Taming and antisocial beardie

[Funkhousen]

I actually don't own a bearded dragon, my brother does. He bought it when it was small and has had it for about a year. I'm sure he's doing something wrong because it's not really docile at all. When you reach into the tank to pick him (maybe her) up it flattens, opens it mouth, puffs it's beard and tries to evade capture. When you eventually do pick it up and hold it against you it stops showing aggression but certainly looks nervous and is clearly breathing very hard.

I know very little about reptiles (aquarium person myself), but this doesn't seem right. I fear if we leave him alone he will just end up being more and more antisocial. Are there steps we can take to tame him?

 

[Noella]

There may not have been enough interaction between the beardie and your brother when he was small. Do you have an old shirt or something of yours, that's soft and cuddly, you can put into the enclosure? If you can rub your scent all over it, he/she'll get used to you and associate it with you. Try talking to him/her in a calm voice and letting him/her know you're not going to hurt him/her before trying to pick him/her up. Pet him/her on the head if you can. Then scoop him/her up. Keep talking to him/her, petting him/her on the head or body. (I do this with mine even if she's docile and tame.)

When they're half-asleep, you can take him/her out to get used to you.

 

[DanniTheExotic]

I actually don't own a bearded dragon, my brother does. He bought it when it was small and has had it for about a year. I'm sure he's doing something wrong because it's not really docile at all. When you reach into the tank to pick him (maybe her) up it flattens, opens it mouth, puffs it's beard and tries to evade capture. When you eventually do pick it up and hold it against you it stops showing aggression but certainly looks nervous and is clearly breathing very hard.

I know very little about reptiles (aquarium person myself), but this doesn't seem right. I fear if we leave him alone he will just end up being more and more antisocial. Are there steps we can take to tame him?

Okay, I had this problem when I got one of my dragons.
Sometimes they just don't like being handled. Most are docile, but like a lot of people have said on here. Dragons aren't like cats and dogs.
There are some ways you could try to calm them and have a go at making them more docile.
-Hand feeding/tweezer feeding. -So they learn to associate you with food.
-An old towel to wrap them up in, and just sit with them like that for about 10-20 minutes per day. If they look like they're getting more and more stressed and not calming down what so ever, put it back.
-Sit near the viv so they can see you, for maybe 20 minutes before you try to pick them up (Found this worked quite a bit with mine)

Some can't be tamed. But some can and it may take weeks to months to get them tamed. I wouldn't give up though. Just try be patient.