winkydinks
Member
So I've bred about 150 beardies, and late last year I hatched a very problematic individual who's getting progressively worse. Despite zero behavioral problems with any of his brothers or sisters and zero variation in husbandry, this boy who came out has evolved into quite the little monster. At 3 months, I had to separate him from his cage mate and put him in his own enclosure as he was going nuts during all of his waking hours. He was never abused by said cage mate. No nips, no nothing.
I didn't think this was a big deal at the time, but alas, the bad temperament remained. Squirminess evolved into defensiveness which has since evolved into outright aggression. As soon as I reach into his enclosure to remove him, he's literally leaping off his perch to bite my fingers. I have to wear winter gloves when dealing with him these days as I'm tired of putting on band aids after each encounter. I'm handling him daily in an effort to tame him, but he's trying to turn his head and bite fingers the entire time. Speaking of his bites, they're not defensive little nips. These are chomp, hold, and squeeze bites. When I put him back, he flattens out and gapes until I leave the room.
I'm dumbfounded because I've never experienced this and can't pinpoint an impetus for this behavior and why it's getting worse. Zero variation in care from over 100 babies, and all of them have been fine except this guy. Anyone have any thoughts? He's a beautiful hypo citrus, but I clearly can't sell him in this condition.
I didn't think this was a big deal at the time, but alas, the bad temperament remained. Squirminess evolved into defensiveness which has since evolved into outright aggression. As soon as I reach into his enclosure to remove him, he's literally leaping off his perch to bite my fingers. I have to wear winter gloves when dealing with him these days as I'm tired of putting on band aids after each encounter. I'm handling him daily in an effort to tame him, but he's trying to turn his head and bite fingers the entire time. Speaking of his bites, they're not defensive little nips. These are chomp, hold, and squeeze bites. When I put him back, he flattens out and gapes until I leave the room.
I'm dumbfounded because I've never experienced this and can't pinpoint an impetus for this behavior and why it's getting worse. Zero variation in care from over 100 babies, and all of them have been fine except this guy. Anyone have any thoughts? He's a beautiful hypo citrus, but I clearly can't sell him in this condition.