Odd Behavior

My beardie, Chief, is around two years old but I have only owned him since Christmas this year, which means that I've had him for about two months. He doesn't play very often, unless he is outside of his tank, and even then the play only lasts for about five to ten minutes. Then he finds a dark corner and sleeps in it. He also always has some stripes darkened on his beard, it is never completely light. He has been this way since I got him, and his previous owners said that he was a bit on the grumpy side but I'm not sure if this is just his natural temperament. We didn't have a UVB bulb for the first few weeks, so we thought that that might be the problem. However, even now with the bulb at a distance where he gets adequate UVB rays he still behaves this way. He eats plenty, his tank gets up to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit in his basking spot, he gets 10-12 hours of night, and he is in the middle of a shed right now. I know that sheds can cause some irritation, but he was like this before his shed as well. Is there something wrong with him, or could this just be his natural temperment?

Honestly, a bearded dragon with an parsimonious behavior usually means that the beardy was raised in a bad environment. The only logical thing to do is take the time to interact with it. Feed him the correct foods, make sure his diet is good. Take him out and let him run around your room (Of course filling all the holes and cracks) so he can exercise and get used to the new environment. After about five to ten minutes of play time begin trying to pick up your bearded dragon and letting him rest on your hand. If he begins to get squirmy and irritated put him back down, and keep repeating the process until he fully understands that you are not a threat to him and are not going to hurt him. Make sure you are hand feeding your bearded dragon every so often as'well so he can get used to your scent.

What size aquarium are you housing your beardy in? Is he getting the correct nutrition he needs?

He is getting proper nutrition as far as I know. I feed him a salad of kale or mustard greens, bell pepper, carrot, and some peach everyday. I put calcium or reptile vitamins on it twice a week. He gets crickets every other day, which are gut loaded, and he eats about 50 a week. His tank is 40 gallons.

Hi. What are the temps? How do you take them? What kinds and brands of lights are you using? He should be getting calcium 3x to 4x a week. Here is a site most of us go by for a list of what kinds of salad and fruit to feed beautifuldragons.com.

His temperatures are about 100-110 in his basking area, and I take the temperatures with a thermometer that I bought at a pet store that is close to me. He is getting calcium about four times a week, since his crickets are gut loaded with extremely high calcium food. And I'm not sure what brand of lights he has, because I'm not home right now, but my mom and I always try to see if something is a reliable product before we buy it. And thanks for the link, I use it a lot when food is bought for him.

What kind of thermometer? The only 2 ways to get the correct temps is a temp gun or a digital with a wire probe. The temps need to be taken on the basking spot. If you have the round gauges those are off by 20 degrees or more. So it may be too hot for him.