Aggressive behavior (update)

[JSBeadie]

I have a 4 to 5 month old Dragon who has become aggresive. up until last sunday he has been easy to handle and always gentile.
I would get him out of the cage at least once a day and feed him or bath him. but now he backs away and opens his mouth beard puffed and has bit me twice. also he just went through a major shedding
I always take it slow and easy when picking him up.
My question, Is this a stage dragons go through or is he just turning nasty? is there something that i can do to change this behavior.
he was bought for my 12 year old and he would like to be able to hold him again. I always monitor him when he holds him.
Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[JSBeadie]

Sorry,
just saw the other posts about this type of behavior
going to try the t-shirt idea and keep working with him.

I thought it might just be a phase males go through when they grow up.

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

i'm convienced that beardies go through this "terrible twos" thing like kids do,lol. there was a point phoenix was doing this to me ... we would wrap him in his blaket and then pick him up, i wonder if i wasnt supporting him correctly (hes my first) so wrapping him in a blanket helped him and me... might be worth a try... plus when they are young, everything scares them, so the blanket helped to hide everything until i was seated and then he was just fine...

 

[JSBeadie]

Thanks for the info.
I figure he is proving his dominance just telling me it's his viv get out.
it's a boy thing. we are going through with the 12 year old twins also.

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

well one thing is dont let him win, if you let him continue doing this he will think its oaky, and you dont want that... make sure you stay strong and correct the behavior.

 

[JSBeadie]

I am working with her on it. he is haveing a fit but i keep wrapping him in a blanket and getting her out.
she seems to calm down after a while. so i'm sure he will def. come around.

 

[JSBeadie]

I put Puffy in a 4x2x2 enclosure i had gotten from a local who ue to breed Beardies.
I disenfected it, retiled new lights. then when it was safe I moved Her (finally found out Puffy is a female)
she was good for about a week then slowly she became aggressive.
Today I moved her back to a 30 Breeder. Maybe the size and the fact that it was used by other Beardies it freaked her out.
I am going to leave her in the 30 for a while and then disenfect the large viv again and start getting fake rock built.
maybe when she gets bigger, she will adapt to the larger viv better.
Hope this works, today when I took her out she bit me twice then it took about an hour of holding her to calm her down.

 

[JSBeadie]

Still working with the little stinker.
Puffy has gotten better doesn't bite anymore and is not trying to get away from my hand as much.
Today when i had her out she calmed down pretty quickly and was ok with sitting on my chest.
after i put her back in the viv she just laid still for about 20 mins and then ran from one side of the viv to the other stopping at each side to arm wave then back to the other several times. i guess she is going through something simular to puberty. some times i see her in the viv just puffing her beard a few times then back to basking. even when no one is close to her.

 

[JSBeadie]

Update.
I think i have figured out the problem. I had puffy's viv on top of the other one. and when i moved her back to the breeder tank she got a little better but not much. also when i would hold her when i stood up she would get nervous and try to jump from my hand.
So i moved her viv to a lower level and she has calmed down alot. I think she is afraid of heights. could this be possible?
so far she is doing alot better eating more, not hiding when someone is near the cage and calmer when i get her out for some interactive time. just want to know what others think.

 

[JSBeadie]

Well she is coming around and doing great since the last changes.
I hope this might help some others in the future.
Thanks for the help.

 

[beardie4127]

Glad to hear your beardie is better

 

[GaugedUp]

Holy cow ... he is cranky today. I have had my beardie for better than three weeks. I really don't know his age; I was just told that he was almost fully grown. Since I have had him, I take him outside w/ me everyday when I take the dog out for a walk. It's a typical everyday routine... I put my hand in his viv, he walks up my hand and arm and perches on my should ... we go outside and he just sits there basking in the Florida sun as we make our way around. Today, he decided to do a little base jumping! :?: I went to get him as quick as I could because he started running and he puffed up and hissed at me. He actually faced me as if he were going to attack me. I managed to pick him up but he wasn't in a very safe position. As I tried to get him in a comfortable position, he continuously seemed to be trying to nip me. I ended up w/ him dangling from his tail before I could get him back and in to his viv. The one thing that did change is that this time, I fed him his crickets before I got him out of the viv. When I put him back in the viv, he was very angry... I put his veggies in and he wouldn't let me. He kept trying to attack me

 

[GaugedUp]

And now w/ a few hours passed ... he seems mellow. I can approach the viv and reach in w/ no attitude. He lets me rub his head and body. Weirdo!