Beardie to Owner Communication

[Nappy]

Hello there fellow Dragon lovers! New here just curious as to what..if any..forms of communication have been adapted between you and your Dragons. By this I mean: Do they give you specific signs when they are or aren't hungry? Let you know exactly when they want to come out? I've had my Dragon, Napoleon, for just over 4 years now and since I could remember he's closed his eyes at me when he's not hungry. I'll dangle a box of crix in front of him and if he wants them you'll know! he'll become very alert, as I imagine most do. But if he's not feeling up to it he'll close his eyes at me until the box is gone. He also lets me know when he wants his blankie to go to sleep. I take his blankie out while he eats and usually don't put it back in until later on. Whenever he's done being a lizard for the day he starts ducking his head and nuzzles it back and forth until the blankie is returned, which he usually nuzzles into instantly..otherwise we have a bobbing dragon all night

I was also wondering if any of your Dragons respond to their names? Napoleon definitely knows his name. I've done different vocal tests with him to see if it were the tone or actual word he was responding to and it's most definitely his name. I find it fascinating. Hope to hear your stories!

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

I feed Spot in a seperate tub and when she sees me getting her crickets ready she RUNS from her basking spot and starts dancing on the front of her viv until I get her out to eat.

 

[Venom508]

i dust my bds crickets with calcium in a seperate container and my bd sees this container and he/she gets up and comes to the front of the tank so yeah i think they have some form or communication with people

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

there is a LACK of communication about Spots poo dance. She doesn't really dance, just poo's. I wish we had more communication when it comes to that. :?

 

[DragonGal]

Jasper tells me when he wants to come out by pacing back and forth at the front of his tank. He will walk one way, give me a pointed look, and then walk the other way; he does this until I take him out. Very stubborn, that beardie! :lol:
If he doesn't want to eat, he'll close his eyes or walk away. And like yours, if he does want food, you'll know!
Sometimes when I say his name, he'll snap his head around to look at me. But I think in Jasper's case it is the tone of my voice, because sometimes I'll call one of the other animals and he'll look at me the same way. It's quite adorable, though. :wink:

 

[diamc]

Wow, where to begin. I don't think I could possibly post ALL the ways our beardies communicate with us, but will give a few examples.

They all know their individual names. Once in a while, I will lose sight of one of them when they are out running around (individually of course). I will look around calling Gizmo's name, no where around then he reappears and is looking right at me. Other times, I have been in the kitchen and Sabrina is running around in the livingroom which can't be seen from the kitchen. I can call her name and she will run into the kitchen and stop at my feet and look up at me. When she wants babyfood, she starts licking like crazy when she is in the kitchen with us and will walk to each one of us waiting for our attention.

When Judas wants some crickets, he looks at our son and chomps to get his attention. When Widge (RIP) wanted to eat, I would pick him up and ask him if he was hungry and he would look right at me and lick at least 3 times. If I didn't ask him the question, he wouldn't lick until I did.

Like I said, these are just a few examples that I can think of off the top of my head, but there are MANY more.

 

[Nappy]

The story of Sabrina is adorable! I'm still trying to teach Napoleon to come to me. The only time he does now is when he wants something. Although he does know that in order to come out and play he needs to poop. He'll pace back and forth and I'll say 'NAPOLEON! Poop first!', and he'll give me the 'Blue Steel' look as I call it (those of you who have seen Zoolander will understand) and run over to his paper to poop.And I think we ALL wish our Beardies would learn a poop dance LOL.

 

[beaniesbabie]

im just starting to bond really well with my beardie so i was wondering about how long it took for these responses to happen or be noticed...i know sometimes when i call ayame she snaps her head quickly to look at me and then cocks her head a bit, like a curious puppy.

 

[newbeardie79]

Hi All!! What a GREAT topic!! I am also new to owning a beardie (just a little over a month now...she's an adult though), and I can attest that I am TRUELY amazed by how responsive and intelligent she is!! I loved reading all the other posts on this topic which just confirms and hightens my amazement. These little guys and gals are nothing like I was expecting. I have never owned a reptile before, but grew up with brothers that did. (snakes particularly) What a DIFFERENCE!!! Elliot definately has personality and responds to us when we come in the room or talk to her. A recent example I can share is actually from today! We were gone most of the day and when we returned we found her basking (as usual) in her favorite spot, but she was very dark. I brought her out and let her roam around me and on the livingroom floor and with in a mater or minutes, she had lightned up and was obviously happy to be amung the family. She had her tail curved up a little and just overall appeared very content. When we put her back in her "home" (viv) she remained light (as she is now) and it appears that she was just lonely and needs some love! Too cute!! In fact, due to her curiosity, I even asked my husband what kind of TOYS she might be interested in.... ANY IDEAS?? Does anyone offer some form of toys to their dragons??

 

[beaniesbabie]

I dont know about "toys" but my beardie loves to look at pics and videos on my laptop...if shes out and its on she will stand on it and have diff reactions to what is on the screen...its too cute :mrgreen:

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

I've been working really hard with my youngest dragon, Tsam.

He's a very fast learner and become extremely trainable: His tank is the second "storey" level - whilst he knows he COULD jump out, he's learned to stay put until his special carpet slope is in place. (He gets a treat for it.) It took us several weeks of hard work, turning around and trying again and again, but now he knows how to run all the way down to the floor (without shortcutting off the side!) - and he also knows how to run all the way back up into his tank on his own!

Tsam's also learned how to deal with stairs, as well as the command for getting out of the bath (coming to the edge by the plug and looking up for his blue towel to be handed to him).

If you want to train your dragon to do simple things, find something they really, really like. I've been lucky - not only is Tsam smart and likes to acheive things, he also loves waxworms.

When he's made a particularly impressive jump to something, or ascended/descended the stairs, he'll bob little bobs - "Hey, look, I did it! How cool am I?!"

 

[beardieguy83]

Now this is a cool topic, I didnt know that BD are that smart. Imma try and teach my BD some cool stuff. How would I do that? My Bd is 2 months should I wait a while since its still so young? At what age can i start to try?

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

2 months is a bit young I'd say, at that age you're just wanting to be learning trust and handling - you don't want him/her suddenly vanishing under a sideboard.

We started with Tsam when he was about 6 months and calm enough to pick up and sit down. The slope is a relatively new invention, first attempted at 8 months and now a professional show-off! We had visitors tonight, and after ascertaining my female was not in the vicinity, he was perfectly happy to show how clever he was and run back into his tank on his command - front paws on his slope.

Steps we'd figured out very quickly, you just need to show your dragon there's another "floor" in easy reach (hands and head on upper step, rest down side/on lower step) and watch em go! Treats after a good accomplishment help ingrain the concept.

Kyle knows that her door can open on both sides, but will only be open on the right when she's out and about.

They both know about their little heated hut in the livingroom and after several trial runs and practises, Tsam can make a beeline for it when he's tired. Not bad being as it was their Christmas present! Kyle's still not quite sussed out the doorway, but she doesn't tend to go that end of the room so much.

*beams* And I'm proud to say, both of them will happily shoulder-ride ANYWHERE! (Although they do tend to bob around the back of my head at each other...)

I kinda ran out of useful skills to teach them, so ideas would be handy!

 

[Nappy]

Has anyone's Beardie ever wagged their tail like a dog?? Napoleon did once, to my boyfriend. We had just moved Nappy from my mom's house to my boyfriend's house and they bonded instantly (never met before). At one point my boyfriend left the room to go to the bathroom. Nappy looked around for him, sort of confused, then as soon as he heard a door open his tail went in the air and started waving perfusely and he got very alert. It may have been the cutest thing i'e EVER seen

 

[beaniesbabie]

Ayame has never done that but it sounds simply adorable!!! She will give me "puppy dog" eyes if i go by her viv without picking her up, everyone says shes spaoiled i say shes well loved..lol!