So the first thing that you should do with any new reptile is give them at least a week to acclimate to their new surroundings before handling. This helps to cut down on stress and gives them a chance to become familiar with their new surroundings first.
That being said, I’ll go ahead here.
Everyone has their own little formula for taming down their reptiles. Some ways probably work better than others, but a lot depends on the individual animal as well. Personally I like to tailor my approach to my animal, with the understanding that some lizards will have a higher or lower tolerance to handling than others. For example my crestie Atlas has a fairly low tolerance for handling. She will accept it, but only on her terms and rarely happily, so I restrict myself to about once or twice a week to limit her stress but still keep her tame enough for a vet to handle. My beardy Aries, on the other hand, will actively seek out handling because he associates it with positive experiences such as being able to explore outside the cage and special treats like super worms (it helps that he is very food motivated- Atlas is as well, but in her case the stress of handling outweighs her drive for food), so he doesn’t require as much work.
As babies however, with reptiles you are almost invariably starting from scratch. They are wild animals at birth, and require work to get them to the point where they are truly handleable. I was lucky enough with Aries that his breeder hand tamed him for me, but these were some of the things I did with my previous beardy Buddha Buddy.
Hand feeding: if you have a food motivated beardy hand feeding is a great way to build trust. Most babies are highly insect motivated, so high value treats like wax worms can go a long way towards gaining their interest. I recommend placing the insect in your palm and holding it flat against the ground of the tank where the beardy can see it, but not making any sudden moves towards it. It may take several tries to make any progress as babies will run if startled.
Gentle consistent handling: if the baby is out and about you can gently ferry it into your hand, being sure to support all of its limbs and belly for short handling sessions. Do these within the tank and low to the bottom since nervous babies are prone to jumping, and to start out just for a few minutes at a time. At first they’ll be pretty wild, but once they realize that you aren’t hurting them during this they’ll start to calm down and you can increase the length of sessions. The important thing is that you do it at least a few times a week. I also prefer to leave them alone and come back later if they are already in their hides since I prefer to leave them with a safe spot to decompress. Spending a lot of time around the enclosure is also a less stressful way to work on them when not actually handling since it lets them see you doing things and not actively harassing them. In my experience curious beardies will come out to watch, though even if they don’t come up they still are benefiting from you habituating them to your presence. It also helps if you don’t reach for them from above since above = predator in the minds of many small prey animals. It’s better to come from the sides.
Those were really all I needed for Buddha Buddy, but a lot of other people recommend putting a shirt with your scent on it in there with them. Personally I haven’t tried it myself, and I suspect that it’s probably a little more effective for animals like tegus and monitors, but I could be wrong and it certainly doesn’t hurt to try. Mainly for any don’ts I would say to not handle too aggressively or to long when you first start out, especially if you’re getting a young baby since they’re still fairly fragile and easily stressed. As they get bigger they tend to get hardier and calmer naturally, but it’s certainly possible to tame a baby.
This is by no means a complete list of the methods you can try but I hope this is helpful in giving you a starting point.
One other thing to remember: bearded dragons are not mammals, and they are not social. Reptiles don’t bond with their owners the way mammals and birds do, and they don’t have social grooming instincts that make them instinctively like contact. Some of them like scritches, but you need to be aware of their body language and respect any indicator that they want to stop. They can learn that you’re safe and have food, and some of them learn to come to you for scritches, but they aren’t an animal that forms social bonds.
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