My Chili Boy!

[Charlie97]

Getting darker red as he gets older! Just passed 3 months and finished his first shed since I brought him home

(The worm containers under his enclosure are all empty and just need to be thrown out)

 

[xp29]

He is very gorgeous.

 

[IAmAMirage]

Adorable!!! Love the wings!

 

[Chris.]

The wings look adorable on him. And yes, he is crazy red, love it!

 

[ChileanTaco]

Such a pretty dragon Chili is a great name for such a red dragon.

I see you already started leash-training. How is he accepting it?
(My harnish-and-leash set also comes with attachable wings. Funny for a photo.)

 

[Lyrebird.Rainwing]

That's a Charizard if I've ever seen one

 

[Charlie97]

Such a pretty dragon Chili is a great name for such a red dragon.

I see you already started leash-training. How is he accepting it?
(My harnish-and-leash set also comes with attachable wings. Funny for a photo.)

He slipped out of it a few minutes after taking those, still a little too small

 

[ChileanTaco]

Was the same with my Taco. He'll grow into it, literally
But I also tried it early to just make him familiar with it. Just put it on his back without closing it, and then after a while I closed the harness. Was still too big, it literally fell of from his body but now it fits.

 

[IAmAMirage]

How would you all reccomend training an older dragon with the harness? My boy is around 5 (we think). I'd love to be able to take him outside, but don't know if that is something I'm able to do since his previous owner never exposed him to a harness or being outside as a baby.

 

[ChileanTaco]

What I did was just "gradually introducing it", as also recommended for other animals:
(Step 0: I made my dragon comfortable with being touched everywhere I would have to touch him when putting a harness on, and where the harness would be. So, dragon has no problem with touching his back, reaching under his belly and such.)
Step 1: I put the harness next to him and I touch it, play with it.
Step 2: I touch him with the harness.
Step 3: Harness is just put on his back (not wrapped around, not closed, it just lies there).
Step 4: Harness is put on, leash attached.
Each step only when he's absolutely relaxed with the previous one.
There are various kinds of harnesses; I have the one from Nectarlee that has a faux leather thing on the back and straps going around the belly. This way I don't have to pull it over my dragon's head.

 

[Chris.]

What I did was just "gradually introducing it", as also recommended for other animals:
(Step 0: I made my dragon comfortable with being touched everywhere I would have to touch him when putting a harness on, and where the harness would be. So, dragon has no problem with touching his back, reaching under his belly and such.)
Step 1: I put the harness next to him and I touch it, play with it.
Step 2: I touch him with the harness.
Step 3: Harness is just put on his back (not wrapped around, not closed, it just lies there).
Step 4: Harness is put on, leash attached.
Each step only when he's absolutely relaxed with the previous one.
There are various kinds of harnesses; I have the one from Nectarlee that has a faux leather thing on the back and straps going around the belly. This way I don't have to pull it over my dragon's head.

Also in addition to this you obviously want to make sure he feels safe in a closed room (and with the harness on) before taking him outside.
He probably won't like going outside at first and you don't want him to connect the harness with a negative experience.

 

[ChileanTaco]

Absolutely! Generally, I followed the rules for leash-training a dog where one also starts with the harness indoors. First for the reason you mentioned, and then for the reason of making sure it really holds securely. Getting a harness securely around the typical beardie body shape (widest part is in the middle, can flatten or puff up, short strong legs...) IMHO is always a bit more cumbersome than with a typical mammal's body shape.

What also helped: For putting on the harness, let the dragon sit on a flat, hard surface where the claws can't dig in. I simply put him on a table (or his branch he has now in the room), so I can lift his legs easily when putting on the harness. Having him sitting on fabric, i.e. on me on my clothes, it's much more difficult.

 

[IAmAMirage]

Thank you guys for your feedback! So far I've taken him outside twice, and he did well. We brought out some of his rocks and hides and put a baby play pen around him. He seemed to like it, even though he was only out there for about 5 minutes each time.