Hi all, I've been referring to this site for a few months now without ever posting until now.
So I've had a bearded dragon called Tony since the last weekend of October. When we got him he was only 4 or 5 inches from snout to tail so we assumed he was at most a couple of weeks old. After a short period of being a little stressed of his new surroundings, he has been really good. Eating well a couple of times a day, looking bright eyed and cheerful and being very playful and active. He poops once or twice a day, typically well formed and solid. He's also grown very well, currently 17 inches and 330gms in weight which I believe is very healthy for a 5 month old dragon.
In recent weeks we've seen a big change from him. He's refusing to eat crickets (which were his staple), and in terms of protein he will only eat roaches. He's also eating far more greens and generally eating way less protein. He's also been a bit moody and occasionally aggressive.
This morning I pulled a sperm plug from his vent. I'd seen it there the last 3 or 4 days but given his age, I'd assumed it was just a bit urate that hadn't washed away. But sure enough, definitely a sperm plug. I was shocked as I'd never heard of this happening on a dragon under a year old. In fact I hadn't even realised he was sexually mature.
Can anyone give me any advice on what is going on with Tony? Is he just maturing at a very quick rate? Is it also possible he is a lot older than we'd thought, he'd just not grown much before we got him?
Is there anything I can do to help him and cheer him up a bit?
So I've had a bearded dragon called Tony since the last weekend of October. When we got him he was only 4 or 5 inches from snout to tail so we assumed he was at most a couple of weeks old. After a short period of being a little stressed of his new surroundings, he has been really good. Eating well a couple of times a day, looking bright eyed and cheerful and being very playful and active. He poops once or twice a day, typically well formed and solid. He's also grown very well, currently 17 inches and 330gms in weight which I believe is very healthy for a 5 month old dragon.
In recent weeks we've seen a big change from him. He's refusing to eat crickets (which were his staple), and in terms of protein he will only eat roaches. He's also eating far more greens and generally eating way less protein. He's also been a bit moody and occasionally aggressive.
This morning I pulled a sperm plug from his vent. I'd seen it there the last 3 or 4 days but given his age, I'd assumed it was just a bit urate that hadn't washed away. But sure enough, definitely a sperm plug. I was shocked as I'd never heard of this happening on a dragon under a year old. In fact I hadn't even realised he was sexually mature.
Can anyone give me any advice on what is going on with Tony? Is he just maturing at a very quick rate? Is it also possible he is a lot older than we'd thought, he'd just not grown much before we got him?
Is there anything I can do to help him and cheer him up a bit?
