i think my beardie hates me

he is a 2.5 year old dragon and whenever i come around he gets black beard and hisses, plus he always runs far away from me when i take him out of the enclosure. i’m doing everything i can to get on his good graces, help

widownrg":3klzmopc said:

he is a 2.5 year old dragon and whenever i come around he gets black beard and hisses, plus he always runs far away from me when i take him out of the enclosure. i’m doing everything i can to get on his good graces, help

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How long have you had him? Do you try hand feeding him or handling him often? Have any pictures of him? I'd love to see him, I love beardies and mine is his same age.

I would describe the behavior you are seeing as kind of defensive and scared. I would be interested to know if you just got him or this is just new behavior. If you just got him then i would suspect he was not handled and socialized before and likely lived in his enclosure without human contact. All of this can be overcome with patience either way.

Some pictures of the setup would help to spot anything that may be off if anything is.

While this may sound odd, on way I have worked past this in new beardies is when reaching have a small piece of greens in my hand. When he opens his mouth drop one small leaf of greens in ( something like 1/4 of what he might grab on his own just enough to show you are providing what he wants) without force just let it land in his mouth. In my experience this resulted in an almost confused reaction as if to show hes thinking that's the last thing he expected. Its intent is to provoke a thoughtful reaction based on what is happening vs an instinctive defensive reaction. While a great bond without any fear can be established we are a huge possible predator when they think instinctively. Once he is thinking and more calm hand feeding is great for furthering that trust.

Another tip is to make sure that you approach him from the front or the side, not from above or behind as a predator would do.

It may just take some time for him to learn to trust you.