Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my first post, and my first beardie! When I first got jessie she was about 2-3 weeks old. From the beginning she was very friendly and would even let my friend hold her. Within the last 2 weeks she has become very angry. It happened right before she shed for the 3 time and has been afraid and angry at me ever since. She began to hiss at my hand through the glass and when I reach in to pick her up. I have been feeding her crickets regularly, and she acts like I am starving her (overly excited, jumps up to and bites the bag). Just a couple of questions: Is this normal? Should I change her diet? I have been feeding her gutloaded crix and bananas, kiwi, and peaches. She doesn't like any leafy greens. I tried leaving her alone for a day (I did feed her) and that helped a little and now she is back to hissing. Any help is greatly appriciated!!!!! Thanks so much!

~Michelle

First. No more bananas, kiwis, or peaches. These are great mixed in SMALL amounts with her greens. In large amounts these will hurt her. You MUST keep offering greens. She will eat them as she gets older, but they are necessary. Leave them in all day on the cool side of the tank. Mix tiny pieces of the friut she likes in with the greens. Do this every day even if you never see her eat them. Try waving bite sized greens in front of her nose, making them move like they are crickets. Are you coating her crickets in calcium? You need to do this every feeding for such a young dragon. You should be feeding her all she can eat of crickets 2 times a day. You schould let her eat all of the calcium covered crickets she can eat in 15 minutes, or until she stops eating. Do you have proper lighting? You need a UVB bulb. Is her basking spot 100-105 degrees, with at cool spot in her tank at 80 degress. Young dragons can get aggressive when something is stressing them. They begin to lash out at things that are unrealeatd to the stress. You could be giving her tummy aches with the exotic fruit(where would a dragon in the desert of Australia get a kiwi)? Make sure you are not depriving her of the calcium she needs to grow. That mean proper UVB light and calcium covered crickets.
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