CheriS
No furry helpless bunny
Stephanie,
If the breeder who hatched and raised them, has not prepared them for changes, you need to do it slowly. First you need to find out how the breeder kept them. Some are in glass tanks, some are in reptariums, some are kept in non see through white bins and these are the ones that have the hardest time adjusting to a new home... especially if they are fed in them, which means they are not handled much usually.
I did not know for sure how Terri kept hers, she has never displayed any photo's on her site of babies for sell or their set ups. We thought from the high stress rate of them, it was in the bins, then in November she posted on another website "We solved the original problem of paper towels with hatchlings by removing the paper towel before feeding. Once the babies have eaten, the bin is spot cleaned and a fresh paper towel set in place". ...... so that told us they were bin raised and fed in the same bin.
Babies raised like that do not see people coming, have little contact or see people during the course of the day, they rarely see people at all. When fed, crickets are dropped into the tanks by a scoop or hand.....naturally when they go to a new home with 4 glass walls and seeing people all the time, they are terrified and stressed out really bad... all day, everyday. Suddenly there is this huge world outside their enclosure.
When someone buys a baby raised like this, you need to follow what was done with them prior, as much as possible(like covering with paper all sides of the tank) and slowly change things for them till they trust you, the best time to do that is when you feed them. A healthy baby loves to eat and chase crickets, try them in a different feeding areas, like a reptarium, another covered glass tank, a plastic Rubbermaid tub. You have to pick them up then and put them in another place for the good stuff. They learn to associate your hands and being held with something they like and that when you have them, something good is going to happen. At first, once they have eaten, place them back in the enclose that was like they were raised in. After a week you can start spending more time with them after they eat. Wrapping them in a hand towel or washrag gives them a feeling of security, but they can see you... Slowly you open back up their enclosure area, once they trust you, one side at a time... eventually the babies will want to stay with you and you know you are over the rough time.
Its sad that they have spend the first 2-3 months like this, but some breeders do it as they just do not have the time to spend with ones when they are producing a lot of babies. babies raised in reptariums or glass enclosures always see people, so they do not know to fear something different.. its the norm for them and those usually have little problem adjusting in a new home.
Ours are raised in mesh reptariums during the day since we are in Florida and they go outside during most days, but when they come in late afternoon, they are fed their second round of cricks in a glass tank with carpet on the floor while we clean their mesh enclosures. When cold or they are several weeks old, they go into glass enclosures and then are fed in the mesh reptariums.. so they are use to both. We also prep them for the 48 hours before shipping for the trip, rare is the time any do not come out of the shipping box to their new homes ready to eat, curious and relaxed.
Instead of screaming at new owners to cover up the sides or leave the dragons alone (which is hard when you have to try and feed/hydrate stressed out babies and then have to medicate them too)... its better if the breeder preps them for changes, MUCH better for the dragons too!
Good luck with your babies, if you need any additional help, please contact me, I was going to email this to you, but thought other breeder, new owners or future ones might like to see it also.
If the breeder who hatched and raised them, has not prepared them for changes, you need to do it slowly. First you need to find out how the breeder kept them. Some are in glass tanks, some are in reptariums, some are kept in non see through white bins and these are the ones that have the hardest time adjusting to a new home... especially if they are fed in them, which means they are not handled much usually.
I did not know for sure how Terri kept hers, she has never displayed any photo's on her site of babies for sell or their set ups. We thought from the high stress rate of them, it was in the bins, then in November she posted on another website "We solved the original problem of paper towels with hatchlings by removing the paper towel before feeding. Once the babies have eaten, the bin is spot cleaned and a fresh paper towel set in place". ...... so that told us they were bin raised and fed in the same bin.
Babies raised like that do not see people coming, have little contact or see people during the course of the day, they rarely see people at all. When fed, crickets are dropped into the tanks by a scoop or hand.....naturally when they go to a new home with 4 glass walls and seeing people all the time, they are terrified and stressed out really bad... all day, everyday. Suddenly there is this huge world outside their enclosure.
When someone buys a baby raised like this, you need to follow what was done with them prior, as much as possible(like covering with paper all sides of the tank) and slowly change things for them till they trust you, the best time to do that is when you feed them. A healthy baby loves to eat and chase crickets, try them in a different feeding areas, like a reptarium, another covered glass tank, a plastic Rubbermaid tub. You have to pick them up then and put them in another place for the good stuff. They learn to associate your hands and being held with something they like and that when you have them, something good is going to happen. At first, once they have eaten, place them back in the enclose that was like they were raised in. After a week you can start spending more time with them after they eat. Wrapping them in a hand towel or washrag gives them a feeling of security, but they can see you... Slowly you open back up their enclosure area, once they trust you, one side at a time... eventually the babies will want to stay with you and you know you are over the rough time.
Its sad that they have spend the first 2-3 months like this, but some breeders do it as they just do not have the time to spend with ones when they are producing a lot of babies. babies raised in reptariums or glass enclosures always see people, so they do not know to fear something different.. its the norm for them and those usually have little problem adjusting in a new home.
Ours are raised in mesh reptariums during the day since we are in Florida and they go outside during most days, but when they come in late afternoon, they are fed their second round of cricks in a glass tank with carpet on the floor while we clean their mesh enclosures. When cold or they are several weeks old, they go into glass enclosures and then are fed in the mesh reptariums.. so they are use to both. We also prep them for the 48 hours before shipping for the trip, rare is the time any do not come out of the shipping box to their new homes ready to eat, curious and relaxed.
Instead of screaming at new owners to cover up the sides or leave the dragons alone (which is hard when you have to try and feed/hydrate stressed out babies and then have to medicate them too)... its better if the breeder preps them for changes, MUCH better for the dragons too!
Good luck with your babies, if you need any additional help, please contact me, I was going to email this to you, but thought other breeder, new owners or future ones might like to see it also.
He only has about 9 or 10 toes left and less than half a tail. He came really skinny but he is steadily gaining and has a really cool personality. But don't worry, I still have room for a Zookie baby 
