aggressive beardy

[fjholdenman]

hi all,i have one bearded dragon approx 6 months old and he has been a great lizard up untill a couple of days ago when he has become really aggressive.i cant even put my hand anywhere near him now-he just wants to attack it.he seems ok-still feeding but i dont know what has bought this change on.can anyone help?thanks steve.

 

[Kyro]

I have no idea what causes that behaviour but one of mine did the same thing around that age & then grew out of it. I called it his "brat" stage Hopefully your guy will grow out of it too.

 

[tadpoles]

are you making sure he knows your boss?
cause he can tell if your scared, and will use it against you.

Also can he see other herps somewhere or even something that looks like another bd to him?

 

[Isis]

Try cutting down handeling it may be feeling threatened or just may be getting territorial. Could even be stress.


Tadpoles it is a beardie not a dog.........

 

[grimbeny]

are you making sure he knows your boss?

Jesus, its a small lizard not a dog. It doesnt have a social order like we do. Harming the beardy in anyway will have detrimental effects. And i do not beleive it can sense fear.

 

[Chris1]

its called puberty,..my little brat is going thru the same thing @ teh moment,..!!

hes so damn adorable though i just cant hold it against him,...he just gets less kisses on the nose since he latched onto my lip.

just ignore his brattiness and keep handling him as normal.

 

[shamous1]

Cbd

Any other BD's around that he might be able to see. He may feel threatened by anything coming near him.

 

[Chris1]

geez, is it such a problem if people enjoy their animals and interact with them rather than just shove them in a tank and ignore them?

...fair enough to those who just shove em in a tank,....i think thats horrible but each to their own.

 

[itbites]

how long have you had him for? has there been any changes to his environment? he may just be telling you to back off a bit until he feels comfortable with you around....have you had anyone over thats made him feel intimidated? my freind had a 4-5yr old male and he was fine until one of her friends came over and teased him from then on he was an angry bitey lizard so that can also make them aggressive i believe they generally only get aggressive when they feel threatened or unwell. Hopefully he is just going through a phase

 

[tadpoles]

jese i didnt mean abusing him or anything.

and this is for beardies that are handled and not just left in the cage

I have just found that if a beardie is being moody especially young males it is important to not let them go when they squirm a bit or give you a black beard, cause if you do they will learn this behaviour and be a pain anytime you want to handle them or need to handle them.

I'm NOT saying be mean, but dont let your beardie walk all over you.

But its a good idea to make sure its not someting in the room thats bothering him, as it could be as simple as that.

 

[fjholdenman]

thanks everyone for your help.i will keep handleing as normal so he knows who is the boss-dont know about the warm bath and candles though.thanks steve.

 

[dragon lady]

whats his length & weight?
is he in the same habitat since he was a hatchie...if thats when you got him?
what size is it....?? dimensions would help
is he housed with any others...if so what gender?

what feed are you offering...how often...& can you give a weeks example
how much is he consuming?

what else is in the room...other animals....new animals...doesnt have to be reptile(new kitten?)

 

[Chris1]

Steve obviously wants a dragon he can interact with, not peoples opinions on whether he's allowed to want that.

Steve, all my dragons love to be handled, one of my dragons even goes to the point of following me around the house to be picked up or coming and sitting on my foot if she wants to come onto the lounge while i'm watching telly. She may not be a dog, but she acts like one!!

If your dragon was fine previously i wouldnt think it would suddenly be a stress/threat reaction unless you decided to torture it for a week to give it a reason to suddenly be stressed.
its quite common for beardys to go thru a puberty stage for a few weeks @ that age.

 

[dragon lady]

Ditto on that Chris1..... my sweet heart Adrian..loves it when we watch cricket ,even more with the footy..
must be the colours on the t.v

if we have the stereo on at night she will settle snug on the pillow in front of the stereo...

if we didnt choose to allow this behavior with our animals...wouldnt that be neglect

 

[DiamondAsh]

Heh, yeah, well. I could answer if I could remember what I'd written, seems my post got deleted as usual without any explanation. Little wonder this board has a indifferent reputation.

 

[dragon lady]

If you want any help....you can pm me if there are still problems