Reptile & Amphibian Forums

recently purchased a 1 month old dragon from the reptile show. he (or she) is about 5 inches long. he has been doing well but today he did something that worried me. i have tried to spray him with water but he doesn't drink. after i sprayed him last night he kept scooting around and started to "scratch" in the bedding. after coming home tonight i notice he did alot of digging. is this normal? i'm worried b/c he is soo little.

i was also told that he would not need crickets if i fed him a good pellet and fresh greens. is this true?

thank you for any help and advice you can give!

Dragons mostly get their water from greens and fruits etc and prey.They don't necessarily need water dishes or water unless they don't eat.The scratching he was doing was normal when my dragon gets water droplets on his head he also scratches himself.
It is true they don't need crickets if you feed them the pellets but thats only if they eat enough of them to get enough protein.

thank you for making me feel a little better. i've totally fallen in love with the little guy and don't want to screw up! He also has taken a liking to sleeping in my hand at night for hours. i try to put him back but he doesn't want to budge off my hand. i hope this doesn't make him sick!

thanks,
worry wart

is a good thing. This establishes trust between you and your lizard. So often there are adult dragons in pet stores who are not friendly because their previous owners didn't handle them enough. My 4 year-old used to sleep in my hand as a baby, and now she snoozes/passes out (all 24" of her) across my chest while I watch TV in the evening. Beardies are the closest to "cuddly" you can get with a reptile. Best of luck with yours!

lol...i made my husband read this. he thinks i've lost my mind cuddling every night!

if hubby is perhaps not a bit jealous (LOL)! Mine gave me my dragon as a b-day gift, and I drove him crazy for the first year worrying--is she growing enough, does she look sick to you, do you think she needs a bigger sand box, etc.? Now he just accepts the fact that she's a scaly baby.

In terms of nutrition, you might want to check out www.beautifuldragons.com. Lots of good info. Since dragons do most of their growing during the first year or so, it's important that they get enough protein, vitamins. . .
Mine rarely touches pellets unless I soften them up and mix them into her greens. However, she eats all sorts of greens and fruits & veggies, crix, superworms, f/t pink rats on occasion, canned grasshoppers as a treat--she's a piglet who loves to eat.

I've offered her all sorts of good food items ever since she was tiny and perched on my pinkie finger--bites of this and that at first. She didn't like everything at first, but I kept trying. I have to admit that for 4 years she's been a very healthy dragon, and grown into a beautiful, big, robust girl with tons of personality from the cuddling.

I know how you feel about yours, because I felt (and still do) feel the same way about mine.
regards,
althea

Isn't it true that they are so cuddly. I had Zatarain for 6 1/2 years and she would take naps with us even my son. She was the sweetest little lady. I took my other female Cajun & my male Creole to the school for my friends daughters science project and they were a real big hit! Only one girl was afraid to touch her. And it was like Cajun knew it was all about her! She just sucked up all that lovin. It was really funny because to start the teacher asked it they were friendly, so I kissed Cajun on the face, I said does that answer your question? My boys are also hooked on them. I have a 4 year old & a 16 month old and both are head over heals in love with them. Here is a picture of my baby with his beardie "Cajun"

lol...my girls 5 and 11 are already wanting thier own too!

That's awesome. Hades my bearded and Ares my mali uro love the family dog. Its funny though because she's afraid of them, and they aren't even a half of her size.

But they both love cuddling when they get held. Ares will climb under my shirt and sleep on top of my shoulder. I'll take Ares upstairs to visit with my other animals and as soon as he sees Hades he tries to jump out of my hands just to get to his cage that much faster and lick at him through the glass. Hades likes Ares also but I know better then to let my bearded and uro interact.

Aren't Bearded's just the coolest things ever?
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2 mali uro's-Ares and Apollo
2 saharan uro's-Orion and Iris
2 bearded dragon-Hades and Draco
1 leo gecko-Kalypso
1 tokaye gecko-Sid Vicious
1 tarantula-Peter Parker
1 dog-cheeka
1 zebra finch-beeps
1 african gray parrot-keya
1 red headed parrot-pancho
And some fish