Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It is so strange my male dragon Drake has one of the strangest behaviors. He is in a 55 gallon and is feed daily greens and silkworms about every other day or so, but he will try to chase your arm and try to chomp it from 5 feet away. at first i thought it was funny, but now when i sit on the couch nearby his cage even a yawn will catch his attention and he will try despertly to chomp it through the glass. I'm afraid that this will lead to possible unsafe handling because last night when i tried to scratch his chin(which he used to like) he started to back away from my hand. He is a well taken care of dragon, and I have owned him since he was about 6 weeks old, but recently he has changed. Anyone have any suggestions?

sounds like he's happy for summer time! take him outside to get some rays and maybe he will calm down a little by just sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying the birds. just a thought
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*~*Erin*~*
0.1 Jazmin -leopard gecko- April 17, 2004
1.0 Blaze -bearded dragon- March 20, 2004
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I let him out when ever I'm home, unless my female is also roaming round, he really doean't seem to like the outdoors, but he loves the run of the house. This behavior also only happens in his cage, never when he's out. Mostly at night, but this morning he seemed a little courious about my hand when i reached to get his food dish.

How old is your dragon? How many silkworms does he get every other day?

This is most likely one of two things since your dragon is not normally aggressive:
Your dragons is hungry or this is a misplaced breeding behavior. Sometimes motion triggers the breeding response in male dragons. Does he ever see your female?

Well he eats about 10-15 every other day and he is over a year and a half old. Yes he sometimes sees the female, but they never have had contact. I don't know if I said this b4 but it mostly happens at night just b4 the lights go out or after they r out. He eats a ton of a mixed salad everyday so I like to rule out hunger.

Sounds like juvenile male behavior to me... My own dragon at about 4-6 months old became an absolute terror... while he was previously very calm and docile, never so much as openning his mouth to show his "superiority" towards me, he began snapping, biting, and all around trying to be a badass. I broke him of that habit by simply wearing a leather glove to pick him up for about a week, allowing him to bite and grind his little razors in all he wanted. After realizing he couldn't hurt me anymore, he stopped his riotous behavior and went back to being gentle and sweet again... now he enjoys quiet walks on the beach, and an occasional Corona... nah, just kidding, but he does like to sit on my shoulder all day.