What can I do to help my beardie to be nicer?

[bdavis514]

Hi there!
I recently got a new bearded dragon. I have only owned one other previous to him. He recently passed away. Willy, my first beardie, was the absolute sweetest thing. He would scratch at his tank to get out, on a regular basis. He loved to be held. When he was sat down on the floor he would walk over to you and plop down in your lap to sleep. He would just lay with my 3 year ago and was so calm. Well Luke I said we recently got another one. I wanted an adult because I wanted my son to be able to interact with him and didn't feel comfortable with a baby due to their size. Well I was made to believe this was the perfect dragon, he was incredibly friendly and we'll taken care of. Only to come find out this was not true. The previous owners had absolute no idea to properly own a beardie. Anywho, he doesn't mind being held every once in a while, but sometimes even if you touch him he will puff up and hiss. I thought maybe If we handled him once a day for a few minutes he would adjust but only seems to be getting worse. Also, he tears his cage apart... He will run from one side to the other knocking over all decorations and his food bowls. I'm not sure if this is normal because my previous beardie was so calm and never did any of this. Just need some helpful hints or advice. I don't want to re home him because we do like him
Thanks in advance.

 

[CooperDragon]

If he isn't used to a proper setup and interaction with people, it can take a lot of time to adjust. They all have different personalities, but in general they are gentile and get along well with humans. It will likely just take time in a proper setup and patience. If you get him used to a regular schedule that may help as well.

 

[Elmontare]

Are you using the same set up from your previous beardie? If so was everything cleaned really well before hand to get rid of the other beardies smell? Is your beardie in an area of the house where people are most of the time or in a back bedroom? My beardie also scratches at the door when she wants to come out and usually doesnt want to be disturbed at other times of the day. You may want to try and refrain from holding your beardie until he settles down a little and adjusts to the new lifestyle. Then take him out an hour before lights out when hes sleepy and let him fall asleep while holding him. I also never move the things in my beardies cage while shes in there because it just upsets her so if your beardie is "redecorating" i suggest leaving it that way until say bath time and then put things back where they should go.

 

[Esther19]

This may sound strange, but try holding him so that you can look at him face to face and talk to him. Mine respond well to that. Good luck!

 

[bdavis514]

We are using the same tank, but everything including bedding material was just added for new beardie. His tank sits in our kitchen/dining area so there are period almost 99 percent of the time. He's calmed Down a little as far as letting us hold him. But he's still messing up his tank. It doesn't bother me so much and I don't mess with it except he runs through his food dish and gets his fresh food completely filthy.