Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a new Hypo orange german giant female a couple weeks back. When I opened the deli cup she was in, WHAM! she bit me and ran off. I finally caught her up and got her into her cage. My problem is.... I can not even get into her cage to clean up her poops or remove her dish, etc LOL. She is mean, mean, mean! I have tried over and over again with this girl, but she flares up and jumps across the cage to get to you. She got my husband pretty good today and I am afraid to say it is the worst dragon bite I have ever seen with my own eyes.

She is just NOT calming down to any of the "usual" methods.

7 months old and 16" and razor sharp teeth.

Help!!!!!!!! LOL
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Lisa
Cricket free babies!
www.beginnersbasics.com

A huge monster and a beastly personality too?! I am really sorry. I have don't have any advice, just wanted to commiserate with you.

I do have a blue tongue skink that was wild caught (don't flame me it is a long story) and I used to pick her up with suede gardening gloves and a small hand towel. After two months of twice daily handling we are down to just the suede gloves. I really don't know if she will ever be "comfortable" with it but she is getting better and I bleed less (just kidding, she has never actually gotten me)She is also an adult so maybe your baby will mellow out.
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Stacey

It sounds like you have a lot on your hands. try gently covering her eyes with a soft cloth or towel while you clean out her cage. when my dragons acts like a beast that usually helps since he hasnt a clue what is going on around him when the "lights go out". just make sure you do it with as much love and care as possible so you dont "scare" your wild girl! Good Luck to you!!!

Haha! Poor you! Let us know if you get sick of her, Derek loves crazy animals. Haha! Our hypo peach male was like that.. he still is a little... well.. a lot actually!
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Kelly Affonce
DeKeaff Exotics

AIM: DekeaffGrrl

I feel kind of weird trying to help one of the "pros" here, but here goes. I got my male about 2-3 months ago, he was ~8 months old and i couldn't touch him. I got bit 4+ times, tail whipped, flared at the works. Gloves just pissed him off more. I just started taking him out for 5 minutes a day and holding him so he couldn't bite me while I just stood next to his tank. I slowly made the time longer, and started walking around with him. I almost sold him because I had bought him for a family pet and it just wasn't working. Fastforward, the past 2 nights he has fallen aslepp on my stomach while watching t.v. My advice; either give and sale or just stick with it. (hopefully the latter ... all in all good luck.



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alot of dragons are like that when they are still young mine was exactly like that i don't know how u got bit though i would pick her up in a certain way she could not get at me, well whatever, they get like this for a couple of months when they are growing very rare for a bearded to stay like that though, watch when he gets close to a year or a year most likely he'll be as tame as a dog mine is , and hes was just like that at around the same age that yours is then like 2 months into it she just stopped, handle her a lil more not too much either , you'll see 97% of the times they get real docile mine is very very tame , hope it works out for u, remember mine was exactly how u just explained yours is, she would jump to get me and everything and race to the other side of the tank to bite me also

np

I know a lot of dragons are like that when they come from a breeder who rarely (or never) actually handles their dragons, but this girl is almost beyond belief lol. I have tamed down many a "mean" dragon adult and sub adult before, it just seems like nothing is working with this girl "yet".

I have no intentions of selling her at all. She is a future mate for my super orange male. Can you imagine the babies? lol
Super orange father crossed with this beautiful hypo orange german giant... can we all say awesome?!?!?!! LOL

This is my super orange male Anything crossed with him will be beautiful!

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Lisa
Cricket free babies!
www.beginnersbasics.com

>>I had an iguana that was meaner then hell. She would tail whip me, try to bite me just go crazy whenever I tried to touch her.
I happened to read a book on iguanas and it mentioned a way to tame aggresive iguanas and within 10 days she was just as calm as ever and let me handle her without protest. She later died when she somehow knocked a lamp off a table only to land on her.
I think she might have tried to crawl up the cord.
Anyway the method mentioned:
It was a difficult at first but got easier each day.
Fill the bathtub with enough lukewarm water to make the dragon almost have to swim. Now you have to be carefull, of course, because beardies aren't as good swimmers as iguanas.
Let/make the dragon swim for about thirty minutes to tire it out. Then take it out of the water and hold it for another thirty minutes or so, lightly stroking the back of it's head.
This worked for the iguana. Maybe it would work for a beardie.
Just a thought.
Jimmy
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Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)

Mine was pretty onery for awhile when I first got him, but I found it easier to pick Draconis up when he's sleeping (I know, I know, it will probably piss her off more to be wakened). After a while he tolerated it and then got used to falling asleep on me. That and hand-feeding (only when she starts calming down some!!!!) are two good methods to try. You can also limit the number of "distractions" to just you for awhile, which means:

1: only you come near her tank...
2: only you feed/water to her...
3: only you clean her tank, etc...

Once she gets focused on on person, she will likely get more used to you, and finally warm up to you. If there are other pets (BDs, dogs, cats, kids, etc...) you might want to isolate her from them for awhile. That's about it.
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Dl

This may sound crazy, but I really believe it has helped me in the past with fearful new beardies - I put an old T-shirt I've worn all day in the beardie cage, usually where ever they spend alot of time. They get used to your scent then, even when you're not around, and learn to associate it with good things - home, safety, warmth, etc.
Let us know how she comes along!