Violent Beardie?

[PDDM]

Well for starters i havent posted on here awhile but ive come back because my bearded dragon is well particularly mean. its around 200 grams now im not sure but i think its a yearold it has perfect conditions for it in its tank temps max 107(110 in basking spot) usualy 104-100 though,eating butternut squash and sweet potatoe mix and i feed it for insects,large exo terra canned grasshoppers. Now his previous owners (my cousin who hardly took care of it,and gave it to me in january at only 16 grams) hardly handled it and well i gotta say i havent made too much of an effort to handle him myself(yes hesa confirmed male) But ive been trying to lately with gloves cause man does he pack some heavy duty bites. Also another scary part is,some times when i clean out his food dish which i need to go into his tank to get he'll CHASE my hand. and itll be like how you see zoo keepers feeding crocs,Durango will leap up and jump and try to get my finger,but thats probably because he takes the grasshoppers from my hand. Anyways today i went to hold him with no gloves and WHAM,im like missing half my index finger. It didnt hurt as muchas i thought though but i jumped cause i was suprised,i never saw it coming. Also he doesnt his as he usualy would,he just bites gives me no warnings he doesnt even shoot out his beard,just bites...so maybe hes just hungry all the time?Its not like i starve him theres always food available to him...lots too. Now to my question should i continue to try and handle him or is he too old to try to be tamed and learn to be handled?

Also,the days are getting very hot out and today with the tight beam bulb n the uvb repti glow light durangos tank temp was 120! On such hot days could i just turn the tight beam off?i forget if reptiglow suplies uva too,so i wanna make sure hes getting uva.

[peterm15]

hes never to old to be tamed.. you musent show that your scared of him...

put a grasshopper in you palm and put your hand flat on the ground.. make him walk onto your hand to get the treat.. if he bites keep your hand in the cage.. hell know thats how he can get you away.. you take his controll thats the first step.. dont remove your hand unil he calms right down and such...

now after that you can probably refer to this site

http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/BDcare.html

click on the handling your dragon section.. great tips...

[K1LOS]

thats kind of funny! I have never seen an aggressive beardie, not even a little agro. Definately stop hand feeding, thats not helping.

I'd be cautious feeding those canned crickets, i have heard some bad things.

Geoff

[PDDM]

its the new kind exo terra stuff,yeah I found out it could be dangerous,I sliced my thumb open while removing the lid(im such a clumsy kid) :P, needed a technis shot the next day but ah back to the point,i found it(Canned grasshoppers) gives great results in the beardie since hes been on them his growth sky rocketed,i havent heard anything bad about the exo terra brand of canned insects yet. It saves alot of money too,crickets are 19 cents here(live) and with exoterra extra large container or large grasshoppers i get like 20-25 3-4 inch long hoppers,and 4 at max will satisfy the beardie a day. Where as he can EASILY put down over 50 crickets

Im gonna try handling him about 5 mins every two days(dont wanna go straight to every day incase it stresses him out) peter ill try your method,hopefuly i wont lose a finger!

[peterm15]

you wont loose a finger... did you check out the taming an adolesent in that page i posted

[PDDM]

Yes I Did,Sounds like its going through the Adolescent Angst,A sugestion to stop the squirming is:

Calm a squirming BD is by covering his head gently with your hand.
I dont even see how id be able to do this im too afraid of hurting him or him hurting me. im sure id jerk its head back and bite me,even when i move slowly close to his head/face he still gets mad,and this is the only time he'll hiss,for some odd reason hes never given me the beard display. I only see him do it maybe once a week in his tank out of nowhere he'll just puff it out. Ill try giving mango as treats or something.

Thats the thing though all these cases on http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/BDtame2.html
say there beardies give signs that there pissed,mine doesnt,it just bites,it squirms and whips its tail(only when i take it out though because i take it out with one hand so it need to hang on for a bit,once i get it in my hand it stops and calms down.

I dont know maybe hes a nicedragon but i only happen to pick himup when hes hungry...maybe its just really a case of confusion,the insects hang from my hands there for he thinks my fingers are food,its probably the case ill try feeding him like how you said peter with my hand flat with the grasshopper in it.

[PDDM]

Well...About me saying he never gives me signs that hes pissed well somehow he mustve been listening because i just took him out for a little photo session,he was being a very good dragon until,he began to squirm i thought hey lets try that putting the hand gently over his head thing then wham he leaps out of my hand and goes near the books under my nightstand,and so i try to get him i getclose and then Wham!Out comes the beard and the huge hiss, I still had my cam so this is what i can show:

http://img227.echo.cx/img227/2283/im0000844ek.jpg
http://img162.echo.cx/img162/2566/im0000858ws.jpg

oh well he was good for a little while i guess its progress?I also gave him a bath today he seemed to like it more then he usualy does

[peterm15]

ya theyll do that.. keep hold of his tail and put him on your sholder,... that helped with mine.. and when it comes to him gasping when he does that shove a treat in his mouth so he know your not going to hurt him.. if he squirms dont put him back.. he shouldnt be aloud back until hes calm.. and do it everyday.. dont bother with every other.. the stress isnt going to hurt him.. beardies adapt pretty easily

[peterm15]

also dont be afraid.. hell sence that and attack.. mine does.. he know ill let him bite me.. i wont pull away or shut the door.. ill pick him up till he stops.. and wont hesitate... also you should maybe only give him treats by hand.. or else he will become lazy... he wont work for his food.. just do one hopper in your hand and the rest make him work for...

[K1LOS]

lol, he's not a dog peterm!

My question is are you holding with your hand wrapped around him, or is he sitting on your hand? I have found with most anythign they freak out and try to escape if you try and contain them, let them do their thing and guide them around, never grasp.

Geoff

[PDDM]

I hardly ever grasp him,only time is when i got to catch him(running in his tank or when he gets out of my hands,other then that i leave my hand flat open for him.

[JeffX]

If your cousin never held him that could also be a cause of his biting. He is a lizard, and isn't used to being touched or held so he probably assumed you were a predator. Most beardies are very docile, but some can be mean due to previous conditions. Also at about a year they are going through their rebellious stage. So your beardie will be tempermental for about six months or so. Mine was the same way at about a year. He would hiss, and puff his beard out. He even got my finger many times. In time though he stopped, and now is very tame. You're probably got both cases working against you. I'd definitely get some gloves until he calms down, and keep working with him until he calms down.

[PDDM]

I got gloves but i try not touse them i want him to get use to my hands. well that pretty much does it for my question. but another one is,when will he achieve full growth? Also i had black repti-sand for him and the stuff dirtied his tail and feet. and its like the junk wont come off. well i was able to scrub with a wet face cloth the stuff off his tail but man it took a while. but the feet, eeeeh.. its gonna be hard seeings how hes been quite the agressor lately im changing his sand though.

[storck762]

how big of a cage is your animal in and how big is your bearded. i had one like that too i had her in a 40 gallon by herself and she would try to eat me. so i put het in a 20 gallon tank and it helped i dont know why. she was 100 grams now she is over 300 grams and nice as can be. it was the only mean one i have.

[PDDM]

Its in a 40gallon id say hes 18 inches long at least,you put a 300 gram beardie in a 20 gallon :O that cant be right?they need at least a 40 when adults?

[JeffX]

I'd say keep it in the 40 gallon. They need room to move around. Bearded Dragons usually stop growing 1-2 years of age as well.

[PDDM]

:S So he might stay at his current size? Hmm thats a shame i wanted him to be a big beardie and he didnt even get to two feet :P

[storck762]

no when she was 8-10 inches and 100 grams i had her in a 40 gallon and it was too big and she was mean so i put her in a 20 gallon and it calmed her down. now she is an adult and she is in a custom cage 48x24x20 with another female. if yours is 18 inches long a 40 is good for one. you just can not be scared go into the cage fast and pick it up.

[PDDM]

well good news i picked himup twice today and he was alright,perfectly fine,maybe he was just tired after eating 50 super worms...maybe its cause i always moved fast at him i went really slow and it was almost as if he hoped into my hands:D

[peterm15]

well congrats.. your one step further now..

[Capital_Dragons]

I recently had an aggressive male beardie given to me. The girl that had him had become afraid of him, so stopped handling him and the situation snowballed on her with him becoming progressively worse. Since I have had him, I have handled him daily for very short periods of time, and he has gotten more tolerant of handling. I don't force him, I just pick him up mostly to move him for cage cleaning or to hand feed him, and he has shown quite an improvement. Although most dragons are very tame, on occasion there will be a dragon that just doesn't tolerate handling as well and may never really enjoy it. But I do believe that regular handling will improve the situation. Also, adolescent angst does happen and may disappear with age - and handling. So, keep trying and he is likely to become more tolerant and less aggressive.

Good luck,

Sheila