scared water dragon

Question
Hi,
I have a water dragon he is about a year old and I have had him since August.  When I first bought him he loved going outside.  I was only able to take him out for a few weeks before it began to get too cold.  Since it has been getting warm again I have been trying to take him outside again.  The first time I took him out a few weeks ago he went crazy he jumped out of my hands and started running, throwing the beard out and puffing up. Now everytime he goes even close to a window he gets the same way.  I built a large out door cage for him and my other lizard (a bearded dragon that loves the outdoors).  I have been trying to slowly take him out and let him sit in the cage he goes crazy and then I take him in.  I thought that by taking him out slowly and regularly he would get use to it but he is not.  He is still hating to be outside.  I think it is important that he can get some air and sunshine every once in a while so I feel bad that he can't do that like my other lizard.  I think he might have deeper problems.  When I bought him he was missing two fingers, he has a hair lip, he is tough to feed and he really doesn't use one of his arms.  Do you have any ideas for me to help him be more comfortable outside? Or do you think it is an issue he can't get over?  Also he won't eat any thing other than crickets do you have any advice on how I could get him to eat other things?  I tried a pinkie the other day and he would not even look at it.  I have to give him baby food mixed with calcium to give him his fruit and vegitables because he won't eat them on his own.  Thank you!  Aimee

Answer
First let me address the feeding issue and then I'll go over some options that you can use to acclimate him to being outside.

It's really wonderful that you're trying to feed him an assortment of foods and that will absolutely allow him to live a longer, healthier, happier life.  

http://www.herpfood.com/

The above link will provide you with access to invert. food items that are better than crickets.  I always recommend butter worms and silk worms because both have a good calcium:phosphorous ratio and are high in protein and low in fat.  With both of these new food items, if you decide to give them a try, you should offer them just like you do the crickets initially and if that doesn't work, try the tricks I'm about to list for feeding the pinkies.

First, if you don't already feed your water dragon off of feeding tongs, get him used to taking crickets from them.  After that, simply sneak in another food item in the midst of a feeding session.  So after offering one or two crickets, offer a pinkie or a silk worm or a butter worm.  After he associates the tongs with food, he'll be likely to eat almost anything offered with them.

If that isn't an option or doesn't work, you need to examine the way he is currently eating.  Does he chase the crickets down to eat them?  If so, he might not be interested in the pinkie because it doesn't move at all (if it's frozen/thawed) or very much (if it's alive).  If that's the case (and he's large enough) you might want to try a larger, more active mouse.  Are the crickets standing still when he eats them?  If that's the case, you could try killing one and setting it on top of the new prey item.  This will provide him with the visual stimuli he's accustomed to and he'll be more likely to take the pinkie.  If he's large enough, you might consider trying an entirely different kind of whole food item: feeder lizards.  Many picky eaters respond well to small feeder anoles which can be purchased for about the same price as feeder mice.  If none of this works, don't hesitate to contact me again and We can work together to figure out why he's not interested.

Now, as far as the "outside" issue is concrened, I personally would purchase a reptile harness (they're about $5 each and probably available at your local pet store -- or if not, you can easily find them online and purchase them through petco.com or petsmart.com or any number of other retailers).  This will allow him a measure of freedom while outside and the chance to get reacquainted with nature.  And if he's going through puberty he'll probably settle down fairly quickly.  Another option would be to place him in the outside enclosure and stay back, simply observing him for an hour or two.  As long as he is displaying, he isn't stressed enough that you really need to worry, and hopefully he'll start acting like he usually does in fairly short order.

I hope that helps, and good luck with your little critter!  He certainly does seem to have found a good home.