Hissing Beardie

[Balerion]

I have a baby bearded dragon and all it does is hiss. When you try to pet him, he'll immediatly turn his head to bite you. He does not give a warning,he'll immediately snap or hiss. He does not bob his head or anything, it's just like he hates people. Does anyone know how to get around this or is it just temporily?

 

[MsCarter]

Sounds like this little guy needs time and patience. I'm assuming your set up is correct? 105-110 basking area, reptisun 10.0 UVB and all of that good stuff?

As long as your set up is good than you just need to work on building trust with him. Move slow! Right now it sounds like he sees you as a threat so picking him up right away is probably not a good idea. Make sure there is minor traffic around his tank through out the day so he can relax and get to know his Viv (no other animals/people gazing at him too frequently). During feeding time (as well as a few minutes throughout the day) talk to him to help him get to know your voice. When you give him his food allow him to see your hand placing it in his Viv so he will associate you with food. And at night you can actually put a tee shirt of yours in his tank as long as it has no perfume or chemicals on it so he can get to know your scent.
Once he is relaxed with you talking to him and feeding him, begin placing your hand in his enclosure for him to see it. Do not remove your hand until he is completely relaxed. Eventually after doing this for a few days work your way up to rubbing his head. Do that for a Few days and than begin holding him in his Viv for about 5min. Do that until you feel he is relaxed enough to be taken out and handled.

It's a process I know, but as long as you have time and patience you can help this little guy adjust. Sounds likes he wasn't really handled much before you so it's all new and scary to him.