Biting dragon

[draco970]

Hi, I am new to this. I acquired my bearded dragon ivy from a friend and I have had her about 5 months now. She has recently picked up a habit of associating my hand as food. It appears to be she is treating my hand the same way as her food. This is making it hard to handle her. She does not hiss or puff her beard. I am looking for advice on how to handle this misbehavior. She is not fed by hand anymore due to the biting.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Behavior

 

[Beardienatic]

Hi!
You can try feeding her with tongs, or wearing a glove when feeding - so she associates the glove with food, and then if she bites it doesn't hurt as much. I think also just pick her up with a towel (or glove, preferably a different colour to your feeding glove), and handle her - at first just for 5 mins, then slowly increase to whatever you and your baby are comfortable with. Some bearded dragons really like water, so you could try giving her a bath.
Let us know how everything goes!

 

[Lockhart]

Try making a fist before actually making contact with her so that she knows that you're not food. Even if she attempts to bite your fist will be too big for her to do anything and she will learn the hard way. If you do this often she may become used to it.