Bearded Dragons are interesting lizards to start off with, they have their own unique personalities and are a joy to watch. They love to interact with their owners, but one aspect to them is their unique behavior.

These lizards will display needs, illness, and mating behavior by using their bodies to send signals not just to other beardies but to their owners as well.

Some common bearded dragon behaviors you need to know and understand:

Open Mouth also known as gaping, this can be due to a few reasons. One common reason is the beardie is regulating his/her own body heat. It is also done if he/she may have an infection.

Arm Waving, represents submission to other dominant beardies around. Sometimes it is merely to say "hi I am a bearded dragon".

Bobbing of the head, male beardies will bob their heads to other males when housed together to show their masculinity. This action is also done towards females as a way of courtship.

Tongue tasting by bearded dragons, they do this to get a sense of what is around them. This is how they know what is what within their habitat and surroundings. It gives them the ability to know where things are located and if housed with other beardies, they will know who is who by the taste.

If you are housing more than one male together, you may see them become aggressive toward each other. This is common it set who is the more dominate male. One beardie will latch on the back of the others' neck and flatten their body out. Most of the time no harm will come from this action. You might also see head bobbing to show dominance.

When it comes to the bearded dragon behavior, you need to watch and get to know your beardie so when he/she starts to show different behavior you will understand why. Most of their behavior is innocent and fun to watch, but you need to understand your beardie so you know if his/her behavior changes and determine why and if it is necessary to call in a vet to find out.

Another type of bearded dragon behavior is to climb to the top of any perch you have in their enclosure, they higher up beardies are the more dominant ones. They enjoy basking in sunlight or under their basking lights, this is common and no need for alarm as long as you also have a cool area inside the enclosure for them to cool themselves down.

The most important thing you can do for your beardie is to get to know him/her and know their behavior on a regular basis.