Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I have a young bearded dragon (about 9 1/2 inches long). I have had her for a couple of months. When I got her from a reptile show she was very jumpy, but I thought it was just typical behavior for a young dragon. Over the past couple of months she has become increasingly aggressive. If I put my hand in the cage she will open her mouth, hiss and lunge at my hand. She hasn't bitten me yet but she will if she catches me. I have another male dragon from the same breeder who was aggressive at the show. He was about 16 inches and opening his mouth and hissing when they tried to put him in a deli cup. He has since calmed down and he is a wonderful pet. Is there something I can do to calm my little dragon down? I have tried handling her a little each day but it isn't working. I have read that dragons outgrow this behavior, but I don't want to have a 20 inch aggressive dragon on my hands in a few months. Is there something I can do to calm her down?

Thank you

I too have an aggrassive dragon. I am slowly taming her down. I have found that wearing a glove so that the bite won't get to the skin helps a lot. So wear a glove an just pet your dragon. Make sure that it's not freaking out to much. After it gets used to being touched, try to pick it up. Then if it's not able to be picked up, keep with the first step. I associate me with food and food is good. It works nicely. Eventually, I hope to get this girl calmed down enough to hold her. Bue associate yourself with food, just wear a glove! Hope i helped.

Thank's I'll try that.Just out of curiosity, how much damage do you think a bearded dragon could do if I don't use a glove?

It doesn't feel good. The worse bite I had the dragon bit down three times in a row before I was smart enough to give up. She sliced it down about half way to the bone and it bled for a goodwhile.. we were at the vets office and i couldn't see the dragon and boy was i dumb lol.

If your dragon is that freaked and stressed out handling it everyday may not be the best idea. The food thought is always good, but I would still be cautious and gradually increase the amount of contact.

Fumbling about in the cage, trying to "pet" the dragon, and moving your hand towards it's head and from above are all things that are going to continue to stress and irritate the dragon. Chasing the dragon around the cage trying to pick it up will also further increase it's irritation with you.

If you do want to handle it, the best thing to do is quickly and decisively grab the dragon gently from behind it's head, place your other hand underneath the dragon, and remove it quickly from it's cage. Then place the dragon cautiously in your hand with it held flat open or on like your knee or something and let it adjust to being outside of the cage.

Don't make a lot of movements just be calm. After it settles down and stops gaping and puffing the beard, slowly offer it some food... either from your hand or leave it where the dragon is and be calm around it. I would not continue to put my hands in the cage everyday and touch or poke it now and then to try and calm it down.

Check your temps and setup and all that as well. A dragon that is overheated can be quite aggitated or one that is or is going into a shed.

Goodluck,
brandon
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Dragons by Nature

The worst bite i have had was good enough to draw blood. My male thought my finger was a worm, becuase I do hand feed. Like brandon said, make sure lots of contact starting small.

Have you tried giving greens when it opens his mouth? I had a little gal who was very aggresive for a while, and I was told to put greens in her mouth whenever she opened it being aggresive. It took like three days until she totally stopped. When I held her and she was freaked out, I would just put one hand cupped over her head...kind of to block things out. Now, I don't think I could ask for a better dragon. She is awsome. Good luck

I have tried the greens thing. I've been doing that for a few weeks. She is still pretty aggressive. She lunges at the greens the same way she would attack a cricket. She's come pretty close to my fingers. I'll keep working with her. Yesterday I tried to pick her up and it was horrible. I had her on the floor and she ran full speed into the closet. She then settled in an alcove and hissed and lunged at me. I tried a few times to get her by hand but she was getting really stressed and mad. I was finally able to get her onto a branch and put her back in her cage. When I visited a reptile show last year I noticed that some people pick up "wild little dragons by the base of the tail. I haven't done this because I've read about certain reptiles who's tails are connected to their spines and also it seems like you're asking for a broken tail with this method.