Beardie wants to run, afraid of me? Or somthing else?

[cdlnn]

We have had our beardie a month, I try to handle him everyday, I have started trying to make sure I hold him for a while each day. I feed him in a seperate container, so I pick him up each day (when moving him) hold him for a bit, and pet him several times a day at the very least. I try to hold him so he cannot run off, because we have dogs and not sure what would happen if they suddenly saw him on the floor. Sometimes he will sit there calmly, (a couple of times he has fallen asleep) but other times he will squirm and try to get away. So, I thought, well maybe he just does not want to be held in a restrictive way like that, so I decided to hold him loosely in a towel, when the dogs were outside. And, he sat with me a while, the he took off! He made it across the entire back of the sectional, across an end table and across the top of the dog cage before I caught him, It scared me, because if the dogs were in their cage, well, he almost fell in! They could have had him, and I was thinking he would be safe with them in the cage. It also just scared me because now I know how fast he is and worry he can run away and I might lose him.

Sometimes he lets me pick him right up and then other times he races away from me.

Basically I am wondering if this is normal, if he will calm down more, get more used to me. If a beardie is calm and easy going, and likes people, did they start out that way or do they get more that way with time and from being held, etc?

 

[jharris08]

hey first of all you do need to be careful with the dogs in the house when you have the dragon out...he could be feeling threatened if he sees them....but also it is normal for some dragons to be on alert and to feel threatened when you get them out of their enclosures into a bigger more open space....just approach the dragon slowly and low to the ground if you can...that might help a bit

 

[cdlnn]

Oh don't worry about the dogs. I am actually overly cautious. Maybe I did not explain it well. I only take him out when they are locked in their cage or they are outside. And I don't ever take him near them, except if I happen to be moving him from his tank to his smaller feedkng tank and my dog happens to be standing near by. But I try to not even let them see eachother and I keep a firm hold on him then.

 

[Jamiedog]

They can be unexpectedly hyperactive little buggers, can't they? I thought Wave had finally outgrown suddenly running, but yesterday, she decided it was time to repeatedly try to fly - she was jumping off my shoulder to the back of the couch, sliding down the cushion, running back up my back, and doing it again. Crazy reptile. :roll:

Anyway... I usually (not yesterday, clearly! :lol: ) still go into the bathroom to let Wave have her run-around time. She generally hangs out on me, but sometimes she wants to explore. With the door closed (and the space at the bottom blocked with a bathmat), she's got some space to exercise, but it's safe, and secure, and dog-free (we have a dog with a high prey-drive, so I have the same worries you do). Is there any place in your house where you could take him to work off his energy, and spend some time with you, where it won't matter if he wants to do some running and exploring? It's worked really well for us!

 

[Valerie]

I've have done the bathroom thing the same way but Sizzle runs towards the door and scratches to get out, like glass dancing. So I am guessing she does not like running around the bathroom?

Sorry, I did not mean to hijack this post.
Valerie