Bad behavior

Hi,
So I have a 1 year old bearded dragon that isn't really active. Recently I went from giving him about a dozen supers daily to a dozen twice a week. He is a chubster. Still gets lots of greens and veggies. He is in the finishing stages of shed and had been happy for the 6 months we have had him. Today he was running back and forth and when we reached in to fix his hammock he flared his beard ( which has recently turned black) and lunched and bit us. I'm not sure why the sudden change. Ideas?
Thanks!

Where I live its beardie 'breeding season' so not uncommon to see more dispay behaviour, esp in males.

Also that's a lot of supers. I give my 2 adults up to 5 weekly and use other less fatty insects.

I don't know if they are in season here or not. I just don't know how to fix it. Supers and mealworms are the most readily available for me so that's what he's been eating. And he won't eat crickets anymore. Ideas?

Crazypetlady":179ba6pv said:

I don't know if they are in season here or not. I just don't know how to fix it. Supers and mealworms are the most readily available for me so that's what he's been eating. And he won't eat crickets anymore. Ideas?

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If it's moving into spring where you are it's moving into peak breeding season in your hemisphere.

Better feeder insects are :
BSF maggots (Phoenix Worms (USA)) but he's probably too big now to show much interest them.
Silkworms (a year old juvenile will easily handle medium (2 inch long) silkworms) and they are very nutritious and most lizards go nuts for them, they love them and hoover them down.
Crickets , roaches and locusts.


Try roaches or locusts , if your local petshops can't / wont supply them look up a local online feeder insect breeder and buy them online by mailorder , many people do this.

Lots of us have times when our lizards decide they no longer like a feeder insect or green that they loved before, they can be picky and hard to satisfy sometimes.

I can give some of those a try. Any ideas for handling?

Crazypetlady":14fyj488 said:

I can give some of those a try. Any ideas for handling?

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Every beardie is a unique individual and some are more standoffish than others even at 1 year old, some love a nice snuggle and being petted, and love being out with their humans , others are more interested in heading off to explore (the room).

His behaviour is most likely due to his being a bit hyperhormonal at the moment and be more interested in getting his rocks off , you''ll likely be in for a torrid and interesting few weeks (if it's spring there , your boy will be uberhorny and with not a lady beardie in sight) so shoes, socks, cushions , feet, soft toys will all look sexy to him....but fear not .... you'll survive and will soon have a nice calm boy beardie who will likely enjoy snuggles and other very beardie pleasures , like worshipping the basking globe, looking out windows / watching the world , watching TV, watching his private zoo (people) ).

I'd let him out of his tank each day for a while to explore (supervised by you) and let him get all that pent up sexual energy out.

What has he been like when you've handled him so far ?

Up until now he has been very exploitative and cuddly. This was a very rapid change. And now every time I even go near the cage he flares, hisses, and attacks the glass to get to me. Obviously with this behavior I'm trying to figure out how to get his out and interact without harming him, others in my house, or the other pets in my home

Crazypetlady":22stalb0 said:

Up until now he has been very exploitative and cuddly. This was a very rapid change. And now every time I even go near the cage he flares, hisses, and attacks the glass to get to me. Obviously with this behavior I'm trying to figure out how to get his out and interact without harming him, others in my house, or the other pets in my home

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What are the other pets ?

You could get hold of pair of leather welder's gloves for now .... seems to me perhaps he has had a fright from someone or some other pet in the house and he might be being defensive. If he has you will need to show him you are not going to harm him and re-earn his trust.
I still think though this is just a seasonal hormonal thing and it will pass.

We were looking into something like that. He does seem to be showing fear aggression toward my better half and I, though I don't know why and I wasn't sure if that was what I was truly seeing. I train dogs, not lizards after all. We have a dog who ignores him, and a cat that is about his size who he usually plays with (supervised). Ideas on regaining trust?

Crazypetlady":32pnt0rh said:

We were looking into something like that. He does seem to be showing fear aggression toward my better half and I, though I don't know why and I wasn't sure if that was what I was truly seeing. I train dogs, not lizards after all. We have a dog who ignores him, and a cat that is about his size who he usually plays with (supervised). Ideas on regaining trust?

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Sorry you wont like hearing this but ..... Keep him and the cat apart , I mean never ever let them be in the same room together and never ever let the cat be any near your beardie, you might think your cat is not interested and will never attack the beardie, but it's only a matter of time until the cat attacks the beardie and it will happen out of the blue .... YOU CAN NEVER TRUST THE CAT NEAR THE BEARDIE. The odds are if you allow the cat to have access to the lizard , even the room the lizard's tank is in, it WILL END BADLY for the lizard.

The behavior might be defensive, scared of the cat and maybe the dog (dogs can be trained but there is no hope of this with the cat).

All it takes is the smell of the cat on you if the beardie has had a fright / bad experience with the cat or another cat, and it will remember this.

My rescued water skinks were even terrified of cats on TV , they would try to hide inside my shirt if they saw a TV cat or heard a TV cat , or even heard a cat who was outside. Especially Lucky who I rescued from next door's cat, and Wriggles (I think she saw that cat kill one of the juveniles / perhaps her baby one day and came running to front and tried to get my attention by scratching on our front window - discovered the corpse down the back of my house shortly afterwards.

If the OP has had the dragon for 6 months with the prior pets, I highly doubt this is the issue..

And this is not being stated to create an argument, but to relieve some fear for the OP: cats and dragons does not automatically mean dead dragon. My cat and dragons interact often. Their enclosures are both in my living room that the cat has free access to. It depends on your cat's personality and demeanor. Just please supervise, have the enclosures secure, and use your best judgement.

There must have been some change done to trigger fear aggression. I would offer food by hand, gloved if you're concerned about being bit, and perhaps handle him more frequently at night in his sleepy state.
Has anything changed about your hands? Painted nails, new soaps, rings, etc?

No changes. In fact the cat is the only one he likes. I can't separate where the cat and dragon are. I always supervise them when they are together. But it's actually my dragon that initiates the play half the time. He is currently only reactive to people. We found at the moment that if you can pick him up he calms down a bit though. And he and the dog totally ignore eachother.

If he calms down on handling I'd definitely encourage more handling, as long as he does not show any signs of stress.
When my male sees my female he completely loses it, crawling, puffing his chin, and slapping and scratching at the glass, but picking him up turns the switch off and he's ok.

I'd say it's hormonal, but when you say it's like a fear aggression is where I want to dig deeper. If he's about a year he's becoming sexually mature and may not know how to deal with new feelings

We are handling him for short periods daily at the moment. His beard is still black but he doesn't puff up and relaxes into the hold. I figured he probably just has too much energy and hormones at the moment. And he doesn't show the fear aggression with me, only with the other male of the house. Which I figure is a testosterone thing. But he can handle the dragon (who's name is pig) and one he has Him in his hands pig if fine with him and even closes his eyes. But regardless he will have to go to the vet. He has been smacking his muzzle against the glass and has blood in his mouth so he's getting a check up.

Thought I would post an update. I ended up rushing him to the vet. Pig passed away. Vet said he looked very healthy and that occasionally the stress of puberty can be too much for them.
Thank you for all your advice.