Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, long story short I went out and got myself a bearded dragon from Great Valley Serpentarium a couple days ago. The father is a nice citrus morph and the mother is just a regular. Anyway, I fell in love with my female that I got in July last year. She is so naturally tame without I having to handle her all the the time. I mean this dragon does not flinch while you stroke her on her head and body, and I've only handled her a few time the whole time I have had her.. She as calm as bearded dragons gets. Anyway, I was expecting the same thing with this little guy. The first day I brought him home he was fine. I picked him up and put him in his new temporary 20 gallon cage with heat lamp and UVB light. He ate right away as soon as I put him in the cage. The second day I went to check on him and wanted to feed him, so I stuck my hand in there to move his hide so I can see him better and I also started tong feeding him at the same time. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and puffed up, then proceed to jump up and bite my finger. Every time I lower my hand in there, he would launched forward and bite my hand and finger before it even close enough to him. Yes, this little guy charge forward like from 9 inches away and actually attack my fingers and hand, and I wasn't even that close to him. I see I have to tame him down before he gets big and be able to inflict serious wound on me. Anyone have this experience with their bearded dragon being overly aggressive? This is the first time for me!

use the hamster ball trick. effective and practical.

NP

handle the bd inside a hamster ball for a bit, gradually work up to just your hands. plus

Hamster balls are far to small for a bearded dragon to be in, in fact I would consider it very cruel to put a bearded dragon of any size into a clear plastic ball.

It would be far safer to just wear light work gloves while handling your new dragon till he calms down.
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PHLdyPayne

are you kidding me? they make them big enough for rabbits to be in. how can that be cruel? dont be such a bleeding heart.

TO be honest, I think those things are cruel for hamsters and rabbits, no matter how big it is. What animal wants to be in a clear plastic sphere with little control over where they roll to?

Also, bearded dragons don't have the flexible spine that rodents do, not to mention a long tail, they are not runners either. Besides it would cause more stress on the dragon and owner trying to force on into a hamster ball, far better to just put on gloves. This only protects the owner from scratches and bites and teaches the dragon biting and scratching isn't going to make the big human go away.

Thus, even if you use a ball the size of a dodgeball, its not going to solve the main problem issue here, getting his dragon to trust him and allow for handling. He might as well just leave it in its cage.
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PHLdyPayne

well it worked for me and now my beardir will hang out on my shoulder all day. it only takes like a week. and when they're small they fit in the soccerball sized one pretty well.

I 2nd LdyPayne's opinion.