- I never understood just how bad
my code of management is until I did a shot
sitting down here.
But it's fine.
Today, I wanted to talk about something
that I kind of enjoy, probably more than I should.
(mellow jazz music) And that is
angry bearded dragons.
There's gonna be a lot of angry animals
when you have things coming in and out
that have been from very different homes
or are just very individualized,
even if that home worked really hard
to tame the animal down.
There's still a lot of variation.
You might be able to hear noise in the background
'cause one of those beardies is out right now.
And he's like running around to all the other enclosures.
All the dragons are kinda blocked off from each other
'cause there's four in the room.
And they kinda freak out when they see each other.
But they all saw this one dude which I'll grab now.
He's a little preoccupied and has been out for a while.
So we'll see how he acts. (chuckles)
So if you are at all used to a bearded dragon,
this might now be the personality you usually see in one.
Or maybe it is, depending on what your dragon's like.
Ooh, but (chuckles).
Calm.
Telling him to calm down, sadly, does not work.
But I did wanna go over the techniques that I have used
to tame bearded dragons down, get 'em used to handling
and make even get them to like you a little bit.
Emerald Scales is a website where we sell animals
that come in and out.
If you need to re-home an animal, we'll usually take it.
And we'll get it up to perfect health
and then, sell it on the site.
And this is one of those, along with many others
that I've gotten to work with.
Most of the beardies are super sweet.
It's maybe like a third of 'em need a little bit of work
and a quarter are like on the crazy side like this.
So first of all, why would a beardie be so crazy?
Well, the first simple one is because
they weren't handled or improperly handled as they grew up.
But even if you weren't doing that,
there are just those individuals that
still aren't a huge fan
because just their personality.
And they are not all cloned to themself.
They are very individualized.
It's pretty simple to tell when a dragon is not happy.
Their beard will turn black.
Also, an obvious one is their mouth is open.
Just kinda showing you their teeth
'cause they have pretty intimidating.
They look pretty razor sharp teeth.
Admittedly, I've never actually been bitten
by a bearded dragon,
even though we've had a few dozen come through.
It's not like.
I doubt it's the worst bite ever.
I'd much rather get bit by a dragon
than some of the other things in the room.
And we might experience that today.
I really hope not.
I wanna keep my streak going 'cause getting bit's not.
Why do people like, promote getting bit?
It's not fun.
Don't get bit.
Let's go ahead and get into what I usually do
to get a dragon like this
into a dragon that's chill and easy to work with.
Even though I won't be able to show you this guy's
full transformation (chuckles)
since it does take a little while.
First off, I did not start with him in the enclosure.
I probably should have.
But usually, when you have an upset beardie,
you walk up to the enclosure,
and they immediately open their mouth,
especially when you start to reach in.
This is very intimidating.
Just imagine these massive flesh things
just coming down and reaching towards you.
It's not gonna be fun.
You're going to do everything you can to defend yourself.
They go into fight or flight mode
just like any other animal.
And I think it's kind of adorable when they do this.
I don't want them to be stressed.
He is very stressed out right now.
He's very unhappy which is one of the things
you're gonna have to deal with while working on this.
But since he's already stressed, you might as well enjoy it.
That's weird to say.
Basically, they try to act all angry and scary.
But in reality, you just look into their eyes,
and you just see fear.
And it's just kinda cute. (chuckles)
It's like, oh.
And I don't know.
You just feel kinda bad.
But it's like they're so innocent.
They're just tryin' to stay safe
while they freak out like this.
He's also had many opportunities to.
Like he could still bite me right now,
but he's just choosing not to.
So reaching into the enclosure is the first difficult feat
you have to accomplish.
Going from above is often pretty intimidating.
So when I'm picking a dragon up to get it started,
I usually, first of all, make sure they know that I'm there.
I don't wanna startle them.
But let's face it.
They probably know I'm there.
Even if they do see you, if they see your face
and you're like this and you reach from above,
this might not be seen as the same entity.
They might not recognize that the hand is connected to me.
And that can still startle them.
So what I try to do with pretty much any animal
is start down low, away from them,
and just very lightly kinda touch 'em
and let them know that someone's there and he's.
Ow God, look at my arm.
It's so scratched up.
You can wear gloves if you want.
I don't know why I'm not.
I forgot how sharp bearded dragons can be.
Still not like some animal bites are bad, but still.
So anyway, picking them up,
I start down by the tail usually.
And then, I work my way up
and pick them up,
pick them up.
I'm not an expert, okay.
I'm just showing what I know. (chuckles)
And I pick them up from the hind legs like this.
And I wanna kind of immediately support them,
so they're not uncomfortable like that.
Once they're up, this is the scary part
because you don't wanna drop them.
That's also why I'm on the floor
'cause if I drop him, he's not gonna die.
Unless he's actually in my hands, each.
Is this a female?
Ow, I can't remember if this is
male or female.
And they don't want me to check.
This is a female.
So once you have the dragon in your hands,
each one is going to act differently.
Some might immediately start lashing out
and going for your fingers
which is why you could consider using some gloves.
It's more difficult to do, and it's kind of.
It feels less hands-on to me
'cause there is that barrier between your hands.
But it's also nice to not bleed everywhere.
And especially on your hands, it sucks to have cuts there
'cause like, you use your hands a lot, touch.
You like, you do a lot with your hands.
And I like to keep 'em not bloody.
I really do not want to let them go
without like, crushing them.
And there's also a lotta eye contact here.
Eye contact can be a form of intimidation.
Usually, I've ignored that rule, and I'm still fine.
But I guess it makes sense.
It's just hard not to make eye contact with them,
like an animal, at least a non-human animal.
And personally, what I like to do is get them close
to my body which is also kinda scary.
Usually, I'll try and go under,
keep my fingers clear
and work my way to my chest.
Get 'em completely flat,
so they feel kinda secure like this.
And then, just let 'em kinda chill and sit here.
Now some dragons are-- (dragon thumps on floor)
Hey, look at that.
He's like really helpin' out.
I was just about the say, some dragons are gonna run.
But that's useful since I was distracted.
I'm gonna blame it on bein' distracted,
but it's actually just 'cause
I'm still not the most amazing person at this.
He's now under the reptile rack.
So I get to get him out.
I'm gonna try and use that same technique
where I go from the tail and up.
Okay, so same idea with picking him up.
Now they don't drop their tails or anything
like other lizards.
But I still can probably safely assume
that they don't like being grabbed by the tail.
Again, I'm gonna go close to my body, but away from my face.
And this time, I'm really gonna hold him on top.
And I don't know how much, how important this next step is,
but I try and just keep petting.
And then, I do this
until they're normal. (chuckles)
Now it's not going to be like you do this once,
and then, it's done forever.
But one of the goals, one of the issues
that happens a lot is people will have an angry animal,
whether it's a snake, lizard, whatever.
And they'll take it out, and they'll handle it for a sec.
And then, it gets angry, and they put it back
'cause they feel bad.
They don't wanna stress the animal out,
and they want the animal to not hate them.
So they're like, "Oh, I better put it back
"so that they don't always get angry on me."
But this is doing the opposite.
They are smarter than some people think
at least in some areas
where a good majority of species are going to remember
that all they have to do to get what they want
is become angry.
It's like a form of parenting, I guess.
So my goal is, no matter how angry they get,
if you can, if you're not bleeding too much.
Obviously this depends on the species, but for a dragon.
Again, I can't speak because I have not taken bites.
But I feel that's a good sign that you can usually do it
without taking bites.
Again, we haven't had the worst dragons on earth.
But we've had some pretty crazy ones.
He's not the worst.
Or this one's not at all the worst either that we've had.
But it's slightly higher on the list than average.
So I wanna be confident but slow, I guess.
I don't wanna grab too hard, but I don't wanna have
too soft of a grip.
And I just keep hanging out.
I'm talking loudly right now,
so the mic can pick me up easily.
And I can't predict how long this is gonna take.
It's been maybe 15 minutes so far overall.
But again, I'm filming, and there's bright lights.
And he ran away a couple (chuckles).
She ran away a couple times.
And I just keep trying to slowly pet
and give an idea that I'm not harming it.
And you gotta make sure you don't harm it in the process.
By far the hardest part is not dropping
or throwing the animal when they lunge at you.
That simply takes, I think, a lotta practice
which again, is why I like to be on the floor
while I do this.
Now I really like to do the head pets.
This one's not gonna be a big fan, obviously.
Who but Augusta doesn't like head pets?
I'm tryin' to just really not be sporadic with movement.
Even if he jerks to the side really fast,
I try to stay still where I am.
But again, your instincts are going to take over
'cause we're animals as much as they are.
And it'll take practice on both ends.
It's a learning experience for everyone.
I'm just a little lucky
'cause I've already done this with others.
And I'm still obviously having issues
which is gonna happen 'cause each one is different.
It's pretty; I don't know.
It becomes kind of therapeutic after a while.
It's a little better with a non-angry dragon.
It's also probably not helping that now that
he's not, she's not in her.
Why do I keep saying he?
It's probably not helping that when she's in her enclosure,
she can't see the other dragons.
But now there are three dragons all just around.
And I can't really move the enclosures.
So usually, I would do this in a separate room.
So even if you are good for a second,
I try to keep going and extend past
when she calms down.
I'm just gonna try and keep going.
Look at this lighting.
It's terrible; hold on.
That's still bad, whatever.
This is not a filming room, okay?
I came in here because he just kept lunging
at the other dragons to the enclosures.
And it was not helping my case.
So I would recommend him being the only dragon.
It's been about 20 to 25 minutes of doing the same thing.
I can already tell.
She just feels less tense.
Her muscles are less tense,
like I just said five seconds ago.
But she's still giving me the stink eye
and occasionally opening her mouth.
It's in the right direction.
It's going as I would expect it.
The funny thing is, as we sit here,
I'm always curious to see
how animals react to other animals,
like not when they can actually see each other.
But I put her up to Bonemo's enclosure,
and there was just no reaction.
Savannah monitors are pretty similar in shape.
They both look like lizards 'cause they are both lizards.
They're a similar size.
But they didn't mind each other at all.
Bonemo was just licking the glass.
Be like, oh what's that?
And then, the beardie just didn't even care.
But then, I go out and put her in front of another dragon,
and she just freaks out.
So it's interesting how different they can tell,
how much they can tell different species apart
from their own kind.
You can now see, there is a closed mouth.
That is some pretty cool progress.
Obviously, this is not going to be consistent.
When I put her back and take her out tomorrow, she's.
Or even the second time today, but usually, I do once a day.
She's gonna probably be about as she was
when I took her out, maybe a little bit different.
Usually, I've noticed it takes maybe a month or so.
It definitely varies.
Some only take a week.
Some are immediate.
Like there's been some dragons
or some animals in general we get
where the owner will be like,
"Yeah, it's so aggressive.
"I can't handle it.
"It's crazy."
And we'll be at our house, and we'll take it out.
And it'll just be fine.
Usually, it's because people are too finicky.
I don't wanna use her as an example
'cause it'll kinda mess up.
But if you like, if you do this a lot,
I don't wanna really jerk.
But if you're hesitant, they pick that up.
And it's very scary
'cause they can't tell what's happening.
So learning the confidence of it
is something that takes me a lotta practice.
And I'm still not used to it with a lotta animals.
And not hesitating, just going for it
and being ready to take the bite.
Anticipation's always worse than the actual bite,
assuming you're not working
with something venomous or massive.
Something else I love to do,
which I'll probably do it now, but she might run,
is just put her on my desk next to my keyboard,
right next to my arm as I'm typing
and just letting her sit there for a couple of hours.
I do not worry about about having it out for too long
when I'm trying to tame it down.
I do it for as long as physically possible.
Again, I like to head pet, so I go on up to the nose.
Also, they really push their beard out as you can see.
Usually, it's kinda flat back,
but they try to make themselves look huge and scary.
But it just makes them look cuter.
So joke's on you; it's not working.
So I guess now, it's been about 30 minutes.
We're still making progress.
I'm gonna go ahead and put her on my desk
in probably 10 minutes and see how long she sticks around.
Hopefully, this is interesting.
She's the craziest dragon we have right now.
Hopefully, I can continue to show pro.
I think she; I don't know if.
She might have sold; I can't remember.
Either way, we are always very clear.
If the dragon is not handle-able,
we are so obvious about that on the site.
And a lotta people like to target those
because they do enjoy doing the same thing I do
with working with them like this.
But I still put as much work as I can into them
before they're shipped off.
And sometimes, we will wait completely, before they're,
so that they're calm and friendly
because that's usually more appealing to people.
What's your preference?
Do you enjoy working with the crazy animals?
Do you like to seek out those that are just comfortable,
so you can just enjoy your time with them?
Let me know in the comments,
and I'll try and read 'em maybe.
Probably not.
I'll read 'em.
So you can head on over to emeraldscales.com.
If there's anything on the site, hopefully.
We're trying to list stuff every Tuesday,
but it's not a perfect site.
So you can follow _emeraldscales on Instagram.
For new animals as soon as they're posted,
you can turn on notifications on Instagram for that account.
But this is the dragon.
Unfortunately, I can't show you an exact
transformation in this video.
But that's why another part will be cool.
And I'll try to do the same
with future animals that need it.
If you wanna see more videos like blah, blah, blah, blah.
I'm tired of talking.
You get what I'm saying.
Just bye. (chuckles)
Hey, look at that, closed mouth, oh yeah.
This is scary. (chuckles) (mellow keyboard music)
You go, girl.
But that's what I'm talkin' about.
That's how I feel like what I should see,
especially for the first official day of doing this.
I would say that it has gone pretty well.
Right?
That is true, yes.
See, you can see a pretty big difference.
It's now been about 35 to 40 minutes
and closed mouth, relaxed.
Arms are just kinda hangin' over the side.
Muscles are not at all tense right now.
Breathing is slow.
The beard is back.
Oh and then, I looked, and I startled her.
But that's okay, still.
Most certainly good progress.
(smooth jazz music)