Beardies see us as enemies?! WHAT?!

[KayJay93]

Right, yesterday i was looking up out of curiosity the prey and predators of bearded dragons, and came across this statement on google books, it made me pretty angry/annoyed to say the least:

Freeze or Fight
'Beardies also show an unsual reluctance to move, even when directly threatened by a predator. This works to their advantage, as movement tips off predators as to their exact location and negates the effectiveness of their camouflage.(This is the bit) This laid-back nature is one of their more endearing traits as captive pets. They can be approached, picked up, and kept perched on a human hand or arm for prolonged periods and they hardly flinch. It is not exactly fair, therefore, to characterize beardies as tame or especially calm. (WHAT!?) It's just their standard behaviour; this behaviour is the same behaviour they would adopt if they were confronted by an enemy, and anything larger than they are (and that includes people) is apt to trigger this reaction.'

Excuse me?!
I'm sorry but that article is obviously written by someone who has never experienced having a beardie as a pet.

It's horrible for someone to say the only reason beardies are tame with us is because they see us as their enemies :shock:

I can think of a dozen reasons why this isnt true, can you?

For a start, i doubt my alfie would run around all over me, lick me when i touch him and snuggle into me to sleep if he really didnt like me.
I've seen Alfie when he's scared... and he bolts under his bark and doesnt want anyone near him... Not stand still.

Eurrrghhh this has really angered me
Anyone wanna contribute to this?
I'm pretty sure most of you guys will feel as strongly towards this as i do :x

Thanks! Should at least make me feel better

Btw if anyone wants to read more or whatever, its:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jv8Qg_bnbQQC&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=bearded+dragon+predators&source=bl&ots=tuVmIaDMHS&sig=Tx2cfXQ-r48s4oyvaxU3fgeY_-0&hl=en&ei=01kmStHKPNGY_Qak1KXXBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9

 

[Venom508]

I agree with both statements. the first is true cuz when we first get a beardie they dont move around a great deal. to do the camouflage thing. cuz naturally they will be scared being taken away from their clutch mates to be moved into a force field, hard air type thing (a tank) with big ugly things looking at them (people).

I also agree with you beacause when beardies get over this stage and realize we are not a predator they calm down and start to show personalities and then realize that we are at their disposal so to speak..

but this bit i dont agree with

"This laid-back nature is one of their more endearing traits as captive pets. They can be approached, picked up, and kept perched on a human hand or arm for prolonged periods and they hardly flinch. It is not exactly fair, therefore, to characterize beardies as tame or especially calm."

but the rest is fine i think

 

[KayJay93]

I do agree with you when beardies are babies, but not throughout their whole lives. Beardies calm down, they learn we're not going to harm them, and i do believe they are calm and tame in nature once they trust us.
And yeh, that was the part that got me most... The other part is fact, but that bit's an opinion tried to be portrayed as a fact and i dont think its right.

 

[Venom508]

sorry dont mean to change the subject but i just saw a car ad for toyota on tv and it had a massive beardie in it...it wasnt really bigger than the car but it was still a beardie :love5: :love5:

sorry continue..

 

[KayJay93]

The HSBC advert also has a gorgeous beardie in it, but yeh, back to the subject haha

 

[haleygirl272]

I wanna see the ad!

Okay, I totally disagree. When my baby is scared, he RUNS. :lol:

 

[iwoodtoo]

It was just the author's opinion is all, does not make it true.

 

[sara24354]

Non sense on seeing us as enemies!!! If my dragon sees us as enemies and is scared of us I want to see what she does when she's really scared!!!!! My Alf snuggles with all of us,literally snuggled up to our necks if frightened by noises or to sleep.When she is scared,she tries to run or snuggle up to one of us.