My angry baby bearded dragon

[Andrew Bowen]

I have a baby bearded dragon that I bought a month ago about he's a boy and I've been handling him every day since I got him and he still doesn't like people he bites at people and opens his mouth and try's to his at me. I've owned older ones but never a baby so do you guys have an Idea how to get him to warm up to people and has this happened to anybody else?

 

[Sadie]

I have a baby bearded dragon that I bought a month ago about he's a boy and I've been handling him every day since I got him and he still doesn't like people he bites at people and opens his mouth and try's to his at me. I've owned older ones but never a baby so do you guys have an Idea how to get him to warm up to people and has this happened to anybody else?

Your baby dragon needs time to acclimate to his surroundings - its going to take time and patience- you need to work w/ him in his tank by handfeeding and getting him used to your hand - when I got Blaze he was running hissing and trying to bite just like yours- it took me months to get him to quit doing that but eventually he did - put a piece of clothing or fleece blanket in his hide to get him used to your smell - do not approach from above but the side so he does not think your a predator - get some BSFL and small super worms and handfeed that and salad greens - what is your set up ? Are you using a tube fixture for a UVB or a coil? What are his basking temps and how are you taking them? NO stickons they are inaccurate

 

[Andrew Bowen]

Your baby dragon needs time to acclimate to his surroundings - its going to take time and patience- you need to work w/ him in his tank by handfeeding and getting him used to your hand - when I got Blaze he was running hissing and trying to bite just like yours- it took me months to get him to quit doing that but eventually he did - put a piece of clothing or fleece blanket in his hide to get him used to your smell - do not approach from above but the side so he does not think your a predator - get some BSFL and small super worms and handfeed that and salad greens - what is your set up ? Are you using a tube fixture for a UVB or a coil? What are his basking temps and how are you taking them? NO stickons they are inaccurate

I'm using two UVB bulbs one for daylight the other for heat, his basking temp is about 95° F, he likes climbing so I have stuff for him to climb, a hide out area, a ping pong ball and crinkle wrap ball, a hammock, a huge water bowl for moving around in and a smaller one, one medium size food bowl. Thank you for the help

 

[Sadie]

I'm using two UVB bulbs one for daylight the other for heat, his basking temp is about 95° F, he likes climbing so I have stuff for him to climb, a hide out area, a ping pong ball and crinkle wrap ball, a hammock, a huge water bowl for moving around in and a smaller one, one medium size food bowl. Thank you for the help

Is the one for heat a colored bulb? If it is get rid of it -- this could be causing the aggressive behavior - colored bulbs are harmful to the eyes and can cause long term eye damage like cataracts -- temps for a baby need to be 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer --- if hes using the water bowl thats great but you dont need two in the tank -- what are you using for a UVB brand and bulb? No coils they are NO good --- you need a tube fixture a 24" for a 40+ gallon tank and a Reptisun 10.0 Bulb T 5 --- you need a bright white basking bulb that keeps temps to the 105-110

 

[HoomanSlave]

Two water bowls (especially since one of them is very large) will make the humidity way too high. One medium size water dish is the proper size, if you want to use a water dish. If you cannot obtain a Reptisun (they are unavailable in some regions and don't always survive shipping) an Arcadia High Output 10.0 is reliable and some people claim it is superior to Reptisun (though I haven't seen any UVB output statistics or anything to back those claims up). Make sure you are using your lights in reflector fixtures to maximize UVB output.

Anyways, in order to tame down an aggressive beardie, the best is frequent, short, and gentle spurts of handling. Eventually, it will realize you are friendly and may even start to enjoy handling. Try hand-feeding lots. To get it used to your hands, lay your hands down in the tank with food on top of them. Put the tank in a high activity area, such as a living room, so that your beardie gets used to you and the people you live with. Most aggressive bearded dragons are tamed within a month or so when handled frequently. Good luck!

 

[Thornessa]

Thorn used to be a spit fire as a baby. After hand feeding her her proteins she began to love all people!