Biting!!!

[clearlyjoyful]

I have had Luna for about 7 months. She was born on Christmas day, so she's about 8 months old now. She's always been very stand-off-ish and doesn't like to be touched or held. I was persisting and trying to get her used to it, until one day she bit my finger! I had never been bitten by a beardie before because my previous beardie never bit a single person in his entire life...

Since then, I've been afraid of her. I want to get her accustomed to being held and touched, but I'm scared to get bit again! I know that if I do, I will likely pull my hand away and she will go FLYING! Last time, she bit me and I didn't realize what had happened and I pulled my hand out of the tank to get her feeding tub and she was on my finger and she clung to my shirt, then fell to the floor. She's probably scared of that happening again... but the problem is, I'm too afraid to pick her up and show her it won't happen again!

So she just goes to bite everytime I put my hand near her now. I don't know what to do! Help? Suggestions? Comments? Anything!

 

[CooperDragon]

Continue to be calm around her. I wouldn't show fear of her attacks but also try not to provoke them. Try approaching her in the evening when she's more tired and less likely to feel aggressive. I've also had some luck always having some veges or a worm in my hand when that happens so when the mouth opens to bite, in goes some food. It tends to confuse them enough to calm their mood.

 

[kingofnobbys]

You could try turning the bitey behaviour to your advantage - pop a food treat (a nice tasty cricket or worm or bit of favorate fruit or veg or green stuff) in the mouth every time and see what happens - I'm betting he'll start being much agreeable to your intrusions before long , associating nice things with it.

He might even decide he likes you.

 

[clearlyjoyful]

Continue to be calm around her. I wouldn't show fear of her attacks but also try not to provoke them. Try approaching her in the evening when she's more tired and less likely to feel aggressive. I've also had some luck always having some veges or a worm in my hand when that happens so when the mouth opens to bite, in goes some food. It tends to confuse them enough to calm their mood.

I have been trying this for sure. She doesn't seem to calm in the evening despite having had the same light schedule for forever. She usually glass-dances before going to bed when her lights go off. I have been working on hand-feeding her more often. To remove her from her tank, I've pretty much been forced to use her feeding tub and put a worm in it to coax her into the tub, then release her where I want to let her explore. But today, she let me put her back by holding her so that's a giant leap forward for us! Lol. She's such a feisty dragon, it's insane! She's not really aggressive, just food-crazy!! She thinks my finger tips are food!!! Lol. But I'm happy with today's progress for sure! Thanks for the tips!

 

[clearlyjoyful]

You could try turning the bitey behaviour to your advantage - pop a food treat (a nice tasty cricket or worm or bit of favorate fruit or veg or green stuff) in the mouth every time and see what happens - I'm betting he'll start being much agreeable to your intrusions before long , associating nice things with it.

He might even decide he likes you.

This is definitely what I've been doing. I don't know if it's been helping per se, but today I actually got to put her back in her tank using my hands rather than coaxing her into her feeding tub with a worm and then tipping the tub over and letting her climb into her tank herself. So I feel that's a big step forward. I'm just being persistent with her. She is only 8 months and I am expecting her to act more like my previous dragon who... was a lot more calm and placid from the get-go. I am pleased with our progress so far