Caring for your pet bearded dragon can make you wonder how its species survives in the wild. As a beardie owner, I’ve asked this question countless times. We can determine how smart (or silly) beardies truly are based on spatial awareness, memory, mimicry, and imaginative thinking, with the help of some scientific studies. This discussion offers a deeper understanding of your pet’s intelligence and how it impacts its daily life.
Bearded dragons are relatively clever; they are smarter than some box turtles and geckos but not as sharp as mice or birds. For instance, beardies can recognize their owners after consistent interaction but have limitations in building emotional connections and in-depth perception.
How Smart Are Bearded Dragons? What Your Beardie Can Do
Beardies are driven by their instincts to survive, which mostly consist of food and sunlight. While your pet cannot solve complex puzzles or predict circumstances, it can perform the following tasks:
Identify Its Owner
Bearded dragons can remember their caregivers and associate them with positive or negative feelings. If you treat your pet with utmost love and respect, it will see you as a source of safety and provision, and can equally dislike you when treated poorly. Additionally, beardies can differentiate or identify the voice they’ve grown accustomed to. Sometimes, they use pitch and intonation to recognize the names given to them.
Be Taught Certain Actions
Researchers have proven bearded dragons can be taught to solve simple tasks, as in the experiment carried out by Anna Kis et al. (2015). The first half of the study successfully trained a 3-year-old bearded dragon to slide open a door to get a reward which was kept on the other side. In the video footage, you can see the beardie using its forelimbs to open the sliding door exactly as trained.
This demonstrated quality proves that you can train your beardie to willingly climb into your hands, or even indicate when it needs to poop.
Imitate Activities
The most interesting part of the experiment we’ve just discussed, which is the second phase of the study, depicts bearded dragons’ ability to imitate. Once the researchers successfully trained the beardie to open the sliding door, they showed the recorded footage to other dragons who had not been trained. Surprisingly, the untrained group opened mimicking the technique observed in the video; as they had seen in the clip!
Mimicry is often attributed to intelligence, a trait not commonly linked to beardies. However, this experiment demonstrates that they can indeed imitate the actions of other creatures, which further confirms their problem-solving skills.
Interpret Visual Cues
Beardies understand social hierarchy and have a sense of spatial awareness. This comes into play when they defend their surroundings or establish their rank amongst other dragons. They use cues like hand waving or head bobbing to communicate dominance, submit accordingly, or map out their territory.
Another study has proven the ability of beardies to evaluate optical illusions, which requires a level of imaginative thinking. In the experiment, scientists placed the same quantity of food on plates of different sizes and the bearded dragon consistently chose the plate that visually appeared to hold more food. This behavior further indicates that they can make informed decisions by weighing their options based on visual cues.
Display Curiosity
Curiosity fosters interest, learning, and recognition making it a valuable trait of intelligence. While this concept may seem mundane, not all animals—such as certain frogs, toads, and fish—exhibit curiosity due to their limited brain capacity. Pet beardies are capable of finding joy in exploring their surroundings, which is safe with supervision.
Although beardies are curious, they have poor depth perception, making them prone to misjudging distances. This is why they’re likely to jump off high surfaces or run into harmful obstacles. To prevent accidents, monitor your pet’s movement and keep it away from balconies, stairways, or patios with steep drops.
5 Tested Ways to Improve Your Bearded Dragon’s Intelligence
From the experiments we’ve gone over, it’s established that bearded dragons can learn and be trained. While your lizard companion is naturally clever, here are ways you can train your beardie and enhance its intelligence:
1. Use Rewards
The key to successfully training your pet beardie is rewarding it with treats such as its favorite fruits, flowers, some worms, and vegetables. If you’re not sure of your pet’s favorites, exploring varieties can be a fun way to discover what treats it enjoys the most. My article on what bearded dragons eat will guide you in this aspect. If you associate yourself or certain words with prizes, your pet will learn to respond accordingly.
2. Use Consistent Visual Cues
Beardies are visual learners, but they require consistency to learn effectively. For example, saying “come” while making a hand gesture can help your bearded dragon remember the meaning of the command. Similarly, calling its name before feeding it a treat can help it recognize its name. However, you must stick to these specific commands; do not use different words or gesticulate with foreign signs. This will help your bearded dragon become familiar with them and establish a routine.
3. Get Some Toys for Your Beardie
Bearded dragons enjoy exploring new shapes and forms as they often seek new pathways or sources of food. Brightly colored objects like toy balls, mostly in greens and reds, can capture their attention, stimulate their curiosity, and enhance their intelligence.
4. Allow Your Pet to Socialize
While bearded dragons are generally solitary animals, some may learn to socialize with other dragons or household pets. However, it’s crucial to supervise these interactions to avoid altercations that may lead to injuries. If your beardie shows signs of stress while interacting, quickly return it to its enclosure. Remember that each bearded dragon has a unique personality, so some may prefer solitude over socializing.
5. Engage Your Pet in Simple Games
You can mentally stimulate your bearded dragon by playing interactive games such as hide-and-seek or by creating obstacle courses in its enclosure. If the tank is large enough, you can use branches to form a mini maze with treats at the end or hide them in various spots for your pet to discover. Regularly engaging in these activities can boost your pet’s problem-solving skills.
Do Bearded Dragons Like to Play?
Bearded dragons enjoy occasional interaction, especially with their live food. They may not experience excitement like cats or dogs but can still relish the thrill of adequate stimulation. This can in turn improve their cognition and overall temperament.
NB: While you’re entertaining your bearded dragon, be sure to monitor its movements and interactions to prevent accidents and injuries.
Can My Bearded Dragon Be Bored? Key Signs of Boredom
Bearded dragons can become bored and dangerously under-stimulated without adequate interaction. The term for this condition is zoochosis, which results from unethical confinement. In bearded dragons, it can manifest as the following:
Lethargy
Lethargy is a state of abnormal inactivity or sluggishness. Although it’s a symptom of several illnesses, it is also an indication that your dragon is severely bored and understimulated.
Glass Surfing
Bearded dragons often express their desire for interaction by glass surfing. Just as it sounds, it happens when beardies press their bodies against the walls of the enclosure, sometimes scratching and rubbing against them. Beardies may occasionally act silly, but if this behavior has become frequent, it’s a good sign that your pet is under-stimulated.
Repetitive Habits
In addition to glass surfing, beardies may pace or move around in circles for stimulation. At this stage, boredom has become harmful, often resulting in aggression, environmental detachment, and loss of instincts. Additionally, it can cause your beardie to bask less than usual or lose its appetite, leading to further health problems.
