Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am wondering…

I took care of a 3½ year old male bearded dragon a week ago, I named him Nico. He is a little thin – but not skinny. His condition is ok and he eats fine. So I don’t think it is a problem there. I will take a fecal sample soon to see if he has parasites.

But he is SO scared – I feel so sorry for him. He is ok when he sits by himself in his cage, but when I put my hands in the cage he backs of and hisses at me, he also panics and jumps off into the glass and running around like crazy (even if I try to be VERY calm). He has calmed down a little since I got him and I know it will take a lot of patience from me to make him trust me – and he is worth it! He is such a lovely dragon!

The guy that used to have this beardie told me this: The dragon used to be VERY friendly and calm. He could sit on his shoulder when he walked around outside. Then the man separated from his wife and lost interest in the dragon. For one year the dragon just sat in his cage without being handled – just fed.

Is it possible for a friendly dragon to be this afraid of people after a year of “non-handling”. Or COULD Nico have been abused, hit or something during this time by his former owner?

The reason I ask this is that my male Cicero was a year old when I bought him and he had never been handled – at all. And he was not this scared at all. He was a little nervous but not aggressive at all.

Of course I know that all dragons has different personalities and reacts different in different situations, but it would be nice to have others opinions of this.

I realize that I can never get a straight answer on this because it is impossible to really *know* what happened but - could my poor Nico have been hit/abused by his former owner since he is SO scared of everything? Or do they really go from being friendly to “scared to death” if the reason is ONLY “non-handling”?

/Gunilla
Ps. sorry for the long post!

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Teo - A Bearded Dragon

i think he just needs some time Gunilla, in working with large parrots and horses and everything else i have found that patience and persistance are the key things, along with a lot of love, and ceritanly you have that i have found that animals really notice changes in their homes, such as one of their people moving away, just not being there anymore, and ceritanly would notice not having the attention they used to have anymore. . Hand feeding yuummy treats is a good start before you start handling him, a little bribary can go a long way I would give him another week to settle in, just work around him like yo uwould any of your other dragons, then start picking him up and holding him until he calms and then put him back, i would do that for a week and then start increasing time amount of time and how many times a day you do this. Just hold him close to your body until he stops squirming and then put him back, then you can start holding him for longer periods of time. Im sure he will come around being that he was tame before, he just needs a lil reassurance that hes safe in his new home. Best of luck with him, so glad hes in a good home, know he will learn to love it there.......

Thanks Reiko for your reply!
Oh yes - Nico will get all the time he needs to get used to me and to being handled. If he never gets calm - well that’s is ok too, then I’ll have to leave him alone in his cage. At least I know he get good food and a clean cage now.

I was just wondering if the "non-handling" for a year could do this damage? Or - was he abused in some way...? I find it a little hard to understand that a friendly dragon turns into a *very* scared dragon in a year just because he isn't handled. My intuition tells me that someone might have been cruel to him... I don't know...

Nico is such a cute dragon, and it seems that he is already calming down a little. I could actually touch his face today without him taking off.

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Teo - A Bearded Dragon

hes a very very cute boy, great face. Maybe someone was cruel, it could very well be, says a lot about an animal if they are abused and come out of the situation scared and not mean. well keep us updated with how he is doing

I just watched a little dragon for a week. It was a dragon I had sold to them only about a Month before. It was fine when it left my house but it was the same as what you are describing when I watched it. Every time I would put my hand in it's cage, it would turn around and open it's mouth etc. It would even jump towards me to try to get my hand. After I would finally get him and hold him for a few sec's he would be fine (for that sitting)LOL.

I think it's just individuals who show their fight or flight instincts. I also think, just a short period of nonhandling can return them (some,, not all) right back to their flighty,fighty instincts. Time, patients, and care should bring him back.
Good luck.
Joel R

Thanks for your reply Joel. I guess it can happen that a dragon gets so scared by not being handled.

But I think Nico will be fine. Today he actually let me touch him without even opening his mouth at me! Some days ago that would completely freaked him out - he would have jumped right off the branch into the glass. So at least I am doing something right (offering niiiiccce yummy crickets for example!

>>I just watched a little dragon for a week. It was a dragon I had sold to them only about a Month before. It was fine when it left my house but it was the same as what you are describing when I watched it. Every time I would put my hand in it's cage, it would turn around and open it's mouth etc. It would even jump towards me to try to get my hand. After I would finally get him and hold him for a few sec's he would be fine (for that sitting)LOL.
>>
>>I think it's just individuals who show their fight or flight instincts. I also think, just a short period of nonhandling can return them (some,, not all) right back to their flighty,fighty instincts. Time, patients, and care should bring him back.
>>Good luck.
>>Joel R
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Teo - A Bearded Dragon

Oh yes - you couldn't stop me for the world from keeping you updated about Nico!

>>hes a very very cute boy, great face. Maybe someone was cruel, it could very well be, says a lot about an animal if they are abused and come out of the situation scared and not mean. well keep us updated with how he is doing
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Teo - A Bearded Dragon

I think that gradual interaction with you will turn him around shortly. That happened with our first beardie because when we went to pick him up a college kid had him and then decided he just didn't want it and took it to his parents house. They only fed him 12 crickets every three to four days. No one ever handled him. When I first went in to pet his head he hissed and was going spastic. Just try petting his head and then move into more interaction, taking baby steps with him and your little beardie friend will do well. It took maybe about 2-3 weeks for Junior and I to get comfortable and now he snuggles with me every night before bed, he gives me kisses, he is the most loving animal. It is all about how they are cared for but I think that you can turn any dragon around by love and patience.

Thanks for your advice! I think Nico is already calming down a little. It was just the thought of him being hit/abused that scared me… I hope he hasn’t… he is such a sweet dragon!
/Gunilla

>>I think that gradual interaction with you will turn him around shortly. That happened with our first beardie because when we went to pick him up a college kid had him and then decided he just didn't want it and took it to his parents house. They only fed him 12 crickets every three to four days. No one ever handled him. When I first went in to pet his head he hissed and was going spastic. Just try petting his head and then move into more interaction, taking baby steps with him and your little beardie friend will do well. It took maybe about 2-3 weeks for Junior and I to get comfortable and now he snuggles with me every night before bed, he gives me kisses, he is the most loving animal. It is all about how they are cared for but I think that you can turn any dragon around by love and patience.
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Teo - A Bearded Dragon