There is no doubt that owning a pet bearded dragon is an incredible experience. However if we want to be the best pet owner doesn’t it make sense that we understand what our beardies are trying to tell us? Do bearded dragons make noises?
Well in this article I am going to be showing you everything that I have learnt about bearded dragons and the noises they make. That way you can get a better understanding of your pet and be a better owner to it.
Do bearded dragons make noises?
I think it would be best to jump straight into the deep end and give you the quick answers. Lots of you will be here just wondering if bearded dragons make noises and sounds and what those noises are.
So do bearded dragons make noises?
To make a noise you need to have vocal chords, Bearded Dragons do not have vocal chords and as such cannot make any noises other than gargling and hissing sounds which is caused through their breathing tract.
So there you have it. Bearded dragons in general do not make noises and sounds. Some other lizards do make chirping and squeaking noises but bearded dragons cannot do this due to the lack of a vocal chord.
Why do bearded dragons hiss?
Do bearded dragons make noises like hissing? Hissing is about the only noise you will hear your bearded dragon produce. But why do they do it?
You may hear your bearded dragon hissing if it is feeling threatened or scared and it can be a sign that something is bothering your beardie.
Because of this it is important to get to the bottom of what is causing your bearded dragon to hiss. That way you can remove the problem and stop your pet from being stressed.
The reasons a bearded dragon may make hissing noises.
Do bearded dragons make noises, why? There are a few different situations that may cause the your beardie to feel that it needs to hiss.
Below is a list of a few of these reasons which you can look out for and try to adapt.
- Introducing two or more new bearded dragons can cause a lot of stress. The bearded dragons will potentially try to create a hierarchy and this can lead to issues. One of the ways they warm off each other is to make hissing sounds.
- Rough handling is another situation that may cause a bearded dragon to hiss. You will usually find this happens when a younger member of the family try’s to handle the beardie without knowing how to handle it properly. This can also lead to getting bitten by your pet.
- Another reason for a bearded dragon to hiss is that it gets shocked. To avoid this try to make sure that when you go to pick it up that you do if from a position that it can see you approaching from and not from above. You can also try adding some more tank furniture to its home to make it feel more comfortable and to give it a private space. This furniture from Amazon would be absolutely ideal.
Do bearded dragons make noises?
How do bearded dragons communicate if they cannot make noises?
As we talked about earlier in this article bearded dragons do not have vocal chords like us or indeed other animals.
This means that they have developed other ways in which they can communicate with each other. Some of these are pretty cool and I am sure that you have seen many of them yourselves.
Arm waving.
I will keep this one brief as I have a pretty neat guide to bearded dragon arm waving which you can read here. It will tell you everything that you could want to know about it.
The basic idea is that bearded dragons can make a waving motion with their arms. They do this to show submission.
It mostly happens when you try to introduce two bearded dragons. However it can also happen when a bearded dragon is being submissive to you.
Stranger still a bearded dragon can start waving when it sees its own reflection in its glass tank!
Glass surfing.
This is another strange behaviour that you may notice from time to time.
Not all bearded dragons do this but when they do glass surf it can be pretty noisy to be honest.
Glass surfing is where your bearded dragon looks like it is attempting to break out of its tank. Obviously it cannot climb the glass but it tries its best. The sound of the claws scratching against the glass can be quite loud and piercing.
There are many theories behind this behaviour but it is believed it is usually caused by one of two things.
- The bearded dragon may have spotted a fly or other insect outside of its tank and is trying to get to it as it look like tasty food.
- bearded dragons are smart and it knows that when it starts to glass surf and make noise it will get your attention. This usually leads to you picking up the bearded dragon and letting it out of its enclosure, just the reaction your beardie was after!
Check out the below video to see a bearded dragon in action trying to glass surf and make noise.
Noises from digging.
Do bearded dragons make noises with digging? You will find that your bearded dragon can make a hell of a lot of noise when it is digging about in its tank.
It is a fact that bearded dragons just love to dig around in their substrate.
They can do this for a variety of reasons such as digging for prey that they may believe is there.
Another reason can be if they become to hot and want to cool down. They will dig into the deeper and cooler substrate so that they can cool down.
Their food can be very, very noisy!
One of the noisiest parts of owning a pet bearded dragon can come from the food that it eats.
Bearded dragons eat a wide variety of different insects, fruits and vegetables. By the way, if you want to read an awesome bearded dragon feeding guide have a look at this article that I wrote.
Anyway back on track. Bearded dragons eat lots of different foods but it is the insects that can be extremely noisy. Crickets and the likes do make some annoying noises as I am sure you are already aware.
I find it best to keep them stored out of the way in a place where the noise is not going to bother you to much.
Are bearded dragons noisy at night?
You will more than likely be happy to know that bearded dragons are not noisy at night, they will not disturb your sleep!
This is because bearded dragons are actually diurnal. What this means is that a bearded dragon sleeps during the night and is active during the day.
As such it will not be scratching around in its substrate or anything else that may make noises and keeping you from sleeping.
A bearded dragon making noises may be sick.
So most of the noises that you may hear your bearded dragon make will be completely natural such as hissing.
However if you hear your pet making a raspy, gurgling, hissing noise it could mean that your beardie is sick.
Although it isn’t that common some bearded dragons can be struck down by a lung infection, yellow fungus disease or even parasites.
It is imperative that if you hear any of these noises when your bearded dragon is trying to breathe, that you get it checked out by a vet as soon as possible. With quick intervention it will be fit and healthy again and not making bad noises.
In conclusion.
Do bearded dragons make noises? Generally speaking, bearded dragons do not make much in the way of sounds and noises.
Because of this they do make great pets for anyone who wants to get into lizard ownership but does not want one that is very vocal.
You can often learn a lot about your pet from the various noises and also it’s actions so make sure you keep and eye, and ear out for it.
Related questions.
Do bearded dragons have vocal chords? As mentioned earlier in this article, bearded dragons do not have vocal chords. Apart from the odd hissing sound every now and again you beardie will keep quiet.
What does it mean when a bearded dragon will not eat food? There are a few different reasons why a bearded dragon may not eat it’s food. We touched up on a few of them in this article. Anything from stresses such as a new environment or company right through to illness could cause this and can often be associated with hissing noises. If you would like to read more about why bearded dragons are not eating have a look at this guide that I wrote.
