young beardie hisses and bites

Question
we purchased spike recently off craigslist and he is not a friendly dragon. he will hiss and even try to bite you if you try to pick him up. we would like to work with him and help him calm down and trust people but we do not know where to start. are we stressing him out more by picking him up even though he does not like it? also he had no UV light when we got him and he is about 8 or 9 inches long

Answer
Hello Lisa,

Oh that is too bad.  He has most likely been mishandled or abused.  :-((
Do you have the proper setup now?  Let me know if you want to go over your tank setup just to make sure your UVB lighting, etc, is all correct for him.  Do you have an approximate age?  Poor thing.  Good of you to take him in, but you have your hands full.
Start by getting something you can use as a treat so he will begin associating you with something good, even if it is food at first.  Eventually you will get his trust & the bond will hopefully occur by then as well.  
Don't back down from him because then he thinks that he has won by scaring you off.  If he opens his mouth to try & bite or hiss, stick a piece of greens or fruit into his mouth.  Maybe he will stop doing that.

Good luck, & let me know how it goes.

Tracie