Danger from jumping?

[KendraA]

I just got my beardie last week. He's four months old and about 10" long. Sometimes he jumps off his basking platform, which is about 5.5" above the floor of his tank. He has a ramp and several lower platforms set up like stairs, which he usually uses to get up and down, but sometimes he just plops off the edge. Could he hurt himself doing this? Occasionally, when I'm sitting on the floor holding him, he'll get excited about something and jump out of my hands onto the carpet before I can stop him, maybe falling 8". Could he be injured by these jumps/falls?

 

[CooperDragon]

They do love to jump and have no depth perception so you need to keep an eye out for them. Just try to keep areas clear and he should be OK. Look out for the bunch up motion they do before jumping and try to get a hand out. I wouldn't worry much about inside the tank.

 

[KendraA]

Glad jumping inside the tank isn't a danger. I'll have to learn to catch those jump indicators. I'm pretty sure he thinks he can fly!

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah they definitely think they can fly and have no fear. We just have to protect them from themselves sometimes =).

 

[jarich]

Why would you think they have no depth perception?

They are semi arboreal lizards, and are often found in trees, on top of fence posts and even telephone poles. While the possibility is there for them to be injured from a high fall, Id guess they are more aware than we are of their abilities to jump from height.

 

[CooperDragon]

I say they have no (meaning limited) depth perception for a couple of reasons. Their eyes are on the sides of their heads, and from my observation they run into things a lot. Both of my dragons have issues with running head first into furniture and walls etc. It just seems like they have a hard time judging the distance to objects around the house. Dundee also has issues with ledges. He doesn't seem to notice that he has reached the edge of something (couch, table, etc) and just walks right off the end of it.

 

[Whaffles]

my baby beardie will jump off my shoulder (im 6 foot) on to the floor and hes only about 8 inches i get scared to i dont put him on my shoulder anymore, he likes jumping off of anything he thinks he has wings

 

[Esther19]

I would agree with them knowing their abilities to jump, but would argue that they are unaware of the potential danger a great majority of the time. On the forum we have seen many injuries from jumping, which I believe can be attributed to, as Cooper said, limited depth perception.