my evil bearded boy

[CONCEPT03]

ive had my male beardie baby for about a month and a half now, and i take him out every day for about 15-20 min i like to hand feed him vegitables. Now to my problem, he is mean! i dont mean bites once in a while he will run across the cage and try to bite my hand if i put it in, or if i walk by the tank he will jump at me............ so my question is will he break the habbit? is their anyway i can encourage him not to be a little $!?# head? i know hand feeding is supposed to be good but its just not working? any advice would be greatly appreciated

[liquid_dragon]

what are you feeding him

[sevenofthorns]

How much are you feeding him? To me that sounds like a really hungry dragon...as that's the only times I've been biten.

[Big_V]

My beardie always had an attitude. Make sure you feed him tonnes cuz it may be hunger. But they can have a little attitude. Mine hated being picked up but i just went for it anyways. The more you feed it the happier it will be.

[CONCEPT03]

well its olny 3 months so i dont hold back food from him, i feed him about 20-30 crickets, and a fruit and veggie every day. its no hunger, he opens his mouth and puffs his neck up then attacks

[sevenofthorns]

when they're that age they could probably eat crickets twice a day in that quantity. I still think it may have to do with hunger.

[CONCEPT03]

your wrong their is always crickets crawling around when he is done eating i dont use pinheads i feed him 4 weeks

[Dragon_Slave]

Concept: First off, don't go telling him that he's wrong. Try 1/4 to 1/2 inch crickets. At 3 months, they are eating machines, and sevenofthorns is right... they should be fed twice a day, as many crickets as they will eat in 10 minutes. You also should not let crickets run around afterwards, they will actually chew on your dragon and can make him very sick.

[CONCEPT03]

i feed him an hour after he gets up and an hour before he goes to sleep when did i say that i olny fed him once a day?, i breed my own crickets and when they are 4 weeks old, any where from 1/2" up i can pic them out before they grow their hard shell, i never hold back food from him and he is not hungry he is aggresive, when he will attack anything i put in front of him and puff up his black beard thats a sign of aggression

[yager_ps]

I would just keep trying to befriend him... Its natural to be agressive at a young age and I imagine he will grow out of it. I have never met a mean dragon. Good Luck and dont give up!

[tHeGiNo]

Occasionally, there are some plain nasty dragons. However, I have found the majority tend to calm down with time. Keep handling, but do not over do it.

On a side note, his feeding methodology is perfect. At that age they should be offered food twice daily. As much as they will eat in both periods - once in the morning at once at night. Do not feed right before the lights off time. They need time to digest, as food leftover in the stomach non-digested poses risk to your dragon.

You also should not let crickets run around afterwards, they will actually chew on your dragon and can make him very sick.

I have never ever ever ever ever had a cricket injure any of my lizards, and I have lots. And I do not take out leftover crickets in cages. Of course, the lizard should not be swarmed with lefover feeder items. Healthy animals will not be injured by crickets.

Also, being hungry likely has nothing to do with his aggression. Some dragons are calm, while the oddball is not. Its a part of life :D.

[CONCEPT03]

well im gonna keep handling him, i really hope that he calms down, and i agree with you gino, i cannot see a few crickets injuring my dragon lol

[Dragon_Slave]

My dragon is extremely healthy and he was bitten by a cricket last summer, he got very sick from some kind of parasite that the cricket had. It wasn't a wild-caught cricket either, it was from a cricket breeder.

Just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it can't happen.

[tHeGiNo]

LOL! I think there were some other problems going on there.

On the other hand, my crickets are always thoroughly gut loaded, so who knows. Also my point was, a healthy lizard will move. By the way, did you see the cricket bite your dragon? And you took it to a vet, where they verified that the cricket transferred a deadly parasite, right?

[reptile boi]

LMAO,Dragon Slave,
crickets cannot transmit parasites by chewing on an animal. The only way for a cricket to transmit a parasite to another animal and making it sick is if the cricket had some parasites inside its own body and then passing it onto the lizard wen the lizard eats it.


Thanks,
Ben

[franny]

i breed my own crickets so im not worried about parisites anyway

[Dragon_Slave]

You guys are so naive, and RUDE!

Yes, I have proof that it was the BITE of the cricket that made my dragon sick. I cannot remember what parasite it was, but the crickets were infested with them. The vet found the bite mark and it was infected there. So I would appreciate if you'd stop trying to prove me wrong, you are making yourself look even dumber.

If you leave crickets in the cage, especially overnight, the cricket can chew on a dragon while it's sleeping. I don't know about you guys, but when my dragon is asleep, he doesn't wake up until he WANTS to! He would not move if a cricket was on him during his sleep.

[tHeGiNo]

LOL no need to get so offended. I had no idea that parasites can be transfered from cricket bites, LOL. Nevermind I will not bother. Just curious though, if these killer crickets carried these killer parasites, wouldn't they have been contracted either way through ingestion?

[Capital Dragons]

Dragon Slave you are so right. Sleeping dragons seam defenseless to attacking crickets. When uneaten crickets are left in the enclosure they look for food and water. Normally that’s the dragon. Not only will they eat facieses that the dragon can reingest by eating the crickets the next day, they will look moisture and that can be the dragon’s eyes. All the books say to remove any uneaten food after a certain time frame.

Dragons can become extremely stressed by excess crickets or any live food. That can allow coccidia levels to rise and other negative health risks to arise. I do all my own fecal exams and I’ve seen healthy dragons become riddled with pinworms solely from infested crickets.

I house over 70 adult dragons now and I’ve seen first hand the effect of leaving excess food in the cage. Just don’t do it. Your dragons will grow fasted with frequent feedings with fewer prey items.

But not all dragons are equal and they all seam to have there own personality. Also these are just my thoughts…..:)

Tim

[DragnDrop]

Internal parasites like worms are usually the result of eating infected or carrier feeders. Some parasites, (as well as bacteria and virus) are transmitted via wounds such as injuries and bites. West Nile is one of the most common at the moment, and it does affect reptiles as well. A very common intestinal worm is passed on via mosquito - the egg travels through the blood stream, settles in the lungs, the larva gets coughed up and swallowed, to continue it's life cycle in the intestines. That's one example of a parasite which started with a bite (mosquito, not cricket, but the idea is the same).

[K1LOS]

I gotta believe that crickets can transfer disease. Look at them, they are filthy, stinky, little sh*ts.

I have had crickets bite my lizards, one of leopard gecko's woke up one morning with a bite mark. Needless to say, i don't feed anybody that close to lights out anymore.

I don't see the point in arguing on this, people are telling you that they have had bad experiences. Just don't do it. It's that simple. But if you must, you'll learn for yourself one day, at the expense of your lizard.

Geoff

[concept3]

in my beardies tank he has a bowl. in that bowl he had fruits and vegitables. crickets eat fruits and veggies. i will bet anyone pay cheques if you come to my house at any time night or day, you will find the one or two leftover crickets...... im sure you can geuss, no way! eating the fruits and veggies

[ICULIZARD]

.....but you don't leave the veggies and fruits in overnight right?

:)
ICULIZARD

[franny]

midnight snacks they like that

[franny]

my does anyways

[Dragon_Slave]

.... I'm not even going to comment on your stupidity.