MOUNTAIN HORNED DRAGON!! hi i just purchased a mountain horned dragon and i'm kinda disappointed. i have ahd two other lizards before this one [a leopard gecko and bearded dragon] and i was expecting the same behavior. but lets just say its the opposite. i cant pick up this MHD without it kicking its back legs and opening its mouth while spinning its head! frnakly, im terrified of this thing. plus, it hasnt eaten a cricket, or at least i havent seen him/her eat one. is there something wrong with my MHD?
RE: MOUNTAIN HORNED DRAGON!! I agree with plmarsq8 probably stressed because they should be okay with handling at least mine were
First, a MHD is not at all like a bearded Dragon or a leopard gecko. For starters, they are arboreal. A MHD will need at least 36" of enclosure space to climb. This means accessable height, with branches and vines. Many people try to get away with just an aquarium for an MHD. Their's end up sitting there staring at them all day long, or they will simply die. Second, MHDs have a special need for water. They will need a large, really large, water area. Not just that, they will need their water to be moving. This means a bubbler, fountain pump, dripper, or some apparatus that creates movement in the water(ie, ripples). I use a litter box liner from Wal-Mart with aquarium gravel in it for a water dish, this works great. Next, a MHD will need high humidity. 60%-100% is ideal. This means no screen terrariums, and you will need to mist, a lot. The large water area will help with that. We'll start with the above. Make sure your MHD has a 36" tall enclosure with things to climb on, a large moving water source, and high humidity. Here is my enclosure, it's six feet tall. I built it. And by the way, there is nothing wrong with your MHD, you're just not taking care of it properly. No offense, I started off horribly wiht MHDs.
i need help with my moutnain horned dragon!!! ok so i got a MHD and i have been reading up on it. i found oout it was a female due to its fierce behavior. she doesnt let me pick her up and barely even touch her. this is only day 2, but im saddened by the fact she wont let me interact with her please someone that has had a female MHD talk to me!! tell me if it will get better... :roll:
ok thank you to you twoo but for rjc02691, umm i dont havce that kind of money to go out and just spend 100's of dollars on stuff like this. i bought the aquarium with a wirre screen. so thats wut i am stuck with. hopefully she is just stressed. ohh and another thing, shes not eating....i have like 6 crickets in there just walking around
If you don't have the money to care for it, why did you buy the lizard, if I may ask? They are very cool lizards, but there is no substitute for research when it comes to exotic pets.
RE: help with mountain horned dragon!! shes stressed from the move from one place to another and the habitat that she was in was normal for her and now she has moved from an enviroment shes used to to one she isn't so shes a little scared now hold off on trying to handle her for about a week and as for the not eating that is also from the move she probably won't eat for the next few days but nothing to worry about
RE: i need help with my moutnain horned dragon!!! i may not have a mountain horned dragon, but i think that just trying to interact with her as much as you can might get her used to you and maybe she'll calm down. also, she might still be stressed a bit from her move.
RE: i need help with my moutnain horned dragon!!! Merged the two threads, and one of them was moved from general
Hello Hello, Give her time to relax from being relocated. Chances are she is not going to eat for awhile, so, please take the crickets out of her tank right now. They are running around & probably stressing her out right now. Normally, relocation stress can last up to 2 weeks, maybe longer depending on the animal. I know you said you don't have hundreds of dollars, so, what do you have to work with right now? What type of setup do you have? Home built tanks do not have to be expensive, they can save you lots of money. Let us know how we can help you so your MHD will be healthy. Tracie
RE: Hello hi, and thank you to tracie, papercut and geckofreak562. ur advise was very wise =]]. and for tracie--> im scared that my MHD isnt going to eat and then die. i cant have that happen, i'd feel irresponsble and just a plain loser so, wud it be alright if she went a few days without eating??
RE: Hello Most newly acquired reptiles take at least 1-2 weeks to fully accostomise to new surroundings. I'd offer food every couple of days anyway though, just make sure that its removed if uneaten
Just know, this lizard will be living stressed for the rest of its life (wich may not be long) if you don't change your husbandry. Nick, I will be happy to take this lizard from if you don't feel it's what you wanted. And it probably won't be as long as you keep it the way you do. Just say the words.
You would ship it... ? It's probablybetter that you don't... let's just leave it at that. But if you ever wanted to, I would take great care of her (and of course, I 'd pay for shipping)
i'd think it probably die on the way there [im not kidding] sory i lashed out at u in the message though, it wasnt nice
Yeah, shipping can be tough. Most of the time they make it. It's only overnight. Anyhow... whatever. Hopefully you can read my other message to you.
Nick this my help alittle I have a frilled dragon that wasn't eating for me too, but knowing it was arboreal(up in trees off the ground) I found a fake tree (small trunk so he could climb ) well what a difference that made I would let the crix run up the tree trunk and he would pick them off one after another and now he is eating superworms too. I keep his water dish down by the tree bottom with a drip system and hung a mvb light over the tree so he can climb higher to bask
Yes, the problem is fitting the tree into an aquarium. I doubt this aquarium is 36" tall, which is minimum for a full grown adult A. capra (in this case, Nick's dragon) Other than that, you have the right idea!
