frightened beardie

Question
Hi, i got my bearded dragon for Christmas when he was a juvi, so 3-4 months or so, and its February now, i think my cats might have spooked him and so he is scared when i try picking him up, but i had no problem when i first got him. Whenever i try to pick him up he'll twist his body and his beard inflates, i read online that this means that they feel threatened or scared. Is there a way to make him unafraid again? I would like to be able to handle him again before he gets older making it harder to do so.

Answer
Hi Marissa,

It may be fear based but it also sounds like he may be going through a period of increased assertiveness due to his impending sexual maturity. He is exactly the right age for that phase and I definitely think it is more pronounced in males.  I run into this very commonly with iguanas as well. They can be quite tame as and passive as babies then become very un-tame and aggressive as adolescents only to mellow out again as they further approach adulthood. All this occurs with no change of effort or behaviour on the part of the owner!

Offering a favourite food by hand is one way to change his attitude toward your hand. Another is to try to approach him more from the side rather then from above. Reptiles are often preyed on from above so anythng that "swoops in" can inadvertently trigger their fright and flight response. If he is near a window and can actually see birds going by above him then this fear can be re-enforced. Make sure he has some type of hide spot that he can go under to increase his sense of security. You might also try covering a couple side of his enclosure with decorative aquarium backing so that he feels less exposed and has less visual interaction with your cats.

Aggressive adult beardeds certainly exist but it is not a very common problem, I really suspect that this phase will pass with time.