Please help i feel like my beardie hates me..

[cupcake143]

My new beardie (9 months old) is really skittish and doesnt seem to enjoy being held. Sometimes when i pick him up he kind of lunges at me and has scratched my face before. I had another beardie for 2 years who passed away a month ago, and he was always SO loving and wanted me to hold him and carry him everywhere with me. So when he passed away, i got this beardie, but hes just not the same,
When i take him out of the tank to let him run around, he runs as far away from me as possible, lol, and runs even further when i try to pick him up. Ive tried the burrito thing, used to do it with my other beardie all the time, and he squirms his way out and puffs his beard.
I took him to the vet just in case and had a fecal done, and everything was fine.
Also, when i take him out and let him sit on my bed with me, he climbs back onto the table that his tank is on and just scratches at the glass. why does he do this?
I hate to say it but im almost becoming afraid of him because of his erratic behavior. He sometimes bites too. I dont want to get rid of him, but its upsetting me how unfriendly he is towards me and my family. We really miss our other beardie, and we thought this would fill the "empty spot" but its making it worse...
any advice will be appreciated

 

[Ethelia]

Hello there,
Im sorry for your loss.
I think we have talked before about your dragon when you first got him. Im sorry its taking him so long to adjust, but he will.

Dex, as an adult had never been handled and when we brought her home she scratched me, hissed at me and bit me. She turned into a loving and affectionate wonder. She too always wanted to be with me. She too passed away recently and it broke my heart.
A month ago, and only a month after Dex passing away I rescued a juvie male, and only now has he begun to start tolerating me. He no longer runs from me but he still gets awful stressmarks with me.
Im not concerned, because I know in time it will get better.

I understand the pangs you must get of missing your old beardies behaviour, I get them too, but you must accept that you are now dealing with a new dragon. A new dragon with new needs. He has a different personallity and obviously requires more attention.

At nine months, especially if he's male, they can hit puberty and go a little wild and start behaving very territorially.
This often lasts around a month and then dragons begin to settle again.
All I can offer you is the assurance that with persistance and slow steps it will get better.
Make sure you have something in his viv which smell like you. This will help break up the feeling of "his space" and "your space".

Holly

 

[cupcake143]

Hi, i think we did talk before, im sorry for your loss too when i first got him i thought he was beginning to adjust, but then he took a turn for the worst and started being like this. I have a piece of one of my old blankets in his tank that he sleeps on.
I will be patient with him and i just hope he will love me and my family like my other beardie did...who i miss very much...hes just acting so hostile a few minutes ago he threw a little fit and started ripping apart his papertowels, tipped over his water bowl, and started hissing for no reason...maybe it is puberty...im just afraid of picking him up ever since he lunged at my face the other day..