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Help Picking Up Beardie

Ryan Ballard

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
So I have been able to pick up Trogdor in the past, but hes still pretty new to my house. He's an adult and quite large. When i try to pick him up he runs away and gives me the black beard.

I desperately need to clean his cage and give him a bath, help please!
 

Vic

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
31
So I have been able to pick up Trogdor in the past, but hes still pretty new to my house. He's an adult and quite large. When i try to pick him up he runs away and gives me the black beard.

I desperately need to clean his cage and give him a bath, help please!
Do you pick him up underhand or over? Some beardies don't like hands over them which makes them feel threatened. Try picking him up from under his body.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

Canicke

Super Moderator
Staff member
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
1,669
hi - yeah - try sliding your hand under his belly. if you try to pick him up from above it may feel to him like a bird attacking. have long have you had him? can you share a pic of your tank set up? do you have other animals? you may run into an issue with the bath. a lot of beardies don't particularly care for water. some love it. if you haven't given him a bath before (why do you think he needs one?) I would suggest a sink with shallow warm water. give him a means of escape. my last male would try to escape the bath for several minutes then he would start swimming under water like an eel. silly boy. miss him. my current male will tolerate his bath as long as I leave the loofa sponge in there for him to hang onto.
 

Ryan Ballard

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
Do you pick him up underhand or over? Some beardies don't like hands over them which makes them feel threatened. Try picking him up from under his body.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I always try it under his belly
 

Ryan Ballard

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
hi - yeah - try sliding your hand under his belly. if you try to pick him up from above it may feel to him like a bird attacking. have long have you had him? can you share a pic of your tank set up? do you have other animals? you may run into an issue with the bath. a lot of beardies don't particularly care for water. some love it. if you haven't given him a bath before (why do you think he needs one?) I would suggest a sink with shallow warm water. give him a means of escape. my last male would try to escape the bath for several minutes then he would start swimming under water like an eel. silly boy. miss him. my current male will tolerate his bath as long as I leave the loofa sponge in there for him to hang onto.
The primary reason i want to bathe him is because he's shedding and ive read that it helps him shed
 

Vic

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
31
The primary reason i want to bathe him is because he's shedding and ive read that it helps him shed
You may just want to get a misting bottle and give him some spritzing to keep his shedding skin moist. That usually helps with our boy Skippy when he sheds.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

BeardedHippy

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Messages
672
Location
Scarborough UK
Maybe he just needs more time if you have been able to pick him up in the past. I would say though, if you retreat everytime he beards up, he is more likely to persist in that behaviour. I would try pick him up regardless and try calm him down. Once he realises he is not going to be harmed he should 'give in'.
On another note, could he just be being a bit grumpy because he is shedding?
 

Hdrydr31

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Staff member
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
5,574
I agree he needs to know that you are not afraid of him, so what I would do is: Make sure he is aware that you are wanting to pick him up if his eyes are closed, come from his head and slide your hand under chin to his belly. If he beards and gaps at you and you think hes going to bite you (which typically they do it for show and don't end up bitting) put some lightweight garden gloves on so if he does nip..You need to show him you are not afraid of him. Also if you work on handling do it closer to when his lights go off as they are typically easier to handle.

I would avoid misting him while in his tank as that will increase the humidity in there.
 

Kitelizard

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
I adopted my 4 y/o male in March. Just these last two weeks, he finally. I mean finally, allows me to pick him up without the full black beard. He still doesn't like me to pet his head..but will accept his back being rubbed...a little bit. He swipes his tail at me when I pick him up. It goes around in circles! My last one never did that! Mine went through major shed...I mean major, just this last week. I kept him out of the tub, but he does poop everyday, so when I'm cleaning, I spritz him with the water bottle. I have him on tile, so that makes the clean up easier. He went in the tub yesterday, and made his mess...I like that I can just flush it on down. The key to him liking me? The dubai cockroaches, the fresh peaches, and the hibiscus flowers. I think by feeding the sucker he knows I'm not out to "get" him. He's even gotten used to the two mutts. They sniff him and walk away. He will probably never be the snuggler my last one was, but that's okay. Patience, Kimosabe.
 
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