Puffs up now when we go outside?

[breeyawnah]

I used to take Thor outside when it was really warm and sunny and he'd sit there and bask and when he tried to run I would bring him in my room to run around. Now he just puffs up and hisses at me when I take him outside. I was told thay when your Beardie hisses you're suppose to hold them and not them them squirm because they'll think it's a way to escape from you if you let them have their way. I'm not sure why he suddenly doesn't want to be outside but any suggestions to make it better for him would help.

 

[blue11]

Hi How are you and Thor?

In my experience with my two girls, one I've had from a baby and the other is a rescue, they are both adults now .... But when Blue was a baby or pretty much up to a juvie, there were days when she just didn't want to be out, and she would run. Scared me to death. So i stopped for a while until she got bigger. Sometimes, the smallest things that we just don't notice can spook them in a major way. The wind, a bird in the sky, a noise, anything ... And they will naturally react to that by running or taking a stance and flaring and puffing and even hissing. As a natural defense. Some are great outside, some aren't, some can be great one week and the next week seem to hate it. They keep us wondering eh?

Lex is my rescue, she loves that natural sunlight ... But even with her, sometimes if I approach her from the wrong angle she will flatten out and open that mouth and flare out her beard so big, until she realizes its me.

Blue is not the ideal outside beardie ... But she is an easy dragon. sometimes she seems to enjoy it and other times she is scared and skittish. It's normal, it's a huge open space that they can feel SUPER vulnerable in. It's like a massive terrarium with no safety net or cover from above, and predators that we don't think about.

How old is Thor? Sometimes that can make a difference too. Main thing is you don't want him to run off ... Puffing and hissing can be taken care of, but a runner can hide and that's when people lose a beardie. Scary!

There are lots of variables and possibilities too ... How long was he doing well outside before he started this behavior?

-Em

 

[littleman94]

I live in Florida so I take my beardie outside for the warm sun all the time he usually puffs and opens his mouth when he see's another lizard. he can see pretty far to and they seems to all crowd around when he comes out lol.

 

[breeyawnah]

Hi How are you and Thor?

In my experience with my two girls, one I've had from a baby and the other is a rescue, they are both adults now .... But when Blue was a baby or pretty much up to a juvie, there were days when she just didn't want to be out, and she would run. Scared me to death. So i stopped for a while until she got bigger. Sometimes, the smallest things that we just don't notice can spook them in a major way. The wind, a bird in the sky, a noise, anything ... And they will naturally react to that by running or taking a stance and flaring and puffing and even hissing. As a natural defense. Some are great outside, some aren't, some can be great one week and the next week seem to hate it. They keep us wondering eh?

Lex is my rescue, she loves that natural sunlight ... But even with her, sometimes if I approach her from the wrong angle she will flatten out and open that mouth and flare out her beard so big, until she realizes its me.

Blue is not the ideal outside beardie ... But she is an easy dragon. sometimes she seems to enjoy it and other times she is scared and skittish. It's normal, it's a huge open space that they can feel SUPER vulnerable in. It's like a massive terrarium with no safety net or cover from above, and predators that we don't think about.

How old is Thor? Sometimes that can make a difference too. Main thing is you don't want him to run off ... Puffing and hissing can be taken care of, but a runner can hide and that's when people lose a beardie. Scary!

There are lots of variables and possibilities too ... How long was he doing well outside before he started this behavior?

-Em

Thor is three months old. Hes not a little lizard though, hes about 10 and a half inches. He did well for about a month and a half then just boom he hisses a me! Then once he's inside he's nice and crawls around like it was nothing. He used to be totally fine with birds chirping but I think it might be the wind that freaked him out when I think about it. When he runs it terrifies me he usually never does so I never bothered with a leash.

 

[breeyawnah]

I live in Florida so I take my beardie outside for the warm sun all the time he usually puffs and opens his mouth when he see's another lizard. he can see pretty far to and they seems to all crowd around when he comes out lol.

I live in Oregon so I try to take advantage of the weather when I can and we have NO lizards around here what so ever but there's definitely little finches and crows that could trip my lizard out.

 

[blue11]

It's good that are you getting him used to being outside - at only three months they are still learning the world and Thor is really young, just a baby really, but coming up onto the juvie stage in a few months ... Bet he's a cutie. Even though he is 10 inches, he's still young and fast ... And you're right, it was more than likely a spook.

From the sounds of it, the fact that he is so comfortable and at ease when you bring him in, he's just scared of being outside for a while, or he just ain't feelin it. Try again, little bit at a time, if it still stresses him that much, maybe wait until he's a little older or ease back into it until he is just a little more comfortable with it. Don't force it, although I know that's hard because they can reallllly flourish and benefit from the sun!! And we all want that for our dragons!

He will probably come around again soon. Let us know!!

-Em

 

[breeyawnah]

It's good that are you getting him used to being outside - at only three months they are still learning the world and Thor is really young, just a baby really, but coming up onto the juvie stage in a few months ... Bet he's a cutie. Even though he is 10 inches, he's still young and fast ... And you're right, it was more than likely a spook.

From the sounds of it, the fact that he is so comfortable and at ease when you bring him in, he's just scared of being outside for a while, or he just ain't feelin it. Try again, little bit at a time, if it still stresses him that much, maybe wait until he's a little older or ease back into it until he is just a little more comfortable with it. Don't force it, although I know that's hard because they can reallllly flourish and benefit from the sun!! And we all want that for our dragons!

He will probably come around again soon. Let us know!!

-Em

I took him out again. He definitely hissed at me, I got my finger a little to close to his mouth when I put a dandelion green in his jowls. He seems less jumpy but didn't like it still. I think I'll keep trying slowly.

 

[Wolfy]

This is interesting - I just had a similar experience with my 5 month old, Darwin. I went to take him outside on one of rare hot, sunny Portland days, and as I got near the door, he starting getting agro. He remained agro when I put him in the outdoor enclosure, and was still agro when I took him inside 30 minutes later, and he seemed tense for quite some time afterwards. He seems to have settled down some, but I haven't tried to pick him up since - I have stroked his back, but he seem jumpy about it.

As it happens, the reason I took him inside is that there was a blue jay giving him the evil eye - I'm not very familiar with what birds will go after a 14-inch long beardie, but I sure didn't like the way he was eyeing Darwin. I don't know if Darwin saw the bird while I was taking him outside or not, though.

 

[breeyawnah]

This is interesting - I just had a similar experience with my 5 month old, Darwin. I went to take him outside on one of rare hot, sunny Portland days, and as I got near the door, he starting getting agro. He remained agro when I put him in the outdoor enclosure, and was still agro when I took him inside 30 minutes later, and he seemed tense for quite some time afterwards. He seems to have settled down some, but I haven't tried to pick him up since - I have stroked his back, but he seem jumpy about it.

As it happens, the reason I took him inside is that there was a blue jay giving him the evil eye - I'm not very familiar with what birds will go after a 14-inch long beardie, but I sure didn't like the way he was eyeing Darwin. I don't know if Darwin saw the bird while I was taking him outside or not, though.

Just like my lizard, tenses right when he smells the outdoors! I'm not sure how to approach it though. Maybe some blueberries and worms as a bribe?

 

[blue11]

a BlueJay ... ohhhhh there are a terror to animals, like out pets. my poor cat gets dive bombed by them. and NOISY they are too.
Even a small bird will innately say to a dragon - danger.

We have Hawks here in VA that just circle the sky ... Lexi is always tilting hear head up looking for birds, she is pretty great about it all, but she wasnt always that way. at ALL.
she was abused very badly anyhow for 3 years with her prior owner, so it took several months to acclimate her to just about everything little thing big and small, inside the house, outside the house, and everything else between.

I think how they act outdoors is always going to vary a little bit depending on the noise/birds/even a passing cloud above, wind, all that.

 

[aegillesp]

I have to hold Simon and stroke him the whole time he is outside. I had him on a towel on a table once and oh boy he didnt like it one bit! I dont take him out very often even though I live in Phoenix, the sun just doesn't hit my apartment at the times I'm available and my complex doesn't quite know that I have him. I have a 2-3 hour window to get him outside and in the sun.

As long as he is laying on my chest he will usually let me play with his feet, when he lays there and doesn't care it shows me he is relaxed even though there are birds flying around. He tried running this morning though, So I just held him gently but firmly and told him to stop and he calmed down after a minute or so while I rubbed his head.

 

[disturb3d0n3]

At 3 months he's still quite small, everything outside is so huge in comparison so he might be freaked out from that.