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Tail biting male, how can you break a dragon of a bad habit?

snakecharmed Aug 26, 2003 03:14 AM

Rascal is a 2 year old male who I have had for a few months now. He use to get along great with the 2 females that I had him paired up with, but then he developed a nasty habit of tail biting/chewing. He grabbed one of the females tails and did quite alot of damage before I walked in and caught him in the act, he was chewing her tail and I almost never got him off of her. As soon as I got him to let go, he darted right back at her and tried to grab her tail again! Is there any way I can break him of this or would he be better off just being a pet? If I can't break him of this, I guess I will have to find him a home where he will be the only dragon in the house and be a loved pet. I would love to be able to keep him, I love this guy, but if I can't break him of this habit I don't think keeping him would be good for him because the sight of other dragons drives him crazy and all that he does is try to get to them. I have tried putting him where he can't see others but he still seems to know that they are around. Any and all advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Christy

Replies (4)

Mattman Aug 26, 2003 08:58 AM

I have a male who is on fire he wants to mate so bad, and be with the females. I did at one point house him with them but once he showed signs of interest in a sexual way he needed his own enclosue. For a week maybe he slowed down on eating and tried to get with them, but after that he realized he had a new home and has since comed down, and eats like a pig again. Only when the females prance in front of his face does it bother him and he blackens his beard and wants to get laid. Try facing them away from each other so he can not see the females. I have mine all along one wall so they cannot see in the next cage over. You got to block his few from them he will get over this fast. Male and female in the cage forever will lead to tons of eggs-babies or a really stressed female. I do only with one pair of females get lucky and am able to house those two females together. Even some female-female housing just does not work. Good luch and I would set him up his own cage, don't want to loose a tail but don't want to loose a pet either. If money is a factor a large rubbermaid can be used for a temp untill another enclosure for him can be bought. Any or most animals placed in a new cage will show some depression. It won't last long at all. Good Luck.
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Mystical Dragons

Christyj Aug 26, 2003 09:56 AM

He needs to be in his own enclosure. Risking your females health by possible infection or loss of a tail sure isn't worth it.
Biting can cause some serious damage.
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TheClassyLizard

dragonsbynature Aug 26, 2003 03:12 PM

Good post Mattman. Something else that needs mentionin is the stress the female may be going through watcihng the male try his hardest to get to her. That can also be a real problem even if the female is acting fine - it still may cause stress.

If you can't move the cages so they can't see each other, taping newspaper to the males cage blocking his view will work. It's not the best option, but I had to do that for a few weeks with one of our males... he would also go crazy and I was worried about him rubbing his nose constatntly trying to get to the females. That helped him calm down and should work for you.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

snakecharmed Aug 27, 2003 02:55 AM

I really appreciate all of the input on this. Rascal is now living the single life in an enclosure all to himself, his view is blocked from the ladies so hopefully he will calm down soon. I had thought about finding him a new home with no other beardies, but couldn't go through with it, this guy is a real sweetheart (to humans anyway!). Before, he was in a large enclosure with the 2 females and all of them got along fine, but I guess he wanted to live up to his name! Christy

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