I really got the meanest one ever???

[reptilegyrl]

Hi all!

I have a HUGE problem with my bearded dragon's behavior. (I brought her for a visit to the reptile store that I bought her from and the owner said she was the "meanest one he's ever seen" and he's "never seen a beardie act anything like this)...She literally flew out of the box and bit him 4 times. When I had told him how mean she was he said it was just because of her age, but now he says she is just plain nasty. great...did I get the meanest dragon in the world? Is there any way to tame her?! :evil:
I need some serious help! Is it her diet? her age? her environment? am I doing something wrong or is she just plain nasty for life?
Let me give some background. My husband got my dear Cupid for me for Valentines Day this year. I had been wanting one for so long! Here is a pic of her when I first got her. Sweet little thing. Loved to be held and cuddled and pet. (sorry pics are so big i dont know how to make smaller)

She started out eating tiny crickets. She is in a 30 gallon with two branches, a small food dish, and a water dish. she has a heat lamp on one side that keeps it about 99-103 on that side. Then a UVB lamp 3/4 of the way across the tank. the substrate is rabbit pellets. Her house is on the 3rd shelf of a large "reptile tower" (large shelving in our diningroom). on the other shelves are snakes. (could this bother her maybe??? :?: :?: :!: She has grown quickly and has enjoyed eating larger crickets (with vitamin supplement), meal worms, wax worms, "reptiworms" (black soldier fly larvae), red grapes, plums, lettuce, and just recently fat "Goliath worms" (tomato horn worms - recommended by reptile shop for more protein). (mostly all protein not much veggies or fruit for her). I usually dump the crickets in for her to chase. I feed the worms with rubber tipped tongs. And I put fruits and veggies in food bowl. As she has gotten older (Im thinking she is about 9 months old now?) she has gotten more and more aggressive. Here is what she looks like now.

every pic of her looks like this...or similar. mouth open, puffed up/flattened out. she is permanently angry at the world!
I swear she hates me...she hates humans in general. I walk by her tank and she puffs out her beard and opens her mouth. As soon as I take off the lid of her tank she takes flying leaps at me with her mouth open trying to bite me. I have to wear gloves to hold her. And while im holding her I have to HOLD her I cant just let her crawl on me or rest on me or she will munch me to pieces and run like heck! I have read that it is better to try to avoid picking them up from above...but honestly I get attacked as soon as I open the lid and get bit repeatedly through my gloves. The only way I can every hold her is to just chase her around the cage with my gloved hands while getting bitten repeatedly until I can grab her. This makes me sad because I dont want to scare her or hurt her. And Im tired of having sore hands!!! I tried the whole "scoop her up" thing. she leaped and bit.
This is what it looks like when I hold her. This is NOT what I had pictured when i bought her! I am hoping she will calm down so we can cuddle like I do with the ones at the pet store!

Well, this is really my first real post and quite a long winded one too! sorry for that and I thank you all for reading. Any advice would be so greatly appreciated!

 

[Kate221]

Bless her heart,...and yours. lol.

I would try holding her at night, when she's sleepy and is too tired to fight you. That glove is pretty scary, i'd probably run from it too to be honest..I don't think it's because she's just "mean",...she is probably afraid or doesn't feel well. I would try getting her out every night...just have a lamp on with the lights turned down, wrap her in a towel or blanket if you have to,...to avoid getting bit, but usually at night they're much calmer. She should settle down and you can rub her head or whatever she likes.

I would first take the rabbit pellets out....loose substrate can be ingested accidentally and cause impaction. You can use newspaper or papertowels for now. Shelf liner, tile, or repticarpet is best. No more lettuce or Meal worms. Mealworms are hard to digest because of their hard chitin shell and lettuce can mess their tummies up pretty badly depending on the type....This is a list of things that are good and bad for them to eat...it's an over all great website!!
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

I don't really understand your set up but if she can see the snakes you have, I would block them from view, just in case that's bugging her.

Hope something here helps you...I'm pretty new to this too, but i've learned a LOT from the people on this website!! They're all great and very willing to help!!

 

[Beardednoob]

Behavior topics such as this one has been becoming more and more common lately..
I would replace her substrate as soon as possible to something more safe such as natural stone tile, reptile carpet, non adhesive shelf liner...
How old is her UV source?

I really wish I could go and meet the dragons who are having behavior dilemmas but, I do not think that is an option unless you are located near me.

 

[reptilegyrl]

Thanks so much for the advice about the rabbit pellets. I have noticed her eating some while catching a cricket or so. I did not know this would be bad for her because that is what the reptile store we got her from uses and what they sold to us to use. We will change that as soon as possible!!
wow! they eat more stuff than I thought! looking at that chart I really thought I had a list in the book I have about beardies and the paper that the store gave me but wow! Thank you so much! I will take a good look at that info.
Ya that glove is scary. lol so is she! unfortunately she is scared of me and i am scared of her... not a good combo! I had to start using the glove a few weeks ago. Got tired of getting attacked without protection! I am mega jealous of all the pictures and stories on here of all the cute beardies cuddling and stuff. she is half asleep under her heat lamp right now. if i open the lid she will stand up and puff out her beard and bear her teeth...i think she is possessed! doesnt she know i just wanna cuddle?!
we just got her a new heat bulb and it is time for a new uv bulb as well my husband said we have had it 6 months and 2 weeks (i wonder if he marked it on the calendar lol)

 

[reptilegyrl]

I forgot to mention. Our reptile set up is shelving. two small tanks on top with baby snakes. We have taken out the second shelf so Cupid the beardie has the 3rd shelf with the extra space above. then two more shelves below with larger snakes. She can not see them. But can she maybe smell them??

 

[reptilegyrl]

I really wish I could go and meet the dragons who are having behavior dilemmas but, I do not think that is an option unless you are located near me.

Wish I had someone who could come counsel us. Like a bearded dragon Dr Phil or something! lol but unfortunately we dont live near you. We live in California

 

[Kate221]

LOL!! Get the glove on and try to pick her up without going OVER her head,...try going under the belly. When they act like that, I try not to give in to them....obviously she doesn't want u to be near her and u surely don't want her to think that if she bites you she will get her way, you don't want to scar her for life either though!! lol. It's tough. Try putting her on ur chest and covering her up, let her get comfy and try not to be too afraid, she's just a baby. The worst she can do is bite...and you're going to be wearing your glove so you'll be fine!!

 

[reptilegyrl]

Ok kate Im gonna try it. but just to be honest by now i think she knows she CAN get her way! lmbo! so tonight i will try to cuddle her... and will probably lose a finger... but i luv her! so time will tell...

 

[Kate221]

Keep trying, it takes more than once....It's a process. You can try feeding her when you get her out during the day if you want..atleast maybe that would be positive? When she takes me out= I get food?! lol Trying to help!!

 

[Beardednoob]

Ok kate Im gonna try it. but just to be honest by now i think she knows she CAN get her way! lmbo! so tonight i will try to cuddle her... and will probably lose a finger... but i luv her! so time will tell...

Don't feeder her your finger! LOL JK
I have made a thread to start getting information on unwanted dragon behavior, by the end of the thread I hope to get answers on this sort of topic. Please go have a look at it. Post on it, the more postings on one thread might help develop an idea as to why some dragons want to maim their owners. :wink:

It is in the behavior section, I don't want to post a link here as I do not want to ninja your thread.

 

[reptilegyrl]

I will def keep trying! I wanted a bearded dragon for so long and what is the point of having a pet you cant pet??
But, um. Im wondering when she gets bigger and she has bigger teeth i dont think the gloves are gonna save me. I think she will eat me alive. Im hoping to tame her cuz Im stubborn and wont take her back to the pet store... Ill just keep getting attacked.
She doesnt care if its my finger...or my nose... or my ear...shes not picky she just wants fresh blood! :mrgreen:
I just hope she is not as stubborn as i am. or this is going to be a long love hate relationship.
just think. two years ago I thought reptiles were "icky" i hated bugs and worms and mice.
now i cuddle with snakes, frequently do housecleaning with my snake fluffy wrapped around my neck. i have worms and crickets in my fridge and diningroom, mice in my freezer... and 4 snakes and a bearded dragon in my diningroom. (and i am the only person brave enough to even take the lid of Cupid's tank) :headbang:

ill check out ur thread thanks beardednoob! I really need help with this naughty girl!

 

[reptilegyrl]

Im so frustrated She was all calm basking in her heat lamp lights all dim and I picked her up. Wrapped her loosely in a towel and started to pet her. She flailed around and bit me several times.
You can bet she is wide awake now. Body flattened out. Mouth open wide. Beard dark and puffed up.
*sigh* I guess we will try again tomorrow night.

 

[Gail]

Wow, she is pretty dang nasty. I though mine was bad but she doesn't leap to try and bite. Its rare to find a truly mean dragon but it does happen and its very possible that your will always be like this. There are a few things I would try though, see if you can maybe get her to at least mellow out on the attacking.

1. Move her away from the snakes, just in case that is what is freaking her out. Sometimes a dragon will act badly around other pets. I'd also make sure you don't hold a snake before you hold her, you don't want to smell like snake.
2. If possible get a cage that opens from the front. Getting into a cage from the top could be causing a fight or flight reaction.
3. Do away with the huge leather gloves. Instead use a thin pair of soft leather ones or even a pair of cloth garden gloves.
4. Handle everyday and never put her away until she settles down.
5. Start exercising her. Dragon proof a small room so she can run around, sit in there with her so she can see you aren't going to eat her. Another option is letting her run in the bathtub. This is where my dragon and I have a lot of interaction.
6. make sure there is nothing vibrating her cage or any kind of low constant noise that could be irritating.

How old was she when she first started getting mean? How did you react? Have you stopped handling her for extended amounts of time?

 

[reptilegyrl]

THank you so much for your advice!! very much appreciated!
Good Idea about the gloves! my husband and i were just discussing yesterday how big and nasty those gloves we grabbed out of the garage are! lol. we gotta buy some new different ones just for her!
She started being nasty about a month or so after we got her. she would climb up my arm when i put my hand in as a baby. but more and more when I put my hand in she would get angrier and angrier! sometimes she would crawl up to me and sometimes she would thrash around and puff out her beard. and soon i could not even walk by the glass without her being mad at me! I do admit there were several months when I made attempt after attempt to pick her up, but did not hold her because I got pricked by teeth and didnt want to get bitten full on. So i kept giving up. I dont really know what kind of damage she could do if she got a hold of one of my fingers really good without a glove on!
We also do have carpet covering wooden floors and we walk by her constantly. maybe this could be annoying her? I also see from reading a lot in the forums here that her tank is not exactly set up correctly i dont think. Maybe she will be happier if we change her diet, substrate, house, and location.
I had no idea i was supposed to bathe her. I could try this and see if she likes it. Are they usually calmed by water?

 

[Gail]

Sounds like some of her attitude may be from getting her way for so long. If you are persistent now, you should be able to get her to calm down some. She might not ever be cuddly but I would count it as a win if she stops biting.
A adult can break skin but generally a bite isn't too bad. I had a adult male get me once, left a bunch of little puncture wounds, hurt but bled very little. A really ticked off dragon could do more damage if they decided to shake their head after they latched on, gloves is a good idea for now.

Moving her a quieter location may help but don't put her some where isolated. If she gets used to sitting in a room alone, then the presence of a person could get her really worked up.

Baths generally don't calm then down, few dragons like to be bathed and most will be resistant. It is good for them though and the tub is a safe place. The only time my dragon Pig will happily run into my hands is when she has had enough. It also help to tire her out so she doesn't fight me as much.

Good to hear you are changing her caging around. I don't know if it will help the attitude but it will help her well being. Since you need a new UVB, make sure to get a reptiSUN 10.0 long tube http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent-bulbs/11442-504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10-0-uvb-bulb.html