He wont let me hold him!

[raidiowires]

My bearded dragon that I've had for three months and is over five months old is skittish and is scared of me. Is this a sign of aggression? Or of PTSD or something? He has also been running around and tank dancing a lot more than usual. The tank is not too small or anything and I cleaned it recently. I want him to ride on my shoulder out in the sun when he's older but whenever I hold him he runs away from me. :<

 

[Irwinshealth]

I hope you get response. I wish I could help but my Palmer wont let me hold him either and he is 8 months or so. I thought it was teenage attitude but does not seem to be coming out of it. Hang in there. I was told just to continue being patient :wink:

 

[label]

When our female Shayvele was between about 4 and 8 months old she tried to be as terrifying as possible when we'd go to take her out--puff out her beard, gape and generally be as scary as 150 g of lizard could be. We kept at it, as slowly and calmly as possible, distracting her with one hand and picking her up with the other. At about 9 months she began to settle down and now is generally quite happy to be held and cuddled. I wouldn't trust her on my shoulder without a harness, since she likes to jump and if she wound up going splat on the floor she could hurt herself. So don't despair and patiently keep trying. Of course, every lizard is different--we have two baby southern angle-headed dragons and the (probable) female is pretty docile but the (probable) little male tries the "I'm a velociraptor and I'm going to kill you" routine whenever I try to pick him up, which is even funnier in a lizard that's 13 cm from nose to tail-tip.