Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,
I am very close to buying my first BD. I'm wondering how likely are BDs to bite the hand that feeds them? I have 2 children that are 8 and 4 years old. I can't help but be concerned to how much pain they should expect if they're ever bitten. Obviously, there are ways to prevent this from happening. But I do expect that someone in my house will be bitten - or should I not? Anyway, I'm curious about the pain level, whether they clamp down and stay on or whether they just bite and let go. Any info will be appreciated.

The key to remember is that any animal can bite. With that said, beardies are usually docile reptiles and would rather threaten to bite (blackened bearded or open mouth threat or hissing or a combination there of)than actually bite. I've been biten by mine once in all the years I've had him. It was more of a pinch than a bite and it didn't draw blood. It was more surprising than anything else. Sort of a pinch. I've never seen a nasty bite from a dragon. However...
Since you mentioned that your children are going to want to handle this animal (I presuming its going to be a baby dragon) I might recommend a blue tongue skink insted. Not that there is anything wrong with beardies but, b.t skinks and heavier bodied and can tolerate more handling from eager children than a baby beardie could.

Hope this helped.
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1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1 Blizard Leopard Gecko
1.1.1 Corn Snakes (2 Blood Red, 1 Orange Amelanistic)
1.1 Ball Python

I have a 2 1/2 year old son and think he will harm my dragon before the dragon harms him. Its probably better if you do the handling for awhile and let them watch and when the dragon is a good size they can handle it. Its up to you to decide if anyone of youre kids are rough its not a good idea to leave the dragon unsupervised the real danger isnt from a bite but from samonella be sure to wash hands before and after and make sure they do not put their hands in their mouth after handling it without first washing, the mouth is the most dangerous place to be exposed to samonella especially for a small child. Mine has never bit me or my son and when I hand feed her she almost takes the food with manners ( She is a very sophisticated lady lol)Hope I didnt scare you but but this is about as bad as it can get beardies are the lizard to get if you want to handle it frequently and if you have small children but you always have to have some precaution because they are wild animals we force to live in a cage. Maybe you can find someone more experianced in handling to help you with the steps Im just recounting my own expiriance with my dragon Good Luck!

Thanks for the responses. They are truly helpful. I do intend to do most of the handlying until I'm comfortable with the kids handling the Beardie. I feel a lot more at ease. Thanks again.

Bearded dragons don't have a very powerful bite. Their teeth are pretty small but are sharp, just not alot of jaw power behind them. I have been bitten by my dragon while it was young and again when fully grown. The adult bite is harder, but still not much more than a squeeze like pressure on the finger. A child may find it a bit more painfull than an adult and as their skin tends to be alot softer, the dragon may break the skin easier. But compared to bites from other lizards, bearded dragon bites are quite mild. Cats and dogs can do a much more painful bite, even when just playing and not trying to actually bite hard.

I don't recommend a blue tongue skink for a small child. THough these lizards are much more tolerent of handling and pretty docile, they do deliver a much harder bite than a bearded dragon. Their jaws are much stronger and they seem to hang on much longer than a bearded dragon would. I was bit by one of my blue tongue skinks while he was only about 6 months old. Not a bite out of aggression or fear, simply thought my finger was a nice big juicy silkworm and he probably would have let go right away if I pulled away. I was putting in his water dish, which is pretty heavy and I didn't want to let go of it in fear of having it fall on the skink and hurt him. So I let it bite till I put the water dish down and then moved my hand away. It hurt, not horribly so but deffinitely broke the skin and I could feel the strength of his jaws, even at that young age.

The other suggestions about proper hand washing and avoiding putting fingers into the mouth after handling a dragon, is very true and deffinitely should be followed. This precaution should be followed after handling of any pet, dogs and cats included. Salmonalla can be in or on any animal, not just reptiles.
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PHLdyPayne

I agree. Blue tongue skinks have a stronger jaw. They can eat snails meaning they have to crush the shells. Add that to everything else they eat like crickets and such just like a beardie eats. I would recommend a beardie for kids instead of a skink. Maybe you should get a juvie of a few months instead of a tiny little baby? Good luck.
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1.0.0 arg. b/w tegu
1.1.0 white's tree frog- popeye, jack
0.1.0 southern painted turtle- ms.tortle
0.1.0 crested gecko- crimson
1.0.0 pinto hedgehog- dante