terrified of harness :(

[wicket15]

My beardie, Wicket, is about 7-8 months old now, I believe. He's constantly itching to go explore, but our house has too many nooks and crannies that would make keeping track of him hard. I bought a bearded dragon harness for him that way I could let him run around and still keep him safe. I finally got it in the mail today, and our first try-on was just an awful experience.

Putting the harness on was fine, but as soon as I put him on the ground, he started kicking his back legs and sprinting/pulling on the harness as fast and hard as he could. Alarmed, I tried to pick him back up, but when I finally got him (I had to kind of pull him to me because he wouldn't stop trying to run), he blew his whole body up, closed his eyes, and went stiff.

It scared the living crap out of me. I quickly took the harness off his bloated body and held him for a few minutes until he relaxed again, all the while crying because I thought he went into some kind of shock and was going to die! It was terrible.

Anyways, I let him relax, and then he tried climbing up my arms again, so I thought maybe I'd give it a second try now that he knew I wasn't trying to let something eat him. Again, he was fine putting the harness on, and I let him wander down my leg on his own. But as soon as he actually started walking away from me, it's like he realized he had the harness on and went through the whole blowing up process again.

I don't know what to do. I was so exciting to get this harness so I could finally let him run around, but he goes legit crazy the second he realizes he has it on. I don't want to give him a little lizard heart attack (even though he doesn't have the same consideration for me!), you know? But I can't let him explore without something tethered to him so I know he's safe and I can get to him/get him when I need to.

I don't really know what I'm asking for, to be honest. Does this sound normal? Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a way to get him used to it without going nuts?

 

[TerryG]

How awful that you had such a traumatic experience--for both of you--with the harness.

I'd seen all those cute pictures of people walking their beardies on harnesses and tried to make one with canvas and paracord but when I tried walking my Beardie, Shacklynn, in my apartment with it she found a way to slip her arms out of it and wriggle half free of it.

I've heard of people putting the harness on the back legs instead of the front legs and chest, but I wasn't sure if that was safe and didn't try it.

I have a large closet with a light in it that only has a few nooks and crannies that I stuff with towels so she can't get into them. She likes exploring and running around in there. Sometimes I even put her feeders down --one at a time so I don't loose track of them--and let her "hunt" for them in there. She seems satisfied with that.

I don't know how to get a Beardie used to the tug of the harness though.

 

[dezismom]

Wickett,
my Dezi had a very similar reaction our first try at harness...it was a figure 8 affair that slipped around neck and under arms...he started to get a bit nervous, puffed up a little, and that made harness pinch him so puffed more, which only made it pinch him more, and he probably he thought he was being eaten by some invisible monster!! Oh, the mess! disastrous! I couldent get that thing off him fast enough! Finally, after working with a fighting, flipping, puffing, black and stiffening dragon, (he is normally totally laid back- never saw him puff up in all nine months of his life, and hope never to see him in that kind of distress, again!) I just grabbed my round ended scissors and cut the horrible thing off of him. We both needed some time to calm down. I felt like a terrible Beardie mom, and I felt like crying, so I placed him in his enclosure, then went out of room to cry.

So, here is what I have learned, at least in my Dezi's case: Nothing that goes around or near neck!! ever! I found a very soft leather harness that goes over front legs, across chest, and tightens over back with a bead, that I modified so that I could snap the lead off the harness. The lead that came with was too heavy, so I bought some silk cord to use. I rolled the cord on a round spool with handle, like a kite spool, to roll and unroll as needed. I waited until night, when he likes to relax in my arms, and is sleepy. I slowly and gently placed his arms into the holes, and brought the holes up to his armpits, but did not tighten with the bead. We just sat like that first few times, as I rubbed his eyebrows (his happy spot) then I removed the harness and rewarded him with lots of love. Next night, tightened harness loosely over back, no lead attached, sat and rubbed eyebrow before removing harness. Next night, tightened harness snugly, and placed Dezi on floor where he usually takes his walks. He sat still a while, then began his exploring as usual! No fuss! I did not attempt to even put the leash on for several nights. First night with leash, I simply put it on the harness, but let him pull it around, no tugging. I followed closely, to make sure it did not get caught in anything. Next, I followed him around while holding leash very loosely. Next night, I gently pulled him to a brief stop, pet his eyebrows and spoke calmly to encourage him, then let him lead again. This very slowly progressed to my encouraging him to follow my lead, but if at any time he appeared nervous, I took it back to his leading me. This is the same method I have used to introduce especially nervous dogs to leads, and it worked well with Dez...the trick is to take things VERY slowly. It may take weeks to train your Beardie, but there is no rush! Beardies like to take things ever so slowly, especially new things. Hope this helps... I will try to post some photos.

Oh, and If you do have a repeat disastrous performance, do not attempt to try again that night, but wait a few nights. Do not allow yourself to act upset, or cry around your beardie, as that will encourage him to be upset and begin to associate stress with a harness and lead...a calm, gentle voice, and slow, relaxed movements always.. If you do get upset, put him back in his enclosure before allowing yourself any reaction.

Good luck!

 

[dezismom]

here are some photos of Dezi on lead...

 

[dezismom]

 

[Terry15]

My niece has been making a leash out of yarn, around his hips and it does not seem to bother him. I lost Mystic in the house one night and she found him the next day under the heavy tv stand. What a relief. Maybe you can make a braided hip strap and just add another 8 foot piece as the leash. They can't feel that

 

[Taterbug]

Did it have a lead on it when you tried? You may need to try baby steps like dezi describes, so he can get comfortable with the idea. the shape of it could also be upsetting for him and take getting used too. Some critters don't like harnesses or leashes and take patience training

I also use a hip lead, since they use their chest muscles side to side to breath the front harnesses seem like they might feel weird or restrictive. A hip lead is probably not so good to use if they are prone to tugging at the lead or to bolt or something that would otherwise yank on it but Pepper doesn't even notice his. I made the lead elastic so if or has a lot of give to it too.