Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We just became the proud owners of a Bearded Dragon. That is..... ??I think???... LOL. He's exerting his very strong dominance over us at the moment, & is successfully keeping us at bay ; )
The little guy, I will guess is around 6 to 7 months old & he/she has an attitude. Which is why I am trying to garner more information. I am so glad I found this more current and updated board on the care of Bearded Dragons, and am appealing for all the tips you can share with us. A relative purchased the dragon for her 6 year old son, and the Dragon was a mellow sweet heart when first purchased. About a month or two later, my relatives moved from NYS to Virginia, and this is when the attitude developed. Don't know if it was the move, or the change in climate, but the little dragon began living up to his name. He started to develop an awful habit of puffing out, hissing, and biting.... which scared the 6 year old, and his mother. Needless to say in the past few months, the lizard has had the minimal of attention for this reason. So when the relative asked if we would like to have the dragon, my oldest son, jumped at this offer. We just brought him home, and my oldest son is anxious to assume ownership. The dragon is greenish colored, on the tail and in other areas... thought perhaps the color came from the greenish sand in his cage. I have to be honest and say, I am apprehensive on handling him myself, now that we are home. As soon as you walk up to the cage, he assumes a defensive position, cocks his head upward and puffs his head out LOL. If you put your hand in the cage, he opens his mouth wide & hisses and goes for it, with his little teeth. I had planned on donning leather gloves, and handling him to get him to submit to humans again. After scanning the net on Bearded dragons, I'm not so sure I feel comfortable.... Just got done reading these little dragons are venomous (something I didn't know before), so that did not help put me in the comfort zone. He's cuter than heck, and very lively.... very attentive to every move..... Well, I'm not a quitter, and am looking for advice on how we can best handle this situation?????? Bekka

They are not venemous. You had to have been reading about aa komodo dragon. They have many harmful bacterias in there saliva that can kill anything. They really aren't venemous, but some people say they are.

Thanks for that bit of information... I kind of paniced there for a few. Ok, round one, picked up the BD to begin a bit of acclimation, me very gently, he....not so friendly. Yep, he bit, and those teeth are like little pinpricks (forgot the gloves). He calmed a bit after the bite.... held him for a while, and put him back in the cage. Reached hand in again, to stroke his head, and he went for the bite again. Sheeeessshhhh.... are gloves the mode to go for now, and much more handling???? Any one ever have a biter????? I'm reading docile, and friendly.... but I think I have a sensory deprived fellow that feels threatened by touch right now. Will come online from time to time today, to check out replies on the proper way of handling this situation
Thanks, Bekka

okay...im just wondering, do you have a UVB flourescentlight and a basking light? get rid of that green sand...thats calci sand and can cause death in dragons!! get wheat bran, sifted playsand (not preferred, but works), or paper towels or repti carpet.

what are your temps? what are you feeding it?

anyway, as for handling, ALWAYS be persistant, dont drop him or back off if he hisses or bites, you want to show your dominacnce. In time he will see you as a higher person in the chain and be submissive, and possibly after that developing a bond with you. If you have some wax worms, or his favorite green or fruit, try hand feeding that, and bit by bit he wil come to likwe you. ALSO he may be scared of you if you copme from ABOVE in the cage, always come from one of his sides or the front, as he will feel less threatened. Good luck, hope i helped a little.
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~David - KDRKreatures
My Main Herps-
1.2 Bearded dragons (Ralph, Artemis, Cheech)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Chiquito)
1.0 Black Racer Snake (Chong)
2.2 Eastern Box Turtles (Athena, Mercury, Gizmo, Galapago)
0.0.2 Leopard Geckos (Nee, Unnamed)
1.0 Ball Python (Carson)

KDRKreatures-Home Page
My Email

Thank you for the advice. Yep, been coming at him/her from the top of the cage. Will adjust this. And yes, I do have a tendency to back off when he tries to bite. Will refrain this reflex as much as possible. Didn't know that about the sand. According to my relative, this was the sand recommended by the Pet Store to use. The BD is really pretty.... tail is ringed with a bright teal greenish blue, and black rings, legs are greenish, and there is a light greenish teal to the sides of the BD. I'm a bit baffled, because I am seeing BDs fairly reasonably priced on the net, and yet I know this guy cost around $400 (how come???).
When you speak of wheat bran, are you talking about actual wheat bran (which I do have on hand) or is this a type of sand?? I have organic wheat bran granules (not floured) that I use for making scrubs. Can this be used???? How deep?? I do have a UVB flourescent light and also a basking light, but was advised by the relative the basking light for day time, and the UVB light for night time. Is this correct??? The BD has a large aquarium to roam, a log, a swimming water pool, and food dish. Again, I'm appreciative of this information, and will check back before heading to the Pet store for wax worms and food. He was eating mealy bugs prior to his trip here. I want a happy contented BD ; ) Bekka

run the basking light and the uvb light together during the day. i believe they need to be able to get within a foot of the uvb as well or they dont get any of it. i have mine on timers, they come on and off together and overnight i have a purple bulb to keep the temps high. beardies like to climb, and its good for them to have multiple levels where they can bask so they can adjust their own temps. some sort of branch would be good for under the basking light (i assume by log you mean the half log hides).
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proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake
1.0.0 leopard gecko
0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa
0.1.0 bearded dragon
1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (on the way!)

glad to see from your posts that you arre reading and searching!!

color: if he was in green sand his color may not be that green when he sheds.... normaly colors range mostly in the tan-brown range to the red-orange range. sometimes white, yellow happen
I have heard of / seen photos of some with bits of lavender.

and of course black in the pattern.

$400.00 -- some can cost that much, can you give us some idea of length? post a photo? any record of where he came from and what he / she was sold as?
for example a "SandFire"?

as for handling etc....

my personal opinion here:

take your time.
I'd give him a few weeks of just feeding and cleaning the cage.
let him see that you are not attacking him and are a source of fresh food and water.

after a few weeks of just seeing you and learning you are not going to eat him etc.... he will probably come to you when he sees you with food.

also just sit near him and talk to him in a nice low voice.

when he starts to come and look at you and such see if you can hand feed him some super worms or greens.... if he is ok with that then start to pick him up a little.... always from the front.

as was posted: in the wild any thing coming from above and or behind would be a danger and if they can't run and hide they start with the threat display of puffing up and hissing.

when doing that they are not happy and if this is happening to much it could actulay make him get ill.
imagin if you got scared every day to the point your hart was racing... and you did not know why this was happening etc...

mealworms: not good! go to a pet shop that sells reptiles and get "super worms" they look almost the same but are different.

keep asking, posting, reading...... good luck!

PS: when he calms down he may be a realy nice pet!!!!
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This space reserved for future use...

UVB and basking should be at the same time in day, ntohing at night. what size tank? you dont necesarily need a water dish, just mist them once or twice a day, just because they tend to dirt it quickly and harbors bacteria if not thourouly cleaned.

calci sand is NOT recommended, the pet store didnt know what they were talkin about. Wheat bran is a flaky substance coming in big brown bags of...well...wheat. lol its from feed stores. GOOD LUCK and keep me/us posted!!!
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~David - KDRKreatures
My Main Herps-
1.2 Bearded dragons (Ralph, Artemis, Cheech)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Chiquito)
1.0 Black Racer Snake (Chong)
2.2 Eastern Box Turtles (Athena, Mercury, Gizmo, Galapago)
0.0.2 Leopard Geckos (Nee, Unnamed)
1.0 Ball Python (Carson)

KDRKreatures-Home Page
My Email

Bearded dragons are not venomous at all. Their bite isnt' that painful and rarely break the skin (been bit by mine several times till he started to finally outgrow that phase). Spend alot of time in the room with him, better yet keep him in a sitting room or somewhere were you often sit and watch TV so he can see you and get used to having you around. The fact he was only recently aquired by you could be why he is so defensive. He is in a new environment with new people, most dragons will be grumpy for awhile till they get acliminated.

Sometimes put your hand into his cage and just leave it there, far enough away so he can't lung for it but close enough that he can see and smell you. Keep all movements slow, sudden movements are more prone to cause his defensive reactions, including mock charges, puffing up, gaping and hissing (and lunging forward to bite). Holding him a few minutes several times a day will also help him get used to you and realize you are not trying to eat him.

Komodo dragon's bites are septic. As one of their main diets is carrion, the more rotten the better, this is why their bite is so toxic...their mouths and siliva contain billions of bacteria which they are immune to (another komodo dragon's bite won't become infected because of their high immunity to infection). However if they bite a living animal, they know that eventually that bite will cause massive infection and blood poisoning in that creature. So they just follow it till it drops and then move in to devour it. Not the sort of lizard to have as a pet

Another thing to keep in mind, most petstores and their employees know little to nothing about reptiles. There are some that do but these tend to be rather far between. Never take their word for the care of any animal, reptile or otherwise. They want to sell what they carry and will push their products over the welbeing of an animal.

For food, crickets are a good stable. At the age of your dragon, two feedings a day is best. Typically 3/4 inch to one inch sized crickets are good. (no bigger than the distance between their eyes). Silkworms are also a great food to give them, if you want something other than crickets. Silkworms are a bit more expensive than crickets but in the long run much healthier and easier to care for. You should also order your crickets/silkworms from mail order instead of getting them at the petstore. Petstores tend to only buy one or two sizes of crickets and rarely if ever feed them once they get them in. What this means that after a couple days these crickets are pretty much empty husks as far as nutrician goes. Besides, you can get 500 or 1000 crickets for under $20 or a little more with shipping. A petstore could charge anywhere between $14 or more for 100 crickets.

Waxworms and mealworms are fine as an occaisonal treat but should never be fed more than once a week. Crickets or silkworms are the best stable insect food for dragons. (butterworms are good too but tend to be more expensive than silkworms but have more nutrients).

For greens, make sure you feed at least two of the following:
collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, endive or escarole. Mixed with these, alternate between parsley, kale, frozen mixed vegetables (thawed and chopped), squash, zuccini, other dark greens. Romaine is fine once in awhile, but never feed iceberg lettace. Carrots are good shredded and added as a topping once in awhile, along with other mixed vegetables. Some fruit can be fed once in awhile (strawberries, blueberries, melons, grapes). Flowers such as hisbiscus and dandelion flowers are also a great treat.

Don't forget to dust your instects with a multivitamine and calcium with D3 suppliment once every other day.