Some times I wonder...

Remember I'm sad so I'm just talking about randomness although when I'm happy I do the same.

If our beardies miss their parents. I know it's best to separate them and I'm assuming in the wild they'll run off. But her are these hoomans speaking a language they don't know, the size of skyscrapers, in environments they don't know....


But when you literally shower the beardie with love, none of that matters.
Love meaning to ensure the happiest and healthiest conditions.

 

[AHBD]

They dont grow up around their parents. Adults leave hatchlings because adult beardies do not have maternal instincts in same way mammals do. This is often usual behavior for egg laying species. For one, they dont produce milk to nurse their young so the hormones like oxytocin that stimuate bonding are not produced. Reptiles, fish, frogs etc may lay many eggs- creating intense competition for survival. The stronger ones survive, the weaker ones die. Now, in captivity, an experienced breeder will optimize survival by providing enough resources, creating proper conditions for survival, etc. The adult reptile, fish, frog, etc, cannot do this. She leaves her babies out of necessity for them to forage for food, warmth, etc, and thus ensure their own survival in a harsh environment.

Sometimes when beardies are eggbound a shot of oxytocin helps them lay the eggs.

Interestingly, alligators and crocodiles guard their nests and when the babies hatch they carefully carry them to the water. Momma croc + gator may care for their babies for weeks or months. Here's a short and amazing clip !

 

[AHBD]

For my this works almost never. Especially when he was younger, he for sure didn't come for food.
Even when he came to me, taking the food was a big hurdle for him - I really suspect it was stealing and he feared a reaction of me then getting angry.


That is what he did. Then walking around his branch, like they do it in nature: Always being on the opposite site of the human, the little eyes peeking out over the ranch a bit, then retreating.

Nowadays I can easily pick him up, he is very tame. He likes snuggles. He is not hiding any of his behavior from me anymore (I can watch him easily catching insects, I saw him multiple times pooping for the first months, he hid that from me). But that

I must laugh indeed a bit regarding Taco: Despite he for sure doesn't see me as harming him - he allows me to touch all parts of his body, he likes being pet - he for sure won't stay 10 minutes on me. 1 - 5 minutes is what you can expect. Unless I do something hyper interesting like unpacking a suitcase (he once stayed 30 minutes with me!), folding laundry (5 - 10 min), repotting plants on the balcony. We have so often the situation like: "I have Taco out, let's call my friend X as he likes to see him". Videocall program rings... by the time somebody accepts the call, Taco already went exploring around and is not longer sitting with me.
Taco also wears his harness (to be used on the balcony) without problems. Also putting it on doesn't cause stress for him. But patience, boy, patience... He sits there, I have wrapped the straps around him, have already closed one of the two clasps... and he goes exploring. When he comes back, I close the second clasp and then we go on the balcony *sigh*

The sugggestion of holding a dragon to your chest for 10 minutes is for a person who has what they feel is a dragon that can't be handled. Using this method and holding them shows that even if they struggle, they will settle down after a while because we have the control and are taking time to calm them and are doing it for their own good. This is taming session, not just a little fun time out of the tank to see or do interesting things.

Oh, and in one of your replies [ this thread has been fast moving and I was trying to keep up with the interesting replies ! ] you mentioned that breeders use a " breeding machine ? " I think maybe you meant an incubator. So yes, we breed them, or, they breed themselves when we place them together if both are willing. After the eggs are layed we take them out and put them in an incubator. When they hatch , their captive life is all they know.

 

[ChileanTaco]

This is taming session, not just a little fun time out of the tank to see or do interesting things.

This is clear to me, I did a lot (!) of taming session things to get my dragon to what he is now
All the holding him while still in his tank, harness training (starting with the harness next to him on his branch, I petted the harness...). Fun time - that comes later and IMHO is only possible with that.
For example, despite my dragon might decide to wander around after 1 minute with me, we can now do so - as I can pick him up from everywhere (which is necessary for this safety), as I can always approach him without him running off in fear, as he will look around but not hide to get away from me, and so on.
My husband was not convinced this will become a tame pet (when he saw little Taco just behaving like the wild lizards here), but I was pretty sure it is possible.
Working (!) with a pet is so, so important.

 

[AHBD]

All of you are so awesome, I had no idea about the responses I'd receive.

I forgot all about the eggs lol
I have boys but still that's crazy lol

Ok let me push a little, the mom may eat the egg but no one shows the baby to the mom or anything.... even from a far?
When they're clothes, does it not matter?

Breeders: do you fall in love each time or after the 569k time, your over it but hope they go to a loving home.


Wow, Ruby and Rocky don't know their parents.

But what about those that grow up around each other.
Im having separation anxiety i guess lol

So a mom dragon may eat an egg or 2 egg in captivity if she sees them, as in when they are layed outside of a laybox, scattered on the floor. She may eat 1-2 if allowed , or just when the owner didn't get them all out before she saw them.

In the wild they would bury their eggs and never see them again so they would not eat their own eggs. Another predator, possibly a monitor lizard might if they dug around and found them.

A wild or captive dragon would eat a baby if they came upon one, to them it just looks + moves like a large cricket/insect or other small lizard they would eat .

When breeding babies I felt affection for all of them, the hope was always that they would go to a good home.

 

[Sue E.]

Its just crazy to me that people can take in a beardie and neglect it! Here I am, stressing over every little detail and change to make sure he's living his best life. My daughter looked at me the other day when I was trying to encourage a poop and shook her head, laughing and saying, "Nurses should not have pets" lol.

 

[AHBD]

Its just crazy to me that people can take in a beardie and neglect it! Here I am, stressing over every little detail and change to make sure he's living his best life. My daughter looked at me the other day when I was trying to encourage a poop and shook her head, laughing and saying, "Nurses should not have pets" lol.

Lol, encouraging a poo ! " Come on now Kai, you can do it !! Let's go before I get the canned pumkin and prunes out !
But yeah, neglect + abuse of animals is sad to see.

 

[AHBD]

Oh, one more thing about beardie moms. They DO have the instinct to give their babies in the wild the best chance of successfully hatching. This instinct is seen in captivity when the dragon uses a lay box and digs as far down as she can and after laying they meticulously cover them up. I always enjoyed watching them working hard to " hide " the eggs. They use all 4 legs to move the sand or soil back over the eggs to cover them. Then they actually use their chin/beard to smooth it out and leave no trace that anything happened there. When you think about it, that's amazing instinct to give the little buggers the best chance to be hidden in the wilds of Australia.

 

[Sue E.]

Lol, encouraging a poo ! " Come on now Kai, you can do it !! Let's go before I get the canned pumkin and prunes out !
But yeah, neglect + abuse of animals is sad to see.

Ha ha, pretty much.(but I did get out the soak and pumpkin and he went)

 

[xp29]

The sugggestion of holding a dragon to your chest for 10 minutes is for a person who has what they feel is a dragon that can't be handled. Using this method and holding them shows that even if they struggle, they will settle down after a while because we have the control and are taking time to calm them and are doing it for their own good. This is taming session, not just a little fun time out of the tank to see or do interesting things.

Oh, and in one of your replies [ this thread has been fast moving and I was trying to keep up with the interesting replies ! ] you mentioned that breeders use a " breeding machine ? " I think maybe you meant an incubator. So yes, we breed them, or, they breed themselves when we place them together if both are willing. After the eggs are layed we take them out and put them in an incubator. When they hatch , their captive life is all they know.

I hold C.J. like that. If in my hands she is spicy but on my chest she settles right down. I don't even have to hold on to her. She hisses 1 time the settles in. She actually wiggled in last night, that was the first time she's done that. I'm for sure in love with her now

 

[Rocky2022]

Absolutely!
Things my dragon has learned:
- Human is not threat. Human does interesting things.
- "Taco", "Hey Taco Tac-Tac" announces "Human now interacts with dragon".
- Human clothes, neither that a human "changes color" with them, nor clothes on a clothesline are any form of threat. Human "color change" as of clothes, sunglasses and so on do mean nothing w.r.t. dragon and are no sign of mood or such.
- Human is not getting angry when "stealing" an insect from them.
- Human touching is no threat, but actually cuddly warm.
- Human can be shown where being pet is wanted. (Taco learned to tilt his head and present the part of his body that should be pet. He found out at an age of about 1.5 years. Before he liked being pet, but remained passive.)
- Human can fix the lights if they are out. (Taco even then tilts his head and looks back and forth between lamp that is off and me!)
- Human puts dragon back in nice warm enclosure if dragon wants so. (Just run back to enclosure and sit there. Human comes immediately.)
- Wearing a harness and leash is no threat. It is even exciting: Balcony time. (I got him used to it gently, using tips on how to get a dog used to a harness or muzzle. Like: Just showing he harness. Petting the harness . Putting the harness next to the pet. Putting the harness on top of pet, but not wrapping it around.)
- The transport box does not mean any harm like being given away. (I put him in regularly just so he stays used to it, and for taking his weight. The first time I put him in, about 6 months old, he scratched me up badly, really fighting. I think he thought me putting him in means he has to leave. But that guy is smart: The second time, it was absolutely no problem, as he saw he of course is taken out of it and back in his enclosure again.)


I can also imagine that more domestication will change some of the bearded dragon's behavior.
Right now, they appear to me more like a wild animal adapting to living with humans - which most young wild animals can do. It might be different, like e.g. with cats and dogs, after more domestication that already a natural interest in humans is inbreed.

Wow I loved this post and you brought back so many memories for me thanks. Like the first time I saw Rocky jump. He tried to get out of a small enclosure that I used for travel. He scared me so much. I'm sure there's a post about it but that was the first time we fought and I left him home alone

 

[Rocky2022]

Sometimes when beardies are eggbound a shot of oxytocin helps them lay the eggs.

Interestingly, alligators and crocodiles guard their nests and when the babies hatch they carefully carry them to the water. Momma croc + gator may care for their babies for weeks or months. Here's a short and amazing clip !

Im nervous to watch but I'm going to do it....brb

 

[Rocky2022]

Sometimes when beardies are eggbound a shot of oxytocin helps them lay the eggs.

Interestingly, alligators and crocodiles guard their nests and when the babies hatch they carefully carry them to the water. Momma croc + gator may care for their babies for weeks or months. Here's a short and amazing clip !

Omg yes, i guess this is what I was thinking......I loved this clip. Thank you

Side note because you probably know this....I think it's an alligator of some sort that puts eggs in is back and then the there's a growth that covers it.... then when they hatch it grows out of the back.

Not scientific at all but do you know what I'm talking about?

 

[Rocky2022]

The sugggestion of holding a dragon to your chest for 10 minutes is for a person who has what they feel is a dragon that can't be handled. Using this method and holding them shows that even if they struggle, they will settle down after a while because we have the control and are taking time to calm them and are doing it for their own good. This is taming session, not just a little fun time out of the tank to see or do interesting things.

Oh, and in one of your replies [ this thread has been fast moving and I was trying to keep up with the interesting replies ! ] you mentioned that breeders use a " breeding machine ? " I think maybe you meant an incubator. So yes, we breed them, or, they breed themselves when we place them together if both are willing. After the eggs are layed we take them out and put them in an incubator. When they hatch , their captive life is all they know.

Rocky just laid on my heart for 30 minutes. He only lays on my heart and before he leaves he curls up to my neck. The first time his tail dragged across me, I was so scared and cried inside but now, I love it.

Rocky and Ruby are moody...when they don't want to be bothered, they'll literally walk over my face and head to their destination. For Rocky it's the window and for Ruby it's his enclosure.

 

[Rocky2022]

So a mom dragon may eat an egg or 2 egg in captivity if she sees them, as in when they are layed outside of a laybox, scattered on the floor. She may eat 1-2 if allowed , or just when the owner didn't get them all out before she saw them.

In the wild they would bury their eggs and never see them again so they would not eat their own eggs. Another predator, possibly a monitor lizard might if they dug around and found them.

A wild or captive dragon would eat a baby if they came upon one, to them it just looks + moves like a large cricket/insect or other small lizard they would eat .

When breeding babies I felt affection for all of them, the hope was always that they would go to a good home.

I don't like the eating part ugh...but I understand....I guess.
Nature

 

[Rocky2022]

Its just crazy to me that people can take in a beardie and neglect it! Here I am, stressing over every little detail and change to make sure he's living his best life. My daughter looked at me the other day when I was trying to encourage a poop and shook her head, laughing and saying, "Nurses should not have pets" lol.

Exactly... that's how I feel. I did so much research before getting Rocky and still had so much to learn. I'm humble but when it comes to my beardies I'm proud like I DID THAT. I was scared but take so much pride in trying to give them the best life. I pick them over hoomans. I'm not perfect but I love them so. This is why they run my life.lol