Do beardies bond with their owners?

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bunnyrut

Gray-bearded Member
some people say that lizards cannot grasp the idea of affection.

but from what i noticed, if it is a choice between me or my husband my dragon ALWAYS chooses me. he glares at my husband and always looks happy to see me.

my baby on the other hand doesn't care who you are as long as you have food.

i definitely feel that they bond to someone. from every animal i ever had, there was always 1 person they seemed bonded to.
 

champagne4amy

Member
Original Poster
bunnyrut":2s2faml4 said:
some people say that lizards cannot grasp the idea of affection.
I know, I have heard that too and it kinda makes me mad. How does anyone really know what an animal or reptile really feels or is capable of feeling? I would like to think that they do end up bonding to us humans in some form.
 

RandyMarsh

Sub-Adult Member
i think there is some sort of bond but it's not easily definable. It's def not like normal animals in regards to affection, but dragons do seem to like certain things more than other things and they seem to get "used" to you and prefer you maybe.
i
 

tgolden

Sub-Adult Member
This is with out a doubt a much debated subject. I have made many folks mad giving my view on it. So I'll try to say this without hurting any ones feelings. Reptiles have the most basic of brains. They may know your smell and not be threated by it or smell you and know that smell means food. Sorry no bonding there but if you really want to understand your dragons behavior you should research about there brain. Lots of good info out there.
~ Tommie
 

Mistyck

Extreme Poster
bunnyrut":3ethfyfa said:
but from what i noticed, if it is a choice between me or my husband my dragon ALWAYS chooses me. he glares at my husband and always looks happy to see me.

Same with me. My dragon Breesy will bite and try to attack my other half, but I can stick my hand in the tank, pick him up and mess with him and he just closes his eyes and accepts me. Don't know if it's love or what, but I know my dragon prefers me over anyone else.

My elder dragon (who passed away at the age of 8 this past January), absolutely loved everyone though, including my daughter. He loved coming out of his tank and hanging out with the family. I miss him still. :(
 

RandyMarsh

Sub-Adult Member
tgolden":3jj3wg3k said:
This is with out a doubt a much debated subject. I have made many folks mad giving my view on it. So I'll try to say this without hurting any ones feelings. Reptiles have the most basic of brains. They may know your smell and not be threated by it or smell you and know that smell means food. Sorry no bonding there but if you really want to understand your dragons behavior you should research about there brain. Lots of good info out there.
~ Tommie

no this is true. their brain is very basic, however they do show preference for some things over others-
color or types of foods, ect. You might not think of it as a bond in a traditional sense, but i would challenge that them knowing your smell, not being threatened by you, and partially seeming to enjoy perching on a particular person is a type of bond in itself.
It's not like a bond between other types of pets no, but it's some type of bond none the less. :mrgreen:
 

champagne4amy

Member
Original Poster
[/quote]

no this is true. their brain is very basic, however they do show preference for some things over others-
color or types of foods, ect. You might not think of it as a bond in a traditional sense, but i would challenge that them knowing your smell, not being threatened by you, and partially seeming to enjoy perching on a particular person is a type of bond in itself.
It's not like a bond between other types of pets no, but it's some type of bond none the less. :mrgreen:[/quote]

Well said! :D
 

tgolden

Sub-Adult Member
Well put Randy. Mine seems to be more use to me then anyone else in my house. he also seems to be stimulated by the activity levels going on. If there is lots of folks walking around he is at the glass watching everything.
~ Tommie
 

RandyMarsh

Sub-Adult Member
tgolden":e30ly0xe said:
Well put Randy. Mine seems to be more use to me then anyone else in my house. he also seems to be stimulated by the activity levels going on. If there is lots of folks walking around he is at the glass watching everything.
~ Tommie

like i said in the first post, it's hard to define but there's something strange there :)
 

clearlyjoyful

Hatchling Member
tgolden":1r0nkkfx said:
This is with out a doubt a much debated subject. I have made many folks mad giving my view on it. So I'll try to say this without hurting any ones feelings. Reptiles have the most basic of brains. They may know your smell and not be threated by it or smell you and know that smell means food. Sorry no bonding there but if you really want to understand your dragons behavior you should research about there brain. Lots of good info out there.
~ Tommie

I'm more inclined to believe real life experience over research about their brain. There's not a whole lot of it to sift through, to be honest, and anyway, that information doesn't matter to me if it doesn't apply, right? My Itchy, personally, has shown preferences for those who are clearly not frightened by him. My younger brother, Tommy, is very scared of him, and Itchy has never been fond of him, mostly trying to run away from his hand if it's put in the tank. However, he showed an instant liking to my boyfriend's best friend, Chris, when we brought him to our apartment (long story short, he was living at my parents' but wasn't getting proper care so we moved him in with us), I think because he showed no fear (he's very much a bearded dragon "person" and has one of his own named Charlie). So, for at least my own dragon, it's about fear. ...also, he likes the colour orange.
 

LLLReptile

Juvie Member
This is the type of question that will get a different answer from every person you ask about it.

In the last few years working at LLL I have seen thousands of beardies of all ages and sizes come through the doors of all of our stores, and hundreds of customers with beardies come through as well. Each beardie seems to have its own personality, and may or may not exhibit characteristics that encourage owners to think they display affection or bond to them.

There is also the consideration that we may be conditioning them to react in a way that makes us feel like they are bonded to us - if the same person always feeds them, and always feeds more of the "good stuff" (whatever the beardie favors) when the beardie exhibits certain behavioral patterns...you have essentially trained your beardie to behave in a way that may seem like it is bonded to you. It's hard to say for sure what the case is with the beardies, since it is not like they wag their tails, talk to us, or otherwise can communicate with us in a way we understand.

There's a lot we still don't know or understand about the way reptile brains work, and the way they perceive the world around them and how they perceive us in their lives. It's not like there is a precedent for their instincts to understand or incorporate us, and they do not have the same kind of higher brain capability that we have...so just how do we fit into how they see their world? We may never know. Interesting thing to think about, though!

-Jen
 

Valerie

Sub-Adult Member
My former Sizzle seemed to like me over anyone else in the house. She was once sitting on my son's chest and i was sitting next to them. She kept looking at me and then took off and ran over to me and sat on my chest. Needless to say, my son was not happy. { I was thrilled, LOL}
 

XtinaBeardieMom

Juvie Member
LLLReptile":3otqopdj said:
There is also the consideration that we may be conditioning them to react in a way that makes us feel like they are bonded to us - if the same person always feeds them, and always feeds more of the "good stuff" (whatever the beardie favors) when the beardie exhibits certain behavioral patterns...you have essentially trained your beardie to behave in a way that may seem like it is bonded to you. It's hard to say for sure what the case is with the beardies, since it is not like they wag their tails, talk to us, or otherwise can communicate with us in a way we understand.

-Jen

Well said - I'm no expert but I think it's more that our beardies associate us with certain things rather than bond with us. I do very much believe that they all have their own personalities and preferences though. This is why my boyfriend and I try to make sure that everything our beardies may associate with us (good or bad) is carried out equally between us, such as feeding them roaches (good!), administering medicine (bad!), giving baths (depends on which dragon you ask lol), etcetera...
 
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