Very Weird Dragon Behavior.

My bearded dragon , Fat Amy awoke from brumation about a month ago. One week ago we took her to the vet for a General Checkup and he said she was in great health. However, over the last few days she has started acting very weird. She is much much more active than before and wont stop running around her cage, she is pooping almost 2-3 a day. And she is constantly glass surfing. She also has stress marks on her belly. I feed her 3-4 dozen Crix a week dusted with Repashy Calcium and MultiVitamin. She also gets Collard Greens Kale Spinach and a bunch of other random fruits and veggies. Her basking spot is 105 and she has a Reptisun 10.0 mounted about 8 inches away from her basking spot. I am concerned by her new and unusual behavior. The only things that have changed are: A. i added a water bowl B. I moved her light and her basking spot temp increased. Please help.

She may have eggs to lay. They can develop infertile eggs without a male breeding them. Make her a laybox ASAP, here is a small version that can be put right in the tank even if you have to move a few things to make room for it. I use damp sand but some people use damp coco fiber. Keep the lid on but cut one corner off for access.

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30026/full

AHBD":1x4r8t8b said:

She may have eggs to lay. They can develop infertile eggs without a male breeding them. Make her a laybox ASAP, here is a small version that can be put right in the tank even if you have to move a few things to make room for it. I use damp sand but some people use damp coco fiber. Keep the lid on but cut one corner off for access.

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30026/full

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Do you really think she is gravid? Would the vet not have seen that last week?

Generally you can't tell with infertile eggs, and some vets can't tell even when a dragon is full of fertile eggs. Her behavior shows a strong possibility of her being gravid, it's not definite but it's very likely.

After a bearded dragon comes out of their brumation cycle, they often become very restless and stressed due to their hormone levels rising. They want to mate but are unable to find a mate so they just get really, really restless. Often this will show itself as frequent black bearding, frequent displaying (head bobbing, beard displays with no other defensive behaviors) and frequent glass surfing. This isn't an issue, it just takes some time (sometimes a couple weeks) to sort of work itself out.

Hello,

I agree, it does sound a lot like she could be developing eggs. They do become very active &
sometimes desperate in their behavior, to where they literally wear themselves out running
back & forth.
Be sure she is getting adequate calcium to help her bones out in the case she is carrying eggs.
How often do you give calcium & the multivitamins?

Tracie

Drache613":1cqshehu said:

Hello,

I agree, it does sound a lot like she could be developing eggs. They do become very active &
sometimes desperate in their behavior, to where they literally wear themselves out running
back & forth.
Be sure she is getting adequate calcium to help her bones out in the case she is carrying eggs.
How often do you give calcium & the multivitamins?

Tracie

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I feed her a few dozen crixs a week and I dust them. I also have a much stronger Liquid calcium used for MBD that usually give her when she takes baths so that she will drink it without a mess.

I agree, it's either due to infertile eggs developing, or it's due to her just waking up from her brumation, although if she's been out of brumation for a month, then it's most likely not that. If you've checked all 3 of her temperature zones with either a temperature gun or a Digital Probe Thermometer and all 3 are within the correct ranges, and her UVB tube is mounted correctly (if it's the T8 tube version of the Reptisun 10.0 then it must be mounted underneath any mesh lid to the tank and within 6" of her basking spot, the T8 tubes are too weak to be blocked by the mesh lid and still emit adequate UVB light to your dragon on the other side).

As long as you've checked the temps and have the UVB tube mounted correctly, then it does sound like eggs. As AHBD instructed, the easiest way to find out is to make her a laybox by using a large, plastic tube and piling damp (but not wet or soaked) playsand on one side of the laybox. Make a hill on one side of the tub, and then start a little tunnel about half way up the hill for her, then put her beside the hold. Keep her in for an hour or two, and if she doesn't start digging then you can put her back in her tank, and when she starts glass-surfing again then put her back in the laybox. It sometimes takes a while for them to be ready to lay the eggs.

I mentioned checking all 3 temperature zones with a Probe or Gun because you mentioned the "stress lines" on her belly, and these are not "stress lines" at all, that's a myth that somehow got spread around the internet and caught on unfortunately. The markings on their bellies are just that, markings, just like the markings on the rest of their bodies. And they darken the markings on their bellies along with the rest of their bodies when they are inside their tanks and under their lights, as they are trying to attract/absorb more light/heat. This is also why they always lighten/brighten their colors up when you take them out of their tanks, because they are no longer under the lights anymore, so they don't need to darken themselves to attract the lights. So sometimes when they darken themselves inside their tanks it's perfectly normal and they are just trying to attract as much light/heat as they can, but sometimes they stay that way constantly inside their tanks because their temps are too low, or because THEY ARE NOT GETTING ENOUGH UVB/UVA LIGHT, SUCH AS IF THEIR UVB TUBE IS THE WEAKER T8 STRENGTH, AND IS BEING OBSTRUCTED BY A MESH LID TO THE TANK, WHICH BLOCKS ABOUT 40% OF THE ALREADY WEAK T8 UVB TUBE. This is why all T8 UVB tubes, even the high-quality Reptisun 10.0 T8 and the Arcadia 10% T8 tubes, must all be mounted to the underside of the mesh lid.

EllenD":3dhi1sej said:

I agree, it's either due to infertile eggs developing, or it's due to her just waking up from her brumation, although if she's been out of brumation for a month, then it's most likely not that. If you've checked all 3 of her temperature zones with either a temperature gun or a Digital Probe Thermometer and all 3 are within the correct ranges, and her UVB tube is mounted correctly (if it's the T8 tube version of the Reptisun 10.0 then it must be mounted underneath any mesh lid to the tank and within 6" of her basking spot, the T8 tubes are too weak to be blocked by the mesh lid and still emit adequate UVB light to your dragon on the other side).

As long as you've checked the temps and have the UVB tube mounted correctly, then it does sound like eggs. As AHBD instructed, the easiest way to find out is to make her a laybox by using a large, plastic tube and piling damp (but not wet or soaked) playsand on one side of the laybox. Make a hill on one side of the tub, and then start a little tunnel about half way up the hill for her, then put her beside the hold. Keep her in for an hour or two, and if she doesn't start digging then you can put her back in her tank, and when she starts glass-surfing again then put her back in the laybox. It sometimes takes a while for them to be ready to lay the eggs.

I mentioned checking all 3 temperature zones with a Probe or Gun because you mentioned the "stress lines" on her belly, and these are not "stress lines" at all, that's a myth that somehow got spread around the internet and caught on unfortunately. The markings on their bellies are just that, markings, just like the markings on the rest of their bodies. And they darken the markings on their bellies along with the rest of their bodies when they are inside their tanks and under their lights, as they are trying to attract/absorb more light/heat. This is also why they always lighten/brighten their colors up when you take them out of their tanks, because they are no longer under the lights anymore, so they don't need to darken themselves to attract the lights. So sometimes when they darken themselves inside their tanks it's perfectly normal and they are just trying to attract as much light/heat as they can, but sometimes they stay that way constantly inside their tanks because their temps are too low, or because THEY ARE NOT GETTING ENOUGH UVB/UVA LIGHT, SUCH AS IF THEIR UVB TUBE IS THE WEAKER T8 STRENGTH, AND IS BEING OBSTRUCTED BY A MESH LID TO THE TANK, WHICH BLOCKS ABOUT 40% OF THE ALREADY WEAK T8 UVB TUBE. This is why all T8 UVB tubes, even the high-quality Reptisun 10.0 T8 and the Arcadia 10% T8 tubes, must all be mounted to the underside of the mesh lid.

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My tank temps are all fine and my UVB is a Reptisun 10.0 mounted within the tank. So is this high activity a sign of immediate egg laying or is it a sign that she is just pregnant. I cant seem to find any very detailed info about bearded dragon pregnancy. I will make a laybox ASAP

Well, she can't be "pregnant" unless she's mated with a male dragon...has she? I don't think that's the case here. If she has infertile eggs inside her, then she's "gravid"...

She may either have follicles just developing or that have already developed, which means that she's going to be making eggs to lay very soon (hormones trigger the development of the follicles, which in-turn usually result in eggs being made), or she may already be "gravid", meaning that the follicles have already developed into eggs which she's ready to lay. There's no way to really know what stage of the process she's in, but typically by the time they start glass-surfing and going crazy they already have eggs inside of them. Sometimes you can see or feel eggs inside them, they typically appear as them having a "lumpy" stomach or sides, but they aren't always visible at all. It's amazing how many eggs a little bearded dragon can have inside them without any visible signs of them at all.

Yes, make the lay box for her and put her in it for an hour or so at a time, and see how she behaves inside it. If she starts digging a tunnel/hole then she most likely is ready to lay the eggs, but keep in mind that she may not be ready to lay them yet, they may not have even developed yet and it's simply her hormonal levels from the follicles developing that are making her crazy right now. So if she is just sitting in the lay box or sleeping, and not actively digging or interested in the sand after an hour or so, then put her back in her tank. And this is the process, when she starts glass surfing again you put her back in the lay box again, etc. It can take time, some people have large enough enclosures/tanks that they can put the lay box inside the enclosure/tank and then just keep making sure it stays damp for them. But if your tank isn't large enough for that, then you just have to keep putting her in the lay box when she goes nuts inside her tank. If you see her actually digging a tunnel in the lay box then leave her be, as she's probably going to lay the eggs.

I wish there was a way to tell 100% whether or not she is actually gravid or at least has follicles developed/developing, but the only way to be certain of that is by having a reptile vet to an Ultrasound (not a plain x-ray, some vets will do a plain-film x-ray and see no shelled-eggs so they tell the owner that the dragon isn't gravid, but you cannot see developed follicles typically on a plain-film x-ray, so if by chance you do take her to a vet, just skip the x-ray and just go straight to the Ultrasound to save money, because that will be the next test suggested by the vet anyway; If you get an Ultrasound done and there are follicles, then you can pretty much be ready for eggs to be laid very soon).