Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok so I've had Hades since he was about 2 months old. He is now a year old. I was wondering about a couple of things.

1. He's beginning to be a little mean, I still play with him, but not as much because I have 4 other reptiles to take care of. 3 of which are in the same room as him *Hades my bearded, my leopard gecko and a pair of breeding saharan uros* share my bedroom with him. Could he be jealous of the attention I'm giving to my new saharan's?

2. He's start become a picky eater. Yesterday I gave him some endive, and some green beans which he loves. Today I gave him some more endive before I go to town to get crickets, and he wouldn't eat it. Why?

That's basically it.

Oh and another thing. My brother bought a bearded dragon in January of 2003, she's a little aggressive, like I'm afraid to pick her up and so is he. Is there anything we can do for her to make her feel less threatend by us? When he got her I'm thinking she was about 2-3 years in age, because she's almost full grown right now.

If you could help me with my problems that would be really really great.

Thanks in advance
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Signature file edited; oversized banner removed. Please update/correct to an acceptable size. [phw 9/13/04]

Patience and consistency are the key to taming and keeping tame beardies (and most other animals). Often when beardies become sexually mature (males in particular) they become more aggressive in nature. Its probably for this reason that Hades (nice name) has turned more aggressive. I doubt its envy of attention you're giving the Uros (though you spending less time with him may be a factor).

As to your brother's female. Since you acquired her as an adult, it may take some time for you and him (your brother) to gain her trust. I recommned handling her often (every day) but only for short periods of time. The key is to make each short experience end on a positive note. If the dragon likes to bath, hold for a bit then let her swim in the tub for a bit (things like that).

Couple of caveats: I've used hand-feeding to help tame beardies, but others have pointed out that there is the danger of getting bit. Also, if the adult dragon has had some really dramatic experiences, taming may not be possible. I had an iguana that was mean after it had a tail injure. Even after years, it never was the same.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks for your help. I'll tell my brother to start holding her everyday.

I wasn't with him when he got her, I was in the hospital when he picked her out and I don't know if he got her from a chain-pet store like petco or petsmart so...she could have been treated mean by a previous owner or care-taker.

And I've hand fed Hades since I've had him he likes it. If I get bit, then it's ok, I will know if he does it intentionally or accidentally.
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Signature file edited; oversized banner removed. Please update/correct to an acceptable size. [phw 9/13/04]

The best way to tame the aggresive bearded dragon is to simply hold her. dont be afraid. remember your the boss of the bearded dragon. shes not the boss of you. so dont be intimidated by her. as for the male since he may want to hybernate. its still a little early for brumation but mine have almost stoped eating and are sleeping most of the day now. they are both around a year old. what size cage is he in? he may be stressed and doesnt want to be handled. and also you mentioned you think the female is 2-3 years in age. dragon usually reach there full grown size within a year and a half.
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sincerely,
Jonathan D. de Kluyver
JDDK Reptiles
Quality Reptiles and Amphibianswww.jddkreptiles.com

Well Hades is in a 20 gallon enclosure (its one a friend of a friend made, its about 24" tall and about 20" wide) its good size for him. So I guess Draco (the female) is adult size then. She's in a cage my bro got for free from his work (he used to work at petsmart, it was a display fish tank, but a seal broke at the top so they were going to smash it in the dumpster but then he said he'd take it for free).

Ok I guess I'll tell him to handle her more often. I think he stopped because one time when he was holding her she tried to bite him and he got scared. But in all fairness she was going for his big nose.

I'll make him do it though.
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didnt you say hades is a year old? a 20 gallon tank is way too small for a full grown dragon. a full grown dragons NEEDS to be kept in at least a 40 gallon tank. 50 gallon would be better.... how long is hades?
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sincerely,
Jonathan D. de Kluyver
JDDK Reptiles
Quality Reptiles and Amphibianswww.jddkreptiles.com

I don't know how long he is, I'm not at home so I can't measure him now.

I'm in the process of having a special cage made just for him. He had been in a bigger one, but it broke about 2 months ago so I had a friend of a friend build me that one for the mean time.

He's getting a new cage that is 4 feet wide, 6 feet long and 3 and a half feet tall.

But if I had to guess he's about 7 1/2 inches head to beginning of tail
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Are you sure hes a year old? also is he the normal Pogona vitteceps you get in pet stores. or is he a differnt Pogona species. Year old Vitticeps are usually 17-20" in length
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sincerely,
Jonathan D. de Kluyver
JDDK Reptiles
Quality Reptiles and Amphibianswww.jddkreptiles.com

I got him at PetCo. So if there is a petco near you that carries beardeds you can ask them.

I don't know I saw him one day when I was picking up crickets.

He was the only one in the enclosure who didn't have anything wrong with him. All his roomies had missing toes and stubby tails, all except him. He was fine running around and followed me around his enclosure.

So I don't know what type he is. If you want I can charge up my dig camera and take some photos.

What angles do you need front back and facial close ups?

He is also the bearded in my sig.
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Also I asked when I got him how old he was and they said he hatched from a clutch in June and they had him for about 10 days by the time I bought him. So I gave him the hatch/birth date of June 27, 2003.
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Your dragon should be much bigger than 7.5 inches at this age. I have a 6.5 month old dragon that is 8 inches long.
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The universe is vast and we are so small.
There is only one thing we can truly control.
Whether we are good or evil.
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1.0.0 Tangerine Albino Leopard Gecko
1.1.0 Bearded Dragons

Well his head to beginning of tail is about 7.5" his tail is about 7 inches on its own.

I haven't been able to get him to cooperate with me when I measure him, the site of the tape scares the jeepers out of him.
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14.5 is still small for over a year. Your new enclousre will be more than big enough for him. Just get him out of the one hes currently in asap.
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The universe is vast and we are so small.
There is only one thing we can truly control.
Whether we are good or evil.
__________________________________________
1.0.0 Tangerine Albino Leopard Gecko
1.1.0 Bearded Dragons

See now I have this major dilema. I was going to buy him a 40 gallon breeder today but when I went downstairs this morning to check on my other animals, I saw that Ares, my mali Uro has a big scrape on his back left foot on his last toe, I suspect its from his roomie. So now I need to make a decision on whether to move Ares to a diff tank or to move Hades to a diff tank.

I only have enough for 1 new setup including a different light bulb, lamp, uvb bulb, another lamp, substrate and a hide spot.

Does anyone wanna help me make the decision?
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My mom caved in this morning and let me get the 40 gallon breeder. I set it up in my room so he'd still be in there with me. When I brought the tank in the expression on his face was like ??????? what is that??? So I picked him up and before I could get him all the way to the bottom he jumped out of my hand and started running all over so its ok.
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