So I was given this little lady yesterday and I’ve named her Ronda. Shes my third uro but she is by far the most defensive one. I dont hold my other two much but if I so much as walk by her she flees. I dont have much info on her I’m just going to assume wild caught. What can I do to help her acclimate. I dont want her freaking out everytime she sees movement. Shes got two hides but she seems to prefer sitting out. My other two were already very used to people when I was given them, although they dont particularly like being picked up.
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When it comes to Uros, I would seek advice from Phil Leitz at Arids Only. I don’t believe he’s on here but he’s easy to find on IG.
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If you’ve only had her for a day, at least give her time to settle in and get used to her new digs.
You can do something quiet like reading or something near her habitat so she gets used to seeing you without the big danger hands reaching down at her.
After that, sadly I’m not as well versed in Uros so I don’t know the specifics, but with flighty beardies, I try to do a few small handling sessions after they’re eating well. It can be unbearably slow, but if it’s a front open enclosure, you can also sit with it open and try hand feeding her favorite snacks. It’s just sitting still for so long can be frustrating when they don’t trust you yet. When handling, try to keep from squeezing if you can, just let her sit and take things in as much as possible and try to let her go home when she’s calm. Just let her climb off your hand.
Typically, the more she realizes she can thrash around to go home, the more she’ll take advantage of it.
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Since you have no actual history on her, who knows what she’s been through. The fact that she doesn’t use her hides is a little odd. Maybe she has never had them before and doesn’t know what they are for? Regardless, here is what you could do for the interim until you get some solid advice. To keep her stress level down I would put a towel over the front of her enclosure for a little while and let her listen to her surroundings, not see them just yet. You can maybe make some comforting sounds when you are close to her home. Move the towel to the side a bit after a few days and more comforting sounds until she associates you with the sounds until you take the towel off completely. Hopefully by then she’ll associate you with the sounds and then realize you are not a threat to her
This may sound like a dumb idea but maybe it’s worth a try. But you can’t do it for long because she has to eat……
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What I’d do in your place is look at Lori Torrini’s stuff for socializing or training a shy snake. It uses scientific training methods that work on everything from fish to horses, so you can use the same methods to tame down your flighty baby.
Choice Based Handling gives the animal the feeling that they have some control over what happens to them, and it might be very helpful since you don’t know a lot about where she’s been or what handling experiences she has had.
(I have a little dog who shocks people with how un-yappy she is, and it’s because I started using choice based principles with her before i knew what they were. She is much less anxious and will stop barking once i let her know I am taking her warnings seriously. I do positive reinforcement with her and she’s a marvelous dog because we can communicate. I vouch for positive reinforcement and choice based training!)
But before even that, I like the towel idea mentioned above. Starting off with letting her feel safely closed in and unseen for up to a few weeks before gradually allowing her more and then more view of the space around her. I have a skittish House Snake whose shoebox bin is covered by a cloth except when I get his seed pod hide out to let him choose whether today he wants to be handled.
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Ill look for him on ig. Im in the Facebook group just nervous to post due to her probably being a wildcaught and well Facebook groups being how they can be.
Weirdly enough she is eating. She just spooks really bad. And as far as history yeah the women who gave her to me said she got her in a trade, believed it was a male, and was trying to feed insects. I will try covering her enclosure.
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Thank you I’ll try just being near her. I havent even attempted handling just something like me walking by her freaks her out. I just want her to feel safe.
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Ill have to look into that and I’m definitely trying the towel method. I just want her to be able to not spook by me just walking by. Shes comfortable enough to be eating which is giving me a lot of hope for her acclimation.
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So if she is eating that means to me that yes she has some feeling of security. I wonder if she can’t see very well so movements going by her enclosure scare her? To be honest, I don’t have experience with this breed but scared animals are pretty much the same, as they need some kind of security offered by the owner. If she is not using the hides then you may need to continue with the towel method. And if you ever take her to a reptile vet for any reason be sure you have her eyes checked……. 
I plan to take her in when she settles in just because i do with all my critters. Ill have them check then. I think after some time ill start putting her in front of the openings to her hides to try and get her to utilize them as she wants.
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Ok good! I am curious to see what the vet says. I am so very happy you have her because it sounds like she has a good home now. I really think in time she will settle down. And if she doesn’t, I believe you will love her just the same……
God bless you!
I loved her the moment I had been contacted about her. Someone who works at the place I adopted my other two sent me pics of her and she just stole my heart! Thank you very much:)
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