alanmin4304 Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 I am trying to get the message from my beardies. Can any beardie body language experts explain the following? Female turns her beard black under the throat. Male bobs head and female returns the gesture Both wave forelegs in a royal manner Male bites female's beard and she waves front legs as above. I have some ideas but am interested in what people with more experience think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 I think (hope) its Luuuurrrvvvee either that or go away politley....I find it hard to tell sometimes. Explains a lot eh...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakz Nz Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 The arm waving is so funny, have you tried putting a mirror in their enclosure ? I also like the head bobbing, Munch has a pattern of 2 bobs down and then 3 in reverse ... who would of known that you can have a bob that goes up ? I suppose it depends where you start from - ha ha The "biting" is more of a taste to say "oh I know you, hey it's me" kind of a re-assurance. If you seperate them and them put them back together one of the first things they do is the "lick / taste" ... they do it all the time when checking out enviroments to, they will take a few steps and then have a tatse of the gound or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 I am worried now. She was looking at me when her beard went black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Did you wave and change the colour of your Beard Alan? Nav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 A bit late for that, got the grey now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 :lol: you beardy "likes" you :lol: perhaps it is time for beardy babies sometime soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 And back to the question. Anyone translate the meaning of all this or do I ring the deaf assn on their fax? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 I think (hope) its Luuuurrrvvvee either that or go away politley....I find it hard to tell sometimes. Explains a lot eh...lol it is always hard to tell, if a female is involved alan it can be mating overtures or general asserting dominance it is a fine line in beardie language the biting her beard might be him testing the water so to speak the general demeanour of both dragons is important how they hold their body and head height and speed of the bobbing are to be taken into consideration also hopefully someone else will shed a better light on this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 to me a black beard in a female would say she is trying to take the appaerence of a male and is not receptive for whatever reason(typical??)He bobs his head to say I know its you?she waves her arm to show shes no threat to him,he has a taste to make sure its not really another male.I would separate them now and let them have a brumation time and then put them together as they awaken.(assuming you are wanting to breed them?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 +1 to what repto wrote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabz Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 How long have they been together for? Age is important, if your female is less than a year and a half old I would seperate them to stop them from breeding. The male matures much faster than the female and it can be really stressful on young females. Also, arm waving is a recessive gesture, its not a 'hey come over here', its more of a 'you're the boss / please don't hurt me' type thing. Head bobbing is a dominant gesture, kinda like flexing your muscles so to speak. These things are often looked at as being cute etc.. and people will try to sell them to you saying that its is just a pecking order type thing, but its not good. It can lead to biting and serious harm to either or both of your dragons. However, if your dragons are of age and what they are doing really is a part of courting then my suggestion is to monitor them and have a divider or second cage at the ready just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 I have built a double story terrarium which is one on top of the other and each is 1600x600x600mm. They are presently in the top one while the sand in the bottom one dries out. I then intend to seperate them and gradually reduce light and heat until July/August by which time I hope they will brumate. They have been together since young and they generally seem to get on OK but I will seperate them as soon as possible. The male is 3 years old and the female 2 years old. She laid three clutches of eggs last year but none hatched. I questioned the previous owner and it sounds like his incubator had temperature fluctuations all over the place and he let them dry out. I am therefore hopeful that was the cause and not the male firing blanks. The male is a red and the female red/yellow. After a long ongoing battle I manged to procure "the hard to obtain" incubator which seems to be unused and purpose made for reptiles. I also obtained an ex laboratory incubator which is identical to the ones we used when doing microbiology way way back in 1971. I have tested them both with an accurate electronic thermometer and they are both ranging 0.5 deg C of set point. We feel we therefore have the technology and await the goods. Timing is everything and I don't want to rush them. I would interpret the body language as suggested and was looking for confirmation from people with more experience. They were both together in a smaller terrarium untill I got this one finished and the male was not eating and looked like he wanted to start brumating so when I moved them I put the lights on for 14 hours and the heat up to mid 30s. I may have got them too excited and wonder if I should cut the lights and heat back a tad and seperate them as soon as possible. They are both active and eating well but I would think it a bit un natural for them to be breeding in the winter and would rather they bred spring/summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 you would be right there.Mine have been outside all summer and although still eating they are showing signs of brumating(even though they are now inside)I would split them up now and try again when they come out of brumation.Make sure your food supplies are well sorted before you go there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Thanks for the advice. Will work on it tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougstark Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Some of you may remember a little while back that there was a David Attemborough programe on reptiles. The signals you guys have been discussing were shown in the programe and he explained the head nodding as a Territorial/dominace thing and the leg waving as a "calm down I get the message" My male kicks up leaves as he nods his head looks quite funny. When I first put them in their new home (glasshouse) the male was doing the nodding so the female jumped of her log ran over and bit him. Usually now she just waves a leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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