Tips to help bond with my beardie

I just adopted my first bearded dragon (Aki), but she’s super skittish and will run away or pull back if I try to interact with her. Does anyone have any tips on how to get her to trust me? Thanks!

Congrats on your new beardie!

Most babies are a little bit shy at the start in their new home, especially if the breeder did not handle them enough. Same for the adults.

I would let her settle down and not handle her for the first 3 days. At feeding time, offer to feed some pieces by hand, like a small piece of bell pepper (Beardies like colorful foods) or a small live feeder that is the size between its eyes, like a small wax worm or horn worm as treats.

After the third day, you can start gently picking it up from the front bottom. Do not pick up from the top. Gently crawl your fingers under its belly from the front. Then slowly lift it up starting the front legs only. If it sits still, then lift it up a little higher so the back feet is slightly up in the air. Then after 5 minutes, if she is still calm, put her down. Make your sessions short and positive. If she starts to panic, wait until she calms, then end the session by putting her down and try again a few hours later.

Keep these sessions with your hands inside the tank and not lifting her higher than the tank in case she panics and drops from your hands. You do NOT want to grab her out of fear. That is why you will handle her inside the tank until she is ready.

Beardies tame fast. You should see improvements rather quickly, within a week or less. However, the older she is, and the less she handled, the longer it may take.

Support her with one hand under her chest and the other on her bottom. Once she gets comfortable with you, you may move her bottom to lay on your arm so you can hold by 1 arm or place her over your shoulders. Again, it must be at HER pace.

There is no rush in this. You will have many years with her if she is young to handle her. Rushing the taming process can only hurt you both. She must learn to trust you and you must learn to trust her that she knows her limits.

Lastly, never take your beardie outside without a leash, no matter how tame your beardie becomes.

Have you tried sharing a bowl of wax worms? :rofl: (listen to Cheesenugget ^ ^ ^ )

Wow, thanks a ton! I’ll definitely make sure to take your advice once I feel she’s ready. I don’t know anyone personally who owns or has owned a beardie that I can ask, so this has really helped me. Thanks again, I appreciate it.

Not yet, I bought around 50-60 crickets along with her and I haven’t found the time to go back to the store. I definitely want to buy some though and see what she thinks!