>>One of my biggest pet peeves is that people get these animals with out being prepared to make them happy. How would you like to be confined to live with absolutely no people for the rest of your life. Beardies are social creatures and keeping them solitary is a social injustice. Im not saying that everyone should breed. But those who do not want to would be better off getting two females.



While I agree on the two females idea, albeit the same size and no need to compete, I disagree about the "social" part. And I have a perfectly docile beardie myself.



Everything about beardies tend to suggest they are absolutely not socal creatures. Even as babies they tend to prey on one another, bully one another, and nip one another without so much as a thought to their littermates. The mother beardies ALWAYS leave the area after laying eggs and covering them up because they WILL EAT their children. And male and female beardies are not monogamous (sp?), and will mate even though they come from the same nest.



Just because they can associate themselves with humans does not make them social. It takes a lot of time and trust to raise a docile beardie, much less keep it from running away when you are not looking. They, like any other wild animal, can associate their most basic needs with what you're providing, and as such will "put up" with many of your actions, like picking them up, hand-feeding them, putting them on leashes, even having them sit on you for hours at a time. In fact, most lizards and other herps are the same way.



Yes, I've also been guilty of "emotion-association", and continue to practice it on a daily basis, i.e. - talking to Draconis, holding him and petting him, etc. But I never delude myself into believing he responds in any other emotion than what he needs at that particular time, whether it be heat, food, or outright curiosity. I'll probably catch some flak there, but that is how I feel about it.

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Dl

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