Beardie with a temper problem....

[Sarah24]

Ok...well my Beardie, Smurf, has developed a bit of a temper problem....
He is about 18 months old and used to be really nice and easy to handle. He was handled fairly regulary and its not like we stress him when he is handled. He used to just kinda sit on my shoulder or by my computer on my desk and be really gentle.

BUT!

Now he's turned in a royal little @*#%. He constantly tries to bite, if you stick your hand in the enclosure he'll go for it, he's agressive at feeding time and now i cant handle him unless i have a towel to protect my fingers.... :shock: coz frankly...i like having all of them ATTACHED to my hand. Its very weird.....its not as though he is about to shed and is feeling a little uncomfortable....because he shed a few weeks ago. It was just quite sudden, one day he was nice and the next he was a little psycho...
This has now been going on for a while now. I kind of expected him to get harder to handle as he got older, but I didnt expect it to be this bad....

Any advice???

Thanks, Sarah

 

[webcol]

i dont have any advice sorry , but the same thing has happened with my 7 month old water dragon.

 

[ravan]

*cough* maybe he just needs some lovin' lol...

 

[DA_GRIZ]

untouchables water dragons are typically nasty animals.

Sarah i have one like that all it wants to do is eat and tries to bite you everytime u go near it.
could it be stressed in anyway? how often do/did u handle it?

 

[Sarah24]

I would handle every couple of days, except if he was shedding and he would be out for about half an hour or so. Nothing has happened that would bring on sudden stress...so im really not sure....now i try to avoid handling at all costs so i dont get bitten again....freakin hurts....lol

 

[Lollypop]

If it started happening a little while ago, and he's 18mths old, do you think maybe his hormones have set in? If you got scared the first couple of times with him being 'male' & nasty, he's the boss now, so you need to try turn that round & now show him you're the boss - not nasty, just you're not scared of him & you WILL give him a cuddle. I have noticed they're a bit like dogs in that respect, if that puts it into perspective. Getting over your fear is now going to be the hardest.
Maybe that's it?

 

[Sarah24]

Im still happy to hold him....just i use a towel now and put it over my hands....i think its more that he doesnt want to be held, more than me not wanting to hold him....

thanks for all the help btw guys

 

[Sarah24]

ok...got bitten again this arvo....REALLLYYY sick of it....how do i assert dominance over a beared dragon?? lol

 

[funcouple]

i guess you could say he no longer likes you

 

[Lollypop]

i guess you could say he no longer likes you

I reckon they don't really care for humans, it always seems to be a case of "OK, if you're going to pick me up, hurry up & get it over & done with so I can just sit here again":lol:

Have you tried making the morning the time you pick him up? When he's coldest & most sluggish so his reactions aren't as quick.
One of my males actually black beards ME, even when I'm holding him, but has a beautiful nature & has never looked like biting me. Another one is a nasty bit of goods, burrs up & I'm a touch scared of him, but still pick him up just to keep him relatively tame - he's the only one that's bitten me. So it has a bit to do with their individual nature.
Try the morning thing, & have you got some thick gardening gloves instead of the towel, so you've got more confidence than with a towel that can slip.
See how you go, but if you leave him he'll get wilder.
PS - nothing's changed re cage setup or food or environment??

 

[Chimera]

*cough* maybe he just needs some lovin' lol...

This may be your answer. If you are also noticing that his beard is a lot darker that it has been before then it may be related to him becoming sexually mature. This sort of aggression is common in Green Iguanas and I would be interested to see whether any beardie breeders have noticed this in adolescent males.

 

[Sarah24]

This may be your answer. If you are also noticing that his beard is a lot darker that it has been before then it may be related to him becoming sexually mature. This sort of aggression is common in Green Iguanas and I would be interested to see whether any beardie breeders have noticed this in adolescent males.

I wouldnt say his beard is darker, but its colour is certainly a lot stronger since last shed. And lollypop, i'll try the gardening gloves aswell, I'm hoping this is justa stage that he'll get over coz its driving me insane as he never used to do this before.

 

[Southern_Forest_Drag]

Mine did this at 18 months however he had 2 females in the tank with him and it was during breeding season. Almost got bite 4 or 5 times was lucky i managed to grab him and hold him so he couldnt bite. He was but to his placid self 3-4 weeks later, his now 9 and loves to be held.

 

[reptilefan95]

lol teenage anger, what else to say, he doesnt want you around him because your not cool enough! i would say leave him be for a week and try to pick him up in the morning before lights on because he wont be so quick. Try and hold him if you cant then let him sit next to you or on your knee for a bit, and see if that works, try getting him to come to your hand inside the cage with a treat, like a meal worm or something along those lines.

 

[Lollypop]

This may be your answer. If you are also noticing that his beard is a lot darker that it has been before then it may be related to him becoming sexually mature. This sort of aggression is common in Green Iguanas and I would be interested to see whether any beardie breeders have noticed this in adolescent males.

Yep, & people do refer to it as beardie adolescence! That's what I was trying to say with hormones, male, age - it's a _ _ _ _ (testosterone) thing