Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my new beardie about 3 weeks ago. She is in a 20 Gal long terrarium. She has a reptiglow 10 running the length of the tank, and a heat lamp above reaching a basking temp from 100-105, with the other side around 82-87. I mist her in the morning and at night. I covered up the bottom of the glass to reduce reflection. I attempted feeding her crickets of different sizes, and medium phoenix worms. She ate very little the first week. As she got thinner I got her some wax worms to boost up her weight. The one thing I haven't mention so far is that in 3 weeks she is still very afraid of people even though she doesn't have stress marks on her belly. She sometimes will open her mouth at me but not attempt to bite when I put my hand in her tank. This is the only oppertunity for me to give her some food, so I gently place a worm in her mouth at these times. She has stopped eating crickets after the first few days, and will only eat an occasional wax worm. I am at a loss. Tommorow I am having her fecal matter tested at the vet. To sum it up, how do I get her to eat better and handle her without her opening her mouth? Thanks

One more thing. My wife wants to get another dragon to place with her to see if it will help her eat. I am not sure if that is such a good idea. Any thoughts? Thanks again.

She is less than 2 months old and is 16 grams

I think the 2nd dragon housed together is a bad idea. You said your dragon is 16 grams. Do you have an accurate scale? Is she gaining weight?

As far as the attitude goes that should calm over time. I took in a rescue because he bit his owner and she was afraid of him. A year later he is fine and very relaxed. He used to open his mouth and/or run away whenever I tried to touch him.

2 weeks ago I took another older rescue that also was probably never handled. The 1st week he bit me 3 times. lol. He is improving and I can actually hold him now for short periods.

Since yours is not eating well I would cover 90% of the sides of his cage and try not to handle him for a little while. All of your feeding and maintenance should be on the same daily schedule and hopefully he will become used to it soon.

Question on 1 thing you said. Is covering 90% of the sides so she doesn't see us, or because of her seeing her reflection? Thanks for the advice, and assurance.

The bad part is that covering glass on the outside will actually make it so she sees her reflection even more. It's more so that she doesn't get overwhelmed by things going on outside her cage. Remember, you are a big bad giant to her. Trust is built over time, some dragons just take longer than others.