Suddenly Aggressive

[JohnVLillywhite]

So my 4 month old beardie has been the sweetest thing in the world. Would always fall asleep on my girlfriend’s chest every night. Handled every single day. Hand fed every other day. We have not changed anything with his setup.

Today, my girlfriend got home, and my beardie was dancing all over the glass, so we took him out, and fed him. THE MOMENT he went back into the tank, he went DARK. We both had to go to the store, so we left. When we came back, he was still super dark, and when I tried to pick him up, he puffed up, and opened his mouth. Now this isn’t the first beardie I’ve had who got aggressive. So I slowly inched my hand from his tail to his body, and tried to pick him up, and he bit me.

He is impossible to pick up, because he puffs up and lunges to bite you.

My question is why and how do I fix it? We just had a huge cold front move in where I’m living. Yesterday, it was a high of 60, and today it’s a high of 35. Could it be the temp change, barometric pressure, or he’s getting to those teen ages where he gets....uh...sexually aroused? He is also laying very flat on his log.

How can I fix this? Should I just put gloves on to not get bit, and just not take his attitude? Should I ground him? Lol

 

[JohnVLillywhite]

His side also seems to be twitching? Or just quick short breaths.

 

[JohnVLillywhite]

So after some research, I saw that the twitching could be a sign of MBD. So I took him to our local reptile vet, and as soon as we step foot into the vet, he is no longer aggressive, and no long twitching. Of course. Just like when you take your car to the mechanic, and it stops making the funny noise. Vet set that they haven't seen a beardie this healthy in a while. Got him home, and he is fine. Super weird.

 

[KarrieRee]

Interesting-------------- what kind of UVB are you using coil or tube how big is the tank and where is the UVB on top of screen or in the tank ? Lighting will have a lot to do w/ their behavior
Karrie

 

[Linzloohoo]

Sounds like something spooked him. Is he in view of a window? Maybe a ceiling fan was on?
Kai has done something similar. He got super dark, put his body low to the ground, and stayed statue still for hours. He did not bite but I also did not try to touch him when this happened. Shortly after I noticed a hawk flying by the window which Kai could see from his tank. I covered up his tank after that so no more window view.

 

[Claudiusx]

Moved by Moderator from General to Behavior

 

[JohnVLillywhite]

Okay super weird.

My beardie's lights turn on at 7:15am every morning, and by 8:00 he is out basking, bright, and happy. Today, we was in his corner at 10:00am, and I tried to move him, and he flared up. I put him on his basking area, and he TOOK OFF, and ran away and hid in the corner.

When I took him back out, every time he would open his mouth, my girlfriend would put some greens in his mouth.

There is no ceiling fans, no open windows, nothing different for the best 3 months. Why is he so scared/aggressive?

His basking temp is around 99, he has a Reptisun 10.0 mounted inside the tank. Could it be hormones? He's only 4 months and a week old.

 

[KarrieRee]

Reptisun 10.0 T 5 or T 8 and where in tank is it? Distance from basking spot? Basking temps should be 105-110
Karrie

 

[JohnVLillywhite]

Reptisun 10.0 T 5 or T 8 and where in tank is it? Distance from basking spot? Basking temps should be 105-110
Karrie

Just tested basking sight. I'm at 103. 10.0 t8.

 

[KarrieRee]

Your fixture does it have a reflector on it? I cant tell basking temp is good--- I would say its him/her how long have you had him --- I got Blaze around Sept -- w/ in the last month he is now letting us pick him up w/ out a glove has quit flaring up and hissing and running and biting--- he is 7 months old --- keep working w/ her / him go slow and patience --- you can take a piece of clothing or blanket some thing soft w/ your smell on it and put it in their hide - relocation stress has lots do w/ it as well and it can take awhile for that ----
Karrie

 

[Linzloohoo]

Sounds like he’s definitely scared of something. The tricky part is figuring out what. Honestly it could be you. Did you grow out a beard perhaps? That could be seen as aggression by him. It could be so many different things. Is there any other pets in the house? Did you have a visitor recently? Is there another place in your house you could move the tank to test if it’s environmental?

 

[HemiLeo]

So my 4 month old beardie has been the sweetest thing in the world. Would always fall asleep on my girlfriend’s chest every night. Handled every single day. Hand fed every other day. We have not changed anything with his setup.

Today, my girlfriend got home, and my beardie was dancing all over the glass, so we took him out, and fed him. THE MOMENT he went back into the tank, he went DARK. We both had to go to the store, so we left. When we came back, he was still super dark, and when I tried to pick him up, he puffed up, and opened his mouth. Now this isn’t the first beardie I’ve had who got aggressive. So I slowly inched my hand from his tail to his body, and tried to pick him up, and he bit me.

He is impossible to pick up, because he puffs up and lunges to bite you.

My question is why and how do I fix it? We just had a huge cold front move in where I’m living. Yesterday, it was a high of 60, and today it’s a high of 35. Could it be the temp change, barometric pressure, or he’s getting to those teen ages where he gets....uh...sexually aroused? He is also laying very flat on his log.

How can I fix this? Should I just put gloves on to not get bit, and just not take his attitude? Should I ground him? Lol

Please don't feel like your alone my beardie has done that as well.

I was taking him out to feed him and i put him in his cricket bin and BAM jumped out and ran... I rushed to shut my door and called my mom from downstairs upstairs beacuse when i tried to pick storm up he lunged at me and puffed up 2xs his size..... I started crying i was so scared that i did something wrong but has been fine the rest of the week.. Hope this stops.

 

[MrSpectrum]

My beardie's lights turn on at 7:15am every morning, and by 8:00 he is out basking, bright, and happy. Today, we was in his corner at 10:00am, and I tried to move him, and he flared up. I put him on his basking area, and he TOOK OFF, and ran away and hid in the corner.

This is very similar with what I'm going through (ZaRDoZ is close to same age) except that I'm finding him in the back corner doing his "worshiping the plant god" thing instead of his usual basking. If I pick him up to put him atop basking mountain, he kinda freaks until I get ahold of him and put him up there. Sometimes he jumps off, and sometimes he'll stay.

Yup... weird.

 

[JohnVLillywhite]

Questions

It does have a reflector. He's is fine now. Just thinking it was a couple days of temperamental hormones.

Questions

I did actually just grow out my beard more than normal...So if that's an actual thing, maybe he got intimidated?

Questions

He seems to be fine now. Just seems like an attitude problem for a couple days.

 

[NewHerpAddict]

My Yoshi suddenly discovered her reflection one day, when she was about 5~ish months old. she had been fine with the same lighting, same area same everything up 'till one day. That day was the day she started dashing around her enclosure, smashing into things, jumping off of the highest parts and crash-landing into corners - interspersed with the signature arm-wave. I shrouded EVERYTHING that could cause a reflection, and she continued to arm wave while hiding hiding under things for a solid week after that before deciding she was safe, after all. It's possible that your little one may have just gotten old enough to decide that something they used to be ok with must be a threat, or something to be angry about.