Happy waving or not?

[BuddyDow]

Evening all,

My 6 week old beardy, Buddy, seems to be waving a lot. I think he has found his "place" on the cage covering a heat bulb in the viv, and only really appears to wave on his.

I have read that this means he is showing he is submissive, but could this mean anything else? I would like to think he was happy!

Ta muchly,

Laura

 

[Ethelia]

Hello there,
I havent come across any other reason other than submission.
Dont worry, waving doesnt mean your dragon is unhappy or unhealthy, he is just establishing himself in the order of things at your home.
When you approach your dragon make sure not to do so from the top or the side. This is predatory behaviour.
Always lower your hand infront of your dragon for a few seconds and then slide it in from underneath.

Holly

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hi Laura,

As far as I know it is just submission. You mentioned he is hanging out on the light fixture(if I'm understanding that correctly). Could he be seeing his reflection by any chance? If so, it could be that "other dragon" he's waving to.

I hate to ask you this, but is there anyway he can touch his basking bulb? I would just hate for the little guy to get burned.

Dawn

 

[BuddyDow]

Hey,

I would like to think he wouldnt be silly enough to! The only way he would be able to is if he jumped over to it, which i dont think he would do.

He really is such a cutie pie, but he is the cause of so much paranoia! Every little thing he does has me wondering if he is ok.

He might be seeing his reflection, but most of his waving goes on when he is sitting on this slanted cage thing that covers a heat bulb. He waves at all angles, but usually when his head is pointing upwards, so i dont think he can see a reflection then? I would like to hope he is waving because he is a happy little dragon!

 

[dolcedragon]

Actually some researchers believe that arm waving can mean two things: being submissive to another dragon to establish a place in the social order (also when a female is giving the OK to a male to mate) and a way of communicating "hello". I have seen beardies do this when there was no reflection around, but in all cases they were hatchlings or juvies. I think your baby likes you!

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

I agree with Dolce - both my dragons at a young age have waved at us as "family" - and then neither did it again until they met each other. Tsam went on a full on wave fest at about seven weeks, waved for about three hours straight, fell sound asleep and hasn't waved since. He likes headbobbing though!