In Need of Advice- New Dragon

[Cakepan]

Hello! I'm a new and happy owner of a bearded dragon named Pancake. We got him from bloodbankdragons.com almost 3 weeks ago, and by reading "The Bearded Dragon Manual" he's 12 inches long, so that makes him a sub-adult. It doesn't seem like he's been socialized much around humans however; he's fine with some petting and picking up from the tank (he's rather chill as long as he's balanced, never bites at me, and doesn't run from me), but after 5-10 minutes on my shoulder he will open his mouth and huff. He hasn't bitten me yet, just opens his mouth and I look at him like "this isn't gonna work, buddy" and he closes it. I did try the burrito blanket technique once, a week after he seemed adjusted and he seemed too squirmy and kept trying to get out. I feel bad when I see him clawing at the tank and I let him out to run around after I've picked up the room to make sure it's safe (The basking areas and the cool areas are the correct temperature and he gets misted every other day). He'll sit on the bed or on my lap for a few minutes and run away. When I see him running off of the bed towards furniture he can hide under, pick him up and gently hold him and when he tries to run from my hands I have the other one in front to catch him til he tires himself out from trying to run away. Then after he's calmed down and doesn't fidget anymore, I put him back in the tank and I pet him on the head, he then opened his mouth at me today and huffed a couple times (he doesn't even stick his beard out all the way, just slightly). When he decided when that wasn't going to scare me off, he flinched! I just want to know if I'm doing everything correctly and I hope I'm not traumatizing the poor guy. There's so little info on trying to tame a sub-adult out there, everything's about juvies and babies. I was wondering if anyone could give me advice or let me know I'm doing something right!

How long did your beardies all take to completely tame for you?

Will he calm down when he grows up more?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[scm133]

Sounds like he is testing the waters...like "I am the dominant male, and don't you forget it!!". It sounds like you are doing everything right. It just takes time. The only time that I use the burrito trick is when the room is dark, and it is his bedtime. I did get mine as a baby, and he was very well socialized, but I had to gain his trust. When he is on the floor running around, you need to also sit, and "socialize". When I first did this with Hugo, he would zip past me, and stop and look. Once he realized that I was not going to chase him, then he started coming up and "tasting" my leg. Just keep on doing what you are doing, and he will be fine.

 

[Cakepan]

Thanks! I will. I'm very happy to know I'm doing the right things. I want him to be happy and someday feel comfortable in his new home.

 

[Momswims1]

Hey. My 11 inch boy acts very much the same way without the huffing. He is very active in the day, likes to scratch at the tank until I take him out to play. I let him run around and get some energy out, let him explore, chase him a little, and then when he is ready, he comes right up, climbs up on my head or shoulder for 10 minutes or so.
In the evening, closer to bedtime, he is ready for some serious snuggle time, but only first thing in the mornning or late in the evening. I just figure he is a child and only wants to snuggle when he is not in the mood to be goofy, kind of like my human children.
Sounds like you have a great little dragon and he is warming up to you. Keep up the good work.

 

[Cakepan]

That's good to hear that I'm not alone on this one and that Pancake is acting quite normal! I was told to beware of handling them close to bedtime after the lights are out because they might strike thinking you are a predator. Is there a way to safely do this? Maybe I turn the lights down a bit to get him sleepy? He seems to close his eyes when the lights are off or dim more often, showing me he's tired.

 

[Momswims1]

I don't know about the predator thing. I rock mine to sleep almost every night. I wrap them in one of their soft blankets, put them on my chest or lap and within minutes they are asleep. Maybe it's because they know our sent and our way of petting them. If it were a stranger, they might react in fear. They know our voices and our sent for sure. But I also have had mine since they were hatchlings. It might be different if you got one as an adult. Probably lots of factors, huh?
My female loves to crawl up under my hair and would stay there all day if I let her. My male likes to run and play. Very different personalities. I have never seen her "glass dance" in the tank, but he does it every day.
How is your beardie baby doing now?

 

[Cakepan]

He's doing really well, I haven't done the blanket thing recently, I will probably tonight, but I put him on my shoulder today while I worked on some artwork and he chilled for the entire time (about an hour). The only reason I put him back was to go get some lunch. He's making good progress, I also gave him a bath yesterday and he didn't swim he just looked at me like "Why did you put me in here?" So I picked him back up and he ran up to my shoulder.

He does the glass dance and tries to jump out but he sees me coming and has been taking a step TOWARDS me for once! Because he probably knows that I'm the key to getting out of the glass box.

That sounds super adorable that you rock yours to sleep. Pancake fidgets a bit when wrapped up but when I tried that one time and took a piece of the blanket and gently rubbed his head with it and he fell asleep.

 

[Cakepan]

Ok I have something to add, I had him on my shoulder again today, he was fine earlier, and then after a while he made this noise that sounded like a whining puppy. Is he okay?