Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok i just got my bearded dragon 2 days ago. I just put some lettuce in his tank and i went to grab him and when i had him in my hands he went stiff as a board, he wont move a single muscle, but when hes down and his tanks closed hes up and about.
is this just a defense stance? i dont want to give him a heart attack or anything

*Note* 3 WEEKS OLD

sounds like a normal reaction for any animal that is not used to beeing handled.

give it time, let the dragon get used to you and your hands.

some notes:

1) lettuce is not a good food for a dragon, its like 95% water and will give them the runs. check this site for links to listings of good food items like collard greens.

2) you say "Grab" if thats literaly what you did then stop and re-think what you are doing.

Normaly for any small lizard getting "Grabed" from above and or behind is the *LAST* thing that happens before they are lunch for some larger animal.

Alwalys let your dragon see your hand in front of him and try to let him walk onto your hand or pick him up from the front first. this way he starts to understand it's not an attack.
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I didnt know the lettuce gave them the runs, a vendor i bought the beardie from told me to give it lettuce. What should i give him instead?

Im sorry if i didnt explain this message alot. I didnt just grab him, my hand was infront of him, but ill try to have him walk on my hand.

i think it might of been the fact that he is new and that was only his second day in his tank.

Also you forgot the link in your message or i missed it. can you please put it down again

Mustard, collard and turnip greens. Here is a great link on foods for your beardie. http://home.comcast.net/~holachapulin/Nutrition.html

Wendy

sorry.

food; there are many links here if you do a search for "food" and other related words.

at the top of the main forum page on this iste is a link to one page with some info on feeding:
http://www.kingsnake.com/gladescs/bearded/

the general rule is *DARK GREEN* leafy like Kale, Collard Greens and several others. shreded carots, minced or sheded yellow squash... there is a big list of good stuff you can use.

this young he may not take to greens ... but some do.

often for the first 4-6 months they eat crickets like mad as they are growing from 2-4 inches to 12-16 inches in size
then they gneraly slow the growth rate a bit and get to around 18-24 inches at around 1 year old.

and with just a few days in the new home .... let him get comfortable with the new home, let him learn that your hand puts food in front of him; in no time at all he will be ready to climb on your hand to find greens or crickets ....
after that he should have no fear of your hands.
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www.beautifuldragons.com Go to the nutrition part. It will have a list of foods and details.
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~Shana~

0.1 Bearded Dragon (Kaida)
1.0 Betta Fish (Boo)
0.1 Cat (Ginger)
Fish Tank

ok thank you very much

he didnt eat the celery so i took it out and got him another bag today of cricketsm about a dozen

he ate every single one, i was surprized. Some in the bag were big so i took them out and didnt give them to him. Is it okay also to hand feed him crickets? not just let them run around. I really want him to get used to my scente and haveing me handle him.

He is shy, when i first put the crickets in he just sat in the corner(where he previoulsy was) and watched them. I left the room and came back about 5 minuets later too see him chaseing them around. 10 min later he was done and bathing. when i first saw him lay there with the crickets all around him i thought he wasnt going to eat them, because he didnt budge, but now i see hes ok.

Also do you guys have any advice on keeping him healthy?
Sorry if these questions sound kind of stupid but ive never had a beardie before, and hes only a baby, only 3 inches if that

the vendor I bought him from told me to feed him crickets every day, is this true? also how many, a dozen?

thank you

I believe most people put a mix of salad in the cage as well, not just one thing. I've seen pictures of other people's salad bowls and it looks like there could be up to five things in there at a time. Just a side note.
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~Shana~

0.1 Bearded Dragon (Kaida)
1.0 Betta Fish (Boo)
0.1 Cat (Ginger)
Fish Tank

my dragon was eating crickets as fast as I could get them for the first few months. the only real issues are:

1) not to large - a large cricket in a small dragon can cause an "Impaction".
2) never late, you want him to have enough time to digest the food before the lights are out and he goes to sleep.

3) don't leave crickets overnight or when he is not eating them any more. a cricket can hurt a dragon by chewing the skin of the more tender parts; also having bugs crawling over a dragon that is trying to sleep causes stress.

aside from that if you can feed the dragon 3 times a day and he is active, eating pooping and growing then do it.
at some point you can switch to larger crickets and less times a day... but right now you have a baby and babys need to feed to grow. studys have shown that with the right conditions a bd can grow amazingly fast during the first year....
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You guys leave the heat lamp on all the time right?

at night should i switch the bulbs too the night bulbs(they are kind of purple, they still give the heat but not as much light.

Also can i leave the night lamps in all the time? because i have the vitamin lamp, wich gives light to make it same like daytime, and then turn that off soo it would feel like night, but still has the night heatlamp?