Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Have any of you "trained" your bearded dragon such that it responds to, say, a particular sound (or the animal's name) or to tap an offered stick in exchange for food? I'm not talking about anthropomorphized observations such as "My beardy loves to snuggle and fall asleep while watching TV!", but rather I am curious as to the intelligence level of the species and if anyone has modified their animal's behavior through some sort of reward process.

Havent tried the whole stock/ fetch thing yet... lol. But Im interested to see who has... I think beardies are intelligent enough to respond to repetitive actions like Eating out of your hand. By far, I think they are the most personable and have the most charisma out of most reptiles around. I wouldnt be suprised if you taught it to do tricks. Let me know!
www.AtlantaBeardedDragons.com

I find that my dragons know the sound when I drop their crix or superworms in to a container [ I keep an empty oatmeal container to put the vit. calcium powder,it also helps to shake and stun the crix so they can be easily eaten before dispersing in the cage] Also,at times I will toss a superworm over the basking log,out of sight and they follow the "path" of where it was thrown and clamber over the log almost everytime to get the bug. I realize this isn't training, but it absolutely shows a degree of intelligence.

They definately learn. I put crickets in a juice pitcher to dust, then I dump the crickets into the "cricket corral" on the front right of each cage. As soon as they see the pitcher they run to the cricket corral long before I even open the door. If they're not hungry they just ignore it and stay on the basking spot.

I have all of my bearded dragons trained to drink from a spray bottle. Not just lap a little up, actually get a substantial drink. I've never had success with them drinking from a water dish, so this was the substitute.

I think others could have success doing this as well, if they haven't already. Some of my dragons had to be assisted at first, but most of them know what to expect now. All you need to do is take your index finger's nail and give a slight pull at the lower jaw near the tip of the mouth. This causes the dragon to open it's mouth for a moment and you have to be ready to spray.

It takes little time and very little effort, and is very rewarding.

Mine also drink from a spray bottle...every one from the time of hatching. I was surprised to think that people erroneously believe that this can cause respiratory infections [ old dragon wives tail] when in fact I've never had a problem in 16 years of doing this. Today's beardie owners think that baths are the way to hydrate...what a mistake! A weekly bath is fine,but every day or other day is stressful unnecesary.

I use a syringe to my dragons lip, and she gets 90% of what comes out.
I am careful not to give to much at a time, once she coughed up a spit of water...

A weekly soak is a necessary action when you keep lizards. Even new keepers should be able to indentify a dry lizard. Being kept too dry is equally as dangerous as too moist.

I use an eyedropper to give water. I only bath my dragons when they are dirty. For some that might only be once a year or more. Desert reptiles are designed not to lose water through their scales/skin so they don't absorb it that way either.

Dragons and all reptiles have a very simple brain mechanism...

it's called a brain stem.

Reptile brains do not have the outer wrapping also known as the mammalian out core.

Also they do not posses a prefrontal cortex as some mammals do such as the echidna.

See pic:

The echidna has been known to allude scientists and stack bowls to climb out of enclosures etc. They have an enlarged prefrontal cortex which is responsible for abstract thinking and projecting forward and reverse. They are endangered and live in Australia like the BD does.

Most mammals live in the here and now. They do not posses an enlarged prefrontal cortex like humans do. Nor do they have a highly developed neo cortex (thinking mind).

So therefore... Mammals lack imagination and the ability to project forward (future planning) or memory the ability to projector in reverse.

We as humans also posses this high developed brain mechanism unique to other animals... a neo cortex (thinking mind) that covers over the mammalian core.

The human brain is 4 essential components.

#1. The brain stem (ancient mind)
#2. The mammalian core
#3. The neo cortex outer core
#4. The prefrontal cortex (responsible for character traits and imagination)

So to the question of the smartness of the BD... they are not that intelligent. They are instinctual creatures. They understand physical displays with a rigid pecking order combined with aggression. Brain Stem (Reptilian Brain)

They do not have imaginations or really complex thinking abilities.

Although amazingly enough even with such a primitive brain apparatus they do still have unique temperments and their personalities do differ.

So this is what makes them interesting and unique. Also that they are very docile and mild mannered for the most part.

I think some of this comes from selective breeding and the fact that we as humans tend to breed the more affable tempered dragons. Thereby furthering this trait on in its domestic evolution.

The mild mannered docile dragons do seem to do the best in captivity. The easily startled and nasty ones people are more reluctant to work with. And they seem to always be stressed. Which really would be a creature best suited for the wild.

A dragon is not capable of doing tricks and learning complex patterns of abstract behavior.

They will remember certain feeding patterns that are necessary for their survival and general welfare. Self preservation (reptilian brain stem)

On an IQ scale I dont think they would exceed most other reptiles. Alligators crocodiles and sea turtles are some of the smarter reptiles and their ancestors were here with dinosaurs.

Also komodo dragons are almost mammalian and are a creature that scientists see links between reptiles and mammals.

We as humans have a brainstem which is the reptilian part of our brain. This is the ancient part of our minds and then we have the thinking part of the brain... the neo cortex or grey matter. This is where a majority of brain matter exits. (thinking mind)

Check out this site:

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sumer_anunnaki/reptiles/reptiles14.htm

Dragons can be trained. Barbara Heidenreich has target trained tortoises. They identify people and different foods, so should not be a problem. There are videos on youtube showing the trick training of a gold fish, an animal who is atributed with a 3 second memory. The question is what would you like them to do? If your stimulus, bridge and reward are in place you can train anything (people or animal) to do just about anything.
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www.moonstonedragons.com

There is a large amount of instinctive behaviors animals have and often people think of these as tricks... just as a lizard in the wild know instinctively to run and hide when a large bird flies overhead (ie hawk looking for lunch) or other predator is nearby, they also can learn to recognize their primary food source (ie their keepers) and will respond accordingly.

Whether its the sight of something distinctive (yellow container used to 'shake and bake' crickets with calcium powder), or the smell of greens being chopped up (or even the sound of greens being chopped) they will react because they have learned this means food is coming.

All my reptiles react to feeding time much the same way. my blue tongues come out of their hides and come to the screen door when I am preparing food, same with my dragon. Same with my snakes, especially if I take a cage out to clean, all the other ones are out prowling about their cages waiting for food...even if I don't have any rodents thawing for them. They just know when the cage or rack is vibrated (by removing one of more cages from it) they come out of hiding to see whats going on.

New animals in my collection don't react this way for months...till they learn the routine, even if they were fed much the same way by the breeders, as my way is different enough to them (either the time of day, or even which day of the week etc.)

I think just about all animals live in the 'hear and now' but this doesn't mean they don't have memories. They recognize scents, remember paths they took to good feeding grounds, how to hunt, what to eat etc. They don't lay down during the day or night fretting about something bad that happened to him the day before, or worry about what will happen in the future. They certainly don't wonder if they are going to get superworms in their next meal, or just plain boring crickets..and so on.

To some extent animals can be trained, but there are limits to what they can do, no matter what technique or food incentive you give. This is why for any animal seen in tv shows or movies, they used many look alikes to perform different 'tricks' on screen, as not all animals can be trained to do all the tricks required in a script. Reptiles can't be really trained to do something specific when you want them to do. Offering food can certainly encourage them to run towards a camera or come to you if you want to hand feed...but they won't do it for any other reason and certainly not on cue. They may not even respond to food being offered at all, if they are not hungry at that moment.

At best, reptiles can be trained to drink from a bowl of water, from an eye dropper or spray bottle...or eat crickets from your hand or a bowl or even on a plate. Often training and tricks just take advantage of an animals natural behaviors...dragons tend to stay still and not move...so its easy to place them somewhere and leave them there for a few minutes without suddenly taking off as say...a mouse.

All in all, I expect there are many things yet to know about how a reptile perceives its surroundings. They are certainly aware of what goes on around them and react to different stimuli in certain ways, depending on the stimuli and even individual animals.
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PHLdyPayne

I currently have about 28 adult dragons and they are all different - some more so than others. I think "trained" might not be accurate, but some beardies are definitely more receptive to learned behaviors. I have some dragons that respond to their names, but they only respond when my husband or I say their names. If a stranger says their name, they do not respond. They were able to learn though, that when their primary caretakers say a certain word and they respond, they get attention. Also, several of my male beardies, have learned which males live in the house and who is a stranger. If a strange male is in the house and talking, they start bobbing their head and turning their beard black. I have no idea why but they don't do it when strange women come to visit. If they perform instinctual behaviors in some situations but not others, isn't that some sort of learned behavior?

One particular female beardie has a more unique "personality". She hates to be caged, so she often gets free roam of the house. She gets up in the morning, gets a drink from the dog bowl, eats a few dog kibbles and then goes to the door and scratches to be let outside. She learned that going to the front door and scratching has no desirable effect, but going to the back door and scratching means she can go outside and bask in the sun. I don't know if she is "trained" or if I am "trained" to respond to her actions? She has even "learned" that my dogs are not a threat. That is certainly a level of intelligence to learn that a creature that instinctively would be feared is actually safe.

I think a lot of their behaviors are perhaps, a lot of me learning what they want by certain behaviors, but they have to have a certain level of intelligence to learn this "give and take" process in the first place. Sure they respond to my feeding actions, but to watch them eagerly pounce on a cricket in their cage and then watch them delicately take it from my fingers shows me that they somehow understand that they have to take their food differently from me than in their cage. They have "learned" that when I come into their room without the normal feeding items, if they behave in certain ways they can get taken out of the cage for one-on-one attention and affection. When they just sit on their basking log and look at me, they may get talked to, but not taken out. They have learned to perform certain actions to get a desired response from me. That, in my opinion, is a higher level of intelligence than many of my other reptiles.

All in all, they may not be trained or even trainable in the way that a dog would be, but I think that it certainly goes beyond instinctive reactions.

Just my opinion...
Lisa

Hmm, interesting. I think there should be more research in the mechanisms of the 'primitive reptile brain'. Much of your dragon's various behaviors certainly could be considered learned behavior even on instinct level...just as bearded dragons learn we are not predators out to eat them..they can learn dogs and cats are also not predators (at least the ones they share a home with, I expect if a strange dog came around, they will react as though it was a predator).

We barely understand the human brain, and I really think there is just as much we don't understand about reptile brains as well.

Some scientist trained a frog to jump at the sound of a clicker...and dogs to salivate when they hear a bell ring as they were always fed when a bell rang. Repitition most likely will 'teach' bearded dragons to respond in a certain way given a certain stimulus.

The dragon you have who scratches at the back door to go outside..may very well have observed your dogs doing the same thing...or you just responded in the same way as you would when dogs do it to go outside. Hard to say how the behavior started.

The dragons I have had, seem to learn quickly if they scratch and claw at the screen of the cage doors, after they poop..I show up and clean it up right away LOL especially if they go in the morning and I am sleeping on the couch near their cage...the scratching on the screen wakes me up and that's when I notice the large pile sitting there, nice and fresh for cleaning. Once I clean up they go up and bask and seem quite happy I cleaned their mess for them.
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PHLdyPayne

LOL!! They certainly have US trained - don't they?

I agree. There is so much that we don't understand about the brain - human or reptile. A lot more research needs to be done. I have many different lizards and geckos; dragons seem to be one of the most curious and intelligent. They are fascinating!

Lisa

PS I haven't been around much for a few years. It's nice to see you are still around!