Severe Attitude

[TwistedTruth]

My beardie is a 9 years old male. I've had him around 2 years.
We introduced a new dragon, a 3 year old male as well. Both had fits and HUGE dominance issues. We got them out together once and they almost got into a huge fight until we seperated them. :shock: They tried to fight through the tanks, I mean, we KNEW there'd be issues introducing another NEW male... But I didn't think it'd be THIS bad.
Recently a breeder bought the new male, because of space issues and wanting Dexter to be stress-free (the 9 year old).
To spoil him, I recently gave him a huuuuuuge tank upgrade. Unfortunately, this new tank was the one from the 3 year old, as the breeder didn't need it because he had an extra. We did disinfect it within a week of putting Dexter in there... However, this tank is a HUUUUUUGE upgrade from his last one. He has been in there over a month now, I thought relocation stress would be over by now.
My boyfriend suggested that since his smaller tank was on our kitchen counter, that the new space having to be on the floor is degrading and demotivating to him...
If he was so used to his older, smaller one (on a higher rise), could this habitat changing cause a huge attitude change? Did I completely *&%* up my dragon's esteem and life?

When I got him, he was cuddly and curious, and loved being out and petted.
Now, it's like he beards at me, puffs his body out, and skitters away from me.
Was changing his tank a bad idea? I miss my cuddle-baby...

 

[Erica582]

I had the same issue with both of my beardies when relocating them to a bigger tank. However, my female got over it fairly quickly, where as my male never did.
My male would fight with his reflection for hours, even though he could see his reflection in his baby tank it didn't bother him. He never lost the aggressiveness that he developed after moving into that tank unfortunately

Is there anyways for you to move his tank up a little higher? In nature the higher they are, the more dominant they are I guess. Ikea (www.ikea.com) has really cheap tables you could put a tank on, $30 and they deliver so if you don't have one in your city maybe you could still get it? Also, can he see his reflection?

 

[TwistedTruth]

Well, the table idea was my boyfriend's idea. Was that we've always had him higher, like on our kitchen countertop and now he's been booted to the floor. It wouldn't hurt to try a table under him.
With his reflection, he fought it the first day and that was it. Now he's fine with it. The cage has sliding doors and is otherwise completely covered.

 

[TwistedCrayon]

Dunno what to do about your situation. Your name just caught my attention....

 

[Twobeardieguy]

answered in your other post.