Does my Dragon seem annoyed too you?

Hi, My girlfriend and I rescued our bearded dragon (Gizmo) about a year ago from a family owned pet store who had rescued him from someone who neglected to show him much attention or feed him regularly.

He's come along way in the year that we've had him. However he STILL does not like being picked up. And still tries getting out of our hands or jumping/running away if he get's away from our grasp.

Every time we try picking him up it's like our "Trust" or "Bond" decreases or resets? I feel like I'll work on building trust by feeding him worms and lettuce and petting him regularly and hes fine but once it comes to picking him up all hell breaks loose and I'm back to rebuilding our trust again. Are we doing something wrong?

He's in a 50 Gallon Tank. I have him on a regular diet that consists of Collard Greens/Romain, Crickets/SuperWorms, and pellets (Usually mixed in with his lettuce)
From time to time I will mix in a couple: Blueberries (His favorite), Stawberries, or on a rare occasion small pieces of banana. But mainly blueberries.

Here is a video of me petting him? Is there anything that looks like annoyed/aggravated behavior by his body language? To me he seems relaxed but maybe someone that knows beardie body language more than myself may say otherwise?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQHeEV9Z8jg

Picture of his enclosure:

He looks quite healthy and like he's doing very well under your care. Depending on how he was handled (if at all) during the early part of his life, he may not warm up to handling as much as other dragons will. Hand feeding him is a good idea. He looks quite calm when you're petting him. If he flips when you try to pick him up I'd let him be and only check back on that occasionally. He may eventually warm up to holding but I wouldn't push it too hard. Just continue to offer him a good variety of veges and keep up with his good care and he will be healthy and content.

Maybe it could be the way ur holding him too because some times they can be afraid if u hold them from the top and not the bottom it can be a little scary seeing hands grab u from the top of u were a little guy

kornel351":2lk9scbo said:

Maybe it could be the way ur holding him too because some times they can be afraid if u hold them from the top and not the bottom it can be a little scary seeing hands grab u from the top of u were a little guy

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I thought this long ago. But I've tried many different ways of approaching him.

Update: Tried picking him up again last night to no avail. I get him out of the cage and he wont relax. Gets poofed up, beard black, hisses at me, and tries to get away.

When I got him out I had put him on my desk. He sat there for a minute looking very stressed. I tried feeding him blue berries to help ease him but as soon as I approached him with my hand he flipped out. And ran across the desk at which point I had to grab him and put him back in the cage.

I should note, he has NEVER bit me. He's only hissed and flared at me. With that said, It seems that he will let me pet him in his cage with ease but when he's out of his enclosure and I try to pet him he's very defensive. :?

Sometimes some reptiles are observation animals. You can spend lots of time trying to gradually get the dragon to calm down. It usually works...
But if it seems to be a losing battle and the dragon is constantly being stressed with the attempts I would just accept the dragon as it is...an observation animal. Only for watching, enjoying, and not handling.
All my reptiles are observation animals...I don't even try to tame them. Even my Rankins dragons that are really tame dont get handled unless I'm cleaning cages or something. I know most people want their dragons to be "pets", I'm just weird. I feel thier lives are rewarding even if I'm not the cuddling type

thebreba":ybjyb16g said:

kornel351":ybjyb16g said:

Maybe it could be the way ur holding him too because some times they can be afraid if u hold them from the top and not the bottom it can be a little scary seeing hands grab u from the top of u were a little guy

Click to expand...

I thought this long ago. But I've tried many different ways of approaching him.

Update: Tried picking him up again last night to no avail. I get him out of the cage and he wont relax. Gets poofed up, beard black, hisses at me, and tries to get away.

When I got him out I had put him on my desk. He sat there for a minute looking very stressed. I tried feeding him blue berries to help ease him but as soon as I approached him with my hand he flipped out. And ran across the desk at which point I had to grab him and put him back in the cage.

I should note, he has NEVER bit me. He's only hissed and flared at me. With that said, It seems that he will let me pet him in his cage with ease but when he's out of his enclosure and I try to pet him he's very defensive. :?

Click to expand...

He regards his tank as his territory.... so is defensive of it and wants to go back there - it's his safe place.

Have you tried hand feeding some his bugs to him each day (made a routine of it) ? This pretty much always works a treat at gaining the trust of a lizard (even wild ones). Lizards are very food orientated.

If you pet him while he's eating ánd he sees you giving his food to him, he'll soon associate you with being the bringer of yummies and will warm to you.

You can also try having a towel handy, when he's on your lap, chest or on the chair next to him and is behaving defensively , place the towel over him so he is completely covered , chances are he'll soon settle and relax (can't see you) , pet him through the towel and slowly remove it after he's settled.
Once he get used to your body heat , he''ll soon start enjoying it and snuggles.