Do YOU think Beardies Can Love You?

[diablo1988]

oh....jasmine runs like a track star around her cage and actually gets going fast enough to run across the glass walls of her cage.....she also likes to hop around. shes a really spunky wierdo lol she also like to run when i try to pick her up buts shes fine when i catch her.

 

[PumpkinJelly]

aw. that's so cute. Fiz just likes to lay around on his basking rock!

Whenever Fiz finds a dark fold in my blankets, he'll wiggle in and close his little eyes and go to sleep, even if it's in the middle of the day! He's such a little lazy boy!

 

[YukiLokiYamiCleo]

I do not agree with any one person saying any animal is not capable of love..that is ridiculous..truly sad on your part to have been brainwashed scientifically. You may call me what you wish however i feel sorry for your animals that actually do show you love .

 

[Jess]

I do not agree with any one person saying any animal is not capable of love..that is ridiculous..truly sad on your part to have been brainwashed scientifically. You may call me what you wish however i feel sorry for your animals that actually do show you love .

I don't think that anyone said NO animals are capable of love... It is obvious that many of them are. A reptile's ability to love is just questionable and, as you can see, highly debated!

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Like Jess said, nobody said they were not capable of showing love, but just to a degree. Why would you feel sorry for our pets even if we DIDN'T believe they could love us? We still love our beardies more than anything, and no opinion of ours could ever change that. It wouldn't matter if we believed we loved them or not, because like I said, it wouldn't affect the veiw we have on our little critters!

 

[PicosParent]

Yes I believe they can love us. Pico most assuredly shows love toward me and anyone who has seen him interact with me says "what a mama's boy. he sure loves you". He will tolerate others holding or petting him for a few minutes but then he will actually jump from them to come back to me. If I leave the room, he follows me. He wants to snuggle constantly and digs his little claws into my shirt and/or clutches my necklace to avoid being put down, he will literally hang off me. It is very hard to put this spoiled little guy down!
Also, last week he was sleeping cozily nestled against my flannel nightgown and wrapped in my robe....I was reading the beardie memorials on here and started crying because I felt so sad for everyone's loss and know that someday I too will have to face that....Pico woke up, poked his head out and looked at me. He had never seen me cry and must have sensed my sadness. He climbed up and pressed his beard against my cheek and put his two little hands on my face and actually stroked my face several times with one hand. It was so incredibly loving and it made me cry more as I know that since he is 8 years old, I don't have too many more years with him. He snuggled even closer. He has never rested his chin on my face like that before and has not done it since, nor has he stroked my face like that before. He was truly trying to comfort me as I do for him all the time.

 

[beardie parents]

Yes I believe they can love us. Pico most assuredly shows love toward me and anyone who has seen him interact with me says "what a mama's boy. he sure loves you". He will tolerate others holding or petting him for a few minutes but then he will actually jump from them to come back to me. If I leave the room, he follows me. He wants to snuggle constantly and digs his little claws into my shirt and/or clutches my necklace to avoid being put down, he will literally hang off me. It is very hard to put this spoiled little guy down!
Also, last week he was sleeping cozily nestled against my flannel nightgown and wrapped in my robe....I was reading the beardie memorials on here and started crying because I felt so sad for everyone's loss and know that someday I too will have to face that....Pico woke up, poked his head out and looked at me. He had never seen me cry and must have sensed my sadness. He climbed up and pressed his beard against my cheek and put his two little hands on my face and actually stroked my face several times with one hand. It was so incredibly loving and it made me cry more as I know that since he is 8 years old, I don't have too many more years with him. He snuggled even closer. He has never rested his chin on my face like that before and has not done it since, nor has he stroked my face like that before. He was truly trying to comfort me as I do for him all the time.

wow, that's wonderful! I believe they do that. Goldie Speedy is similar as one time we were out riding our quads and one was un-driveable that day so she stayed with me at the vehicle but after about 1.5 to 2 hours you could see in her eyes the worry that her dad wasn't back yet. She was clearly worried. If you know beardies, you can tell what they are thinking most times.

 

[SunShine]

2 Things to debate.

1-Evolution

All things adapt based on their environment, even if they are small changes. I think that wild beardies do not feel love, but a captive one, if raised in a home around love, then that part of their brain may develop, even if slightly, and allow them to feel it.
All things adapt, it's how everything survives.

and

2-Love

First off, there are different types of love. For that of a family member, that of a friend, a lover, your soul mate, and some things you love and have no idea why. Like yoga or chocolate you know?
Let me ask you all this, a reptile or not, if someone cared for you everyday, cleaned your poop, fed you, comforted you and just spent time with you. Would you not grow to love them? Is that not how babies learn to love? They may have the brain to start with, but nothing is born knowing such things, they need to be taught.

I think IF a beardie is raised with love and shown how to love, that they can know that emotion.
But if they a raised to not know love just a contentment or like, then thats all they will ever know.

Also, a young mind develops quickest, so the younger they start learning, the better.

I think it comes down to what your definition of love is, and him loving me for caring about him is enough for me. I will teach him to be a sweet dragon though, and he will grow up as such =)

Let me know what you guys think on this =)

(p.s. I also might be biased on the native blood in my veins)

 

[PicosParent]

Beardie Parent I love your story about your Goldie Speedy. What a sweetie!! Also I truly enjoyed the pictures on your link SunShine I agree with your idea of them adapting to and returning love. But I do believe an old dog or old beardie in this case, can learn love. I have only had Pico a couple months and he is 8 years old but you would think I had had him for years the bond we have. It's weird but I feel like he was supposed to be my dragon.....strange I know but oh so true.
He was on sand and only had a night time heat light and under tank heat mat when I got him, I changed it to reptile carpet and now he has basking, UVB and his night heat. I hand feed him off a spoon and get him out the minute I get home from work until I go to bed and I started Reptaid 4 days ago (great product by the way!!! he is running all over the place and went from 6-30 crickets at a feeding and his orange is brighter than its ever been). I think the changes in the way he is taken care of in his new home made him feel very special and loved and healthier. He gets a bath every other day and tons of snuggle time. These weren't in his life before and he responds back with affection and gets even more love in return

 

[Valerie]

Pico's parent,
What a wonderful story. I cried just reading it. It is posts like yours and some others that prove that Beardies like all othe animals can adapt to thier owner to show emotions.
I know my beardie will leave others to come back to me. When I leave the room she will try to follow me. My voice can calm her when she is stressed and she will hang on to me when I try to return he to her viv. I don't think that is the way emotionless, uncaring pets act.

 

[PicosParent]

You are so right Valerie! Merry Christmas!

 

[aircustom]

Now Im not sure about "loving" a person but I can tell you my Dovah "Loves" to tease the rest of the family. He will run circles around my 2 kids and go in between them just to get a reaction out of them. He will even walk away then run back over to them. He will even run up to the glass and pace up and down it because it drives my dog nuts. He may not love us but he sure loves to tease us

 

[discojan]

Dear PicosParent,

That's an amazing story and it also corroborates a behavior we've seen in our big girl, Electra. She will gently put one hand on our faces as if she is caressing us! It's her way of saying "I love you" (so we like to believe or maybe it is just 'bring me more worms please', either way it's pretty cute. Our other girl Salsa is not as "affectionate" in that way, but she does bob at us to say "take me out" or "I have to poo." They're pretty sweet little creatures.

 

[CaptainVimes]

:?: I rescued 2 beardies from a sad environment.... Snuggles used to dominate Legless (her sister) until I seperated them. While her dominance was very low-key, it still affected Legless immensley. Legless used to act like a statue all day every day when they were together, but now she's the most outgoing beardie in the world! She's totally different now.

Snuggles likes our relationship when it suits her, althought she's more of a daddy's girl. She'll cuddle when she's sleepy but apart from that, is happy to be left alone.... I don"t think she "loves" me as such, but she does enjoy my company...

Legless on the other hand, watches out for me constantly, is more upbeat the second I walk into the room & will lay on my chest watching me for hours on end. She even sleeps with her face on my lips/chin whenever she gets the chance. Her reactions to me are so very different from Snuggles & it truly seems that she does in fact love me very much. There's a certain sparkle in her eye whenever she sees me & everyone says it. I firmly believe that she does love me & that not all beardies (as with humans), are the same.... Some will show you love, others will toterate your company....

While humans are yes, far more intellectually advanced than reptiles, I don't believe we are SO far advanced that we can determine how love is measured by every other creature on this planet. I raised this question with my boyfriend who is in fact - a scientist. Even he now thinks after watching them each day, that they are capable of loving.

Not sure if this has been helpful but I wanted to show you 2 different examples.... And yes, I truly believe beardies are capable of "loving" us if they want too.... I ceratinly feel that Legless loves me with her whole heart :wink:

"Edited": to add that many people may argue that an un-trained cat could not use a human toilet instead of kitty litter, yet as I was typing this post my un-trained cat was peeing in my toilet bowl. Granted, he missed a bit, but for the most part, aimed quite well... http://photobucket.com/Gandolf (photo was taken with a crappy old Nokia phone camera).

with regard to Dexter, I couldn't agree more.

The day I went to pick up the lighting from my friend, she got Dexter and Chester out to show me, Dexter came over to me so I asked if I could pick him up.

He sat on my arm for and hour and three quarters, every word that came out of my mouth, he moved his head from side to side, as if he was genuinely listening. I fell in love with him.

Dexter comes bounding out of his viv when I let him out, but stays put if someone else opens the door for him.

He snuggles up to sleep on me EVERY NIGHT, and when he's out exploring, if he's not sure, he'll run to me.

When he's fed his bugs, if I'm in the room, I have to do it, (I WANT to do it, don't get me wrong) if my Fiancé tries to feed him, and he can see me, he refuses and just looks at me until I go feed him lol

He seems to love being with me, and he gets very excited when he see's me wake up and sit up. (I often have naps throughout the day) I sit him on my Children's laps or shoulders, after a second, he comes charging back to me, he won't settle on anyone else.

he's exactly what I wanted in a pet, he's my ickle scaly puppy dog.

I would like to believe that he loves me, just as much as I adore, love and am besotted with, him.

Don't call me stupid, I'm just I'm love with my ickle scaly puppy dog!

 

[tgolden]

I have had endless debates on this topic with people who's opinion I respect. I'm sure I have made a few foes along the way lol. The fact its dragons don't feel love or reptiles in general but if a person can fill a emotional need by thinking there dragon loves them or they can understand what's its thinking....I say rock on man. Its no worse then believing a little fat guy in a slay brings its all gifts.
Dragons are amazing little critters that I hope will be sparking debates for a long time.