I've got a quick question about typical 'roaming' beardie behavior. I've seen on a lot of youtube videos beardies that seem to be pretty sociable when they're out. IE coming up to or on people in order to grab objects out of their hands and the like...
I've had a beardie for about 6-9 months now, he's about a year, maybe a year and a half old, I'd say. Anyway, when he's out, 9 times out of ten he'll start roaming around the place and go to one of 4 or 5 usual spots, where he burrows a little bit, hunkers down, and stays there. He doesn't seem too averse to human contact. He'll happily walk over a person, even their face, to get where he wants, pausing and licking every few steps. Sometimes I think he goes to sleep when he reaches his destination; it's usually under something. More often than not it's under the heat register, down near the floor. No, I don't let him do anything like that when the register is on, btw. It's totally a pain to get him out from under there, though.
He doesn't do this nearly as often when it's just me and him. He does it almost every time, when my son is around, though. I guess that's understandable, as my son, though 11, pets him just a tiny bit harder than I think our beardie likes. Not actually pressing or squeezing him, but it does move his head or torso a bit, as opposed to the feather touch that I use (which he seems to not mind at all). Also, if there's bright light, he'll roam more often, even when it's just me. He doesn't keep roaming, though, he may do it for a bit, but then he ends up in a hiding spot. If it's darker, he'll usually snuggle up to doze, though. If it's really bright, he may roam around the apartment for awhile, first.
So I'm curious as to whether or not this is normal, or if he's under some kind of stress. Clearly the lighting has a bit to do with it. Out of the dozens/hundreds of times we've had him out, he's only hidden and flared his beard/turned it black once or twice, so I don't think he's too angry or stressed about it. Just wanted to make sure that he's not too uncomfortable about it all.
Thank you for any input!
I've had a beardie for about 6-9 months now, he's about a year, maybe a year and a half old, I'd say. Anyway, when he's out, 9 times out of ten he'll start roaming around the place and go to one of 4 or 5 usual spots, where he burrows a little bit, hunkers down, and stays there. He doesn't seem too averse to human contact. He'll happily walk over a person, even their face, to get where he wants, pausing and licking every few steps. Sometimes I think he goes to sleep when he reaches his destination; it's usually under something. More often than not it's under the heat register, down near the floor. No, I don't let him do anything like that when the register is on, btw. It's totally a pain to get him out from under there, though.
He doesn't do this nearly as often when it's just me and him. He does it almost every time, when my son is around, though. I guess that's understandable, as my son, though 11, pets him just a tiny bit harder than I think our beardie likes. Not actually pressing or squeezing him, but it does move his head or torso a bit, as opposed to the feather touch that I use (which he seems to not mind at all). Also, if there's bright light, he'll roam more often, even when it's just me. He doesn't keep roaming, though, he may do it for a bit, but then he ends up in a hiding spot. If it's darker, he'll usually snuggle up to doze, though. If it's really bright, he may roam around the apartment for awhile, first.
So I'm curious as to whether or not this is normal, or if he's under some kind of stress. Clearly the lighting has a bit to do with it. Out of the dozens/hundreds of times we've had him out, he's only hidden and flared his beard/turned it black once or twice, so I don't think he's too angry or stressed about it. Just wanted to make sure that he's not too uncomfortable about it all.
Thank you for any input!
