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Attitude change at about 7 months?

Jonathan Stewart

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
7
Hello, thank you for reading this! I just signed up to the forum. I was curious if anyone has had a similar situation as me. I got my beardie back in February, and I'm guessing she was born around the first of the year. She's (at least I think it's a she?) been a very sweet lizard, but about five days ago she became extremely standoffish. She won't let me hold her without struggling to run away, and she's started puffing her beard and even nodding. I know that those aren't super happy signs on her behalf. I know sometimes they are standoffish when they're shedding, but she recently did so. Maybe it's like a puberty thing? I've heard some things like that.

Even though she won't let me hold her, she is fine with being pet. So I've been doing that a couple times a day to at least have that much contact. I don't know whether I should leave her alone or not. Has anyone had anything similar to that happen with an semi-abrupt attitude change in a dragon around this age?
 

BeardedHippy

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Messages
672
Location
Scarborough UK
Hi,dont worry ,this is nothing unusual. Beardies are very skittish when thay are young and it doesnt take much to freak them out, it could have been anything really. Most likely though it is probably because you have tried to pick her up when she didnt want to be or the way you have approached her, they can freak if you try grab them from above. They are much more receptive to being handled just before lights out and first thing in the morning, but unless you absolutely must pick her up I would just keep doing what you are doing and let her get her confidence back slowly. She will probably flip back to her old behaviour as quickly as she flipped into it, just be patient.
 

Jonathan Stewart

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
7
Ok, thank you. Bowie is the first lizard that I've ever owned, and I want to make sure to do it right. I'm wondering if it is because I switched the lid to her cage from one that I have to lift off to one that has a swinging door. Maybe this change in habitat caused it? If I had grown up in the same place, if something changed it would probably freak me out as well.

I just hate it, because the reason I got the new lid is so it would be easier for me to socialize with her without moving around two lights and a pretty large lid. I had been concerned that this commotion was scaring her, but maybe it backfired?
 

PatsyB

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The change in tank could have been part of it. She just needs some time to get used to it. What are you using to measure your temps with and what kind of UVB are you using? Sometimes when you switch tanks or move things around in the tank, the temps get a little off.
 

Jonathan Stewart

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
7
I'm using a Zoo Med "Desert UVB and Heat" lighting system. I have two of the circular gauged thermometer and humidity combo things on either side of the tank. There hasn't been a change in either's measurements. She seems perfectly happy when I am petting her. It's only when I pick her up that she starts puffing her bearded and squirming. But, per BeardedHippy's advice, I haven't attempted to pick her up in a few days.
 

PatsyB

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Those circular gauges on the side of the tank are inaccurate. They only give you the temp of the glass where they are stuck, not the area where your dragon is actually sitting. I would get either a temp gun or a digital probe thermometer to measure the temps right where your dragon is.
 

Jonathan Stewart

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
7
That's a good idea. Where would you suggest getting one? I live in Knoxville, Tennessee in case anyone is a local. If not, are there good places to order one online?

I really don't think there has been any temperature change, though. Her basking spot is where it has always been, and the new lid is the same kind of grate material as the lid that it replaced (the only difference is the hinge running length wise, but it is very thin and the light doesn't even rest on it at all). There's really nothing I can think of that might cause the temperature to differ.
 

BeardedHippy

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Messages
672
Location
Scarborough UK
try amazon or ebay, you should find one for under $20. The air temp might be ok but your heat lamp could be causing hot spots that you are unaware of and you may need to move tank furniture around to compensate. The temp guns can measure surface temps directly, they could be over 130f in a concentrated spot and an inch in either direction be as low as 110F. Moving or lowering the basking spot can often fix this. Certain types of basking furniture can soak up heat and get very hot, so its not a good idea to put rocks (cork bark was bad as I remember) directly under the heat lamp.
 

BeardedHippy

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Messages
672
Location
Scarborough UK
If she is ok with you touching her then you are halfway there already. The more she gets used to your hands being near, the less she see's them as a potential threat and the less stressed she will be. I am not saying you shouldn't try to pick her up at all, but this is all still pretty new to her,just take it slowly and she will submit. It will just become normal to her eventually.
 

Hdrydr31

Bearded Dragon Veteran
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Yea you just need to keep trying to hold her in short periods of time and if you do this closer to lights out they kinda let their guard down more.
 

Jonathan Stewart

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
7
Fair enough. What's weird is she used to let me hold her, no problem. The onset was sudden. I tried picking her up in the morning with success the other day, but now (like always) she runs away and starts to semi-puff her beard. At this point I will try and pet her to calm her down. She lets me pet her, but now she will let me pet her, run a little bit, and repeat. Eventually she ends up at the other side of the tank. Sometimes she squirms against the glass. It's heartbreaking.

I did put a net in that corner of the tank on the side she runs to a while ago to give her more space to climb around, so I don't know if that's thrown her off, but it has been at least two months since I put it up (and she's fine with climbing up into it when I put crickets up there).

So yeah, she will tolerate being pet (sort of), but is still not reacting well to my attempts to pick her up. And she's so fast, I don't want to accelerate her agitation by trying to follow her and pick her up again. I've done it. Than she adopts a really shoulders squared-up, tail-up posture. Like I said, it's heartbreaking because she was totally fine with being held before. She was never super cuddly, and I had to be careful in case she made a leap of faith, but nothing like this. Granted I put the net into the cage and maybe that threw her off about two months ago, but she didn't act like this at first when it was there, and not like how she is now. Like I said, she knows how to climb up there (and sometimes use the bathroom up there).

So yeah. I don't want to freak her out by picking her up, but I also don't want her to become used to not being held, etc. I don't know what to do.
 

Hdrydr31

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Fair enough. What's weird is she used to let me hold her, no problem. The onset was sudden. I tried picking her up in the morning with success the other day, but now (like always) she runs away and starts to semi-puff her beard. At this point I will try and pet her to calm her down. She lets me pet her, but now she will let me pet her, run a little bit, and repeat. Eventually she ends up at the other side of the tank. Sometimes she squirms against the glass. It's heartbreaking.

I did put a net in that corner of the tank on the side she runs to a while ago to give her more space to climb around, so I don't know if that's thrown her off, but it has been at least two months since I put it up (and she's fine with climbing up into it when I put crickets up there).

So yeah, she will tolerate being pet (sort of), but is still not reacting well to my attempts to pick her up. And she's so fast, I don't want to accelerate her agitation by trying to follow her and pick her up again. I've done it. Than she adopts a really shoulders squared-up, tail-up posture. Like I said, it's heartbreaking because she was totally fine with being held before. She was never super cuddly, and I had to be careful in case she made a leap of faith, but nothing like this. Granted I put the net into the cage and maybe that threw her off about two months ago, but she didn't act like this at first when it was there, and not like how she is now. Like I said, she knows how to climb up there (and sometimes use the bathroom up there).

So yeah. I don't want to freak her out by picking her up, but I also don't want her to become used to not being held, etc. I don't know what to do.
This might be a weird question but have you yourself done anything differently? like deodorants/cologne/laundry soaps?? They have a very good taste Jacobsens organ that they hit their tongue on top of their mouth..that is how they "form" memories or recognize people things etc. You could wear a tshirt without cologne just your body scent for a day and put it in the tank with her..

Keep trying and make sure you come from in front of her and not above her.
 

PatsyB

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I have a male that has always been on the wild side. Never puffed at me though or tried to bite me but wasn’t into being held much. He is 4.5 and he still doesn’t like to be held much but he has mellowed out. Out of all my dragons, he is the healthiest and the best eater.
 

KatKuMo

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
30
Ah, this is interesting, this is the very reason I joined this forum. My Murray is about 6 months old and I have handled him daily, but he is still not terribly thrilled about being picked up and taken out of his tank. He trusts me enough, and in the past few weeks has chosen to step onto my hand twice, which I feel is a big deal. I'm just concerned that maybe I should have been taking him out of the tank more often. I have been told that if it's cold they like human warmth, but I do see a lot of photos where people have them out of the tank regularly with no squirming or trying to leap back to their tanks, lol. I kinda feel like I haven't done the right thing somewhere. I got Murray in July, and he was about 5 inches long, total. He would tolerate me taking him out, but would run back to the tank within a minute or two. Not much has changed. I hope you have had better luck with this.

I'm also thinking it might be my 11 year old daughter's presence. She seems to bug him.
 
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