Why #LizardsInHats ?

Well, it started out to add a bit of fun to our training - most of the dragons are rescues, and have often come from bad places, both physically and psychologically; regular handling has helped them all calm down, develop confidence, and learn to trust humans again...

Being able to safely handle a large lizard, particularly in stressful situations such as emergency vet visits, is a valuable skill - having a dragon who will remain calm even if they need tipping about, poking, positioning awkwardly, and even possibly poiked with a sharp thing, is very much appreciated by animal professionals; my vet often comments on how well behaved and responsive they are.

Jacques is a good example. When he was handed over, he was 1/3 his ideal bodyweight, riddled with parasites, clearly somewhat battered and extraordinarily aggressive - he bit through a bamboo pole as thick as my finger, and we had to use kevlar reinforced goretex gloves just to get medicines in him - he would stalk, lunge, snap and hiss every time someone went near his tank.

With a lot of love, patience and trust, we got through to the poor little guy.

He learned we weren't going to hit him, though he still flinches if you move too quickly towards him.

He learned we weren't even going to chop his feet off (we wanted to trim his claws, don't worry!), and that we weren't going to get cross/grabby if he got anxious.

He even learned that he got extra treats for desired actions... even if they were as strange as putting a hat on for the duration of a picture or two.

He's still a bit impatient when he thinks he has more important things to do - he'd never dream of biting a human these days though. Jac was a violent, vicious and sneaky little «coughs». These days, I trust him even with little children.

And he trusts us. Even with hats.
Well loved dragons are great at wearing hats for a good picture.
Especially if there's treats involved.