tamness in bearded dragon strange/odd or normal?

Question
Hi thanks for replying so quickly, well he has a little salad in his cage that I make new every morning... right now its yellow bell pepper/mini tomatoe/lettuce/snap peas and pea pods...all chopped into bite sized bits, He has tasted only a tiny piece of bell pepper which he took from my hand other then taht so far he has eaten around 20 to 25 super worms and 20 meduim crickets...I did dust some of the insect with vitamin and calcium powder, He wont drink either... he has a dish with shallow water replaced daily and I misted him yesterday but still no drinking. Do you think I should soke him tomarrow if he doesnt 'go' because he ate all those and never went yet... he isnt exebiting streched ind legs or anything and moves around a little but not alot... is being sort of lazy common with adult beardies? The baskingarea temp is 90 its a 100 watt reptile bulb 11 inches from him, I got exo tera 8.0 for the uvb bulb, Does he need extra heat at night? I had him ouside in a small wire birdcage today in parcle sun... he seemed to enjoy it. Also while under his basking area he gapes his mouth and has it open alot is it ok? like you said it isnt as hot as required so he cant relly be too hot can he? it is a reptie and bird vet that I could take him to. For the soke how hot should the water be, how deep and how long should I soke him? can beardies swim also? And lastly he is very calm and as i said fell alseep on my shoulder today my question here is can I take him out everyday and have him on me for an hour or so? will he get cold and sick?

Thanks again for your time.



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Followup To

Question -
Hi,


I was given a bearded from a guy who didn't want it anymore...its a few years old was his guess...it was adult when he got it 8 months ago....can you tell the age of an adult beardie?

My question is are beared dragons always so tae and friendly? according to its underside and head shape/beard colour its a male. He will let me pick him up and will climb my chest and sleep on my shoulder... is this normal behavier or could he be ill or something? I really want to do my best for hm he is just darling and eats well but has yet to "poop" for me, also I was ill perpared for his arival and am going for a uvb light tonight and need to know what .0 it should be and if a bulb type or tube type would be best? I bathed him today also he sat and let me pour the water over him(just plain water nothing else) and then let me take him out of the ink and dry him and he fell asleep on my shoulder...is this normal? I can make an apointment to take him for a check up this coming week... what do the vets do to a reptile when its in for a exam? thanks -lee

Answer -
 An adult dragon who has already been socialized to people is very friendly and can bond to their people very fast.  They do go through an acclimation period when introduced to a new home.  Since he is eating, perhaps a nice longer bath would help him do his "duty".  Best fluorescent UVB is a Reptisun 10.0.  Also good but not as good are the Reptisun 5.0 and the Exoterra Repti-glo 8.0.  What sort of food have you given him?  An adult dragon is 80-90% vegetarian, 10% insect.  And check his temps with a digital thermometer, he may not have high enough basking temps to digest properly, a healthy dragon needs 100-105F in the baking area and 70-75F on the cool end for him to properly thermoregulate.
 Is your vet a reptile vet?  If not, he may recommend one for you.  They will want a fecal sample, but if he doesn't give you poop that day, don't worry, the vet will get some by other means.  He will check his jaw for MBD, open his mouth to check his throat, check eyes and ears, weigh him, and if needed, give him a pedicure.


Answer
 I would continue the baby warm soaks just up to his shoulder and cut the insects out, he may be preparing to brumate so his metabolism is slowing down for winter.  While he's awake, just offer him salad for now.  Since the noticable climactic changes all around this country, many beardies are going into brumation early, and brumation is peculiar to the individual beardie.  Dr. Kathryn Tosney has posts from experienced breeders that describe the various ways each beardie deals with winter.

http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/BDbrumate.html

 The salad needs addressing, tomatoes are too acidic, lettuce has no nutritional value, but he's getting water from it if he's eating it, bell pepper is garnish. Snap pea pods are good.  For greens, he should have collards, dandelion, turnip greens, mustard greens, other veggies should be winter squashes like butternut, acorn, buttercup, kabocha squash, green beans, wax beans, and a little fruit once in a while as a treat, berries and melon are great.

 He is not used to it being 90F right now, Gaping is his way of getting rid of excess heat without moving.  If it were too hot, he'd move.

 Good you are going to a reptile vet, a good checkup is what he needs before the big winter nap.

 When he starts eating bugs again, it should be one bug meal dusted with calcium only twice a week and one dusted with vitamin only once a week, calcium and vitamin should not be mixed no matter what the jar says.

 Oh yes, beardies can swim, but not all of them like it.