DizardWizardLizard":26v6ovol said:Some very good replies so far, thank you all so much! You've really got the cogs turning in my head and given me a lot of material for my project, including the concept of 'love' itself and the different types of love and forms it comes in. I agree that 'love' is not the same to a bearded dragon as it is to a dog. Another interesting point I bring up in my assignment relates to the theory of attachment.
The evolutionary theory is that animals have an inbuilt instinctive drive to attach and bond with a caregiver (usually their mother) for survival reasons, as they depend on them for food, warmth and protection. Beardies however are independent from the moment their eggs are covered up and left by mum, so speaking from an evolutionary point of view, the need to form an attachment would not exist, as they can look after themselves, so naturally they do not need to rely on another.
<<< note that bearded dragons lay eggs (and bury them) then leave the eggs never to return, when he hatchlings emerge they have to fend for and defend themselves from the get go, if mom dragon encounters her hatchlings she is very likely to regard them as a tasty meal.
<<< been my observation with bluetongue skinks, eastern water dragons and bearded dragons that they very much show "affection" towards their human carers/keepers. They endulge in behaviours with their humans that you will seen wild cousins do.
However, domesticating beardies has created a dependence on another. Domestic beardies cannot go and find food whenever they want it, cannot leave their vivs whenever they desire, and associate a human carer with these things, so would that alter their natural dependency and cause them to attach to a carer, seeing as they are cared for and nurtured from the day they hatch, when in the wild they would not be?
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