Beardie Agression

[mistybugs]

I bought a beadie in Febuary of last year. When I first got her I handled her everyday and she would eat out of my hands and she was actually starting to walk up to my hand when I would put it in her cage. Well at the end of may I had a baby and so for the first couple of weeks I was not able to give her the attention that she needed. When I finally got used to having a new born and a two year old at the same time and was finally able to start giving her that attention again she was a very upset beardie. I reached in to pick her up like I normally would and she hissed at me and startled me so I jumped. I than tried again that night when she was tired and got the same reaction. I love my beardie and really want to hold her again and be able to bond with her but she is not liking me very much. I have read amny posts and have redone her lights and temps, tried many methods of getting her to know my scent but it seems like she is just beyond repair and really just does not like me anymore. I feel really bad that I was not able to spend that time with her I was trying to get used to a new baby. I give her plenty of food she is very fat a healthy there is no doubts in my mind about that. She has lots of energy but is startig to burm a little bit because the weather outside is getting colder here so I got her a higher wat bulb to get the heat a little higher and that seems to work well. She is not stressed as long as I do not try to pick her up.

Can anyone give me any advice I would really love it alot. I really want to pick her up and hold her again and not have to worry about being bitten and hissed at. She has not gotten ahold of me yet lol.

 

[Beardednoob]

First off I would be persistent try every day a few times a day. I am not sure how recommended this idea I have would be but, it may work so use at your own discretion. Get a glove you can wear, that is constructed of a durable leather but, still not to think. You want it to be pliable, so you can feel what you are doing but, ridged enough to take the force if a bite occurs. Wait till your dragon is either close to going to sleep or asleep, make sure if she gets away she has nowhere to go, best I can think of would be to hold her while she is in her enclosure. If all goes well she will get over her anger and like to be held again, might take a few times but, IDk worth a shot?

I read these types of posts kind of frequently, well at least 1-2 a week. I think the dragons are just being stubborn and hard headed. If this is the case, they may only nip at you, and not actually bite. I kind of want a dragon like this so I could experiment with it but, I don't. :?

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[grendel9]

I have also seen people recommend taking an old tshirt that you have worn (and not washed) and putting it into your beardie's enclosure. In that way, she'll get used to your scent. It should be something that you won't mind getting messed up, of course. :wink:
I haven't had the occasion to try this method myself, but I expect to need to do something like it in the future, as I'm hoping to rescue someday. So, I'll be following your progress closely. Good luck, and I hope your beardie comes around.

 

[mistybugs]

thank you guys very much for the feedback. I did put an old shirt that I wore for the day just for her in her inclosure and she did lay on it and lick at it (yuk :lol: but when I just tried to pick her up she did not try to bite which is progress but she did try to hiss which came out more like a clucking sound. She also tried to still wiggle her way around. I will keep you updated so that you will know a little more and good luck on resucing beardies because some really need it. I was wondering could you use treats with beardies like you would use treats with a dog?

 

[mistybugs]

I know that there were a few people that wanted to follow this thread to see how my progress went with getting my beardie to become nice and I have great news. For the last few days I have been taking a infant towel and heating it up for 15 minutes with a heating pad than removing it from the heating pad and picking her up with it with her rapped into a burrito. She has really been enjoying her beardie burrito :mrgreen: . Since I have been doing this I can now put my hand in her cage and actually pet her and even get my fingers under her belly before she starts to beard. I think that another thing that has helped with all of this is she is always very still and almost sleeping because she is starting to try to brumnate ( I think I spelled that right). She has not been as active because the weather took a huge turn into cooled and even might snow this week. I hope that this helps with the people that are trying to rescue beardies and I hope that it works as well for you as it has for me so far.

 

[aNewRising]

Right after lights out, take your beardie out and put it inside a small soft towel and basically "cuddle" with it. The bond will definitely rise, I promise.

 

[jon21388]

Right after lights out, take your beardie out and put it inside a small soft towel and basically "cuddle" with it. The bond will definitely rise, I promise.

this is what i usually do, i take him out about 5 minutes after i shut the lights off at night and put him right on my chest, he usually crawls up to my neck and cuddles right into it and falls asleep. I've done this since pretty much when i first got him and have never had any problems with aggression.