Blankie Training Neville, step one

Tonight was a good night for me to work with Neville and his grumpiness. Time to introduce him to the joys of being wrapped in a blankie!

 He was unsure of it at first, but he also didn't fight it.

Close up, he looks like he's wearing Cherry Chapstick! I love it!

I held him in his blankie while I ate an ice cream cone and then I sat down in the rocking chair and watched a cool program on PBS about Himalayan burial grounds. Neville only freaked out once when I tried to cover his head. Nope! He hated that.

I stroked his head a little bit and rocked in the rocking chair. He looked around and stayed very calm and mellow.

I held him for over an hour and wouldn't quit until I saw this:

Success!!! He was comfortable enough to fall asleep on me. I let him rest for a few minutes and then I put him back in his tank.

We'll try again tomorrow.

Earlier today, I thought back to a few of my first "Aggressive" bearded dragon rescues. They did sorta terrify me. I used to give my grumpy ones to my friend Kristin. My definition of "Aggressive" is SOOOOO different now thanks to multiple iguanas, a couple monitors, and two starving 10 foot long Burmese. Even being bitten doesn't worry me as much (not that I like it) since I've been bitten a half dozen times by mean iguanas, a Savannah monitor, and a Burmese python. It's all about perspective.

Plus, I think beardies become used to reacting a certain way and having people respond back in a certain way. If they flare up and thrash, they are used to the reaction of withdrawing. Neville did that earlier and I just laughed at him and kept holding him. I expect he'll still try to be a brat with me, but he's going to learn very quickly that I don't back off. Ha! He will like that blankie! ;)

Pickle 2, rescue number 34, now known as Georgie

I got another juvenile aggressive beardie today. My daughter calls him "Pickle 2" but that won't be his official name. He's been bounced at least 4 times this year alone and hisses & puffs up at everyone. I have been sick today so I sent my hubby & kids to go pick him up. I pulled him out of the box and he was cold. So I put him on my chest and did a "kangaroo pouch" for him. He's been asleep there very since.

"Pickle 2" or whatever his name will be

I'm hopeful he'll be easier to tame than Pickle. Pickle is, at the ripe old age of 7 months, the biggest stinker beardie I have EVER met. EVER. We do have a truce and he'll let me wrap him in a towel at night and put him in my shirt. Tonight, though, when I went to pick him up, he tried to bite me several times. Everything freaks Pickle out. He is anxious and aggressive. Poor guy. It's going to take awhile before I can get him calmer.

So having Pickle 1 as a basis for what a grumpy beardie is, Pickle 2 seems to be a piece of cake.

Pickle in his favorite place-- a towel 

UPDATE 12/18/13-- I finally decided to call "Pickle 2" by the name of "Georgie."

Volcano, rescue number 25.2

Volcano came back to me today. He did not play well with his new owner who loved him and tried everything she could to make him happy. He did the same thing at this new house that he did at the house he had before I got him-- hissing, puffing up, running away, and just being mean.

So now it's time for the next intensive level of Volcano rehabilitation. He may be with me for awhile as he learns how to play nice and be friendly. Aggressive beardies are very unusual. I don't think he's aggressive, but I do think he knows how to act so he's left alone.

But his grumpy behavior has no impact on me. He puffs up and I laugh at him. He tries to be fierce and I shake my head and ask if that's all he's got. You see, once you own a diva iguana, "Aggressiveness" takes on a whole new meaning. Volcano is in the little leagues for aggressiveness and we're going to fix that with him.

Volcano, rescue number 25

Volcano was bought by a family a couple weeks ago who quickly learned that he was not as "friendly" and "nice" as the previous owners said he was. That did not go over well with the little kids in his family. His hissing and spitting and black beard freaked them out.

So after many discussions, I traded Apollo for "Cano."

I brought him home and got him out of his 20 gallon sand tank and into a, you guessed it, 40 gallon tank with astroturf. :) Can you tell what my favorite tank set up is?

He is a 2 to 3 year old male and he is TINY for his age! He's definitely going to take some work to get him friendly again, and he's already learning that when he puffs out his beard, I don't shrink back.

"Uh huh, Tough Stuff, what else you got?" is how I respond.

Beardies can be like dogs (or kids)-- if they learn that a certain behavior gets them left alone, they'll do it over and over again. Volcano's previous "mom" spent at least 20 minutes getting him out of the tank. Nope, not here. I've been bitten, scratched, whipped with a tail, pooped on, hissed out, head thumped at, poked. It just doesn't phase me anymore.

Here he is in his nice new cage-- I don't even think he knows what to do with so much space! He's a bit spooked out so we'll give him a couple days to adjust before I start really training him. Before he knows it, he'll be thrilled to go on car rides and be the center of attention after school. :)