Angry Outside

bigcahoonas10 · Jun 14, 2010

I have a beardie who will be 1 in august and I put him outside one day that it was nice in a big plastic bin and he immediately turned black and opened his mouth at me, i brought him inside and he didnt do it, so i tried a more see through box outside and he does it less but he still gets dark and very aware of his surroundings and darker. any one know why this is?

shadi11 · Jun 14, 2010

outside sometimes they feel threatened. Also with a couple of mine they get dark because they are absorbing and really just dont want to be touched. if you touch they could open their mouths and hiss and you. I think its that they dont like the interruption.
OR also a fear. Eventually as they got used to being out it would stop. But I never have used a bin to take them out. Be careful that you dont have them in the bin too long they could overheat very easily

bigcahoonas10 · Jun 14, 2010

what did you have them in outside?
I have had him outside one time 3 months ago and he didnt act like that but I understand
thanks

shadi11 · Jun 15, 2010

I usually hold them

rayjones · Jun 15, 2010

We take our pet adult dragon that trusts us outside and put her into a large plastic kiddy pool with some water warmed by the sun for a while in one end. The pool is tilted so one third is out of water. She seems to like the large area of water and some days will swim happily for a while before heading up to the dry end and sunning. We need to stand there constantly and watch. She is very afraid of birds. It's instinctive I think. If a bird chirps she will turn dark, flatten and look at the sky without moving for a while. If one of us is there she seems more comfortable but still cautious. But I would never leave her alone since a bird or cat might try to kill her if they think they can. I have noticed once any of our dragons realize they are outside they change. Most get scared or at least very cautious, some get bent on escape.

As a note I would not put any animal in a clear enclosure outside. It can get VERY hot amazingly quickly. Over 120 degrees in less than 5 minutes would not be uncommon here in Florida. Plus most plastic and glass filter the UVB out. A wire cage would be much better. But I would suggest some shading. It has been proven that the dragons will self regulate their UVB intake as well as their heat if given options.

bigcahoonas10 · Jun 16, 2010

That is EXACTLY what he does wow, yea I put a window screen on top with a large ceramic bowl IF I let him out of my sight but I am living at the beach in Delaware and there are alot of chirping birds, the first time I took him out side in a big plastic storage bin he didnt mind it until I put him in the grass and he took off right into the house and after that I picked him up and brought him back out he got mad and then it had been a while since he was outside since then and he got mad he never tried biting me just dark and opened his mouth but now I understand.
I have one more question maybe you can answer, within the last 2 to 3 months he has started digging and now it is something he does almost every night before he goes to bed, I built him a wooden platform that his basking spot is ontop and his man cave is below he never slept under anything more then once and now he loves this but I dont get the digging, and he seems to hide out or maybe nap in his cave randomly so I was wondering if they do nap?
Thanks

arbor11991 · Jun 16, 2010

i take mine outside whenever it gets above 80. i place her in the grass and watch her turn black. she loves soaking up the rays. but if you approach her the beard puffs out, then she realizes its me when i kneel down to scoop her up,the beard goes down. the first time i was afraid to pick her up. now its just ok enough your not scaring anyone.