All reptile lovers and even non reptile lovers are bound to be fascinated by the bearded dragon's behavior. This Australian lizard is awake during the day and this means that owners will be able to spend their waking hours observing their reptile friends. Through observing your pet you will become more familiar with their behavior patterns and their sometimes unusual habits.
Dragons are social creatures and although much of their time is spent basking on hot surfaces, other common characteristics of the desert living lizard include tree climbing, bonding, napping and hunting. By nature the bearded dragon is very docile and although they are active hunters they spend much of their time together and in some cases actually sitting on top of each other. As with most other species, male and female dragons display different behavioral patterns and these differences become very evident during mating season.
With the need to impress and attract female admirers, a dominant lizard will bob their head to indicate their readiness and willingness to mate. In return a lady dragon will be happy to wave her arms and bob her head at the male counterpart. Strangely the arm waving is also a common behavioral pattern of the male species and in fact, this unusual 360 degree arm waving ritual was used to first name these creatures. A bearded dragon was originally referred to as the "Tata Dragon" or the "Goodbye Dragon". The arm waving behavior is not a greeting and although part of the mating process the peculiar wave is performed by the native Australian lizard to lower their body temperatures. Considering these guys live in the scorching hot deserts, one may expect a lot of arm waving when in their natural habitats. Owners have also noticed that the pace of the wave flapping may also be an indication of the mood of the dragon whereby slow waving movements indicates a calm relaxed mood, while rapid arm flapping is a sign of aggression.
Brumation is the term used to describe the bearded dragon's hibernation period and even though they do not sleep as the word hibernation suggests the lizards rather 'shut down' their systems and go into hiding. Hibernation tends to last for around four weeks and while in this state of shut down, dragons consume less and this will result in severe weight loss. Hibernation is a natural phase for dragons in their yet pet owners keeping them in captivity should not encourage this behavior by stimulating the winter period, unless they intend to breed the dragons.
Burrowing and digging are other common behaviors of this fascinating reptile and burrowing can be a sign of various things. A female bearded dragon will dig a burrow when she is ready to deposit her eggs, while both male and females will burrow to take a nap or to turn in for the evening. Those who keep the lizards will also discover that burrowing can also be an indication that their pet is stressed and needs some time out. If burrowing continues for a long period of time, owners should be alerted that their pet is stressed, or may be ill.
Biting is part of the bearded dragon's normal behavior pattern and they will bite for any number of reasons. Mating females often bite their male suitors during energetic mating. Biting will also occur if the lizards are hungry, threatened, taunted or scared. A self-defense behavior pattern or mechanism is to wave their arms furiously, open their mouths while emitting strange hissing type sounds, followed by a fast dashing motion and trying to make their bodies as flat as possible.
In general, bearded dragons are passive and social creatures and if they are cared for well and never taunted, these arm flapping, head bobbing lizards make for extraordinary pets. As opposed to many other ordinary pets, dragons will need to receive continual care and attention and if received in the right dosage, pet owners in turn, will be rewarded with the opportunity to witness the somewhat peculiar, yet enlightening behavior of the bearded dragon.
The Bearded Dragon Manual (Advanced Vivarium Systems)
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