Dragon Flinches and Kicks When I Pet His Belly

Hello, I have a bearded dragon, named Aussie. He is about a year and a half old (although I’ve only had him for 5 months because we got him from a family friend), is 17 inches long, and is about 500 grams.

So I’ve been noticing lately that Aussie seems to have a sensitive belly to touch. Whenever I give him a bath, I like to give him a gentle belly massage to help him go to the bathroom, or just to pet his soft belly! And usually, when I do that, he will start clenching his abdominal muscles and he’ll even start kicking his leg around. At first I thought that maybe he was trying to pass something (although he has done this even when he doesn’t end up pooping that day, or has already had a bowl movement earlier), was ticklish, or didn’t like me touching his underside, but I didn’t know if that was normal. Should a bearded dragon be that sensitive on the lower sides of their belly (anywhere within an inch or two of the hind legs and vent)? Could there be something wrong internally? Or am I just overthinking this?

Thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it!!

Ticklish …. I've had a few dragons and skinks who were a bit ticklish that way.

Usually it's the tummy , or back of hind legs .

I hoped and thought that was case!! Thank you for reassuring me on that!