Young bearded dragon

Question
Hi Thea,

I recently bought a young bearded dragon, I'm not sure what age it is but its between 6-8 inches in length. I heard they were quite friendly creatures, but mine doesn't seem to like me too much, despite my efforts to be nice! also he seems to have lost his appetite slightly, as when i first got him (about three weeks ago) he hunted and gobbled his crickets as soon as they were in the tank. now he lets them roam around for ages, and sometimes it seems he cant see them even wen they're underneath him. i remove them after about half an hour. i don't think hes sick because hes still pretty active and alert,iv read on lots of sites that the enjoy splashing around in a warm bath but he just goes rigid and scared. is this just because hes young or will he forever be a scaredy cat that doesnt like me?! is there anything i can do to make friends with him? thanks

Answer
Hi Emma, Sounds like your BD is around 4 to 5 months old. I always like to go over the basic husbandry requirements of temperature and such with new owners in case they were give bad information along the line. His change in appetite is a little concerning. Their appetites are strongly temperature driven, he needs a basking area in his enclosure of 100 -110 F. Any change of environment is a stress producer for beardeds and stress can sometimes trigger a flare-up of intestinal parasites. Coccidia and pinworms are both extremely common in beardeds. They are often present in low numbers in the intestine but anything that compromises the immune system (like stress or low temps) can cause the numbers to increase and you will notice clinical signs like lethargy, lack of appetite and diarrhea.   If his appetite continues to lag and/or his stools become watery take a faecal sample to your vet.
As for the behavioural changes, many reptiles will go through an adolescent period as their adult hormones start to develop. For beardeds that is usually around the 6 month mark. Puppies and kittens behave and interact with us differently from juvenile dogs and cats and there is a similar change as reptiles mature. Beardeds are social reptiles and some will be more dominant while others more submissive.Sometimes owners will inadvertently trigger their beardeds fear instinct by reaching in from above with a grasping hand. That can look very much like a predator to them. Try to pick him up by approaching from the side as much as possible and encourage him to walk onto your open hand rather then grasping his body. Short periods of gentle consistent handling should see you through this phase. If the bath is frightening him  then try it later when he is a bit older, it is not something that he absolutely needs. I get a lot of questions about baby dragons that have become "unfriendly" so this behaviour phase is not uncommon.  The vast majority of beardeds grow into very calm and layed back animals which is what has earned them their excellent reputation as pets.