Bearded Dragon Head Bobbing – 5 TOP Reasons they bob their head

Bearded dragons do all sorts of strange things with their bodies

Bearded dragons will show a black beard when upset

They will also puff up when they are stressed or excited

They do all sorts of things that new owners are totally thrown by

head-bobbing is one of those strange things that bearded dragons do

If you catch your bearded dragon head bobbing you will probably say “what are they doing?”

What does my bearded dragon head bobbing mean?

There are a few different reasons why you might see your bearded dragon head bobbing

bearded dragon head bobbing

When your bearded dragon is bobbing its head it is usually because of something going on around it

usually, they are feeling stressed out or anxious when they are bobbing their head

One of the first things you should pay attention to is this

They are sharing a tank with another bearded dragon or animal

The first thing you’re going to want to think about is their tank and what’s going on inside

if they’re sharing a tank with another bearded dragon this can cause them to bob their head

Bearded dragons are notoriously territorial

They will fight to protect their little spaces

If someone or something comes into or around their space that makes them feel uncomfortable they will bob their head

Another animal will make them bob their head because your bearded dragon wants to dominate the space

They will want to make sure other animals know it’s their space and not to mess with it

its a sign of domination

This works by making them appear to be bigger than they actually are

birds will do this when they’re sick or wounded

They will puff up their feathers to make them appear bigger than they are

So when it comes to nature size will help keep predators away!

This is when you’ll see them puffing up

If they are actually trying to show dominance you should see some pretty fast and intense head bobbing going on

So this is pretty normal behavior for a bearded dragon if they are sharing a space with another reptile

It’s best to keep them isolated from others

They are submitting

When there are other bearded dragons or reptiles around they will fight for dominance

Until one is established this will happen over and over

sometimes they will even fight

Bigger bearded dragons usually will try to dominate the smaller bearded dragons and again sometimes it will end up in a fight

If you catch your bearded dragon head bobbing it could be fighting for its tank and territory or submitting to the other reptiles in the tank

Having a couple of male bearded dragons hanging around is usually a bad idea because they will fight over the female

when this happens you can expect a lot of injuries and a high vet bill because they can seriously hurt each other

Mating and bearded dragon head bobbing

Another reason you might see your bearded dragon head bobbing is they are trying to mate

mating is a big thing that happens when bearded dragons reach adulthood

They get this massive urge to start mating are that time

If a male and a female bearded dragon are around each other and its mating time you will see some head bobbing going on

Female bearded dragons will head bob as well but they do it in a much slower manner

They do this to show their male counterparts they are willing to submit

Why a bearded dragon will head bob with a human

Bearded dragons will head bob with humans sometimes because of a couple of reasons

Sometimes they are literally just going to mimic you and have fun with you

Sometimes they do this because they are having a dominance match with you

They will do this the most when you first bring them home

This is when they are the most uncomfortable and easy to scare

They are getting used to their environment so they are going to try to establish their dominance early

Eventually, they will bond with you and they won’t do this as much

Often times they will bob their head at you because they recognize you are the dominant one in the room

They might also do this if you’re scaring them

When I first brought my beardie home I was holding him a lot

Bearded Dragons get territorial

Another reason why your bearded dragon will bob its head is that it’s feeling territorial

You may have guests over at your house. Your beardie might get upset that other people are around

This is especially true when you’re just bringing him home

bearded dragon head bobbing

Anytime a bearded dragon is unfamiliar with something it will not be the happiest reptile in the world

The absolute best way to get them used to you is to spend a lot of time with them

Eventually, your bearded dragon will bond closely with you and then it won’t matter if you have people over at your place or not

There are a few things that can make your beardie bob its head and if it’s followed by a black beard then it can mean something a little more

When I first brought my bearded dragon home I was playing loud music and my bearded dragon was showing his black beard

it actually took me a long time to figure out what the issue was

Other animals might cause your bearded dragon head bobbing

If you have other animals in the house your bearded dragon is going to bob its head at your pet

This is your bearded dragon’s way of trying to set the tone of the relationship

Something I always remember is that many animals are much bigger than bearded dragons

They are going to try to appear much bigger because they aren’t very big creatures themselves

Female bearded dragon head bobbing

The lady Bearded dragons do some head bobbing as well

Female bearded dragons will do slower and less intense head bobbing

This is usually a sign of submission

They are trying to say they are willing to accept the male bearded dragon

Bearded dragon head bobbing while sleeping

Your bearded dragon will sometimes bob its head while sleeping

This happens all the time to my friend bearded dragon

Now my friend has a lot of light going on in the room so what will happen is his bearded dragon will show signs of frustration by bobbing his head

Should i ever really worry about my bearded dragon head bobbing?

Many new owners will ask this question and to be honest… no

It’s not really a big deal. It’s totally natural and normal for bearded dragons to do this

Certain behaviors like glass surfing you should be concerned about

head-bobbing is fine

If you see this all the time then I would just take a look around its environment and see what’s going on

it could be a plethora of things like loud music, another animal, a new home, or guests in the house

Bearded dragons have some big personalities sometimes and they will let you know when something is going on with them

Summary and questions

I remember being a new beardie owner and it can be daunting trying to figure everything out

Trying to figure out the tank size, substrate, food list, decor and then to add behaviors to the list

I totally understand what you might be thinking but having a bearded dragon is totally rewarding

They are quirky and have strong needs but they are awesome little pets to have

A bearded dragon head bobbing doesn’t always mean its a huge issue but it gives you enough information to think about what might be going on in their head

Thank you for reading!