How to Train Your (Water) Dragon

It might seem impossible to train reptiles, but it's not! Jessi and Loki show us that with understanding and patience (and snacks!), you really can train any animal.
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[@Synth-G]

Me an my sister accidentally trained a cat we had at one point to claw his cardboard scratching board when he was frustrated/angry instead of us. We do so by putting him on it whenever he got frustrated or too riled up playing and clawed us, then one day he came into our room and started clawing it while making an angry cat noise while looking at us, then when he was done he seemed calmed down and he would just do that whenever he seemed to get frustrated or whatnot. We didn't have to put him there after that either, he would just go there when mad all on his own and claw it till he calmed down and then would be happy to demand attention.

[@Grescheks]

Meanwhile, that dropped mealworm is making it's wormy way to freedom. Go, wormy, go!

[@eileenlester4342]

😆

[@emmawongfun4453]

Lol

[@fromscratchauntybindy9743]

😂😂

[@leaare]

i would love a more long term series at one point, where you show training one animal over a longer time, to see the different techniques used together and also to see one specific example from "not trained" to a learned behavior :)

[@Nick-ce6lt]

Currently doing that with a wild dragon with a bit of success. Reliably can get it to bite my toe for food, and refrain when I am wearing a sock. Climbs on me often but I'll haven't trained that behaviour into a means of communication yet, soon. I'm ambitious but my goal is to have it "fetch" within a few months

[@Pixaley]

You trained him to steal hearts. Got it. Great training!!

[@LuigiNotaro]

Thanks to your past videos about training I trained my bunny to target, step up, circle clockwise and counterclockwise, enter it's crate and more! Thanks Jessi! 🐰

[@animalwondersmontana]

Awesome!! We'll done, both of you!!

[@LuigiNotaro]

@@animalwondersmontana thank you so much!

[@RavingPandaSkittlez]

He’s like “moommmm I’m not a chameleon my tongue doesn’t go that farrr.” 😂🥰 ah he’s so precious I love Chinese water dragons, I love watching his brain process what he wants to do 😍

[@AdornThyHeadset]

I trained my leopard gecko to take crickets from my hand 😊 Whenever I put my hand in her cage she comes over and looks for a treat. She's 16 and lives a pretty pampered life these days!

[@carschmn]

I really appreciate how you guys train animals many people would not bother to train. That’s a gorgeous animal

[@Azzarinne]

When I lived with my friend many years ago, we accidentally trained one of her cats to say "bless you" after someone sneezed. He kept seeing one of us sneeze, then the other make a 2-syllable sound, so one day, my friend sneezed and he looked at her and meowed twice. We promptly reinforced this adorableness, and he's apparently still doing it to this day.

[@dorabrooks76]

I've trained my sister's dog to "wait"- he has to sit until signalled before taking a treat, even if it's on his nose. We're working on target training with a clicker, with the eventual goal of turning in a circle. I pet sit when my sister goes away, and only get a week or two at a time to work with her 10 year old dog, but he's _very_ food motivated so he picks things up pretty quickly. I just take little steps at a time with him and he seems to retain that between sessions quite well, even though it might be months since we last trained together. Turns out "wait" has been really useful as more than just a trick! He used to try to shove his nose into his food bowl before it was even put down, but now he'll sit and wait until signalled to approach! It's also been handy when camping and hiking to help keep him safe. I'm very proud of the old boy! 🐶💚 I love my fur-nephew so much! I've used quite a few pointers from your videos. Thanks for the tips- I'm sure we wouldn't have gotten so far without them, and it's been really fun for both of us! 😄

[@BUtheBabyUnicorn]

What a handsome boy Loki is! Even though the front of his mouth is damaged it’s obvious he gets proper care nowadays from y’all ❤️

[@robinhahnsopran]

I accidentally trained my cat to sit on my dog... which then trained my dog to sit on my cat. Weirdly enough, their relationship has never been better!

[@Meoix]

I trained my Guinea Pig years ago to spin in a circle on command (Sounds silly but it was cute). I copied what my friend did, I held a piece of carrot I said “spin” and had him “chase” the carrot in a circle, after he made a complete 360, he got the carrot ♥. Repeat that process over a year (give or take) and I had a trained (and perhaps dizzy lol) piggy.

[@wwaxwork]

I love seeing how proud you were of him.

[@xandermin]

A lot of people do clicker training with larger lizards like monitors, iguanas, & tegus! Even small lizards are surprisingly intelligent, & while most reptile species don't love their humans like a dog would, they can still develop positive associations & trust with those who provide for them. I have a ball python, & she's got a surprisingly big personality. She's pretty scared of most humans, but she seems to trust me, I can touch her head & she'll casually explore her surroundings when i'm handling her. When other people hold her, she curls up & stays that way.

[@sweatpantsprincess3239]

Yeah, I think it's even pretty clear in this video that this dragon has a wonderful positive relationship with Jessi. He was really pleased to climb out and just hang out on her hand without the continuing extra reinforcement. Even if they may not crave attention in the same way as more social animals, reptiles definitely can feel relaxed and comfortable- or not, as in your snake's case! And that really makes them a much better pet or friend for someone who would be more overwhelmed by dogs or birds etc. There's a time and place for chill, lol

[@marykirkland82]

Loki is so handsome! I love that look on his face when he has just the tip of his tongue out

[@ElfyBean]

Training our chihuahua to self-soothe by going to his crate and chewing a toy was a bumpy road, but now he asks for certain toys from his toy box to calm himself with, and even stops playing when he gets too worked up. He'll be mid-wrestle and just stop, give you a boop with his nose, and go lay down in his crate for a few minutes. He's also learned to ask for his cbd drops, when his joints hurt. We're waiting for his speaking buttons to arrive in the mail. 💕

[@animalwondersmontana]

Amazing! I love it!!

[@ragnkja]

Learning that he can retreat to his crate whenever he needs to is great already, but that he’s learnt to tell you when he’s in pain is a whole other level of trust and communication, and it’s awesome! If he didn’t trust you to help soothe his pain and never use it against him, he would not dare to tell you.

[@ElfyBean]

@@ragnkja we're so proud of him, and how much he's learned to trust us. He has a cyst in his brain, which kinda shunts cerebrospinal fluid down into his spinal cord, creating little high pressure areas that cause nerve pain, and for the first year of his life, being petting was extremely painful for him. We didn't understand why, at the time, but we accepted that boundary. 2 years later, on meds to reduce fluid production, he discovered that he enjoyed being petted, and it was such a beautiful moment to see him circle back under a hand to request another gentle stroke. I feel incredibly privileged that our little guy chooses to trust us, every day. 💕

[@sweatpantsprincess3239]

That is so, so delightful. I've only known chihuahuas who are kinda too arrogant to use speaking buttons, they feel it's beneath them somehow to communicate on our terms! My sister worked on training her corgi mix to use the buttons after watching an SLP's instagram. Her dog understands them, but doesn't bother using- she feels understood in her natural body language, so there's no need! 😅 Also it might be too hard to press down on them with her arthritis. I'm so glad you and your baby have a great relationship and he wants you to help him, good luck with the buttons!

[@eliotdaoust3765]

I also have a chinese water dragon (her name is Tom but dont let that fool you she is a QUEEN) and Loki is my favorit at animal wonders! I've been training mine as well for over a year now to obtain her trust and i am soooo glad to see that i instinctively used the exact same technique you're using! I defenitivly consider you a pro in animal behavior and training and it reasures me so much to see that i went for the same training methods as you. Once again a great video that made my week! ❤

[@gaflene]

I'm training my cat to jump on my shoulders. One of my previous cats got stuck in a tree once and wouldn't let me pick him up when I went up to get him. Eventually he walked on my shoulders and balanced there when I climbed back down, so I'm teaching Ahsoka to jump onto my shoulders when she goes on top of doors/cabinets/shelves. I'm also harness training her so we can explore outside together without getting into too much trouble.

[@davis9502]

Dragons and Ginger's living together, Mass Hysteria!

[@karlaps3994]

What beautiful green scales!

[@ThereAre4Lights]

I love that in so many videos you can hear Ecuador or maybe it's Zoe or Zapper lol they are so expressive!

[@shyenghyrha]

My guinea pigs hate being picked up by hands but love floor time. I trained them to go inside a tube that i can pick up to move them to the floor. Took a couple months of building trust, worth every second. They are happy when they see the tube now and I am happy that I don't have to scare them with my hands any more.

[@animalwondersmontana]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@cherokeefit4248]

I can’t wait to see The Mink Man and Raptor this summer. It’s going to be so cool to see Raptor full grown.

[@lucindajennings148]

I have a cat I found as a stray and she'd sit up on her back legs for treats and after watching you guys I tried working with that and I can get her to do a target onto furniture and do a circle. Two of our other cats who really only did the basic target, started watching her and on their own started copying whatever I'd asked the first cat to do when it was their turn for a treat, so they kinda trained themselves?

[@namdawg1291]

You are a "Wonder" of Animal Wonders! With your always charming personna, your explanations of critters are simply amazing. Thanx!

[@KaaSerpent]

There is a channel called Chandler's Wild Life, and he has a CROCODILE that he is training, and a week or two ago, he helped move a giant croc from one pond to another, and the guy who owned those had several other 12-foot crocs coming at him at a run and he told them to stop and they did. It was amazing. Reptiles can definitely be trained. :)

[@Just_One_Tree]

It’s so nice to see a water dragon in a suitable cage! When I worked at PetSmart I felt so bad for the ones we had for sale, they were in a tiny tank and always stressed out 😒

[@cravenlunatic1]

some people: "you can't train cats" jessi: *trains a lizard* are there any books about training and/or animal behavior that you would recommend?

[@juliusroman8616]

Even though they're very commercial, BirdTricks does have a lot of good advice, mainly for birds, but I think is applicable to more animals. Their advice taken from good sources and then shown in practice and for me was easier to comprehend than the good sources.

[@leonthebleh]

She also trained her cat, look at the old videos.

[@animalwondersmontana]

@cravenlunatic I highly recommend "Don't Shoot The Dog" by Karen Pryor, anything that Dr. Susan Friedann writes, "The Other End Of The Leash" by Patricia McConnell, and "Animals In Translation" by Temple Grandin. Karen Pryor and Dr. Friedman are excellent at training, Patricia McConnell and Temple Grandin have a great way of helping the reader see things from another point of view.

[@cravenlunatic1]

@@animalwondersmontana thank you!

[@thebermudaI]

@@animalwondersmontana Thank you so much! I'm excited to read these.

[@ediekoller1144]

Loki is so beautiful and watching you train him Jessi is so fun to watch. Thanks so much for the video:))

[@Kiwi_44419]

I have two gineapigs and have had a lot of susses training them i have traind them to go up/down,wave,kisses,perch,tugofwar,play ball,get on my lap,and wate.

[@JugheadJones03]

You made Loki's day I think. : )

[@Katiethewizard]

I think that chinese water dragons are some of the most personable lizards out there! They always seem to be ready for anything and well socialized ones seem to really enjoy human attention. He seems to be perfectly comfy all laid out on your hand ❤(My leopard gecko tolerates me but would rather I leave him alone lol)

[@kyliemace7354]

I finally got my water dragon ,zigzag to stop trying to bite me and he's working on walking onto my hand I'm so excited for the years to come and spending time with him they are so amazing and almost human like lol

[@I_am_Lauren]

Clever title, It's cute. LOVE reptiles!

[@bernadetteramos1940]

What the best age to train Chinese water dragons, my two will be 1yr old in latter June, they’ve clam foam tremendously the past month, so maturity Is stepping in.

[@lilyvw150]

Hello animal wonders! I was wondering if there are different types of water dragon or are there just Chinese water dragons like Loki?

[@animalwondersmontana]

Good question! There are also Australian water dragons and several subspecies.

[@milkaisaac6692]

Question: which one of your amazing animals you have took the longest to grow a trust bond with or train to where you are today with that animal?

[@billylin5404]

Love the title and the episode!

[@amyn.1693]

I love your videos

[@bubbajenkins123]

they are smrat so they can be trained and more importantly they can train YOU

[@michaelangelos5117]

I believe it because my dog has me trained. He is like clockwork.

[@maryjohnson9337]

Loki is so beautiful! I'm working on training my chicken to sit on my lap, and hopefully let me pet her!

[@fathimathsajaa6100]

Love the intro

[@MuhammadDaudkhanTV100]

Fantastic idea

[@squirmy_dogs4177]

Hello! I’ve seen you on epic while I’m in my class! My parakeet is not able to be trained I need help I’m trying but he flys away and I’ve had him for 2 years a5 least he was with a bird I named sky who got spooked and the cage top fell and she flew away! Leafy is now lonely but he’s happy because on nice days we put the cage outside and let him talk to other birds!

[@chrischernogorec9523]

I would very much like to see more on this subject because I wouldn't mind getting a little bit of training to my Chinese water dragon

[@BurnheadLP]

Oh man I love Lizlords so much

[@user-ty5di3ku6o]

Argentine Black & White Tegus age Asian Water Monitors are like "Hold on there, we like people as friends!" Lol.

[@froodsmash]

I need to try this with my beardie!

[@shawpaperiekas600]

He’s so dang cute!!!

[@Nick-ce6lt]

I think you will may find my videos interesting. I trained a wild water dragon to bite my toe as a means for asking for food (you likely would have noticed that they bite the air towards the ground when they want more meal worms, shaped it into biting at my toe). Uploaded 3 videos so far but there should be more so long as it sticks around. It's fine crawling on me while I bbq and my biggest concern is a neighbor may try and catch and cage it and it goes to the air BnB backyards.

[@dawnziss7454]

Love it and your videos

[@eileenlester4342]

Love reptiles. 💜

[@Ava-nh7wc]

I love your vids

[@WonderWolf77]

I trained my cat to stand on his hind legs like a person, and to put his paw on my hand.

[@FlyKiwi]

My uncle was blind and after having the same guide dog for 10 years, the dog passed away. He was sent a new dog but her training was terrible and her behaviour in her harness nearly got my uncle killed on one occasion. While waiting for a new guide dog we went to the pound and found just a random dog. We trained her ourselves using what we had learned from working with the first guide dog and she took the training so well we sent back the poorly trained dog and never got another "officially trained" guide dog.

[@animalwondersmontana]

Wow! What a great example of individualism (or possibly just poor training of the second pup, hopefully they were able to go back to school when they were returned). Good job with training the rescue dog!

[@FlyKiwi]

@@animalwondersmontana Right? Just because they are the same species doesn't mean they learn/work the same!

[@FreezerKing]

Komodo dragons can recognize their keepers and will be more chill around the ones they like, which is not what you'd expect from an animal that many would regard as a literally cold-blooded monster

[@val_923]

love me some loki!

[@michaelangelos5117]

I did that with the neighborhood squirrels then they would beg to sit on my shoulder and get fed.

[@analiatv7261]

I trying to teach my dog how to lying down but he sit instead of lying down

[@animalrights6647]

Though this video doesn't feature any rabbits , I saw in one of your videos that one of the rabbit was in a small cage , any of the people who donate stuff to you should even donate A large litter box , x size playpen and many chew toys for rabbits . I can't donate that's why I commented this.

[@aaliyahmammone3345]

Thanks for the tips my water dragon is not that nice so I’m teaching him

[@ii_myhipsbe_ii7661]

omg hey im ur fan and ur very good pet owner

[@iceman-1987]

🐉❤️

[@clareshoup9095]

is there a reason why you're not using a clicker with Loki?

[@urmibarua9706]

How to Train Your Dragon literally

[@danniemikeey579]

I've had mine for a year now and I don't see it any bigger

[@Ja_prodzz1288]

Hi jessi

[@beastboy9660]

🖤🖤

[@MrChristiangraham]

Does the tone of voice/language used make a difference in training reptiles at all?

[@hanabarrientos1391]

Yo loki and how to train your dragon is in this video and I mean loki from avengers

[@sherriezhang9079]

can you do something with your dog

[@NotSkarblox]

I have a bearded dragon he's a baby

[@duduwes]

How long is he? He can barely fit on your hand!

[@NotSkarblox]

His name is Draco

[@analiatv7261]

Can you have a any lizard 🦎 as a pet?

[@DGdescendant22]

Poor guys face is damaged from the glass ☹️

[@annakoryazhkina7762]

I trained a dog and got him to jump on one foot.

[@TheLarainsd]

Loki has such a BRILLIANT green Skin ( ? ) or is it a Coat of Scales ?? I'd like to learn MORE about Him ... as well as any OTHER Lizards You may have in your care. 👍👍 For Example: Is "Loki" a JESUS LIZARD ?? I know you referred to him as a Water Dragon ...but... The ONLY lizards I am familiar with that LIKE to go INTO WATER are WATER MONITORs and JESUS LIZARDS. Both Very Cool Creatures, in their own right !!! ☺👍

[@lupitasalas8610]

i trained my dog to sit with only treats

[@yunsong9646]

I trained a wolf

[@jase123111]

What is wrong with its nose?

[@maestrolodahl8681]

You are sooooo beautiful!! :) :) :) Like An High-Elf Nobility beautiful :)

[@RavingPandaSkittlez]

OHHH OHH! if you want ideas on training reptiles look up Brian Barczyk!! He’s got several monitors he’s target trained as well as his Rino Iguana and a few others! 🥰 he’s a wonderful reptile KZbinr and snake breeder, I thought It’d be a good place for some inspiration on how to train Loki 🥰