a few months old. I got them as a pair from my girlfriend, and as discussed in a previous thread the one dominated the cage and single basking basking spot over the other so i split em up. The full cage measures 4'deep x 15.5" deep x 17" tall.

Per recomendation I split them up so that the little guy (i hope it's a girl!) could grow in comfort without feeling dominated and could get her fair share of basking and food. Well, the dominant one, as always is just growing like a weed. He is great, he poops once or twice a day and sheds every week or two. He eats a lot and is very active. And what is really nice is that he is calm usually.

My other dragon is the one i have questions about. He is the small one. It is super skittish. He pretty much eats his greens (spinach and cut up yellow corn)usually but not a lot, and he eats his calcium dusted crickets,(1/3rd to 1/2 inch crickets) but usually not a lot. Last night i think he ate 6 and I was proud. If he doesn't finish the crickets in 15 minutes or so i take out the remaining crickets and feed them to the bigger guy who has already finished his first meal just so no crickets are left in the little guys area and he gets used to them in the cage overnight.

I believe them to both be healthy. I feed them greens in the morning (spinach and cut up corn) then around 5pm i will give em a cricket snack or small meal worm or wax worm snack, then around 8-9 pm I will give em a feast of crickets.

They get their UVB from a 10 watt uvb repti-sun flourescent that goes the entire distance of the cage (i just replaced it last week so it is good) and then each side of the cage has a 100 watt basking lamp.

I bathe them about once a week and get them outside about once a week. They have been split up as the pictures will show, for about a 2 weeks now. About a week ago I converted them from calci-sand to the rabbit pellets (that seem to have cat food in it too!) The little guy did start growing after i split em up, but I'd like to know if i can do something more for them now?

The little guy freaks out for a while when i put him in the bath tub of warm water (about an inch deep or so) by himself or with his old buddy. When we are handling him he is skittish and is fast as heck and runs off things he shouldn't like the edge of the couch or my shoulder(I don't think he has a lot of brains, poor guy!)but I have caught him or he has had a decently soft landing each time so far. We handle him about 2-3 times a week. Not for long usually. just to say hi and let him sit on the couch with us but that is usually a chore in an of itself.. He does seem to calm down a bit after being in a situation for a while.

My questions are, what can i do to get rid of the little guys skittish-ness? I know this split cage setup that i have is not ideal as it doesn't give them a great hot side/cool side but moreso a hot side/warm side. So my question is.. how can i grow my lil guy and how can i make him not skittish/timid anymore?

Sorry if the pics are so big.. my editing software is on the other pc.. Should be 4 pics.

Thanks all!

The whole cage.

His side.

Both of em side by side.

Spinach and corn are horrible greens to feed bearded dragons. Corn is fine as a 'garnish' but not as a staple. SPinach should never be fed to bearded dragons, as it is high in oxates and other stuff that bind calcium and basically, make it useless to your dragon.

Get rid of that pellet stuff. Give that to rabbits. It is no good as a substrate for many reasons..impaction risk, mold, harbors grain mites (not a problem for your dragons, but annoying to have flying around) and they are dusty too.

Best substrate to use for babies, especially one that isn't growing..is paper towel.

Get yourself a good digital thermometer with probe, so y ou can accurately measure basking temps and ambient temperatures of your your setup, to make sure they are within appropriate ranges.

For good healthy foods to feed your dragons..check the nutrition chart below: It is color coded to indicate what greens are safe to offer daily, which ones should only be weekly etc..

www.beautifuldragons.com

Sorry if I came out sounding rather harsh..but I was just shocked at how your setup was and what you have been feeding your little guys.
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PHLdyPayne

Good to know. Thank you. Someone at the local commercial pet store had recomended the spinach when we got the dragons, probably someone who didn't know anything. Corn was our idea. That chart was very helpful. I will switch to collared greens and such. I took a look at that website and intend to study health recomends more.

Someone on this forum said that rabbit pellets were acceptable if I clean the poop often -which i do.

If I switch to paper towels.. I presume their aren't any know fire hazzards with the heat lamps? I guess not since it only gets to be around 100 degrees.

Any input on the skittish-ness for after i fix the current errors of my ways?

"then around 8-9 pm I will give em a feast of crickets"

LdyPayne - you didn't address this so I'm not sure if it is a big deal or not. Isn't 8-9 late to be feeding the primary meal of crickets? It seems that this would not give the beardies time to bask and digest before lights out. Also, if they are about ready for lights out and sleep, would they eat as much?

I noticed that too.

I would give the small one a half hour to eat as many crickets as possible. Dragons under a year old and 500 grams should be fed live food at least twice a day. I never feed mealworms or waxworms, but I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't but should do so only as a treat not as a staple. I wouldn't consider it one of the live meals.

I would feed the first live meal about an hour and a half after the lights go on that way they have time to warm up. Then I would feed the 2nd live meal no closer than 2 hours before the lights go out. That way they have time to partially digest the meal before the temps. drop and digestion stops.

Collards are a good choice but the leaves are very thick and tough which is a little harder for babies to eat and digest. I would offer them in small pieces but a good staple would be Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, and Dandelion.

Oh, regarding the skittishness, I'd just give it time. Some dragons just take longer to acclimate to their surroundings and interaction than others.

The bath water should be no higher than 90. So if you're not using a thermometer that will feel slightly cool to the touch. If the water is too warm then they go crazy trying to get out.

I would limit interaction between the two to basically none since the size difference is so dramatic. It's going to be next summer till there is a possibility of putting them back together. Maybe you should consider buying a 30 or 40 Breeder for the smaller one since they will both outgrow their half before then.

This is great feedback, thanks you guys. Clearly I have some adjustments to make on the diet, cage and hours i have them keeping. I will also be looking into a 2nd cage to split them fully apart.

I'll post in a few weeks or month or so and let you know how it goes on these topics. In the meantime I will be drumming up q's on other topics Thanks guys.

oh, so is paper towels the preffered route to go LdyP -or anyone? Til what age? Man, paper towels sure seem boring. My guys like to burrow a lil bit at night.

I must have missed the times crickets were being fed at night. That is rather late but it really depends on when lights out is.

For baby dragons (or dragons that are not being cycled to brumate, for breeding purposes) 12-14 hours of daylight is needed. It is best to put the UVB and basking lights on a indoor timer, set so they get that 12-14 hours of daylight. This way the time of day is pretty consistent and you don't have to worry about waking up early enough to turn the lights on at the same time every day or being home to turn them off.

paper towel is fine for babies but you can switch them over to non stick shelf liner, plastic table cloth or washed children's play sand, if you want a loose substrate.

I also suggest you do more research on bearded dragon care, there are many good care sheets online, including at that site I posted earlier with the nutritional chart.
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PHLdyPayne

If i had a tail, I think it would be missing some of it now. lol